Important! You must be level 5 or higher to create a topic.

UPDATE: With the subscription changes in the past week, the Ask GameSpot forum is now open to free registrants level 5 and up.

Welcome to the Ask GameSpot! forum, where GameSpot members level 5 and up can ask a question to our editors and video producers!

When posting, please observe the following guidelines:

Suitable Topics for this forum:

1.1) WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS GET ASKED HERE?

Please feel free to ask questions about video games, computer games, technologoy and GameSpot's coverage of them. We also welcome discussions about any features and video content we publish! There are also plenty of interesting and thought-provoking topics that are pertinent to games--including sweeping social issues like legislation against games with "mature" content, why women don't seem to like games as much as men--and fun topics, like the most memorable characters or stories in games, hilarious TV commercials for computer and video games, and so on. If you want to ask us about other things involving our personal gaming preferences, or hardware selections, those may be thought provoking for our Editors and Video Producers.

1.2) WHEN WILL THE REVIEW OF THIS GAME BE UP?

While we understand that your favorite game may have not been reviewed, we often have a reason why it hasn't been published. When you inquiry about such topics know that we often publish reviews "as close to the retail shipping date as possible." While we try our best to get reviews up on the same day a game is released, there are some times that we can't always do so. Yes, it's important for us to get a review up quickly, but it's also important to have an accurate review that covers all the bases (rather than risk posting a review that is incomplete or inaccurate because not enough time was spent on it). If a game has been released and you still don't see a review on GameSpot, chances are, we're probably already reviewing it and will post the review soon.

1.3) CAN I ASK ABOUT STUFF THAT ISN'T GAMES, OR GAMESPOT CONTENT?

Please refrain from asking editors personal questions although we don't mind general questions about pop culture. Topics about television shows, films, technology and other related content is fine as long as we're not seeing too many topics that take away from what we specialize in

Topics that do not belong in this forum:

2.1) HOW DO I SUBMIT FEEDBACK ABOUT GAMESPOT'S SITE REBUILD?

First note that we are rebuilding the site but it takes a while for any site to start from the ground up. We're always looking for your feedback to build a better site and community. Please feel free to post your suggestions in the Site Enhancements & Feedback forum.

2.2) HELP! I'M HAVING PROBLEMS WITH MY LOGIN / FORUM / BROWSER!

Sorry, this is not a technical support forum. Please post any problems involving the site in our Technical Support forum.

2.3) PROBLEMS WITH MY SUBSCRIPTION ACCOUNT / BETA SIGNUPS / STORE ORDERS

Sorry, this is not acustomer serviceforum. None of our editors know how to fix problems involving the beta nor do they have access to figure out your problem a subscription. However, we do have people on standby dedicated to assisting with this area. Visit www.gamespot.com/support for details.

2.4) WHY IS GAMESPOT EXCLUDING ME FROM ITS CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS?

You are not being "excluded" because you don't live in the US. There are laws and regulations for contests and promotions in every country, and in many cases, they're different between the U.S. and other countries not in the US. In many cases, differing laws prevent companies that offer contests from offering them to people who live in different areas with different laws. Also, many of GameSpot's contests and promotions are offered by external companies who make their own rules about their own contests--since those are their contests, it's their rules. Take a look this linkfor more information.

2.5) WHAT ARE PROFILE LEVELS, AND HOW DO I INCREASE MY LEVEL?

Levels are a fun little extra that increase over time as you use GameSpot. Your level increases the more you use the site and GameSpot. To find out what kinds of things boost your level, drop by our updated profile levels article.

2.6) HELP! MY GAME / COMPUTER / CONSOLE DOESN'T WORK!

Sorry, this is not a game help forum. We can't provide technical support for your the games or hardware. Please contact the manufacturer of your products if you need help.

2.7) HELP! HOW DO I CHANGE MY EMAIL OR GET MY .SIGNATURE TO WORK?

These types of questions are better suited for the How to GameSpot forum.

Other questions

3.1) WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION?

Please be advised that editors can't always immediately answer your questions, for a number of reasons--sometimes we don't have the answer immediately, and every so often, some of us may be caught up putting together reviews, previews, news coverage, and those amazing videos from the GameSpot Live group. If we don't answer your question immediately, it doesn't mean that we're ignoring you or purposely trying to spite you, so please don't take it personally.

3.2) WHY DID YOU LOCK MY THREAD?

Please be advised that once an editor has answered a question, he or she will likely lock the thread. This is done to indicate that the question has been answered by an editor, so that an editor's name appears in the "last response" field under each thread. Fun fact: we didn't originally lock threads after answering them originally, but people would keep posting replies afterwards, so that no editors' names would ever appear in the "last response" field. Because of this, it looked likeGameSpot's editors never replied to any questions at all! And we know that's just plain nutty.

3.3) I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SPECIFIC REVIEW OR GAMESPOT'S REVIEW POLICY.

For questions pertaining to GameSpot's review policy and scoring, please read our rating system explanation.

3.4) CAN I BE A DISRESPECTFUL JERK?

Like with all other forums, you are expected to be civil to and respectful of your fellow posters. Be advised that any and all threads that are disrepectful, rude, or violate the community policies, or are otherwise deemed inappropriate, may be immediately locked or deleted.

3.5) CAN I POST A WHOLE BUNCH OF QUESTIONS?

Please ask only one question per day in Ask GameSpot to allow other users to get their two cents in.

3.6) I WANT TO BE A MODERATOR, RANGER, or JUSTICAR!

This is not a forum for you to ask about such a role. Each type of volunteer role has a different method in how you can get involved. Please ask your questions about these roles in the How to GameSpot forum.

Happy posting!