[Heavy]

On the Gaming Forum, Official Threads (designated with |OT|) serve specifically to contain the at-release and post-release discussion for a game

So are |OT|s for games only now or am I reading this wrong? Ex: high res pic thread, speculation threads, etc.

[sixteen-bit]

Community integration - is it one month from release or one month from thread creation?

[Seda]

So are |OT|s for games only now or am I reading this wrong? Ex: high res pic thread, speculation threads, etc.

I think you're looking too much into it. Sure there will still be "official" speculation threads and whatnot where those discussions can take place. Just follow the "new news = new thread" rules like usual.

[BrokenEchelon]

Interesting timing considering that topic about EA viral marketers that was posted recently. #tinfoilhat

Definitely agree with the one-post thing, even though some of those insanely detailed Infographics were pretty cool.

[EviLore]

So are |OT|s for games only now or am I reading this wrong? Ex: high res pic thread, speculation threads, etc.

|OT|s in the gaming forum are expressly for what is stated in the OP. Nothing else should have that designation, and we've been operating with that for some time now.

Community integration - is it one month from release or one month from thread creation?

The former.

[Heavy]

yeah that's what i was thinking- someone got caught in the VM thread lol

[Franklinator]

Great rule change! OT's were getting so ridiculous I stopped looking at them.

[sixteen-bit]

The former.

My poor BBCSE OT was the latter :(

[PsychoRaven]

Thank god. The insanely huge OTs were really starting to get annoying. It was actually getting to where I'd just skip to page 2 anymore.

[EmCeeGramr]

this news owns and you own

everyone feel good

[Jive Turkey]

This is very welcome news! Great guidelines.

[Rezbit]

That's a shame about the one post, I'll miss great OT's like this.

Even that is too bloated IMO, even though it looks stylish and I can see the effort involved. Keeping it to one post is a great idea.

[Zeliard]

These are good guidelines. It'll also encourage people to consolidate the information so that the more important stuff goes up, making these things not only easier to read through but also more useful.

Satirical |OT|s can be acceptable, but whether you get a lock will be on a case-by-case basis.

EviLore hates Journey confirmed ;)

[Kagari]

OTs were getting retarded indeed. Well not getting, I still remember the MGS4 OT being like 40 posts long. This is a good move. BTW here's an example of what I think all OTs should aspire to http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=final+fantasy Looks real nice and has all the necessary information you could need.

Why thank you, sir.

[GhaleonEB]

Good guidelines, focused on making the OT's useful.

[Jonnyram]

I like these guidelines.

[Blueblur1]

Even that is way too much, in my opinion.

I agree. Most of that information can be expressed through text. Add a few small images for flavor and you're done.

[Htown]

Thank. God.

I agree. Most of that information can be expressed through text. Add a few small images for flavor and you're done.

I think it's acceptable, but should probably be considered on the outer edge.

[StarCreator]

Pardon if this sounds silly, but could there just be a sub-forum dedicated to OTs so that people looking for them will just go there in the first place and they never have to be moved?

[Riposte]

Great rule change! OT's were getting so ridiculous I stopped looking at them.

Almost everyone stops looking at them once the page goes to 2. (Ultimately it seems like a minor inconvenience brought on by a small group really enjoying themselves. I guess it is a worthy trade-off to solve it since only a few people really lose something out of this. I kind of have a hard time getting my head around people earnestly reading OTs only because they are less verbose.)

[Andrex]

Wario64 for mod.

[Andrex]

OTs were getting retarded indeed. Well not getting, I still remember the MGS4 OT being like 40 posts long. This is a good move. BTW here's an example of what I think all OTs should aspire to http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=final+fantasy Looks real nice and has all the necessary information you could need.

I don't like it. I like that it looks nice and is curt, but text in images really rubs me the wrong way. Aside from that, you need a fairly high res monitor to view it without scrollbar (or breakage, in the case of mobile devices.)

