So, blogs...

I didn't really know where to post this because it's not a bug, and it's not a comic topic, but it is a feature request and/or inquiry. So sorry if this is wrong.

Anyhow, as there seems to be no indication that the social features I used to rely on are ever coming back in a meaningful way, I did want to ask if there's anything in the works (or already extant, and I just missed it) for specifically looking at blogs. Like, just blogs -- not threads, not reviews, but blogs (even though some blogs are reviews, and some are tied to forums). Used to be we at least had a list on our pages of recent blogs from people we're following but that's gone now, so short of actually going to each person's page and visiting their blog section, is there any way to see blogs?

And if not, will there be?

And if not, why?

@akbogert: you can semi do this via the activity feed, it isn't working right now but if you go to Users>Activity Feed and then filter by blog posts it will show recent blogs and you can further filter it by users you follow, since it isn't working right now though I'm not sure how many items it shows and it is only one page worth of the most recent.

@pikahyper: "It isn't working right now" indeed... Even before filtering by type, when I select "Users you follow" I have a blank page. I'm assuming filtering in general just isn't working, and "users you follow" is simply another filter (which is why it shows a blank page, just like any category of activity).

So I guess this prompts two questions.

1. Any idea when the activity feed as it is will actually work?

2. Why only one page of recent? Why not be able to go through archives?

@akbogert: I have no idea, fixing stuff is going to be a long process so I dunno where that system will fall in to the timeline.

@pikahyper: Well thank you for the replies, for sure.

I remain a little dumbfounded by just how many problems there are with this design...all of this is the sort of thing which a beta is for. This all feels like it was exceedingly rushed, and we're living the beta out instead of having a polished, functioning site.

I don't mean to sound too cantankerous but legitimately almost every feature I've tried to use since the redesign has at some point failed me where it worked flawlessly and reasonably before.

@akbogert: this site is built from scratch with an entirely new team of engineers, it's to be expected.

@pikahyper: Well, unless there was an external reason for the rush (in other words, unless they had to change the site design by a certain point), I see no reason why the beta isn't still ongoing and working out these kinks independently of a "real/live" site. No matter what the product or service, consumer-end releases should never be this error-ridden. And considering there are paying members of the site, it can't even be argued "it's free, so people can't complain."

As I've said before, I was actually really loving what CV offered prior to the redesign and had plans to become a paid member, but it looks like it's going to be a very long time before those sentiments are back to what they were for me.

@akbogert: they had to change, CV/GB no longer own the old platform, they could continue using the old one for only so long. A long term beta also wasn't possible.

@pikahyper: Well, that possibility was of course why I brought it up. But I don't remember that having actually been explicitly stated -- I knew the change was coming (and that it came) but the logistics weren't ever really spelled out, and they would have made questions like this a lot less necessary. Obviously I'm not going to whine about things which were unavoidable; but the fact that they were unavoidable is news to me.

@akbogert: well it was originally stated that the other company bought the platform along with three of the sites so common sense would say we wouldn't be able to use it any more. Most info came out on GB though which is the main site.

@pikahyper: Well I think it's been rather established that there are a lot of people who exclusively use CV and thus would never see anything on GB. If they actually encouraged cross-pollination they wouldn't make you create separate accounts for the two sites, separate friends lists, etc. -- heck, they even removed the link to GB which used to be on the bottom of the page. So blaming me for not knowing what was on (for all intents and purposes) a completely different site isn't particularly fair.

I joined after the WM split and only know the name WM at all because one person I talked to at some point offhandedly mentioned it. That "common knowledge" isn't necessarily as common as you might think.

@akbogert: ok common knowledge for anyone that was here during the split and read the announcement here on CV and the comments or watched the video interview with Gamespot.

@pikahyper: That split happened over a year ago. It's not exactly current events.

@akbogert: for most people very true