Jonathan_Leack
Former Executive Editor
I'm sure you guys have heard of NeoGAF. It's a gaming forum that's been around for years, and it's known for being a place for developers and journalists to occasionally share thoughts.
I've been a huge forum addict since 2002, so it's kind of strange that I didn't register until about a year ago. However, I eventually made the jump and created an account, but it wasn't until about 8-months later that I was approved.
After weeks of engaging in awesome forum threads I logged in last week to find that I was banned. No, not temporarily, PERMANENTLY. This is what the message said:
You have been banned for the following reason:
Your entire post history is aggressive console fanaticism. Junior bans are permanent.
Date the ban will be lifted: Never
I was absolutely shocked when I saw this. I have over 30,000 forum posts spanning several forums and I've never been banned in my entire life. I quickly went to check my forum posts and saw nothing inflammatory. Hell, I own a PlayStation 3, gaming PC, 3DS, and Wii U. It's kind of hard to be a console fanboy when you own several systems and use all of them.
The only thing that caught my eye was a post where I stated that I'm not very excited for the PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720 because the former will likely have a DualShock controller and the former will still require a yearly fee to play online. Yeah, it wasn't a bright comment but it was in a thread where people were dogging the Wii U. It was a forum thread littered with hateful comments about the Wii U becoming the next Vita, so I gave it some defense. Woopdee doo.
I then traveled to Google to see if I was an isolated case, and unsurprisingly I wasn't. It appears that the moderators at NeoGAF have a history of banning anyone who says something negative about PlayStation products. What a joke.
So why am I posting this? Well, to raise awareness, of course. If NeoGAF is really this terrible then it shouldn't be getting the massive traffic that it does. Steer clear and if you do have an account, don't bother posting unless it's to kiss the butt of the moderators.
I've been a huge forum addict since 2002, so it's kind of strange that I didn't register until about a year ago. However, I eventually made the jump and created an account, but it wasn't until about 8-months later that I was approved.
After weeks of engaging in awesome forum threads I logged in last week to find that I was banned. No, not temporarily, PERMANENTLY. This is what the message said:
You have been banned for the following reason:
Your entire post history is aggressive console fanaticism. Junior bans are permanent.
Date the ban will be lifted: Never
I was absolutely shocked when I saw this. I have over 30,000 forum posts spanning several forums and I've never been banned in my entire life. I quickly went to check my forum posts and saw nothing inflammatory. Hell, I own a PlayStation 3, gaming PC, 3DS, and Wii U. It's kind of hard to be a console fanboy when you own several systems and use all of them.
The only thing that caught my eye was a post where I stated that I'm not very excited for the PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720 because the former will likely have a DualShock controller and the former will still require a yearly fee to play online. Yeah, it wasn't a bright comment but it was in a thread where people were dogging the Wii U. It was a forum thread littered with hateful comments about the Wii U becoming the next Vita, so I gave it some defense. Woopdee doo.
I then traveled to Google to see if I was an isolated case, and unsurprisingly I wasn't. It appears that the moderators at NeoGAF have a history of banning anyone who says something negative about PlayStation products. What a joke.
So why am I posting this? Well, to raise awareness, of course. If NeoGAF is really this terrible then it shouldn't be getting the massive traffic that it does. Steer clear and if you do have an account, don't bother posting unless it's to kiss the butt of the moderators.
