Poll: Do you think Escapist users try to be too edgy?

[Aloran]

I think that the majority of people on the site are amicable lads and ladies who I can get along with easily.

HOWEVER there are a few who do things purely to garner attention for themselves.

One such person that sticks in my mind was a certain bass-player who wouldn't shut up about his bass or things involving his bass.

 

[vodkainferno]

I'm as edgy... as a hexagon
Edit: On topic, we will never know. We can't get into peoples minds.
Yet...

 

[Soxafloppin]

The only reason I hate something is if I genuinely don't like it.

This and this only.

Whats the point in hating something to be different.

 

[snow]

Well you can't blame people for being a little violent when it comes to defending their personal taste. When its one guy in a room of 500 who prefers X to Y and the other 499 are all ganging up on him telling him he is wrong you can't blame him for lashing out at them. Think cornered racoon.

I beg to differ. In a room of with 499 people who disagree with you, the best thing to do is either leave the room or keep your view to yourself. There's probably a reason why you're the only one who fields a certain view, and it's probably not because you're such a groundbreaking genius that no-one else has ever thought about it before...

So if I'm in a room with 499 mental patients and they all insist there is a flying purple hippo in the room I should agree with them because there are more of them than me? I don't buy that.

Perfect example to remind us that majority isn't always right. This being for both sides of the story... Just because something is mainstream doesn't mean it's going to be enjoyed by all, and those going out of their way to dislike things that are mainstream are simply finding their own identity... Thus are never right until they feel comfortable with themselves without the worries of what the public thinks of them..

I mostly keep a lil tid-bit in the back of my head when it comes to a non-conformist. "Yeah they probably are just too afraid to admit they like it."


The internet is a powerful tool where you can recreate your own identity if you choose.. Be some one that you're not in real life, which is something teenagers do a lot in means to find themselves.

It's easy to figure out who is insecure and who isn't, so it's best to just take what they say with a grain of salt.

 

[Buleet]

i think they most of the time do it for comedic effect.

 

[CoverYourHead]

I tend to go against the popular crowd, mostly because I don't really like the music of the era, and I don't like how many of the more mainstream games don't do much to further gaming as an artistic culture capable of showing complicated stories and characters.

But I'll be damned if I lie and say I don't enjoy Lady Gaga every now and then...

 

[CrikeyO]

Not sure I'd agree entirely with OP, but I have noticed a lot of Yahtzee fanboys rushing to his defence when someone makes a legitimate point against him or his reviewing style:

"OMFG Yahtzee h8s dis game so i have 2 as well"

 

[Iron Mal]

I think most people try to be 'edgey' and 'different', it's not just limited to the Escapist (although there are quite a few good examples of this kind of attitude around here).

You'll see it more often over the internet and on forums because it is much harder to call people out on such things when all you have to go on is a block of text and a user name.

 

[tzimize]

I cant speak for other escapists but it seems the user-base is quite a lot better than other gaming forums I've been to.

As for conforming to stuff...I have my opinions about most things, some are the same as the mainstream twits others are far to the right or far to the left. If I understand it correctly a non-conformist is a person who doesnt want to have the same opinions as others to be special. The only reason that could make me want to not have the same opinions as others is if they are stupid opinions.

 

[Arachon]

[...]your list proudly goes on for paragraph after paragraph with hateful crap like being a narcissistic fascist communist sadist with misanthropic views who can't stand children because they're apparently all worshippers of God [...]

This I agree wi the, people who proudly bellow that they are misanthropic, anti-social and (and oh, do they like to point it out) "cynics".

As for the somewhat.. deviant... political beliefs you pointed out, I'd disagree, there are people who genuinely believe in these things, and can make a point out of it (even the facists). Of course, there are also those who have no idea of what they're on about, screaming about "capitalists" and "anarchy" wherever they go, trying to appear rebellious (such as me, 3 years ago).

As for China, I woulnd't really call them Communist, they're a failed experiment in a version of Communism, taken from some delusional madmans mind, much like the Soviet Union was.

It's a way of showing how stupid the general population is.

