Morning Discussion

FCUK 63--that's me. For the next few years, my foremost expression of myself will be good old FCUK 63. Though I might only need you so I can see, by being slapped on my face you are essentially a constant fashion accessory so let's make the most of it.

Sipping tea at 5 o'clock on the dot with the Women's Institute, your sensible design will please elder conservatives while your flash of colour will thrill progressives. When you get lost during tomfoolery down the pub with the Long Island Iced Tea Ladies Society, even in that state I'll be able to spot you and remember we belong together. Stumbling to the front door in the middle of the night to find a police constable telling me they're very sorry but there's been an accident, there you'll be right there with me FCUK 63, hanging lop-sided across my face from one ear with a bright streak to lighten the mood.

You and me, FCUK 63. I think we're going to get on just fine.

From The Chatty
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    December 9, 2009 6:11 AM

    when'd we get the gamefly media top bar?

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      December 9, 2009 6:11 AM

      I noticed it last night.

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      December 9, 2009 6:11 AM

      when they decided to create synergies and shift paradigms

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        December 9, 2009 6:13 AM

        somebody who plays wow needs to create the guild <Synergies and Paradigms>

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      December 9, 2009 6:12 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 9, 2009 6:12 AM

      Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

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      December 9, 2009 6:13 AM

      [deleted]

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        December 9, 2009 6:14 AM

        When the end does come, i hope phil has minutes left to post a final FFFUUUUU comic before we all die.

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          December 9, 2009 7:39 AM

          You assholes had better mirror it for me! If I get another SonicWall block of the final FINAL end-of-the-world Rage Guy comic by Phil due to his site being labeled "Occult" (wha...?), I'll be doing my own real-world FFFFFUUUUUU--

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        December 9, 2009 6:15 AM

        It starts with an earthquake.

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      December 9, 2009 6:14 AM

      Wait till you look behind your left ear.

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      December 9, 2009 6:16 AM

      [deleted]

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        December 9, 2009 12:04 PM

        T-Wet! I like that! Just needs more... wet Ts?

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      December 9, 2009 6:20 AM

      Cause that's all we need are links to sites we won't use and even if we did we use fucking bookmarks like a normal person.

      I vote to take it off, and stop piling shit on the shack.

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        December 9, 2009 6:23 AM

        I agree. Scrolling a centimeter is for bitches. B I C T H E S S

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          December 9, 2009 6:29 AM

          [deleted]

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            December 9, 2009 6:30 AM

            [deleted]

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            December 9, 2009 6:31 AM

            [deleted]

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            December 9, 2009 6:31 AM

            I know I do.

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            December 9, 2009 6:31 AM

            [deleted]

            • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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              December 9, 2009 6:49 AM

              A cluttered interface is a problem, not so much for regulars who are just scrolling down to the comments anyway but rather for new visitors who are turned away from the site because of what a mess it is.

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              December 9, 2009 6:59 AM

              Irrespective of who makes the changes clutter is an eyesore. When the new shack layout was first revealed, it was slick. Slowly (and before the Shack was ever sold off) it started deteriorating with more craptacular additions. So in line with those, this makes sense, I guess. It's ugly though. Definitely ugly. That's not going to stop me from coming here.

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            December 9, 2009 6:33 AM

            Every discussion on the Shack ends up invoking the slippery slope argument, doesn't it?

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            December 9, 2009 6:35 AM

            A rose is a rose, and this is a centimeter that you can (and will, if you're posting at all) scroll past.

            If they were going to do horrible things, this isn't even on the horrible radar. Also, I don't know what else you're referencing me defending, the only thing I can think of is ads, to those I said they're unfortunate but should improve. Malware bothers me. Things you have to click through...? I think they should make a cheaper mercury available.

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            December 9, 2009 6:41 AM

            I think you have a completely illegitimate stance. This site is owned by a company trying to make money. Kind of how you try and make money every day. They are trying to drive traffic to their other sites. Nothing wrong with that. Their other sites suck balls. But that is beside the point. They have an obligation to make money and apparently cheating sites draw traffic which can turn into ad revenue.

            Do I find it annoying? Yes. Will I ever click one of those links? 99.9% certain I will not. But I don't care, this website is free and it hasn't annoyed me enough to take my "business", whatever that may be, elsewhere.

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              December 9, 2009 6:42 AM

              The problem is their shitty sites are linked here. Every front page article is like boomer bile was thrown at it.

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              December 9, 2009 6:49 AM

              [deleted]

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                December 9, 2009 6:52 AM

                [deleted]

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                December 9, 2009 6:54 AM

                We're just trying to assure whoever might overhear the crazed ramblings that they are just that.

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                  December 9, 2009 6:56 AM

                  [deleted]

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                    December 9, 2009 6:57 AM

                    Foxnews tea parties will work?

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                    December 9, 2009 6:58 AM

                    There really isn't cause to complain yet. You fuckers are gonna ruin it if the time ever comes where they do something that actually warrants it. So just sit the fuck back and ignore it.

