So it's been a while, updating the news. Like some have said it's a fairly thankless process, people are quick to point out when you've made an error on 1 story - even though you posted 15 other A-okay updates on the same day.
I've talked with other people about updating the news page and we share similar concerns. So I'd like to talk you through how I post the news and why things are the way they are. So the next time things appear hinky, please bear all this in mind so I don't have to repeat the same stuff again. Some of this applies to other people who update too, but I'm sure each person has their own process and quirks.
TO START WITH
Okay, so first off I hit gonintendo, they seem to report a lot of stuff and it's in a blog form so it's not easy just reading a list of updates, it takes a while to scroll through everything. This is why the bottom of the column updates are usually Nintendo stories, because I post it earlier in the day to get it out of the way.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE SITES
Then I hit up a couple of useful foreign language sites, because of this please note it when the headlines are not 100% right. I am either giving an educated guess based on things I can sort of read' or babelfish translating it. I only speak english so don't cut my nuts when I get it slightly off. Also note that because I do not speak foreign languages and because we all speak english here, posting a link to a spanish story (for instance) is of benefit to very few people here. So I sometimes have to link to translations done by other people on other forums or sites. This does not invalidate the news, but posting the original link would be of little use to most people here and the translation is much more useful.
MULTIPLATFORM SITES
I usually visit multiplatform sites towards the end of my updating session so you will see more stories on PC, PS3, Xbox stories near the top of the page once I am finished. Then I go onto NeoGaf to pick up the dregs of whatever I may have missed. I tend not to go to platform specific sites, so if you want really in depth coverage of Vita or whatever I cannot service you - I simply do not have the time. I post what I am immediately interested in and what I think will immediately interest others.
I only hit up one Japanese centric site, a lot of the Japanese stuff is in unreadable Kanji.
THERE IS RED ALL OVER THE PAGES
Nintendo stories are red, you may see a lot of red and complain about how it's all Nintendo. Please bear in mind that Nintendo platforms do not get a lot of multiplatform support. So there are many PC or Xbox and PS3 games that get posted with no colour. If you take the time and do the math, add up all the red stories of the day and then add up all the colourless stories and green and blue you will see more of a balance. I cannot paint a story blue because it's on PS3 when it's also coming to PC and 360 too.
I ONLY POST 30% OF WHAT I SEE
There is so much stuff daily and most of it is pointless or really uninteresting. Here, random story of the day I just spotted: League of Legends Varus gameplay trailer
I have no fricking idea what this is. Sure there may be someone who is really into League of Legends, I have no idea what it is, have never seen anyone here talking about it so I do not post the link. I do not have time to do everything.
CVG IS A TABLOID NEWSPAPER
That's their business, they like to stir up shit, they are a tabloid newspaper in gaming news terms. They always try to sensationalise everything but they are current and do update regularly and have the whole of the futurenetwork to draw upon. So they are a good source of gaming news if you can get past the sensationalism.
MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
On that note, sometimes there are quiet days on the news page, or not much interesting going on on the vgpress. We have times where there is not much to talk about. So in some news updates, I do sometimes sensationalise and mix things up, throw in a glib comment here and there to get someone to say something. Bear in mind that I'm not trying to piss you off or denegrate your favourite game or studio, I'm just trying to get some kind of discussion going on and sometimes you have to pluck a hair off someones back to wake them up. Despite some altercations I have had with some people here, I genuinely hold no animosity towards anyone at the moment - not even you, yes you know who you are.
BIG NEWS: BLACK HIGHLIGHTED STORIES
Now this one will annoy people, you see some things listed as big news others not. Usually I use the big story colouring when there is the first review of a game, or first announcement of a game. If a reviews embargo ends and there are more than several reviews on the same day I just highlight the first or the single best or most controversial. Otherwise I just use the big story colour to bring your attention to an interesting article or to get someones attention if there is a time critical sale or deal or news that I know someone will have a particular interest in. It's a way to make sure that for instance (X forumer) doesn't miss out on free download content or so that Canadian forumers know about some great game sale.
I LIKE READING RUMOURS
Some people are weird, they hate rumours, they hate being teased, they hate seeing it labelled as news. I love rumours, I want to know everything I want most rumours to be true and I like imagining what things could be like. When I post rumours I usually label them as RUMOR: or I put a question mark after it:
Report: New Xbox being manurfactured at the moment?
