Lost and PCGameMods.com

So now I have Lost Season One on DVD. It’s awesome. I had recordings of the episodes, but the DVD version is just sooooo much better. The sophomore year of Lost is about to start, and from what I’ve read and heard, the stories become more mission based for the next season. This boils down to predictability, which may hurt the charm and allure of such a series. I hold my breath, as will Msrs Lindelhoff and Abrams.

As some of you are aware, I write a little tool that helps good people create animations for a video game. Why? I should say that I’ve learned a lot in the process, but the words of praise from my users who encourage these actions, and it’s overall fun.

I should also say, that it’s a lot better for my sanity than trying to make a video game ‘mod’, as many other people have succesfully done. Why? Because my target users are creators, and not the destructive type who like to rip on a mod’s gameplay suggestions, and rip on ideas, and people in general.

To date, my creation is in beta, and I have only released it to one site, ever. Yesterday, the site was taken down, and redirected to a site that asks the user to guess which movie a displayed screencap is from. People got mad and furious. People felt invested in the site.

Let’s backtrack. The site, PCGameMods.com, has an infestation of trolls. Lots of them. So many, that the site’s proprietor, a nice chap named Sergio, has decided that the site needs an upgrade. In the upgrade, as far as I understand, the new site will not feature a feedback mechanism, or forums. So he took it down (rather, redirected it to another site of his,) to facilitate his upgrade.

So his trolls, feeling that they have some sense of investment and ownership in this site, decide to innundate his mailbox with hate mail and spam – even deaththreats. You can see some examples on a placeholder page Sergio has put up.

While I don’t know about removing the forums and feedback, and at this point, I wouldn’t blame him if he doesn’t put anything up, it should serve as a grim reminder to you all what happens if you don’t ignore the trolls. What should be done? What can be done? As a website’s proprietor, you want visitors. But … what if your visitors are a bunch of jokers?