Has anyone else noticed the drop in standard of the Escapist forums?
- Thread starter catalyst8
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No offense, but you haven't really been here very long. 180 posts? I have five hundred something so I'm not really at liberty to say either...
Well I'm new, so yes!
Definitively a drop in intelligence should be felt through out all the threads I post in. I am noticing a large quantity of trolling and flame responses on those threads I have the time to read. Trolls are a fact of life, one not exclusive to the internet and, as membership rises so to shall we see a rise in trolls.
Granted, there will also be a modicum of us noobs who will communicate in a well mannered and civilized way, attempting to give intelligent responses to the queries and topics set before us is difficult giving these ease of a flame response. As with all society the wise are overlooked and the quite, well mannered people will be drowned out.
Definitively a drop in intelligence should be felt through out all the threads I post in. I am noticing a large quantity of trolling and flame responses on those threads I have the time to read. Trolls are a fact of life, one not exclusive to the internet and, as membership rises so to shall we see a rise in trolls.
Granted, there will also be a modicum of us noobs who will communicate in a well mannered and civilized way, attempting to give intelligent responses to the queries and topics set before us is difficult giving these ease of a flame response. As with all society the wise are overlooked and the quite, well mannered people will be drowned out.
The old forum I used to spend the majority of my forum time on was and is far more offensive and insulting. There were only two rules, no porn and no death threats, and the moderators were there to screw with trolls by changing their posts to say embarrassing or gay things only. I should know, since I was one of the mods. My point in bringing this up is that more rules and more strictness do not necessarily make for a better atmosphere. People are who they are - you can't use rules to create legitimate morality. This forum I was on was obviously on the other end of the spectrum, and certain topics were basically impossible to discuss there, but the relaxed atmosphere was much better than the original forum that it splintered off from. Moar rules does not equal moar better. Are rules important? They can be, sure, but blind enforcement of them is not - in my mind at least - good moderating. Good moderating is knowing when not to pull the plug on something. When people say controversial or uninformed things on forums, it paves the way to being insulted, but it also opens an opportunity for discussion. Not that one is always or even usually necessary, but then, none of this is REALLY necessary. When I see a throwaway joke on here get a member in trouble, I honestly find it disappointing. It breeds an atmosphere of paranoia and superiority, I think. I also think giving people badges for 'behaving' for a really long time doubly reinforces the latter. It breeds a sort of rule-abiding fetishism. The giant red report button runs along the same lines. I'm not going to succumb to Godwin's law except ironically accidentally in bringing it up at all, but I hope you get my meaning. Trying to keep people from harassing other people is understandable, but slapping their wrist for posting a picture or a video in lieu of a text response in what is clearly a joke seems a bit puerile to me. Just my long-winded two cents.
Oh yes have i seen it, so much hate, anger, criticism, and drama.....our Athens has lost to Sparta....and now they rule us....and now we have their ideas. In other words yes there has been a huge drop, people puttin political ideas in off topic just to get replies...its just so silly.
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.Daystar Clarion said:
Hes been here two years, look at when he joined, not his post count. Anyway, I agree in that a lot of threads now seem to be just complete stupidity, or done to death topics, but not so much the racism/homophobia, I might argue that it takes longer for the mods to respond, but thats due to the increasing size of the Escapist, not laziness.gamerguy473 said:
But I would ass, I do think when people make polls and include completely irrelevant options, like I CAN HAZ CHEEZBURGER for no reason, well, frankly, I hate those people.
I've been here less than a year, and while the quality of the threads may be going down (mainly through repetition because new members don't know that it's been done), I don't think the quality of responses has. Most people here have truly thoughtful things to say, and I've seen few instances of true flaming and trolling. When I have seen them, they're quickly suspended or banned. Compared to the forums on other sites, this place is still a safe haven for the most part. I wouldn't have stuck around otherwise.
I haven't been on the escapist forums long enough to be a judge, but it seems like this is a general problem all over the internet. With popularity comes... well trolls and assholes who think they're special and try to seek attention through methods which just lower their own credibility and our overall opinion of them.
Frankly I still blame 4chan for all of this, and someone will probably call me out on it because I know there are people who use it on this website, but you're selling yourself short if you think that the /b/ attitude isn't infecting other places on the web.
Also, x-box live, I can't judge this since I don't own an x-box, but from what I hear people are dipshits there too, and again, this just adds to the problem... This is also a gaming website...
Frankly I still blame 4chan for all of this, and someone will probably call me out on it because I know there are people who use it on this website, but you're selling yourself short if you think that the /b/ attitude isn't infecting other places on the web.
Also, x-box live, I can't judge this since I don't own an x-box, but from what I hear people are dipshits there too, and again, this just adds to the problem... This is also a gaming website...
Yeah, I was kind of sick about Furbut, Hub etc being referenced. They seem like nice guys and they were the first to get pissed off by the constant attention. I guess I just hate hero worship.Hollock said:
I've noticed a slight increase in the nonsense threads, but usually the mods are pretty quick to banhammer someone into nonexistence. The content of the threads themselves is still pretty high, and barring the occasional flame-fest, most posts have a variety of opinions to be heard.
Yes I have noticed a change in the Escapist we have invented a new strain of repeat thread. The last X is now doing Y or is Z. So no the Escapist is not in a real decline of quality we go through phases of being users here. Phase 1 lots of new users they make lots of repeat threads some leave and some stay. Then phase 2 mature a little and think they own the place some don't learn and others do those that don't get banned. Then we have phase 3 mature/vet users they either stay on and then fade into overall obscurity retreating back to certain forum areas, get banned for something ridiculous due to past history or make a thread saying the Escapist has changed man, you used to be cool now you're not and leave. I am personally somewhere inbetween phases 2 and 3 well I think I am anyway.
Nah there is a bit of decline and rise in the quality of threads and users over the years. It follows a general pattern. At the moment we are at a big of stagnation until the purging Fire of MM comes and new life breathes on these forums.HK_01 said:
I totally agree.Daystar Clarion said:
There's a simple rule of etiquette I follow: Respect the those who respect others.
But someone's "Celebrity-status" is not relevant, just annoying.
Pointless quote of the day:
"The difference between respect and worship is obsession."