Neoseeker

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Neoseeker
Image:Neoseeker-Logo.png
Screenshot of Neoseeker Home Page
URL http://www.neoseeker.com/
Commercial? Yes
Type of site Gaming / Technology
Registration Optional
Owner Howard Ha
Created by Howard Ha

Neoseeker is a gaming and technology website that was launched on 8 October 1999 by Howard Ha (AKA Redemption). The site is a part of Neo Era Media, Inc. It originally focused on reviewing and listing computer products and software, but has since expanded, becoming well known for its huge variety of gaming forums.

Registered members of the website are encouraged to write reviews, FAQs, guides, and cite external sources for games and products they have used. Doing so helps build Neoseeker's database of articles, which in turn helps the community grow further. Neoseeker features a growing database of books, movies, and files. The website also has over 260,000 members, and 13,000,000 posts.

Contents

[edit] NeoForums

Neoseeker uses custom forum software known as Neoforums. The software is coded and maintained by the site administrators. The site is also able to expand its forum database every day, thanks to the unique contribution system which lets members create forum profiles, for which they are awarded with NeoPoints. As of Saturday, October 21st, 2006, the version of neoforums software is version 0.8.9g. There are forums for every game, book, and movie profile on the site as well as Lounge forums (Loungin', Movies, Television, Music, Sports, and others), Special Interests forums (Books & Literature, Anime, Wrestling, and others) and Site-Related forums, in which members can ask questions about, request changes to be made for, or report bugs occurring on Neoseeker.

Another integral feature of the forums is the ability to place offensive posts in a moderation queue for moderators to review. Members with over 50 posts can also take the offending post completely out of view, visible only to moderators who are alerted that it has been taken out of view..

[edit] Private Message System

Neoseeker allows its members to contact each other very easily using their Private Message System or PMs. A member's inbox can hold up to 2,500 private messages. The limit for moderators is 7,500, while supermoderators and admins have unlimited PM space. The system allows users to easily archive or prune their private messages.

When a user receives a private message, they will see a blinking yellow folder near their my.neoforum controls which, when clicked, will take the user to their NeoPM Inbox.

However, the PMs are not essentially 'private.' Administrators can access a member's PM inbox when necessary. This is only used in extreme cases, meaning that you can expect your PM to be viewed only by yourself and the recipient if you have been following all regulations recently.

[edit] User profiles

For each user there is a user profile that displays information about themself that the user has provided. Anyone can also view a user's last 10 forum posts and see their contributions to the site. If they wish, a user can sign another user's guestbook. As of 17 October, 2006, a participation page was added to the user profile pages to show the last neoportal page a member has edited, the last news articles that have been commented on, and last guestbooks signed.

Each member on Neoseeker is allowed to have their own NeoHome. A member can use limited HTML tags to produce their own mini-website that can be seen from their profile.

[edit] Moderators

[edit] Forum moderators

Some forums are so popular on Neoseeker that they may require a moderator. A moderator is an appointed member that has the ability to lock, edit, or delete threads that they feel should not be in the forum. A moderator can "sticky" certain topics so that they will remain at the top of the forum no matter how many replies the thread may get. A moderator can also set an automatic deletion date for a thread. They also have the ability to ban mischievous members and guests.

Any user on Neoseeker can submit questionable posts to the Moderation Queue. This feature allows moderators to see flagged posts and they can quickly deal with forum clutter.

To become a moderator, a user must submit an application to the Moderator Request System, which is run by a group of members known as Moderator Requests. Moderator Requests will receive applications and decide if that user is fit to be a moderator.

The list of moderators on Neoseeker is very large. Some moderators only have one or two forums to watch over, while some have five or even six to moderate at one time (not including super mods and section mods). Temporary moderators may also be appointed if a forum has a substantial amount of posts per day (PPD), and there is a moderator who is suitable for the position and accepts the offer to moderate it for a limited time.

[edit] Section moderators

Neoseeker has forums for all popular gaming consoles and games. The games are split into different genres (Action and Arcade, Simulation, Sports and Racing, and others) These different genre categories are known as sections. In some cases, a member may be a moderator for a specific section, giving that user moderation powers in all forums of that section.

[edit] Super moderators

There are some members who have moderation powers in all forums. These users can promote other moderators and have abilities beyond that of a standard moderator. Their main duties are to help other members on Neoseeker and to deal with site problems. The current super moderators are:

Previous super moderators include:

[edit] Undercover moderators

Undercover moderators have the same forum permissions as super moderators but do not have their status shown on the forums. Edit notes in messages do not bear their name and they do not hold a moderator title. The identity of undercover moderators are known only to members of the administration.

[edit] Contribution system

Neoseeker members can contribute different types of information for games, movies, and books. They can submit cheats, release dates, resources, screenshots, box scans, and other valuable information to gain NeoPoints. There is currently no use for NeoPoints beyond boasting rights. In order to become a member of NeoCRS, the team that approves contributions, you must be a dedicated contributor and receive a recommendation from current team members. The current NeoCRS members are:

Member Contribution FAQs

Top Contributors

[edit] NeoPortals

NeoPortals are Neoseeker websites devoted entirely to a specific game series or theme. Content is contributed entirely by Neoseeker members. All NeoPortals are hosted as subdomains of the main site and, as of 28th December 2005, can be accessed via the NeoPortal hub.

Individual portals are maintained by portal staff who have the ability to edit and approve contributions. The portal system itself is maintained by a portal moderation team, portal staff members who have editing permissions across the entire network and the ability to request removal of other staff members. The current portal moderation team is made up of Krunal, Vito Raliffe, and teodortenchev. Former members of the team are Deathman48, Doc Bonovitch, and Scarchelli.

[edit] Current NeoPortals

[edit] The Neoseeker servers

Neoseeker runs on eight web servers and one database server. The naming convention for the servers is the Star Trek series. All servers follow this, with some being named after well known entities in the show and some after lesser known things. As of 5/4/2006, the server names were as follows:

Right now, all but Endeavour are being used as web servers. The most powerful web server is Venture, with Epsilon next, followed by Enterprise, Defiant, Nova, and Warpcore; in that order.

The old database server was DS9 (short for Deep Space Nine) but it was retired in November 2004 due to major hardware issues. Thus Endeavour was brought online. Shortly thereafter, Venture.

Information regarding the big server switch that occurred in March 2002 (the addition of Defiant, Nova, Enterprise, and Warpcore) can be read here.

There was also a new server called Pilgrim that was supposed to be the flagship (aka most powerful) server back in late 2004; but shortly after Redemption (Howard Ha) added it into the cluster, it broke down, and was never added back in.

The newest server right now is Epsilon. It was added on April 30th, 2006, the same day as the site owner's birthday.

[edit] Network and Community Projects

[edit] GFXcess

In January 2006, Neoseeker released a new website known as GFXcess. Besides offering tutorials for graphic artists, there is a gallery complete with works from members. Users can comment on each other's work.

[edit] nXchange

nXchange allows members to trade games, DVDs, etc. with each other on an honour system. It also allows members to sell movies and videogames to each other.

[edit] iNdevelopment

This is a new website based out of the Writer's Lounge forum, along the lines of GFXcess but for writing. It is still in early development stages.

[edit] IRC Channel

Neoseeker has its own IRC channel, #Neoseeker, located on the IRCpwnsu network.

[edit] External links

[edit] Neoseeker Network

[edit] Community Network