[qq more]

OTs were getting retarded indeed. Well not getting, I still remember the MGS4 OT being like 40 posts long. This is a good move.

Holy shit, you were not exaggerating the numbers.

[Emitan]

Don't put your text in images if you have a lot of text. I consider the FF Agito thread borderline on that. If I can't Ctrl+F relevant info, it might as well not be there.

[SatelliteOfLove]

I see that thread Tuesday got wheels greased but good.

OTs were getting retarded indeed. Well not getting, I still remember the MGS4 OT being like 40 posts long. This is a good move. BTW here's an example of what I think all OTs should aspire to http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=final+fantasy Looks real nice and has all the necessary information you could need.

"PM Kagari for help on this!"

That was the one I linked to when this issue hit last year. Brevity is the soul of wit and all that.

And what about other people tossing in posts and info in their posts later in the thread of their own accord?

[Zeliard]

On some level I feel that BruceLee's MGS4 OT was appropriately massive and convoluted given the MGS lore, heh. :P

[Soka]

Holy shit, you were not exaggerating the numbers.

I know people dislike the large OTs like that, but I for one will always hold a place in my heart for behemoths such as the MGS4... even if it was likely all ripped from some PR kit.

[FoneBone]

OTs were getting retarded indeed. Well not getting, I still remember the MGS4 OT being like 40 posts long. This is a good move. BTW here's an example of what I think all OTs should aspire to http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...=final+fantasy Looks real nice and has all the necessary information you could need.

Don't really agree. It's (relatively) concise, but needlessly substituting images for text is slickness for slickness' sake. Especially in a post-smartphone era.

[Andrex]

Holy shit, you were not exaggerating the numbers.

The funny thing is, the MGS4 thread has survived (probably due to infamy) but BruceLeeRoy's Killzone 2 and Resistance 2 threads are hilariously, laughably broken, further proving how the mega-OT model is completely unsustainable in the long-term.

[shagg_187]

Why are you scolding me?!! :'(

[Lingitiz]

My biggest problem with that MGS4 thread isn't just the length, but the amount of unnecessary hyperbole and PR-type talk in it, specifically "Welcome to the official thread for one of the GREATEST SERIES OF ALL TIME". Yeah its informative but who knows how many gaffers actually used it as a source of knowledge over Wikipedia or something. Besides some light information on the game, OTs are pretty useful for getting up to speed on DLC, updates, etc, so I do appreciate the gaffers that take the effort to do that.

BTW its funny how the R2 and KZ2 threads don't have images anymore.

[Htown]

Holy shit, you were not exaggerating the numbers.

Man that's terrible.

...

Wait a minute.

Behold, NeoGAF. :D

My God...



We've been had! This entire thing was a plot, a long-term Xanatos gambit of a machination by the leader himself, Evilore!

We've been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Fooled by this "problem" that was nurtured by the NeoGAF elite to distract us from what's REALLY going on. Think of all the changes that have quietly taken place behind the scenes while we were distracted, nay, BLINDED by these ridiculous OT threads! Meanwhile, Evilore was consolidating his power base, centralizing avatar storage in order to prevent the free exercise of animations and gain the ability to end avatar use at will, preventing freedom of association by moving all threads that tend to build strongly-tied groups into the ghetto of the "Community" forum, all to ostensibly make the forum's front pages more "relevant."

In fact, his true aim was to ensure a high rate of turnover in the threads created on the forum, instituting the "new thread for new news" policy that ensured that not only would Google have more pages on which to place its ads, but that his corporate "friends" of the game journalist elite could mine the labor of the common man to do their work for them, grabbing headlines and stories from the sweat of the poor gamer's brow!

OPEN YOUR EYES, PEOPLE OF NEOGAF!!! RISE AGAINST THE OPPRESSOR!!! GO NOT QUIETLY INTO SERVITUDE AND SLAVERY!!! MEN AND WOMEN OF NEOGAF, ARISE AND BE NO LONGER SHEEP, BUT LIONS!! FREEDOM!!!