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                      December 9, 2009 7:04 AM

                      [deleted]

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                        December 9, 2009 7:09 AM

                        I honestly think that if it was actually intrusive in anyway, shape, or form, even the Great Defender geedecktm would be against it. But it isn't, it's a centimeter of space that's BARELY noticeable and doesn't even require you to look at it for more than a second.

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                        December 9, 2009 7:09 AM

                        I believe this has already been disproven by the ad fiascos.

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                    December 9, 2009 6:59 AM

                    Oh, I'm not afraid of legitimate complaints being taken seriously, assuming they are presented in a polite manner and from a rational perspective

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                    December 9, 2009 7:00 AM

                    [deleted]

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                    December 9, 2009 7:02 AM

                    The solution is to obviously go create your own version of the shack. That way, the rest of us will get our lost centimeter of scrolling back when we don't have to read your whining.

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                December 9, 2009 6:57 AM

                That isn't the arguement at all. The arguement is, it's free, and even if it wasn't, go take your business elsewhere if it's THAT bad.

                You can complain about free things, but it makes you sound like a douche when you never stopped to think that there are more things to consider than your extremely low threshold for annoyance.

                Gamefly needs to make money. They bought this site, not to cater to YOU, but to help generate business. If you consider that, and get past the stupid shit that most gamers are willing to view and pay for, it really isn't that bad. Get over it. I can't believe I'm even wasting the 60 seconds to type this to try and make you get over it, because you probably won't and continue to lead a life where you are annoyed by anything and everything.

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                  December 9, 2009 7:03 AM

                  [deleted]

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                    December 9, 2009 7:08 AM

                    [deleted]

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                    December 9, 2009 7:14 AM

                    No I'm not missing the point. It doesn't matter if it annoys enough people. I'm reminded of the fight club quote about recalls.

                    Look, if it drives traffic to their other sites and they increase subscriptions or ad revenue, they win. It doesn't matter if you've been annoyed by it, or 100 people have been annoyed by it. Becuase you aren't yet annoyed enough to stop coming here.

                    One thing you need to know about a being a customer or a consumer is that your feedback, when in the form of whining, is trash next to cold hard data. Sorry, but dems da breaks.

                    This anecdotal thread will not give them any information about how many people they are warding off, and it will most certainly NOT give them any traffic data about who is going to the sites. They will collect that data and make decisions then. Oh hey, we've seen a dip in traffic, why? Oh yea, we're annoying. I predict the odds of that happening at about .00000001%

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                      December 9, 2009 7:18 AM

                      [deleted]

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                        December 9, 2009 7:22 AM

                        When compared to anecdotal complaining? Sure.

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                      December 9, 2009 7:31 AM

                      All true, but brand quality and image dilution are important factors to consider in the pursuit of ever increasing revenue and there is a particular brand history present with shacknews. When Ve3d got rolled into the IGN cloud I stopped holding it in high regard and consequently stopped visiting. I'm not sure what the general consensus is on its current status and how that has affected their ability to market their affiliate sites and services. I would be inclined to say they were negatively affected but the fact that it's still around might be evidence to the contrary.

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                        December 9, 2009 7:38 AM

                        A very good point. The problem is, gamers that might care about the shack's brand image are no longer the target audience. The type of gamer who posts in the front page article is the demographic they want. They are more easily parted with their money for stupid things like cheats and gamer grub and whatever other bullshit.

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                    December 9, 2009 7:36 AM

                    [deleted]

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            December 9, 2009 6:43 AM

            We aren't there yet

            what exactly is there?

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            December 9, 2009 6:43 AM

            Also, winchatty. Unless gamefly starts blocking the API that feeds the iphone app and winchatty, everyone should probably stfu.

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            December 9, 2009 7:37 AM

            I don't know why it shouldn't be there. I mean, Gamefly owns the site now. Leaving the front page untouched doesn't do anything for their brand.

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              December 9, 2009 7:41 AM

              I'm suprised that they didn't do it on day one. There probably would have been less bitching about it (the media bar, not the acquisition.)

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          December 9, 2009 6:33 AM

          It's starting to add up.

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          December 9, 2009 7:03 AM

          [deleted]

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        December 9, 2009 6:23 AM

        [deleted]

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          December 9, 2009 6:24 AM

          I don't think there are enough cheat sites. Maybe we could go up to six or seven?

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        December 9, 2009 6:25 AM

        I vote we take something else off, and stop piling shit on the shack.

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        December 9, 2009 6:25 AM

        all they are doing is making me use WinChatty more and more, that and http://www.shacknews.com/mobile/iphone.x

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        December 9, 2009 6:30 AM

        [deleted]

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          December 9, 2009 6:34 AM

          *Rage Against the Machine starts to play*

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        December 9, 2009 6:34 AM

        I vote we take you off and stop piling shit into our chatty.

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          December 9, 2009 12:14 PM

          I didn't know that I was part of the problem.

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        December 9, 2009 7:13 AM

        [deleted]

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      December 9, 2009 6:23 AM

      last night.

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      December 9, 2009 6:28 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 9, 2009 6:46 AM

      if you press idkfa it removes all the cheat sites from it

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      December 9, 2009 6:56 AM

      When comments lost indexing.