It may not say rumour but when there is a ? mark at the end please note that it's there to denote that the story is not a sure thing. A lot of rumours turn out to be true, so please don't go nuts when there are rumours posted in the news, it's usually the rumours that get people talking here the most.
THERE IS A CHARACTER LIMIT!
This makes the headlines quite annoying sometimes, things either have to be chopped down, re-worded or paraphrased to get a representative headline. Sometimes you have to bastardise a headline just to get something vaguely coherent up. This is not something I have control of, I do my best but sometimes you are forced to do a hack job just because the headline will not fit! Don't hate me for this.
DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER
Just because I post a story or editorial does not mean I agree with it. Remember this. I am here to deliver the news, not to filter and read and judge everything. If you do not like a particular story and have an issue with it, that is fine, but please do not shoot the messenger. Your issue is with the writer of the article or the content in it. Please leave me out of it.
"Shooting the messenger" is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of lashing out at the (blameless) bearer of bad news.
I DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ EVERYTHING BEFORE POSTING IT
This relates to shooting the messenger. When people do updates en masse they are trying to get through and post a whole lot of news in not much time. We do not have time to read the content of each and every article we post. There are a whole bunch of sites with a whole lot of links and we are just trying to process them and get them up as links for you to click on. When you have a problem with a story, please note that the updaters have not neccesarily looked behind the one line headline when we post it.
NEOGAF IS A VALID SOURCE
I know it's massive forum and that there can be a lot of trolling and system wars, but it is a gold mine of information. It is the single most important gaming forum on the internet. All the sites you know like Gamespot, IGN, Eurogamer, CVG etc get a lot of their stories from NeoGAF. When someone on GAF trawls up an unseen patent or finds concept art for a secret cancelled game, or translates some japanese business report - other sites take notice and post news based on what is said there. NeoGAF also has celebrity posters as I call them: real developers, real industry people, real analysts. They even have representatives of sites, for instance you know of the aussie website Vooks? There is a forumer there called VOOKS who writes for them and the same goes for other sites too.
I POST NEWS FOR YOU
I want people to stay in the loop, I post things that might interest my friends, I like suprising and entertaining people. I am not paid here, I do this as a kind of free service for people to read here. It's not always fun, it can be labourious, repetitive and woefully thankless. So when you do all this work for soooo long and for so little reward, when someone bites your head off (usually for one of the reasons mentioned above in the news updating process), you can snap. Others have too.
The next time you think I have made some sort of mistake, read this blog again and bring the issue to me in a nice, logical manner and I'll respond in kind. You'd probably be suprised at how fast I would be to alter a headline that was non-reflective or delete a story which is untrue. Bear in mind that everyone here can edit, post or delete stories. If you have a real problem then fix it yourself quietly instead of creating drama where it's not needed - the likelihood is that I haven't even had time to read the content of a story you take issue with! 
Or that the headline had to be a hack job to fit inside the character limit.
If you snap at me, I'm likely to do the same back, or just disappear.
I POST LINKS WHEN I SEE THEM
Recently I posted 4 articles which were editorials from various sites about why the Wii U was a better purchase this Christmas than PS4 and XB1. I received a short "LOL GG is a fanboy" equivalent response, which was then plus-ed by 3 people which means there are 4 people who think this. The reality is that I saw all 4 stories at the same time in one thread.
Wii U: what a difference a single game can make
As someone who is constantly reading and constantly looking for things to show you guys, I post what I see when I see it. So imagine you are me, you click a thread whilst reading GAF and the thread is about how Super Mario 3D world is changing peoples opinions on Wii U. In this single opening post are links to 4 articles about the subject. As someone who is constantly updating the news each day I post the stories one after the other.
They are posted one after the other because that is when I see them. Would it make sense to post 1 of them, wait till the next day and post another, wait another day or even a couple of hours then post another? That makes no sense. When I go to Eurogamer I post all the Eurogamer stories I see one after the other, as I am on the site at that time of day. When I am on CVG I post all the stories I see there one after the other as I am on the site. Then later in the day I usually do a 2nd run through where I return to said sites.
So logically when I am on GAF and see 4 articles in the same post, as a NEWS UPDATER it only makes sense for me to post them all as I see them, one after the other. It makes no sense NOT to. I explained why they were posted that way and posted a link to the thread where I saw them but no one replied or plus-ed my post. So I really don't appreciate the LULZ GG is a fanboy +1 treatment. Maybe you think this is an overeaction, but try updating the news everyday for years - LOOKING FOR INFORMATION FOR YOU GUYS TO KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED AND INFORMED and then getting shit for it.
