Has anyone else noticed the drop in standard of the Escapist forums?

[DuplicateValue]

Really? I saw three people this week who got banned.

Only three? Back when I used to post regularly, you'd see more than that in a day.

The mods were really strict then - I don't even know if all the same mods are around anymore...

The only thing I'ved noticed is a drop in grammatical quality and stupid threads by new users. The general quality of the responses by regulars to these thread are of the same quality as they've always been.

The few times I've dropped in for a look, I've noticed this too.

And the smileys... Ugh... I have no problem with a smiley here or there, but there has to be a limit.
The ":3" one in particular makes me angry for some reason.

 

[brodie21]

i havent really noticed anything, but then again i dont click on every single thread i see. i have seen at least 3 people who were banned though, and several on probation. the explanation would be that the escapist is getting more and more people commenting in the forums, but there is still the same amount of moderators.

 

[EchetusXe]

I haven't noticed the three things you refer to. I don't really bother posting these ever since the days when every second thread suddenly became about either Twilight or Justin Bieber.

And for those who weren't around then the threads weren't supportive of either. They usually started "WHY DOES EVERYONE AT MY SCHOOL LIKE TWILIGHT AND/OR JUSTIN BIEBER?? WHY DON'T THEY LIKE GRAPHIC NOVELS LIKE I DO? blah blah fucking blah whine whine whine"

It was an epidemic, before that I guess it was about emos and MCR. But I wasn't around during that particularly internet epidemic.

 

[etherlance]

Unfortunatly No one can stop the occasional person from being a total arse.

Because in places like youtube and even here on the escapist, we have anonymity that drops the barricade to our true selves.

Its like taking an alcoholic to a brewery and telling him:

"Don't worry mate, its all free and it won't harm your health"

While we are free to say what we want, to who ever we want, about what ever we want without needing to worry about any consequences, well you better bring some nose plugs, because the craps hitting the fan.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, as one of the few right wingers who posts non-liberal viewpoints, I'd imagine I'm one of the people being addressed by this. Of course I've been here for quite a long time, my posts aren't some recent trend.

In general there seems to be an attitude among many here that free speech should only apply when you happen to agree with it. Accusations of racism, homophobia, and other forms of "hate speech" are a way of trying to censor the other side.

To be blunt, I'm none to fond of gay men. I've explained why on a few occasions, and there have been some rather epic discussions that pretty much went nowhere. The fact that I am willing to judge cultures based on their actions and values, is also frequently called racist while it's far from it. Although admittedly left wingers have tried to extend the definition (or tried to). As I've explained before, I see no reason to preserve a culture in constant conflict with my own. I frequently point out how we took the Nazis, who were a huge international movement, and wiped them out almost entirely, reducing them to a tiny fringe. If you read up on things like the Volkssturm and American atrocities, we were hardly nice guys, and engaged in all of the behaviors that people have moral rages about nowadays. We also spent decades hunting down Nazi survivors. By the logic a lot of people use, we pretty much should have let the Nazis do whatever they wanted. For the true nerds out there, issues like this are also addressed in various science fiction works, where aliens and such are used so the human equasion can be removed for a situation to be looked at purely in a rational sense. The end result varies with the writer of course, but if you look at things like the "Aliens" franchise, a recurring theme is that there is no reason we should try and preserve something that god awful nasty, even if (according to some of the books) the higher end ones are actually sentinent.

In a practical sense, there is no reason you have to like everyone, or remain silent on the subject. If someone expresses an opinion, there is no reason why the other side shouldn't be able to be expressed as well.

Right now the USA at least is polarized roughly 50-50, despite how many people from the left wing believe they have a substantial majority. Consider that Obama came into office with like a 7 or 8% lead, which is only substantial when you look at the tiny bit that the elections right before his were won by.

Issues like gay rights are major political talking points right now, whether you happen to like it or not. Screaming "Homophobe" and insisting the other side shouldn't be able to say anything against the gay rights movement is kind of ridiculous.

I think the policies here on The Escapist are pretty straightforward, and I think it has a lot to do with how something is said, and how it's defended. I don't think the spirit of the policies is intended to see political censorship.

As far as trolling and flaming goes, I admit I've seen a bit more of it recently than I have in the past of calling The Escapist. While contreversial, I've been able to debate issues here on numerous occasions with things staying polite and fairly respectful. Recently I've run into more and more situations where if someone can't debate the issue or address points they don't like, they start gradually inserting flames into their post. I have yet to report anyone due to my personal beliefs on free speech, but I've come closer to making a report in recent months than I ever have before.

I'm not going to argue any specific points in this thread (that's not what this is about). I'll also say that for the most part I've been staying out of political discussions recently (though I will make comments on politics in response to articles put up by The Escapist itself), but I can't help but still feel like I'm at least one of those being addressed because simply put there aren't all that many people I see routinely being accused of racism or homophobia (as others have pointed out). I've been flamed that way, which is why I'm venturing a guess.

Apologies if this was not intended to include me specifically.

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

DELETED

 

[maddawg IAJI]

You know why there's a lot of dull, repeat threads? Because any point of view not held by the masses is reported until the user is moderated and everyone is too scared to be truthful. Too much moderation=boring forum.

You really can't be serious right? The problem too much moderation? Have you ever thought that maybe we ended up kicking out most of the people who advocated the use of the search bar (No matter how ineffective it was)? Its not a problem with moderators, its a problem with people not knowing what has been done before they post it.