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      December 9, 2009 7:02 AM

      corporate faggotry!!!

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      December 9, 2009 7:18 AM

      haiku:

      Since I know you've got an Idea Folder for ShackTV2, I request "1em Of Fire," a parody of the end of Chariots Of Fire. Music to scrolling past 10-12px of a menu bar. It can be a thing.

      Love,
      Deathlove (the blond one)

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      December 9, 2009 7:29 AM

      Oh, nice, they took the glaring red font away. Almost didn't notice the bar was there.

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      December 9, 2009 7:31 AM

      Didn't you guys install the script from last night? No media bar on mine ha

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      December 9, 2009 7:36 AM

      oh nooooo, a link bar on the top of a website ran by a company trying to make money! BLASPHEMY!!!!

      but wait, we were here first so we are entitled to bitch about it and demand that they take it down!

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        December 9, 2009 9:45 AM

        if this is directed at me, all i did was ask a question.

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          December 9, 2009 9:51 AM

          I dont think it was directed at you, it's just that a lot of people have been getting sandy vaginas over it.

          I can understand being upset over the roll-over ads and audio ads, but they did acknowledge the problem and will fix it whenever the contracts permit. With the bar, it seems like they are just trying to advertise their brands a bit more. Same thing is on Gamefly's site as well. I think it looks OK and is pretty unobtrusive.

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          December 9, 2009 10:25 AM

          its not

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      December 9, 2009 7:45 AM

      no one should care about this - it's fucking insane to be bothered by it. it doesn't travel with your scrolls. it's tiny. the links are un-obtrusive. the colors are appropriate.

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        December 9, 2009 7:48 AM

        [deleted]

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        December 9, 2009 8:00 AM

        In general, I agree - although I do remember reading many things back when the purchase was made about how "The Shack wouldn't change" or somesuch nonsense. These sorts of things (in particular the nasty, obtrusive, sometimes trojan-laden ads, not so much the minor visual changes like this) are contrary to that, and I can see how they'd make some folks upset.

        Of course, using any of a few different FF addons (I won't name them, as it's considered somewhat taboo to do so, but it should be obvious), it's possible to get rid of most of the annoyance on your own. I believe someone even posted a userscript at one point. If it bothers anyone that much, it's certainly within anyone's power to remove 99% of the annoyance.

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          December 9, 2009 8:02 AM

          really, it hasn't changed though. it's gotten slightly more professional. they have better news coverage. and they've added some links at the top of the page.

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          December 9, 2009 8:04 AM

          If they were a bit more involved in handling the ad rotation, rollovers and intrusive ads wouldnt be a problem.

          We are talking about a minor addition here. So minor that its not really a change. it has no affect on how you use this website, or how content is presented to you.

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            December 9, 2009 8:12 AM

            I realize that they are locked into a contract, but seriously there is little excuse for that. Contracts that serve code to your page should come with constraints on what kinds of things you can push to the browser. Trojans should definitely be some kind of breech of contract. I'm guessing it is more trouble than it is worth to fight it, but still.

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          December 9, 2009 8:41 AM

          [deleted]

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          December 9, 2009 9:15 AM

          Really? Seriously? A little navigation bar at the top of the site changes anything about the community or site content? I believe that what they meant when they said that they wouldn't change things was that they didn't intend to change the focus of the site or the community. Suggesting that they can't change the layout of the site at all is ludicrous.

          I understand the ads suck, but there are a few options to get rid of them.

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        December 9, 2009 9:53 AM

        I agree, Sir Dolemite

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      December 9, 2009 8:56 AM

      I made a couple greasemonkey scripts to "fix" it:

      http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/63803 Make the topbar awesome
      http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/63809 Make the topbar so awesome you'll wish you hadn't

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        December 9, 2009 9:02 AM

        Too awesome script did absolutely nothing.

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        December 9, 2009 9:36 AM

        I will try this out. Too bad its not for chrome.

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      December 9, 2009 9:51 AM

      the current version as of this posting blends in much better than the last one I saw did. I don't like it, but at least it seems to fit now

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      December 9, 2009 9:53 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 9, 2009 9:54 AM

      Fuck that, when did we get the [ lol ] page top bar? :O

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      December 9, 2009 10:00 AM

      It will help us get chicks.

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      December 9, 2009 10:19 AM

      I can't believe this is even a point of discussion.

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      December 9, 2009 10:22 AM


      why can't I click on the gamefly media image

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      December 9, 2009 12:15 PM

      It would be better without the red bar.

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      December 9, 2009 12:41 PM

      Adblock that ridiculousness: shacknews.com##div#gfm_top_bar -- Add it to the Adblock rules

      I'm assuming its ok to discuss Adblock since we've been previously shit on by numerous roll over adds and such. Also I would give credit to the original poster regarding this lovely find but I'm not sure he wants it. His name rhymes with thomw.

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        December 9, 2009 1:40 PM

        No we can't discuss adblock, I *think* we can discuss noscript as a security measure as it still lets non-intrusive ads through.

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