And on the other hand, really do not ignore the dozens upon dozens upon dozens of stories I have posted about how the Wii U is weak, horrible, flatlining in sales or missing publisher support. And that's been posted continuously by me for about 2 years now. No one here has posted as much negative Nintendo news as me and I never seem to get recognition for that. Whether I agree with it or not, I post it.
I'm the one who posts that news regardless of whether it's negative or not. In fact the day before the 4 "Wii U is good" editorials I posted an analyst saying that it would sell like the Gamecube and just today I posted: Xbox One UK sales about to overtake Wii U total
So next time before jumping on the LULZ GG is a fanboy +1 train, stop and think about how the updating process is done and please stop being so silently glib. If you have something to say then say it.
Other things to note: Some stories are posted as a joke to make you laugh or attempt too for instance todays story: Tokyo Jungle should be a Z rated game for sexual content Wait...... isn't this a game about animals? "Kobayashi jokes that Tokyo Jungle should be a Z rated game because of the violence and sexual content."
IF YOU SEE A LOT OF REVIEWS OR UPDATES FOR A PARTICULAR GAME POSTED IT'S USUALLY FOR A REASON
For instance when I was posting Red Steel 2 reviews I was actually doing the review thread at NeoGAF and so doing double duty here; I thought I might as well post the same reviews I found for the benefit of both sites. It was fairly ardous so when I got criticised for it I snapped again. I also did the thread for the Crystal Bearers here and on GAF so I had to collect a lot of reviews and I did the news hype thread on GAF for Go Vacation so I had to have lots of stuff to post to keep the thread updated.
The other reason you might see lot of reviews posted is because a reviews embargo ends and all the reviews come out at once, or it's a big game that a lot of people are interested in, Mario this, Halo that. Or and yes I am guilty of this: I like to shout about little odd games because the big games get enough attention as it is. Maybe it gets on your nerves, but I feel like you have to shout about some games because otherwise they get stepped on and passed by like cracked leaves on the pavement.
Also, I like to annoy you guys. 
ON REVIEWS
The quotes are grabbed really quickly, usually by scrolling right down to the last paragraph and grabbing whatever is there. If you're lucky there is some one liner at the top of a review to crib. Reviews are rarely actually read before posting - bear that in mind. You click the link, smash and grab then leave.
Usually I'm pretty lazy and grab just the score.
WEEKEND UPDATING
Only a few blogs actually update with news at the weekend so most of it is barren and cleaning up the dregs from the weekdays , or picking up on rumours on GAF. About the only site I see update at the weekend is Gonintendo so don't be suprised when you see Nintendo news on Sundays or whatever.
SUPPORT IS NEEDED
Aspro's been a great posting partner, but both of us have dropped out at one point or the other. Without help it can be brutal to keep up. But, the more news you guys post means the less that we have to. And we can enjoy reading other peoples news and not have to spend so much time trawling for and posting news. I'm not saying that anyone has to start mass updating, but imagine if everyone posted 2 stories a day?
ON RUMOR POSTING
I said:When I post rumours I usually label them as RUMOR: or I put a question mark after it: Report: New Xbox being manurfactured at the moment? It may not say rumour but when there is a ? mark at the end please note that it's there to denote that the story is not a sure thing. A lot of rumours turn out to be true, so please don't go nuts when there are rumours posted in the news, it's usually the rumours that get people talking here the most.
Please don't freak out if the ? mark is not there on the headline of the rumour. Either:
- I've hit the key and it hasn't registered, it's a typo
- Or the character limit has cut it off the end
- Or I've forgotten
- Or I've been lazy because I have another 10 stories to post
- Or I thought people would click and read the article and decide for themselves on its validity
I didn't ever expect people to click on a story and get annoyed because they went through to a rumour. I thought they would just read the story and see that it was a rumour. But I've been mistaken a few times on this issue, which has just left me scratching my head.
Maybe a rumour tab to tick on the updates would help?
I think you're a super, intelligent, lovable and interesting great guy but I could just do without the quarterly Aspro reminder of my fandom, that's all, it's no biggie. I don't want to blank you or vice versa, but if that's how you feel that's okay too. If you think your single line post is so difficult to understand and has been interpreted by me with many complex misinterpretations and contortioned imaginings of your intent then explain your post, it's not hard. Don't pull the old misunderstood line and disappear.
