Gamer.ru - mini-review=)
Greetings to you, reader of this post. I wish you a good time of day.
Gamer.ru - A "Social Network for Gamers", "LiveJournal", or "Browser Game"? What is it even?
There are very few truly worthwhile gaming resources on the internet. Name any 10. I find it difficult to remember even 5. Yes, there are many gaming sites, thousands of them, but it is extremely rare for reviews, walkthroughs, critiques, or simply interesting articles to make it onto such resources without pre-moderation or being written by amateurs/free. At "Gamer", everything is different. No one prohibits publishing their thoughts, trying their hand at writing reviews, there is no preliminary check for a "one-liner post" or simply for the intelligibility of the text - everything is checked only after publication and is primarily evaluated by the ever-vigilant moderators, who hide from sight terribly poor, rude, and other unnecessary things. The second round of moderation is done by regular users, armed with personal upvote pointers. There are no downvotes, so bad articles, if they survive filtering according to the site rules, do not receive any badges of distinction, while good ones are awarded a special medal "recommended by the editorial board" and/or often receive a three-digit rating from users, expressed in upvotes.
Thus, evaluation has both "official" aspects, characterizing the editorial board's attitude primarily toward the content of the post, and "unofficial" - the assessment from users based on their personal whims and arguments. Users receive an evaluation of their labor and precious "gaming" experience, which will be discussed a bit further on. Up to this point, everything resembles an ordinary social network, of which there are now hundreds, if not thousands. Well then, let's take a deeper look.
What is this beast called "experience", and what is noteworthy about this social network?
Gamers love three things above all else: playing games, finding out necessary information about games, and sharing their emotions/impressions/knowledge about games. If you mix all this together, you get Gamer.ru.
Sharing
Here everything is simple - anyone is entitled to write a post/comment on a post, express their opinion, emotions/impressions/knowledge. Nothing special except for a limitation of 15 minutes, after which you'll lose the ability to change/delete the comment/post.
Finding Out
This is also quite simple - access is open, even without registration. Just come in, read, upvote if you like the post/comment, or walk by if it's indifferent (only registered users can upvote). This is also abundant everywhere, and everyone is used to it. However, there are no downvotes, and there won't be.
Playing
This is where it gets really interesting. All actions that users take and the upvotes received from someone directly or indirectly affect the experience. And experience gives us an RPG within the site. That is, you can, like in any normal RPG, gain levels and skills, acquire power, and amass new "gear".
RPg
After registering, everyone gets their profile, which is not just an account but a kind of game character. There is an opportunity to upgrade it, earn titles and rewards, levels, and skills. There is a bar for experience and energy (mana).
Experience gives levels, and the title depends on the level, thus affecting skills as well. Updates for the site are constantly released, which themselves are naturally integrated and provide new "features", spells, and other little things.
Profile
The profile is our all in all; it holds not only information about gaming preferences but also contains medallions, experience, energy, keeps a log of posts and comments, notes who/what the owner is following, and who is following them.
Looking at the profile, it's clear who is who.©
And now more detailed:
Orders are awarded
for various merits before...simply for merits and do not currently affect anything, nevertheless spotting someone in the profile with 4 orders immediately fills you with respect for them and makes you slightly envious.Status of the Viceroy shows which blog the profile owner "rules" and whether they govern anything on the resource at all. Each viceroy can freely discard posts below "silver" into the trash, retrieve them from the trash, assign categories to posts, and pin one in the blog. Also, only viceroys can communicate with the administration/moderators in private messages to prevent the loss of the "top of the site" through mind-numbing messages from everyone and everything.
Avatar is available from level 2, no animations, and it will be compressed if too large
Interests will show who follows whom and what
Energy and experience, and along with that title depend on the level. Energy can always be less or the same as experience, it restores in 3 days, but if you suddenly became a viceroy and moved a blog to the top 20, you will receive a boost to speed and full restoration will take only 2 days instead of 3.