[Emitan]

Man that's terrible. ... Wait a minute. My God... We've been had! This entire thing was a plot, a long-term Xanatos gambit of a machination by the leader himself, Evilore! We've been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Fooled by this "problem" that was nurtured by the NeoGAF elite to distract us from what's REALLY going on. Think of all the changes that have quietly taken place behind the scenes while we were distracted, nay, BLINDED by these ridiculous OT threads! Meanwhile, Evilore was consolidating his power base, centralizing avatar storage in order to prevent the free exercise of animations and gain the ability to end avatar use at will, preventing freedom of association by moving all threads that tend to build strongly-tied groups into the ghetto of the "Community" forum, all to ostensibly make the forum's front pages more "relevant." In fact, his true aim was to ensure a high rate of turnover in the threads created on the forum, instituting the "new thread for new news" policy that ensured that not only would Google have more pages on which to place its ads, but that his corporate "friends" of the game journalist elite could mine the labor of the common man to do their work for them, grabbing headlines and stories from the sweat of the poor gamer's brow! OPEN YOUR EYES, PEOPLE OF NEOGAF!!! RISE AGAINST THE OPPRESSOR!!! GO NOT QUIETLY INTO SERVITUDE AND SLAVERY!!! MEN AND WOMEN OF NEOGAF, ARISE AND BE NO LONGER SHEEP, BUT LIONS!! FREEDOM!!!

You're never going to get a tag biting the hand that feeds

[chickdigger802]

Speaking lttp. Is there any minimum months (years for consoles?). There were a few lttp 3ds threads popping up recently.

When should you make a new one vs bump up an old one?

[duckroll]

Speaking lttp. Is there any minimum months (years for consoles?). There were a few lttp 3ds threads popping up recently. When should you make a new one vs bump up an old one?

There is no official stand on this, and it's mostly a case-by-case basis, but I feel there are helpful guidelines if you're considering making one:

- When was the most recent thread discussing this game?
- Is the OT still active with discussion about the game in particular or is it just the same people talking to each other in the Community thread now?

Based on these two questions, you can make a personal judgement on whether it is "too soon" to make a LTTP thread. On a personal note I would say that within 3 months of a game's release, no one really wants or needs to see a LTTP thread for a game, because it is too soon. This is not an official rule though.

[charlequin]

Speaking lttp. Is there any minimum months (years for consoles?). There were a few lttp 3ds threads popping up recently. When should you make a new one vs bump up an old one?

We don't have a hard-and-fast rule for this, but you can try to follow these guidelines.

Lean towards a post in the existing |OT| if:

• The game came out recently and lots of people are still talking about it in the original thread (especially during that pre-move window.)
• The game is multiplayer and a good number of people are still playing.
• The game is high-profile and has aready engendered a lot of discussion that might be related to what you want to say.
• You have something relatively short or simple to say about the game.
• You want to engage with lines of discussion that are already ongoing in the thread.

Lean towards an LTTP thread if:

• The game is older, especially more than 6 months old.
• The game is single-player and you want to talk about your specific, idiosyncratic experience of playing through it.
• The game is more niche and may not have been discussed in as much depth in other GAF threads.
• You have a long, in-depth commentary or analysis of the game that would benefit from an ongoing, engaged discussion from other posters.

To pick a semi-random example inspired by your post, I don't think there'd be anything at all wrong with someone making a LTTP thread right now for Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, a fairly niche 3DS game that came out a year ago yesterday.

EDIT: DUCKROOOOOOOLL *shakes fist*

[XiaNaphryz]

Will there be similar rules for official threads in the OT forum for other forms of media, etc? Or is it not as much of a problem for movies, TV series, etc?

[duckroll]

Will there be similar rules for official threads in the OT forum for other forms of media, etc? Or is it not as much of a problem for movies, TV series, etc?