To me it's simple, you made a bad joke - to me it was a bad joke, about an aspect of the site which I put a lot of time and effort into, it backfired - unfortunately it was then plused by other people (whose true intent can't be gauged by an anonymous +1's at the time) which amplified the post as it was like 4 fuck yeahs. So overall it annoyed me more, especially as no one seemed to acknowledge my reply. Because I go out of my way to cover platforms and games that I personally have little interest in, for the benefit of all the people here. I could pick my little niche and ignore everything else.
The purpose of this blog is to show the The Real Process of Updating the News: Updated and Expanded 2013 Edition with a few added sections, including showing people why updates are posted the way they are, including concurrent updates on the same day - as wel as more information on reviews and rumours.
I have no harsher feelings towards you than the other asswads on this site. We've all fucked each other off in some way or the other, but at the end of the day if there is no malicious intent and as long as everyone can understand how we all feel about the issue, hands up, remember it, it's done. Finished, end of issue.
My only purpose here in this blog is to make people aware of why and how things are posted. The only reason with you, it irked me is because we specifically talked about this last time. If someone tells me he doesn't appreciate making fun of (insert subject) I remember it and it's a no go area for me. Just please try and remember, after giving and giving I'm not asking for thanks, I'm not asking for praise, but just be aware I'll likely be touchier about update-criticism too. I haven't even read half the shit people have problems with and just because I post it doesn't mean I agree with it.
Edited for broken pic link
From aspro's side, coincidentally there were a bunch of stories about buying a Wii U. So anyone posting those would have been subject to the same joke, because with disregard to everything else, it's kinda funny to see them all in a row by coincidence.
From GG's side, the Internet and communities in general are awful. They're entitled, cynical and hateful. In the context of the Internet at large, "what are you trying to say, GG?" is a hostile statement the majority of the time, even as a "joke".
You aren't on opposite sides, you're just from different perspectives. What would be best is if aspro could see this as not GG trying to find trouble or be prone to unwarranted offence, and GG that in the context of us here on the site, it's really not directed at you, your character or any commentary at all on your content.
I need the ability to plus more than once.
Sorta agree, I do agree most internet communities are filled with undesirbales but not here. As for the rest I sorta don't agree.
The message wasn't questioning why the internet was writing articles, echoing the same sentiment on the same day. It was saying: "what you are trying to tell me GG by posting it - I can't read between the lines." And people were plusing the post, even if they thought it was just funny to see updates bunched like that - they were actually plusing a post - which misakenly or not, intentionally or not - indicated I was just being fanboyish by posting them.
And from my perspective as I have linked and explained, it was my normal posting process, I wasn't doing anything special, where I saw all links in the same post on the same page and that I found it telling that the internets' opinion had changed on the perennial whipping boy of the internet.
As I said before, if Aspro says there is nothing behind it I 100% believe and trust him in that, I have nothing but good things to say about the guy - I just wanted people to know how it comes across to me, when it feels I am doing a lot for other peoples' benefit and then getting criticised for it. Yes I am touchier on the subject, but easily placated. And as I said before I've got no particular issue with Pro, anymore than the +1 crew or anyone else on the site. The people on the site who +1-ed the message are some of my favourite people, as is Aspro.
He's not talking to me, sadly and hasn't really said much apart from locker room humor and how my intepretations have many levels of wrongness, but he won't explain why. Still as said, he's totally cool with me, but I don't know if the feeling's mutual anymore.
I was suggesting the inclination to view a post joking about the articles as being a personal criticism was due to it being that's usually the kind of passive-aggressive crap that gets posted on the Internet.
The post wasn't joking about the articles, it was joking about me posting the articles and making insinuations about what I was trying to tell everyone by doing so. That's the distinction here you're not recognising.
That's your inference informed by negative association. My entire point is there are multiple reasonable interpretations dependent on your base assumptions.
Well you can hardly blame my interpretation when no one replied to my post in the first place and just blanked me. And it's not like Pro actually ever really explained what he meant anyway. My good buddy Vader took the post in the same way I did "You control what you post" etc.
What are these multiple reasonable interpretations? Going by the original message of having to 'read between the lines' and asking what 'message I was trying to send?' by posting those articles one after the other.