Poll: Has the Escapist community changed? Or is it just me?

[lacktheknack]

Yes, obviously. If an internet website stays static, it's doing something wrong.

I'm not sure what I think of the direction it's going. On one hand, a lot of people I liked have vanished (Aylaine) or gotten banned (Hankman). Running gags and all-around silliness is rarer and treated with disdain by some newer users. On the other hand, we have a moderation team that does NOT screw around, and aren't letting up. Yes, I see that as a good thing.

I figure that these forums are what we make of them. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic, and maybe put some effort into a good satire here and there.

 

[Evil Smurf]

for what it is worth, I have only been here since November and I like it. The people are nice, the trolls are desposed of quickly and the forums are well moderated, as long as you keep to the rules you can enjoy a membership. That is not to say that losing some rules would not go astray but I like it here.

Seriously how many Arrow in the knee "jokes" do you get here as aposed to YouTube.

 

[lacktheknack]

Oh yeah, it's changed.

It's changed from a fun loving community to a serious, "no fun allowed" one.

Has it? Hmmm, I suggest we start a two man war for the cause of fun!

*hits with banana fish*

THREE CAN PLAY THIS GAME, SIR!

 

[MurderousToaster]

I don't think it's changed particularly badly. Most of the people I saw three years ago are still here. I suppose the community has been

 

[Evil Smurf]

double post sorry.

 

[Phlakes]

On the other hand, we have a moderation team that does NOT screw around, and aren't letting up. Yes, I see that as a good thing.

This. Most people take for granted how clean these forums are, and how much worse off they would be without strict mods. But they have to keep getting more strict as the community keeps growing. More people -> more chaos -> more control.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

I've been here since march and I'm already starting to see a reoccurring pattern with the threads.

It's getting a bit out of hand.

 

[Snotnarok]

Yeah the threads have degraded a lot honestly, I've made posts where I'm chewed out for stating a simple opinion with no venom behind it. That's shit I'd expect from gamefaqs forums.

Also there's been a large increase of whining and bitching about games in the sense that there's no middle ground. A game is either great or shit, followed by a game being overrated. Or my favorite, the large number of members who think all CoD players are braindead morons simply because they enjoy a game with a community that, like any other community has assholes, it's just theirs is larger, so they have more assholes than your group.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

No, not Cod! That fish is generic and lacks the Potassium we need to survive! D:

[sub]The goofy nature of this community shall not die while I'm still here![/sub]

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

How do you tell the difference between a duck?

Both of it's legs are not the same.

The thing that changes the most on these forums is how you view them.

 

[Nephus]

Well, looks like I'm kinda bending that oath just by writing this, but here goes.

See, I've lurked this site for years, signed up a while back (not even sure when until this posts) and really never got into the discussions. About the time I started to get involved there was this huge debacle about posting a new set of extremely draconian rules that everyone had to agree with. Not sure on the date of that either since I don't obsess over stuff like that. I swore that my comment on the subject would be my last post on this forum, and in fact have not even visited the website at all since that day.

The only reason I'm here now is reading up on how Christiforo is self destructing in the public theater, ran out of other site's take on the issue, and this link appeared on the side of the page. It's a bit of a shock to come back and see that facebook is now required to do pretty much anything if you didn't already have an account. Not all of us have drank the kool-aid on that topic, and it strikes me as trying to make that draconian ruleset easier to enforce for them by linking it to your real name.

Maybe I'm in the minority of people by putting my principles first in a lot of cases, but I don't want them getting any advertising money because I show up if I don't agree with their practices. (not an issue this visit, but if I recall, explaining why is a banable offense now) I'm a firm believer that if you don't support something, stop giving it money. If enough people do that, change comes pretty fast. If not? Well, at least you know you stuck to your principles and can be proud of yourself for doing that. Not a lot of people can say that these days.

Just food for thought. Don't bother responding to me personally, as I hopefully won't be back.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Oh yeah, it's changed.

It's changed from a fun loving community to a serious, "no fun allowed" one.

Has it? Hmmm, I suggest we start a two man war for the cause of fun!

*hits with banana fish*

What's this? Fun? FUN?

I'll not stand for this! Prepare to be banned.

 

[Dango]

As someone who came in just as this site was changing from a high post worshiping, tolerant, fun-loving community into a "mature", "serious" community that's all about arguing and being better than someone else, yes, it most certainly has changed. Not that I'm complaining, if the site never changed, I never would have decided to jump into forum games.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I give you extra points for using the term "curmudgeonly" and yes the community here has changed, but so does everything, I've sparked far fewer intelligent debates lately than I used to, mainly because I fail to find any topics of a higher intellectual base to jump into.

Still interesting opinions find their way into post form every now and again, so it's not all bad I guess, but this forum used to be one of the places I knew I could get a discussion going whenever I felt like having a good debate, then slink back off into the shadows.

I know I'm not well known around here, some know me in a good way, some have been insulted(rather unfortunately) by me in the past, but I always strive to help people see things from an alternate perspective, to start a debate to open the eyes of another if at all possible, and as long as people like me exist here it won't completely degrade in quality.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Oh yeah, it's changed.

It's changed from a fun loving community to a serious, "no fun allowed" one.

Has it? Hmmm, I suggest we start a two man war for the cause of fun!

*hits with banana fish*

What's this? Fun? FUN?

I'll not stand for this! Prepare to be banned.

Spoiler

But... but... The internet is for people to have fun, right?

 

[ToastiestZombie]

No, not Cod! That fish is generic and lacks the Potassium we need to survive! D:

[sub]The goofy nature of this community shall not die while I'm still here![/sub]

Well you just insulted COD, I think you deserve a good ol' helping of Sea Bass to the Face!

OT: I haven't really been here enough to see a real change in anything. Sure there's always the passing fad, like Skyrim or Human Revolution. I know a lot of you may not like me seeing this, but the Escapist has become so much better after becoming a fan of MLP. I had got about 6 new friends and have found a user group that is just awesome (it celebrates everyones birthday). But that's a personal change to me. I haven't really seen any change in the way we behave. We are still as condescending and argumentative as before, and I love it like that.

[EDIT] Also, a no and I enjoy it being the same poll option would be nice. Or an other (please specify) option?

[EDIT 2] Also I would like to quote the great Fallout announcer guy "Flame wars. Flame war never changes". We here on the Escapist love a good war or massive debate don't we. Which is awesome since I love that too!

 

[Souplex]

It's always been changing. I prefer the 09 escapist. 2010 and 2011 were disappointing.

 

[Jonluw]

Eeh...
I suppose the escapist has been getting steadily more popular and mainstream in the last years. ZP, particularly, is a major cause of this.
The forums did seem more personal and light-hearted back in the day, but that might just be me speaking through my nostalgia-filter, so I won't lend any credibility to those notions.

Stuff changes though. It always has. Still, I miss the days when we took time to welcome first-time posters. I only ever see that done in the rare welcoming thread now a days.
I suggest we start welcoming new users again.
And calling out people on search-bar violations.
(I'm not as new as I appear. I've been lurking since '07)