Well, that's the point isn't it? The "general population" isn't as stupid as you'd like to think, you only hear about those who are, and then assume that everyone else is as well, to make yourself feel smarter.

 

[JanatUrlich]

Yeah man, apparently everyone's a murdering, gun-toting asexual on here. Did you not know?

 

[Wardnath]

Apparently once more than a dozen people enjoy something, it magically ceases to be good!

See: black metal.

I HATE the people saying "I hate humanity and I think everyone should be exterminated." I think it's the most immature things that people say, and when someone says it they are permanently marked down in my mind as an immature, idiotic dick.

With me, I act how I want to act, and behave how I want to behave. I like music that sounds good to me, and I play games that I find fun. I'm not a conformist. If my tastes are mainstream, then that means my tastes conform to the majority, but by no means am I a conformist. I'm secure enough in who I am to not have to make myself stand out. I'm happy being one in a faceless mass, because I identify myself by how I think and feel, not by what I wear and what I like.

/rant

I hate people who are deliberate non-conformists. If your tastes are odd or obscure, good for you, but don't like things because they're not popular, or vice versa.

Also this.

 

[oppp7]

Well, I'm an active Escapist user and I try to be edgy, so I'm going to say yes.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Maybe people just like to be edgy on the Internet because there might just be one person out there to take them seriously on it... We all want to feel acknowledged in some way or another and the quickest (and most pathetic) way is to generate attention for ones'self by declaring something dark and edgy or by denouncing a popular opinion as the wrong one. With 100 people in a room shouting "yes", the quickest and easiest way to get noticed is by shouting "No".

Now I think it's fair to say most people who spend most of their time on the Internet are used to being ignored in real life and generally the reasons for that are somewhat primitive...

For example... I've seen a good chunk of the average escapist's real-life pictures and if I ever saw someone like that being 'edgy' in real-life I'd laugh my hairy arse off at them...

Internet edginess and idealistic 'non-conformity' is here to stay guys...

 

[SnipErlite]

Yeah, probably.

I'm not sure Hubilub is really that insane.

.........No wait, actually, scratch that one.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Yup.

Merely a mention of MW2 and it's all over.

 

[EeveeElectro]

I don't act it yeah, because I am yeah and if anyone disagrees I'll deck 'em.


I'm about as edgy as a biscuit and just as sweet.

Looking cool over the Internet doesn't appeal to me, but I guess some people need to compensate?

 

[Fightgarr]

I think you may be inferring a little too much about masses of people. Who is to say that one is trying to go for a specific image or style. Perhaps when a person states a differing opinion it is because they legitimately think it. I understand there is a lot of opinion exaggeration that goes on, but in a way I think it's part of the Escapist's image. The Escapist sees itself as the 'indie' game community. The game community that focuses on the underrated side of gaming. And while this image may or may not be accurate, it spawns a lot of people feeling the need to 'fit in'. The Escapist is a pretty tight knit community, and people want to get in on that. The whole image of being 'edgy' if we are assuming that it is purposeful, is often due to the Escapist's general arrogance. A large portion of the population believes they are highly intelligent and while I won't refute that, a large portion of posters are also 15 or 16, an age when one's opinion will not always be the same 2 or 3 years later. I'm not saying that 15 or 16 year-olds can't be quite intelligent, but there is a certain arrogance that comes out of ignorance at that age. I had it when I was 16, I still have some of that going on. I mean, I'm still only 19 I don't consider myself better in any way.

I frequently find I will have differing opinions to the majority on the Escapist. Sometimes I post angrily in subjects that frustrate me (ChromeAlchemist and Wordsmith you know exactly the kind of subject I'm talking about). Sometimes I will simply not post in order spare myself having to defend myself in the presence of an overwhelming opinion.

On a final note, I wish we would stop calling out 'older users' on being arrogant or elitist or grumpy obsolete whiners or what-have-you. Being nostalgic about the site when it was just full of your friends is not a crime. A year from now, if you still post on the site, you'll know what I mean. People just... stop posting. There is a very large chance that new posters will come on with the goal of being the next big poster and rack up tens of thousands of posts. etc etc site intraspection blah blah... I've lost my original point.