Posts and the Leveling System
As I mentioned, for any activity, you receive a little experience. Even for comments, and in ancient times, even for upvoting you received it. How can you level up quickly? Hmm... Flooding in the comments will definitely not help you reach level 15+ - for this, you have to shoot off thousands if not tens of thousands of comments. For a comment at the initial levels, you will receive about 1 experience point (a little more if it contains a picture or video), and as you progress, it becomes less (fractional experience like 0.05 accumulates perfectly in the experience pool, but does not display until it reaches a whole number to keep everything looking nice and confusing). But there is something whose experience flows steadily and independently of levels. It’s posts. Good posts. For creating a post, you will receive 1 experience, but if it reaches "silver" (70 upvotes), then confidently add 20 to this number, gold (150) - another +40 (now 61), and a diamond (300) another +60 (121 already) - it’s not so bad =) you can immediately gain several levels in the early stages or be at a level with high leveling. So, it's better to spend 3 days on a post that will reach diamond status instead of shooting off about 15 posts in those 3 days that won’t even reach silver.
(You can check the blog (http://www.gamer.ru/games/972-blog-administratsii/posts) to see silver/gold/diamond "live")
The editor is as simple as an envelope for letters:
A few buttons, when hovering over each, Captain Obvious helps you understand its purpose, and there's a little thing on the right "upload picture", which allows you to upload images in batches of up to 10,000, just make sure to select all at once. After uploading to the server, images can be inserted into the post by clicking on the appearing thumbnail in the column under the button. If something is not working here, then you should update the Flash Player, check if you have a new browser, or properly configure your firewall or ad blocker, and if that doesn’t help, refresh the page/browser/computer.
System of Abilities/Spells, Leveling Features
The only "levelable gear" at the time of writing this post is the very upvote pointer that dispenses as noted accurately by the KOs upvotes to other users. It develops along with your level and allows active users to be "more substantial" on the site. Thus, a level 1 newbie adding a beloved comment will only give the comment 1 "rating", while the same action from the author of this post at their current level 19 will lead to an increase of the counter by as much as 5 points.
But the most interesting aspect is abstract - spells that a user can cast. Regardless of the desires of active participants, with each level, not only the upvote pointer grows, but also the spellbook. Its full development is achieved at level 19 (at the time of writing this post, there are 8 of 111,000 people who have reached it), but no one said that this resource would stop, and for instance, tomorrow they might add a few more spells for levels 21+.
Details on Magic and Titles
On various forums and sites, you have probably seen different unlockable items like erasing other people's comments and similar. Usually, for them, they charge money or require pre-approval on the site. "Gamer" has gone a bit further, and spells began to appear with the user's "levels". The initial set is small and exceedingly simple. Until the second level, you cannot even select your avatar. But over time... It has been said that at some point it will even be possible to take usernames from users and possibly even change someone else's avatar. In any case, the "magic" set is impressive.
What can the "Pioneer" do on the site:
Level 1
No magic at all. Too early.
Level 2
No magic, but you can set an avatar.
Level 3
First spells: # "Buy" an extra post, "Buy" editing a post
Level 4
Following up on what is available: "Highlight username".
How does this work? Well, everyone kind of knows how to upload an avatar (this is in the profile, it can be changed as many times as you like), but who sells "extra posts" and what are they?
Spell "Buy Post"
If you haven't noticed it immediately, look at any blog and scroll to the very bottom - this is the post limit. Why? So that they think more and write less, but meaningless. Don’t worry, the limit will "creep" up with the level, and for now, if you really need it, you can move it up for a day for energy. How to do this? Just click the "actions with me" button and select "Buy Post"; this pleasure costs 50% of the maximum energy, meaning at most you can "buy" 2 posts a day. The spell dissipates at midnight, so taking it for reserve isn’t recommended.
Spell "Buy Editing a Post"
Here it’s a bit more interesting but also simple. Click on any of your posts, choose "buy editing" in the actions with it and enjoy another 15 minutes during which the post can be deleted and edited in every way. Moreover, even if there is a poll or the post has already received upvotes. However, ruining posts and faking results is not our practice, but the fact remains. (this option costs 70% of maximum energy; if you level up to level 6 and want to add a poll to the post by editing it, remember that you will waste energy because editing a post + adding a poll costs 70% of the maximum +190 energy, meaning you must have at least 633+ energy available, which is not possible until level 13).