You don't agree with me so I can't be serious? If nothing else, maybe kicking out all the search bar nazis was...TOO MUCH MODERATION? All I know is I have had many conversations with other users that would like to have voiced opinions, but won't because of fear of the banhammer. And no, they were not all racists and/or homophobes.

Not that your point doesn't have merit, but please don't tell me that mine doesn't either.

I've never seen a search bar advocate punished for anything other then low-content posts, the community kicked them out, not the moderators. There isn't a problem with too much moderator action. Just a problem with users who attract far too much moderator action.

At least that's how I see it.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

;~; I miss pimppeter, furburt, hubilub and the bunch though. And they were kicked off due to being banned...

Its funny because none of those guys have been permabanned for breaking the rules.

Pimp 'left' the escapist for (If memory serves me right) the 3-4th time. Furburt created his own forum after a spat with the moderators and Hub banned himself. None of them were banned by mod wrath. Its strange that you claim to like these people and don't even know what happened to them.

On the topic of strict mod policy on forum etiquette,

1) Derailing threads seems like a punishable offense. It always has been on this site.

2) Low-content posts have also always been moderated here.

3) Here's an idea on the "Butthurt" pictures. Don't post them, seriously, they're never really all that funny and they count as low-content and flaming. Context or not, just stop posting them. Is that such a difficult concept?

4) They have a big and I mean BIG banner just hanging from the top of the advice forum saying that it takes a heavier stance on moderation. I personally don't go there because of A) The fact that my advice is probably no good and B)I'd rather avoid it since it is 90% relationship trouble. If you wanna joke around, go make a tumblr account or something. You'll avoid a lot more mod wrath with a different area to vent your silliness and anger elsewhere

 

[catalyst8]

1. Making fun of the French, or Americans is not racism. "American" is not a race, it's a nationality.

I don't see racism, but if white people from one nation hating on white people in another well that's nothing new

I think you have confused racism with jingoism.

The nationality bashing thing happens a lot though, but the racism and the trolling? I don't see it myself.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary 2010, the noun 'race' can be defined as 'a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.' So yes, it's racism.

May I point out that racism and homophobia are not illegal?

Australia Racial Discrimination Act 1975
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/legislation/index.html#rda

Germany, section 130 the Volksverhetzung
http://bundesrecht.juris.de/stgb/BJNR001270871.html#BJNR001270871BJNE028206377

Canadian court ruling:
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=racism&language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/ca/chrt/doc/1996/1996canlii1793/1996canlii1793.html

Northern Ireland (& therefore Great Britain):
http://www.equalityni.org/archive/pdf/EngDoc.pdf

There are many many others, but I assume you get the point racial discrimination & inciting racial hatred are illegal in a lot of countries on both sides of the Atlantic & in both the Northern & Southern hemispheres.

I don't really recognize "homophobia" the way it's being used

a homophobic is not the same thing as a person who hates gay people.

Homophobia is defined as 'an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people.' (OED 2010) In this case, when aversion leads to persecutory behaviour it is illegal under many of the same codes & statutes which outlaw racism, though of course there are frequently others which address it specifically.



The examples of racism, trolling & flaming, & homophobia were simply examples used to illustrate the continual decline of the quality of the Escapist forums ("a few paraphrased examples below of what I consider to be the most chronic transgressions against both the guidelines & common decency"). For anyone asking for examples, RJFTW posted a link & explanation (post 126 of this thread). I also suggest you look at any of the posts for which some of the posters on this thread have been cautioned or suspended. Here are a few examples:

>Poster recommends someone drink a glass of iced water containing shards of broken glass. In the post he admits that the post breaks the posting guidelines but posts it anyway. 3 day suspension.

>Poster makes insulting comments about another Escapist's father having sex with his mistress, including allusions to animals. 3 day probation.

And to finish off, here's some blatant trolling, flaming, & basic insults from this thread which ignore the posting guidelines:

[...]I blame it on the incredible number of threads discussing the drop in standard on the escapist forums. They are usually entitled something like "Has anyone else noticed the drop in standard of the Escapist forums?", or something to that effect, and get tons of replys.

Get over yourself. You've been here since 2008, tons of people have been here longer than that and seem able to ignore the idiots that come and leave again rather quickly.

The only thing I find irritating on the forums are little elitist wankers like you.

A drop in standards? Most definitely. Yes, the mods do a great job, the Escapist forums are still of a higher comparative standard than the majority of other public forums. But that doesn't justify relaxing posting requirements does it?

 

[team star pug]

The only thing I'ved noticed is a drop in grammatical quality and stupid threads by new users. The general quality of the responses by regulars to these thread are of the same quality as they've always been.

Really, because all I see is bliant trolling and insults based on unknown superiority from some of the older users. Although most are great people, some just insult others users, then get angry if anyone tells them to please stop using the website or stop posting inaprpriate pictures.

The irony is fucking killing me...

1. Look up defination of Irony.
2. You just proved my point.
3. Please stop swearing.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The only thing I'ved noticed is a drop in grammatical quality and stupid threads by new users. The general quality of the responses by regulars to these thread are of the same quality as they've always been.

Really, because all I see is bliant trolling and insults based on unknown superiority from some of the older users. Although most are great people, some just insult others users, then get angry if anyone tells them to please stop using the website or stop posting inaprpriate pictures.

The irony is fucking killing me...

1. Look up defination of Irony.
2. You just proved my point.
3. Please stop swearing.

It seems you don't know the definition of irony. I'll help you. I noted that the standard of grammar and threads has dropped, then you come along and disagree with me, the user who misspells every other word and recently posted three threads in the space of an hour about cats and dogs. Simple enough for you?