Why discussing GAF on UVGF?
GAF is considered one of the most influential if not THE most influential videogame-platform/s on the web. Wheter you like it or not GAF plays an important role in the opinion-forming of gamers worldwide. There's an interaction between the media, industry representatives (including MS's Alberto Penello, Major Nelson) and the thousands of forum users.
If you look at all the GAF references in this board alone you can't deny it's importance and I think it's time to give all the (general) GAF discussion a designated thread.
What's your incentive to do such a time-consuming write-up? Desire for revenge? Boredom?
Truth be told I've been a GAF member myself and I've been banned in my Junior time (months ago). Thing is, it's been my first ban EVER and I've been an active forum member in diverse boards for at least a decade. I'm not lamenting however - I should have been more careful as a Junior knowing the board and it's special mentality/rules. Like the guy below I didn't break any conventional rules, never ever insulted someone but I had an unpopular point of view (not anti-MS/Xbox) and a tongue too sharp for my own good.
While I do think (and will prove below) that there is evident injustice at GAF that really bothers me I still enjoy the board for all the great information and great people posting there.
There's a lot of talk about the "biased GAF" the "hatred towards all things Xbox" and the "one-sided mods" - and it's actually easy (and might be appropriate in some cases) to dismiss all that by saying "Fanboys / vengefull banned jerks - just let them talk, there's a reason they're gone!".
Don't get me wrong: There ARE a lot of blind fanboys (including Xbox fanboys) that deserve to be banned.
However I will show you an example of evident injustice fully knowing that's an example, a sample that's not represntative of whole GAF and all the mods nevertheless a pattern I and others have noticed and that I think hurts GAF and thus all enthusiasts.
Enough introductory words - let's get started already!
The starting point for my small investigation has been new UVGF-member OldSchoolNerd's inaugural-post.
After reading through the first pages of the GAF-thread I detected a familiar pattern, a pattern that some GAFers say doesn't exist. As a person that can't stand injustice an investigative urge arose.
But I knew that my own personal bias wouldn't make me the most credible person in some eyes. However as a psychologist I know how to put my expectations/bias aside and approach a task in a more scientific way.
I investigated OldSchoolNerd's and all related posts (there are a lot of posts that don't refer to OldSchoolNerd) from OldSchoolNerd's first post #6372 to post #6550 (end of discussion - OldSchoolNerd banned).
The thread is basically a technical discussion regarding XO's and PS4's power differences incoperating a lot of more or less trustworthy sources (dependening who you ask - Edge, MS, Sony, anonymous developers, forum insiders, digital foundry, beyond3d,...).
To ensure objectivity I will not go into content-related discussion because in my eyes there is no "truth" to be found right now. Performance can be estimated but there are so many factors and so many unknown quantities that it's basically an endless highly subjective discussion (and by that I don't want to say that there are no differences just that these differences can't be accurately quantified yet).
So basically it all comes down to which sources are deemed worthwhile and what the majority thinks is true.
Thus I ignored content (only requirement for posts: evidence-based AND/OR reasoned) and focused on general behavior because this (not the subjective quality of your belief) is considered relevant regarding bans.
So let's check GAF's own terms of service:
So let's check whether or not the posts in question meet these criteria.
I would really like to encourage everyone to form an opinion themselves and not take my word for fact. Just look at the terms of use and look at the posts as unbiased as you can.
GAF is considered one of the most influential if not THE most influential videogame-platform/s on the web. Wheter you like it or not GAF plays an important role in the opinion-forming of gamers worldwide. There's an interaction between the media, industry representatives (including MS's Alberto Penello, Major Nelson) and the thousands of forum users.
If you look at all the GAF references in this board alone you can't deny it's importance and I think it's time to give all the (general) GAF discussion a designated thread.
What's your incentive to do such a time-consuming write-up? Desire for revenge? Boredom?
Truth be told I've been a GAF member myself and I've been banned in my Junior time (months ago). Thing is, it's been my first ban EVER and I've been an active forum member in diverse boards for at least a decade. I'm not lamenting however - I should have been more careful as a Junior knowing the board and it's special mentality/rules. Like the guy below I didn't break any conventional rules, never ever insulted someone but I had an unpopular point of view (not anti-MS/Xbox) and a tongue too sharp for my own good.
While I do think (and will prove below) that there is evident injustice at GAF that really bothers me I still enjoy the board for all the great information and great people posting there.
There's a lot of talk about the "biased GAF" the "hatred towards all things Xbox" and the "one-sided mods" - and it's actually easy (and might be appropriate in some cases) to dismiss all that by saying "Fanboys / vengefull banned jerks - just let them talk, there's a reason they're gone!".
Don't get me wrong: There ARE a lot of blind fanboys (including Xbox fanboys) that deserve to be banned.
However I will show you an example of evident injustice fully knowing that's an example, a sample that's not represntative of whole GAF and all the mods nevertheless a pattern I and others have noticed and that I think hurts GAF and thus all enthusiasts.
Enough introductory words - let's get started already!
The starting point for my small investigation has been new UVGF-member OldSchoolNerd's inaugural-post.
After reading through the first pages of the GAF-thread I detected a familiar pattern, a pattern that some GAFers say doesn't exist. As a person that can't stand injustice an investigative urge arose.
But I knew that my own personal bias wouldn't make me the most credible person in some eyes. However as a psychologist I know how to put my expectations/bias aside and approach a task in a more scientific way.
I investigated OldSchoolNerd's and all related posts (there are a lot of posts that don't refer to OldSchoolNerd) from OldSchoolNerd's first post #6372 to post #6550 (end of discussion - OldSchoolNerd banned).
The thread is basically a technical discussion regarding XO's and PS4's power differences incoperating a lot of more or less trustworthy sources (dependening who you ask - Edge, MS, Sony, anonymous developers, forum insiders, digital foundry, beyond3d,...).
To ensure objectivity I will not go into content-related discussion because in my eyes there is no "truth" to be found right now. Performance can be estimated but there are so many factors and so many unknown quantities that it's basically an endless highly subjective discussion (and by that I don't want to say that there are no differences just that these differences can't be accurately quantified yet).
So basically it all comes down to which sources are deemed worthwhile and what the majority thinks is true.
Thus I ignored content (only requirement for posts: evidence-based AND/OR reasoned) and focused on general behavior because this (not the subjective quality of your belief) is considered relevant regarding bans.
So let's check GAF's own terms of service:
So far so good. So what we learned is that civil, evidence-based discussion is appreciated. That flaming and frowning upon minority opinions (as long as they are substantiated) is not tolerated.Expected Behavior
NeoGAF is a forum for holding civil, evidence-based discussion. Do not post disingenuously, or in an inflammatory manner for the sole purpose of upsetting others. Negative commentary and minority opinions are not frowned upon, but members are expected to be able to substantiate their positions. At the same time, do not derail threads around yourself or attempt to respond to every single reaction among dozens after posting a comment that is reacted to severely en masse
So let's check whether or not the posts in question meet these criteria.
I would really like to encourage everyone to form an opinion themselves and not take my word for fact. Just look at the terms of use and look at the posts as unbiased as you can.