Interesting debate about news comments section

I see there is an interesting debate going on about the News Comments section vs The Forums, specifically related to who deserves to be "rewarded" for activity. Both sides make some valid points, I think.

Personally I would have preferred if the comment section just mirrored the forum posts, but I guess they don't want to do that.

See the comments here, below the news article.

Yeah, I have already voiced my concerns about activity contests so you know my stance on them.

Someone did point out though that its actually very easy to be in the top 25, something like 4 posts a day or something? Which I will admit, isn't quite a lot at all and i've started myself to be more active. Likewise, I understand that its an activity contest for activity's sake.

Does myGaming have any normal comps like the old days? Like minimum 20 lifetime posts and that kind of thing? I can't remember the last one.

markface said:

Yeah, I have already voiced my concerns about activity contests so you know my stance on them.

Someone did point out though that its actually very easy to be in the top 25, something like 4 posts a day or something? Which I will admit, isn't quite a lot at all and i've started myself to be more active. Likewise, I understand that its an activity contest for activity's sake.

Does myGaming have any normal comps like the old days? Like minimum 20 lifetime posts and that kind of thing? I can't remember the last one.

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Yeah they're still here. I think the last one was about 2 weeks ago, you usually just have to vote in a poll.

markface said:

Does myGaming have any normal comps like the old days? Like minimum 20 lifetime posts and that kind of thing? I can't remember the last one.

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Yes, for some of the smaller prize pools.

There is currently a poll competition running this week for tickets to Rage, However this is very region specific though so im sure some might take that as a bad example.

I have to say that I also agree with Rich (the comments section guy). I don't think the format is fair, but as you can all see I don't post that much so perhaps my opinion is a bit biased. Although there are a few long-standing members that don't like the format either. The point that particularly gets to me is the fact that the majority of competition points are allocated to Thread-Killer chatters. I don't make the rules and I know that James and others have good reasons for running the comps this way, however I don't think that it's necessarily a good long-term strategy to drive up forum participation.

It's cool that the activity is upped but it seems to only be upped within the comp time frame and the quality of that activity ...... well, the less said the better. Unfortunately it's traffic that is being sought and traffic is what is gotten, just a pity it's shit traffic. The news comments section is usually filled with way better quality so it's a bit sad that that isn't counted.

StaggerLee said:

I have to say that I also agree with Rich (the comments section guy). I don't think the format is fair, but as you can all see I don't post that much so perhaps my opinion is a bit biased. Although there are a few long-standing members that don't like the format either. The point that particularly gets to me is the fact that the majority of competition points are allocated to Thread-Killer chatters. I don't make the rules and I know that James and others have good reasons for running the comps this way, however I don't think that it's necessarily a good long-term strategy to drive up forum participation.

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The entire debate around "It's just the TK guys blah blah" is flawed. The problem is that the TK guys don't just post in TK. Most have enough activity in other threads to make the top 25 in any case. So exclude TK (which James already pointed out he can't do) and you won't have new names in the top 25. You'll mostly have the same names, just in a different order.

Edit:

markface said:

Someone did point out though that its actually very easy to be in the top 25, something like 4 posts a day or something? Which I will admit, isn't quite a lot at all and i've started myself to be more active. Likewise, I understand that its an activity contest for activity's sake.

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That would be me and yes, your numbers are correct. In the PS3 comp, 4 posts a day (with no other activity) would have gotten you in the Top 25.

I voiced my opinion, and to some degree I have to agree with The Rich. He/She does make a valid point regarding them (the folks who comment on the articles themselves) not being able to enter without being a member of the forum and yet they offer just as much equal information as we do here in the forum.

IMO, i would say let both the forum and news comments count toward the competitions, if both platforms' data was accessible when a competition draw is made.

My question: Why not include the news comments section when it comes to comps? I've seen peeps who comment there regularly but aren't necessarily participating within the forum (and I mean genuine topic related comments... Not that there's an actual barometer for that"whistling.

Let me say this as well; I'm not adverse to the current comp ecosystem because it has activity comps and comps based on the old school MyG comp format. This means there's something for everyone in a way, but I do feel like a significant part of the MyG community is left out of the comps, namely the news articles' comments section. If you look at the community tab of the disqus applet, you'll see a list of active users, and since I'm relatively active on the comments section, I've found a lot of insightful comments in over there.

I repeat: I don't really think there's a barometer for what is regarded as useful activity, but I think it wouldn't hurt to include the news section (if a facility to make it happen exists)