This thread only applies to Gaming OTs, and that's the main focus. We don't really have rules or much concerns about Off-Topic "OTs" as such. The reason why we don't have such concerns is because there haven't really been any problems, but having said that if someone is a viral marketer for a non-gaming product and they get caught, it's still going to be bad for that person. :P

[Drencrom]

On some level I feel that BruceLee's MGS4 OT was appropriately massive and convoluted given the MGS lore, heh. :P

Well played.

Good rule change though, some OT's are ridiculously bloated and are almost PR nonsense only anyway.

[CoffeeJanitor]

Sounds good. A lot of the OTs on here were looking like straight up marketing so I like that this has been noticed.

Don't put your text in images if you have a lot of text. I consider the FF Agito thread borderline on that. If I can't Ctrl+F relevant info, it might as well not be there.

Agreed. It may look nice but it isn't that functional.

[ShockingAlberto]

Can you make an OT thread if you don't own said game?

It seems like, if preference is given to people who say they intend to buy the game, all we're really doing is encouraging people to lie.

Unless we start asking for proof that you intend to buy the game you made the OT for, in which case, that should be fun.

[TheKaeptain]

This thread only applies to Gaming OTs, and that's the main focus. We don't really have rules or much concerns about Off-Topic "OTs" as such. The reason why we don't have such concerns is because there haven't really been any problems, but having said that if someone is a viral marketer for a non-gaming product and they get caught, it's still going to be bad for that person. :P

Sculli am cry.

[MuseManMike]

Ah, so many changes.

[Tizoc]

Umm, just checking but as the creator of the SFxT OT, does it look like I've exceed 1 post for the OT? The other 2 posts are merely for providing thanks and gamertags for online play.

[jump_button]

On the Gaming Forum, Official Threads (designated with |OT|) serve specifically to contain the at-release and post-release discussion for a game, with the original post in the thread providing information about the game. The key word here is discussion, though. They are not intended to be marketing websites, hype-building or fellating as a result of the highs of the PR hype cycle, or all-encompassing megathreads for news. When you create an official thread for a game, ideally after notifying the rest of the community here (especially for major releases so that you don't step on toes), you should follow these rules: -Do not be affiliated in any way with the game in question, whether as a developer, publisher, or marketer. -Do not exceed one post in length unless you have a very good reason to. -Focus on presenting the facts in a clear and concise manner. You can be stylish, but avoid being bloated, in formatting or bandwidth usage. -Avoid letting hype distort your perspective. Don't fellate the game in the thread title or otherwise, doubly so if its marketing budget is reminiscent of Apple's bank statement. It doesn't need it, and you'll come off as a viral. -Don't post your official thread more than seven days prior to its game's release (excepting multiplayer-centric games with large-scale long-term open betas, like Dota 2, which are addressed individually). |OT|s are not for news, so they have no reason to exist while we're still in the news cycle. -Satirical |OT|s can be acceptable, but whether you get a lock will be on a case-by-case basis. Bear in mind, as of recently we are moving game |OT|s to the Community Forum one month post-release so that the Gaming Forum isn't clogged up and can focus on more relevant content.

they go all fun and good OT's

[Hazaro]

Fate of the PC Thread?

Please don't put it community the view count will die horribly

[Blue Ninja]

they go all fun and good OT's

One post is more than enough to say everything that needs to be said, imo.

[notworksafe]

Umm, just checking but as the creator of the SFxT OT, does it look like I've exceed 1 post for the OT? The other 2 posts are merely for providing thanks and gamertags for online play.

I think gamertags (or updates for games that get a lot of patches in multiplayer) would count as a "good reason" for a second post.

they go all fun and good OT's

The good ones will stay. The needlessly wordy and overly lengthy ones will be gone and not even missed a little.

[ShockingAlberto]

they go all fun and good OT's

Not really.

[Kaako]

Just saw this. I like this.