For the past few months, you might have noticed more and more behind-the-scenes protocols about how the moderators and admins deal with abuse on GameSpot. The latest open moderation discussion allows you to be aware of the kinds of things that need our attention and the kinds of things that probably don’t need to be reported. To help us be much more efficient about moderating stuff that actually matters, please consider the latest open moderation discussion tips about what kinds of things need to be reported.

For this discussion, I asked the mods if they could contribute to a list of topics for future open moderation discussions, and chicknfeet was eager to take this on without asking for anyone's help! Let me share who chicknfeet is for those of you who don’t know. chicknfeet registered his account on GameSpot in 2004, and just three years later, he was invited to be a volunteer moderator. chicknfeet is known for his amazing assistance in the How to GameSpot forum. Not only has he contributed to the How to Use the Website Guides, he also oversees the GameSpot Rangers and helps new registrants on where to go! You can also find him gangsta fresh and supafly with all his homies representing in Off-Topic, General Games Discussion, Site Enhancements forum, and other areas on the site.

So, here’s what you’ll find in the latest discussion:

- News and Feature Comments are treated much differently from other areas of the site. Find out why we use a chat-room approach with fast-moving comments!

- Blogs are kind of treated as a personal space. People have insider jokes or friendships that nobody knows about, so why should we as mods or members make assumptions?

- Unions often have us heavily rely on the leader or officers, so make sure you know the union’s board rules first. But if it's severe abuse, we should know about it.

- Main boards tend to have more traffic, but each of them often have their own rule set. Find out how we moderate these areas more aggressively and what kinds of things should be reported.

- Old violations are often overlooked, so make sure that the abuse is severe because if it’s too old, it makes no sense for us to moderate a user for old content that didn’t get noticed until now.

Drop by the open moderation discussion to view some examples and more information about what kinds of things should be reported. Thanks again to chicknfeet for taking a moment to write this for everyone!

The Battlefield Play4Free Beta key giveaway is under way, and GameSpot is the only place to pick up a beta key. Make sure you're the first to play this exclusive beta while supplies last. Due to publisher rules, this beta offer is available only to GameSpot members who reside in North America, Europe, or Australia.

This week, we have even more beta keys to give away for Darkspore, and Dragon Age Legends beta keys are just around the corner!

The Darkspore beta keys are for every GameSpot registrant around the world (or so we've been told). No need to worry about the schedule now; we've opened the gates with the remainder keys so you can get a key until we run out, which I am assuming will be in the next day or two (we have that many!).

Also, grab a beta key for Dragon Age Legends! For more information about this browser-based game, drop by to read the news.

A few weeks ago you had a chance to find out why GameSpot moderates content on the site. The latest open moderation discussion gives you the opportunity to discover what happens behind the scenes when GameSpot staff and moderators stumble upon abuse. Find out how we take into consideration who the user is to GameSpot. We also have a way for you to do your own moderation checkup. This moderation checkup activity will give you a chance to encounter what staff and mods have to go through on a daily basis. You can also share your feedback about the process we use in the discussion! We hope you can take a moment to delve into the minds of staff and mods!

Our navigation menu has been updated with the 3DS tab--replacing the PS2 tab. While most of us will miss the PS2 tab, there are numerous titles coming out for the 3DS and now is the best time to surface what you've all been asking for: more 3DS! In light of these changes, we have also changed the Nintendo DS forum name to Nintendo DS/3DS forum until further notice. Carry on your 3DS discussions or simply rummage through the new 3DS Hub for the latest news!

Now that the Union Awards nominations are over, it's time for all of you to contribute in voting for each category. There are no excuses! If you are a part of GameSpot, you should be able to visit these unions and make a judgment about who deserves your votes. And, if you think a union deserves your membership, join up!

GameSpot is offering some contribution points toward your GameSpot profiles, but you'll want to make sure you follow the instructions outlined in the Union Awards 2010 voting announcement to be eligible. Check out the lineup this year!

Union of the Year 2010 - 2011
- The Jedi Council
- All-Out Nintendo Union
- Gotei 13
- The Emblems Union (Achievements)
- The Elite Gamers Of OT
- Mass Designers Lounge
- PS3FC: The PlayStation 3 Fan Club

Best Visual Union
- Mass Designers Lounge
- The Jedi Council
- Ultim@te G@ming Uni0n
- Hierarchy of Open World Gamers
- Gamespot Gamespace Banner Union

Best OT/Discussion Union
- The Jedi Council
- The Elite Gamers Of OT
- The Guide and Discussion Union
- All-Out Nintendo Union
- The Toonami Union

Best Special Interest Union
- Gotei 13
- The Jedi Council
- Mass Designers Lounge
- The Naruto Union
- The Communist Union

Best New Union
- The Non On-Topic Union
- The Union of 2011
- The Anime/Manga Squad
- Hierarchy of Open World Gamers
- Dont Believe the Hype
- The Communist Union

Best Community Assistance Union
- The Emblems Union (GS Achievements)
- The Jedi Council
- Gotei 13
- WWE & Off-Topic Union
- Music Is Life Union

Best General Console Game Union
- Ultim@te G@ming Uni0n
- All-Out Nintendo Union
- The Great Nintendo Gamer Union
- PS3FC: The PlayStation 3 Fan Club
- Xbox 360 Union

