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

[Angerwing]

That's a terrible analogy.
A) You're implying that people who disagree with you are mentally ill. (I know you're not, but think about it) and,
B) Maybe if you're in a room with 499 mental patients, you shouldn't start telling them their delusion is WRONG.

No, it is the perfect annalogy to prove my point. Its calculus logic. For something to be proven true it must be correct 100% of the time, for something to be false it only needs to be disproved once. I went with an extreme example that effectively disproved Wordsmith's.

A) You're contradicting yourself here first of all. Second I don't think they're mentally ill I think they're wrong. Thats why I dissagree with them
B) This might be true but the example was theoretical not advice to be taken literally in practice.

And what if you ARE the groundbreaking genious? Wasn't Galileo Galili killed becaue he was the one person who thought the earth revolved around the sun? And the funny thing is he was right!

For something to be proven true it must be correct 100% of the time.

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...

Who said anything was to be proven true? We're talking about opinions. Saying something like "Modern Warfare is a bad game" is purely opinion. We're not talking about quantifiable situations like Galileo. What Wordsmith is saying is that your single opinion is not more important than anyone else's. He's not even saying you're flat out wrong.

Yes, I understand the conformity test, hell, I've studied it. Your analogy IS crap.

 

[Sark]

I think its the anonymity. People, when they have a clean slate, try to create an image of themselves as they would like most to be. Thats why the average internet IQ is 148 and penis size is 9 inches.
Of course this ruling isn't true for every member and I suppose thats what distinguishes who has a genuine personality, and who is just one of the horde.

 

[Legion]

Yes, yes they do. Not really many of the "big names", just the faceless masses. It's really the only thing I don't like about this site.
People have to realise that on occasion the majority is the majority because it is right.

I'd say the big users do it even more, but as they are popular, nobody cares.

It reminds me of when I was in school and a friend of mine who was popular with a group of girls would be able to make them laugh no matter what he said or how funny it was, when his friend became popular suddenly the friend was hilarious whereas mine was 'trying too hard'.

I think its the anonymity. People, when they have a clean slate, try to create an image of themselves as they would like most to be. Thats why the average internet IQ is 148 and penis size is 9 inches.
Of course this ruling isn't true for every member and I suppose thats what distinguishes who has a genuine personality, and who is just one of the horde.

Very true.

Maybe it is not that they want to act non-conformist, but because, perhaps, they are non-conformist.
Have you seen the music I listen to? The song I most in a lot of music threads?
That is definitely not normal around here.
With anonymity, people can say what they really think...

True, but do you feel the need to go into every and state that nobody likes the music you do, and that everyone else's tastes suck because they are mainstream? You don't but a lot do.

Look at the Halo, COD, Mass Effect and [Insert Valve game here] threads. There are always the "cool" people who hate them, but can't give any valid reason for it.

Actually there was a study that involved different lengthed lines and saying which one of three matched the top line. Only one person in the room was actually a participant the rest had been told what to answer and often answered wrongly. At first some participants tended to disagree with the rest and answer correctly but eventually they would all slip into answering with the majority even when it was wrong. They also did something similar with blue screens and saying they were green.

I liked that study, it was disturbing to see how many people I knew were those kinds of people.

 

[Stainless]

They just want popular topics

This is what I thought this topic was about, as in why do people keep making topics about "edgy" subjects like pedophilia, rape and other mega-uncouth behaviour. I guess I was pleasantly surprised.

This forum, like most other forums, has several cliques that try to separate themselves from the mass of anonymous joe-schmoes by picking out certain popular unpopular traits in themselves and pushing them to the limit. The amount of misanthrope gamers with a "Kill 'em All and Let the Flying Spaghetti Monster Sort Them Out"-attitude in this forum alone is enough to justify two out of three newsreports about dangerous games messing with the minds of young adults. But, luckily, most of the users here are teenagers, looking for something to latch on to that will make them stand out so they can fit in with all the other outstanding forumgoers. If it wasn't an attitude or a political idea, it would be a certain style of music or genre of movies.

So yes, Escapist users try to be edgy, just like the users of every other forum tries to be edgy. Everyone wants to stand out so no one really does, it's the conformity of non-conformity conundrum.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

I voted yes.

Just look at all the threads/polls titled "So I just [insert in-extraordinary event here]"

 

[dagens24]

The Escapist is full of elitest douchebaggery. But that's why I love it. <3 You guys suck <3

 

[wordsmith]

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.

You ever been beaten down by 499 mental patients for being a non-believer in Lord Brian, the Flying Purple Hippo? That is my point.

By all means, you're welcome to your own opinion. Just don't expect to express it in a room full of people who disagree with you and expect it to be simply accepted. As the saying goes, "Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one, most of them stink, and if you rub yours in someone's face, prepare to get decked".

To reverse your analogy, if you're in a room with 498 normal people and 1 person with a mental disorder, who says you should bow in the presence of Lord Brian, you'd call him delusional.

 

[Galletea]

I suppose people in any sort of mini society will strive to be noticed, and that tends to mean they try too hard. So some people do try to be edgy, whatever edgy is, and then others tend to follow, in that whole mob mentality thing. It's all about wanting to be accepted and liked, and some people try very hard to achieve it. It's not just the Escapist, it's just how things are.

 

[TheZapper]

Yes, especially when those threads come around that allow everyone to express their hatred/lack of faith in humanity and how much better they are than everyone else.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I sorry, [link = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOCvL_yWM7M] I can't hear you over the sound of my awesome indie music. [/link]

*Song ends*

Ah, anyway, I think it's trying to be "cool".

Rebels are always liked, although they're only rebels if they carve they're own path.

Personally, I've been trying to start a fashion for years now.

 

[Spacelord]

I think that as a community the Escapist is a bit defensive and occasionally snide as a whole, yes. I'd like to see people be a little bit nicer to eachother. But then again we're gamers and everyone knows we're socially incompetent shut-ins whose only mode of communicating is by making snarky forum posts

Damnit now I'M being too edgy! It's contageous!

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

For the record...

Non-Conformity is a form of conformity.

I AM EDGY!

CHECK ME OUT!

VALVE SUCKS! (They don't, but they are over-rated as fuck)

JRPGs SUCK! THEY'RE ALL TURN BASED! (They aren't.)

FURBURT SUCKS! (He does[sub][sub][sub]n't[/sub][/sub][/sub].)

Wii SUCKS! (It's better than most people think. Actually, I dare say its got more good games than the Gamecube.)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

FURBURT SUCKS! (He does.)

But I thought we were buddies!

I thought we were like *clicks fingers* this!

*sobs into cornflakes*

ONYX USES SARCASM!

But it failed...

 

[orangebandguy]

Yes they do, and I wish some people would just shut up about it. Not everything mainstream is bad for crying out loud. And hating humanity, becuase they're special and everyone else is shit.

Yes, you're a non-conformist we know! So how is it that there are thousands of other people like you on the internet?

You've all unwittingly conformed to the edgy stereotype which is delicious irony.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

ONYX USES SARCASM!

But it failed...

Apparently mine did too.

..Come here big guy!

*hug*

Right, now to return to being edgy.

*strikes a pose*

Edgey.

 

[Vrex360]

While I certainly see a general consensus that states that being like everyone else is 'bad' overall those are just the minority trying to be edgy and plus people trying to be edgy is not at all unusual.
Honestly these days it seems more like people are trying to stand out from the crowd and be recognisable and distinctive with mannerisms and specific tastes. The idea being that everyone can find their niche on the Escapist that makes them truly unique and they then have to work at it.