Spell "Highlight Username"
The nickname becomes highlighted=) Moreover, the magic does not dissipate at midnight but works until the same time the next day, i.e., 24 hours. Rumors say that if you highlight your username and then become invisible, you can see the shadow of your username under the word "invisible"=) the spell is unavailable in invisible mode. (costs 80% of maximum energy).
If you unexpectedly reached level 5, you can consider that you stand out from the gray mass and can do something. As a reward for this, you are awarded the new title "Recruit" and an upgrade to the upvote pointer. From this moment, it starts shooting with double the force - +2 for each press. By this time, the limit on posts per day should also expand. I won’t name the exact number, but a little more than at level 1.
I’ll list key levels at which you’ll receive new spells:
Level 6
immediately 2 severe things: "Silence" for one hour, Create poll
Level 8
Funny magic: "Raise your post above others"
Level 9
Highlight comment
So what is this "Silence" for one hour? You gain the ability to feel yourself in power and silence someone who disrupts the happy life of the resource. Simply highlight 100 energy on the spell and click it on the "actions" with the one you dislike. But be aware that high-level characters can easily decline the spell, but in any case, the "silenced" will be notified of who and when slapped this on them. So don’t swing your powers casually, but they occasionally come in handy for calming down. (during silence, you can still chat in PM).
If your victim is under protection - you will know about it too:
Create Poll - is applied during the writing of a post and costs 190 energy. Everything seems simple here.
"Raise your post above others" - is a fun thing. Your post simply moves to the top of the blog (below any pinned post if there is one), as if it was just created. In new posts, it won’t appear, but the chance that a newcomer will read it by browsing the blog sharply increases. It’s usually used to elevate good forgotten posts or when missing just 1-5 upvotes to reach silver/gold and really want to get them.
"Highlight Comment" is cast on a comment according to the tried-and-true scheme; a frame grows around it, and the background brightens slightly - it's likely to be noticed and even upvoted, especially if something meaningful is written inside the frame. (250 energy and the post shoots up)
Once level 10 is reached - the title "Cadet" already adorns your profile. This is where the fun part begins=)
Abilities within this title total just 3 and are closely located - at levels 10 and 11.
Level 10
The ability to "Take Antidote"
Level 11
Immediately 2: Invisible Mode and "Cast Whisper"
"Take Antidote" is a highly useful thing if you decide to criticize someone and think they will silence you for an hour. The antidote is taken not "from" but in advance. It’s cheap and quite mean; however, it does not protect you from a serious silencing - just from the usual one and only if you take the antidote beforehand. (works for 24 hours).
Have you taken the antidote and are ready for fun? Encountered a schoolkid mindlessly yelling in comments? Whisper - professionals recommend. For just 200 energy, you can make the letters flying from the enemy's keyboard tiny! Forever tiny. It only works for an hour, but dozens of years later (if the site doesn’t close) you will see letters as tiny=) Isn’t that wonderful? The downside is that such a comment might go unnoticed/overlooked; the author of the comment will be angry. By the way, whispering anyone is completely anonymous=), if you don’t reveal yourself, no one will guess.
"Invisible Mode" gives you the chance to hide your username and write whatever you want wherever you want, without fearing backlash from the enemy. Actions against you in written comments and posts will be unavailable until the spell's duration ends. This mode lasts 24 hours, after which everything is revealed back. One time, they even held an invisible flash mob; it was fun. If there are several invisibles and someone particularly clever wants to track an invisible by their profile - they are in for a disappointment as posts and comments do not show up in the profile during the spell's action. That is, if you are the only invisible, you can be easily spotted by this feature, but if there are more of you, all one can do is guess=). The invisible has neither their name nor their avatar - life is beautiful. (500 energy and no "cancel" button)
The next title is "Warrior". I would call a warrior rather a skilled mage.
At each level, the warrior receives an ability:
Level 15
"Make silent" for a day
Level 16
"Whisper 2"
Level 17
"Overthrow" and "Highlight Comment 2"
Level 18
"Shield for a day" and "Shield for a week"
"Make silent" for a day - necessary when you need to shut someone up for real and make them think seriously. Acts as 24 ordinary silences, but negates the antidote, costing just 500 energy.