Best Game Specific Union
- SonicSpot
- Elder Scrolls Elite
- Mass Effect Universe
- Ratchet and Clank Union
- The Ultimate God of War Union

Most Dedicated Union
- The Jedi Council
- Mass Designers Lounge
- Gotei 13
- GS User Fellowship Union
- All-Out Nintendo Union
-The Communist Union

Most Informative Union
- Ultim@te G@ming Uni0n
- The Communist Union
- The Great Nintendo Gamer Union
- SonicSpot
- The Jedi Council

Most Thriving Union
- The Jedi Council
- All-Out Nintendo Union
- Ultim@te G@ming Uni0n
- Off The Books: Anything and Everything Hip-Hop
- Mass Effect Universe

Best Officer Team
- Gotei 13
- The Jedi Council
- The Toonami Union
- The Emblems Union (GS Achievements)
- Mass Effect Universe

Leader of the Year 2010-2011
- Cloud_765
- fastesttruck
- Nightmare-_-
- Uas-2001
- bak123456789
- ktulu

Union Awards have made a return! Numerous members have already nominated their favorite unions, and this phase will be ending soon. You should nominate your favorite unions to make a difference!

If you think a union has what it takes to be recognized, hop over to the Union Awards page to share your nominations for each category. Although this activity is not being hosted by GameSpot staff, we have plans to throw in some profile points and union levels for this exciting activity!

Please note that this is only the nomination phase, and once there is a list of unions gathered, there will be a couple of voting phases.

To get started, drop by the Union Awards announcement to check out what kinds of categories are being considered this year.

In celebration of this special activity, please add a Union Awards signature with a link to the union that is hosting this activity, because they will be updating the front page with the latest news. Please note that the Social Cafe union is not eligible for any nominations because they are organizing this activity. Happy union hunting!

The GameSpotter of 2010 is a person with his or her eye on the future. Have you read a really great suggestion about improving the site in the past year? Heck! Did you even post that suggestion? Posts from our blogs and site-enhancement forum are gold mines for innovative ideas for making GameSpot an even better destination for gamers everywhere!

Here’s your chance to champion one idea that was suggested in 2010.

Step 1) Take a look at the site-enhancements forum or someone's former blog post and choose your favorite suggestion.

Step 2) Send an e-mail to community staff with a link to the suggestion and tell us in 300 words or fewer why this idea is so brilliant that we should adopt it right away.

Step 3) Sit back and have some hot cocoa as our staff reviews your submissions and selects one tear-inducing endorsement that blows us away and causes us to rethink reality on the site as we know it.

Step 4) Cheer for the lucky winner of the GameSpotter of 2010 ultimate gaming pack--full to the brim with a cornucopia of gaming-related schwag and a special emblem on his or her profile. Don’t worry; we’ll also give some profile points to the person who came up with the original idea, even if it’s you!

Step 5) Head immediately to your blog and brag about your coronation as GameSpotter of 2010 and receive of a whole lot of gaming schwag!

Criteria:

- Original suggestion must have been posted on the site between 12:01 a.m. PT on January 1, 2010, and 11:59 p.m. PT on December 31, 2010.

- Brevity is key to championing an idea. Any e-mail submissions longer than 300 words will cause us to pass out on our delete key and lose your entry. The original suggestion (forum discussion/blog) you link to can be any length.

- Entries must include your GameSpot username, mailing address (we’re not going to stalk you; we just don’t want to lose the schwag). We don’t care where you live; all earth-based GameSpot members may participate.

- Only one entry per user. Yes, even if you have schizophrenia.

- Do not share your ideas in your blog because it may put your entry at a disadvantage if another ninja tries to steal your endorsement (some gamers can be shifty people).

- Your entry might be displayed publicly (Would your mother be proud of this entry?). Be sure to spell check and check for grammatical errors.

- Entry must be received by January 17 at 10 a.m. PT.

Tips for aspiring GameSpotters of 2010:

1) An op-ed format is encouraged, but it's not required. We want you to really think about your endorsement and share every possible angle about why it will improve you and other GameSpot members’ experience on the site.

2) As you are writing, ask yourself: Why do I think this idea will greatly enhance my experience on the site?

Questions? Issues? Concerns? Moral objections! Ask in the competition forum.

Last week, we announced an ornament hunt in celebration of the holidays. By now, you should see a variety of GameSpot staff profiles updated with a blog about what we plan to do during the holidays.

We’d like you to gather a list of the 38 blogs with the large-sized ornaments and share them in your blog. Drop by the clues and hints page and check out these tips about how to get started, or you can simply ask questions.

You can start sharing your ornament lists now to get others to help you out. Once you have the full ornament list complete, e-mail your blog URL to the community email. In return, you'll receive a festive ornament and 50,000 GameSpot profile points for the effort.

The good news if you already track GameSpot staff, you’ll receive a free clue for your ornament scavenger list, which can be shared with other GameSpot members!

This activity will run from December 20 to December 31. Please submit your blog URL with a list of 38 GameSpot staff usernames (or the URLs of the staff profiles) by December 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT. We’ll grant the GameSpot profile points and the achievement once we return from the holidays.