"Whisper 2" - this is no longer quite a whisper. The letters will disappear completely. They will become the background color. Of course, everyone has Ctrl + F (highlight F everything), but not everyone will bother to look to see what is written. 300 energy and 1 hour of action. Quite mean.
"Highlight Comment 2" - for those who want to stand out=). A comment will be nearly impossible to miss, and the upvote button will stand out on it so that one will want to press it. The only thing that prevents constant use of this is the cost of 450 energy. That’s a bit expensive for regular use even at level 20.
"Overthrow" - this is genuinely strong magic. The avatar changes to a sheep, and the text becomes bleating and stays in the comment forever=) However, it only works on comments, costing just 550 energy, but it’s so much fun! Recommended to cast on "schoolchildren" if the opportunity arises.
"Shield" - whether for a day or a week - differs only in the duration and price, the essence is the same. (for a day 100, for a week 900. More expensive, but cast and forgotten). The shield protects against being silenced, as does the antidote, but it can also withstand the developed form of silence - "make silent". Now you can be sure that you won't be silenced. And if anyone tries - you will see a message about "flying" failed magic and can send a retaliatory spell. A small thing, but pleasant.
Levels 19+ are exceedingly high. Even not all in the top 10 have reached them. Consequently, a lot of various titles, but it’s too early to think about them, and by the time it’s "timely" this article will not be relevant. The only spell in this range is "Become Invisible 2". It works like normal invisibility, only you will never, ever be revealed. The comment will remain invisible. Even after a day or a year. 1000 energy, the peak of madness.
Traditions
Enough magic - let's talk about customs. Every site has its special features, traditions, and so on. Now I will try to list everything I know.
It is not customary to offend newbies lightly, but if a person takes up the task of writing a post, and it turns out to be a junk - it is usually beneficial to point them to good posts (editor’s choice) and hint that they should write better - but this is obvious.
Everyone knows the administration, but no one will write to any help about them - why are admins worse than the rest - they also want to communicate and have fun=)
Posts are written either from scratch (and dressed up with screenshots, photos, and art), or with a link to a source if they see something really worthwhile and cannot add or subtract anything.
The "about everything" section has periodic issues (weekly posts, usually high quality), voting, and contests.
TF2 lovers almost every evening play together on a good server (gathering in the chat of the official group), while those who simply wish to chat gather in IRC (they meet in this post on a specially created channel). (
Before writing a post, people search and if they find a post about the same thing - they do not write, and if they think they can write much better - they contact the blog’s viceroy in PM.
There are special personalities on the resource. megadestroyer95 - an example for all descendants. Surely received a permanent ban=) He was a viceroy of the stalker for a long time. bakladjan - the one who constantly gets banned and returns - we already love him, even though almost every one of his comments is a reason for a ban.
The rest do not get banned easily and behave culturedly... and the rules hang on every page at the bottom=)
If you really want to receive a medal immediately after publishing the post - do not write during weekends when there are no people=). Though it’s also not customary to be greedy for medals. (In general, for these purposes, we have a special altar where they bring gold and slaves in hopes of getting a medal)
Also, we try to conduct a contest for the best blog every month, for example this month - I would be very glad if everyone voted there.
Epilogue
In any case, do not forget that the Evil Martians are not so evil as they seem at first (they are much more evil), and they are also quite hardened. The administration are good people who, like everyone else, love to have fun, and in general, they are people, not cyborgs=).
And the resource is quite interesting and engaging. It has a unique charm and that’s great. If, by some strange coincidence, you have read this post of mine and have not been to the resource before - visit the main page, read the recommended posts, stroll through the top blogs. You will like it.
P.S. Thanks [Magistrum](/@Magistrum) for [both](http://www.gamer.ru/games/847-voprosyi-i-pozhelaniya-k-gamer-ru/posts/13225) [posts](http://www.gamer.ru/games/847-voprosyi-i-pozhelaniya-k-gamer-ru/posts/11266)