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

[ToastiestZombie]

I've been here for a few years, and I agree with ya whole hog.

I guess change is the natural order of life (I can still recall the old gods of this place leaving all at once over the banning of Demented Teddy) but I agree, sometimes I can't even look at the links in the popular forums bar without cringing at the pretentiousness or the entitlement or the whining upon whining (a problem I suppose I'm contributing to right now :s).

But others have said it best that this place tends to go through phases. For a while it'll be level-headed, and the forums will be full of communication and the forming of new ideas on everything from dollars to donuts, for the next while every thread is complaining about something with most of the posters just spewing how they're view is the only right one and then leaving.

Agreed the Escapist has changed a bit into much more negative threads. They aren't even debate threads because they are just lots of people repeatedly putting their points forwards and being ignored by the OP. I reckon on the Escapist we need more Pie fights, that would make everything better!

 

[Nouw]

By the way -

Stay out of the basement.

Man I loved it when that was in every second post when someone new came. And then the thread would become completely derailed!

Snip

May I ask are do you know Jimbo1212? If so then awesome, you have exactly the same arguments and you bring pony hate into the exact same threads! Let's all throw pies at eachother now! Oh yeh, this is your chance to throw a pie at a brony! So do it!

Spoiler: I throw a pie at the random pony hate!

My avatar only throws pies at German soldiers .

 

[CarlMin]

I haven't really noticed any difference. Keep in mind that people were probably posting threads about the forum changing to the worse long before you joined.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

By the way -

Stay out of the basement.

Man I loved it when that was in every second post when someone new came. And then the thread would become completely derailed!

Snip

May I ask are do you know Jimbo1212? If so then awesome, you have exactly the same arguments and you bring pony hate into the exact same threads! Let's all throw pies at eachother now! Oh yeh, this is your chance to throw a pie at a brony! So do it!

Spoiler: I throw a pie at the random pony hate!

My avatar only throws pies at German soldiers .

I don't need no avatar to throw my pies! I just do it myself.
Also I think you deserve a pie in the face!

Spoiler: Nouw's face+pie

 

[Atmos Duality]

Within the last year, the usability of the site is just...tanking.
Starting with Captcha and Meebo, it's become increasingly difficult for me to even use the site.
I know The Escapist is a popular site, but it's more frequently going into black outs (as it did yesterday when I was in the middle of a post; I ate a 404, and couldn't access the site from anywhere. I assumed it got hacked briefly, or its DNS service got taken down).

 

[FalloutJack]

Of course it's changed. Look.

"Hello."​

There's alot of clamp-down on things and not always for legit reasons. Certainly not in accordance with the rules. I checked. The Escapist has taken up a makeover to hide the insightly lines and stretch-marks...in a pasty white.

*Pause*

is it too soon for a Michael Jackson joke?

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Within the last year, the usability of the site is just...tanking.
Starting with Captcha and Meebo, it's become increasingly difficult for me to even use the site.
I know The Escapist is a popular site, but it's more frequently going into black outs (as it did yesterday when I was in the middle of a post; I ate a 404, and couldn't access the site from anywhere. I assumed it got hacked briefly, or its DNS service got taken down).

You should try using the group chat! Every time I try to post a message it says "No data received" and I'm like NOT AGAIN! I don't even know why the Escapist group chat is so laggy, even on quiet days on the pony chat there is still a massive waiting time to see anything.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Of course it's changed. Look.

"Hello."​

There's alot of clamp-down on things and not always for legit reasons. Certainly not in accordance with the rules. I checked. The Escapist has taken up a makeover to hide the insightly lines and stretch-marks...in a pasty white.

*Pause*

is it too soon for a Michael Jackson joke?

You sir are awesome, and it's not too soon for a MJ joke! Since you are awesome I shall therefore spare you a pie in the face!

 

[spartan231490]

I've definitely noticed a definite shift here. I joined back in 09ish, and it was a great forum. Threads were fun, people would quote my posts with informed points, and they would respond to any arguments I made. I had a lot of really fun debates on the escapist.

Now, I almost never get people quoting me with informed opinions. Instead, I see more and more people who have one argument that doesn't make sense and just repost that argument against every logical post I make. Just as infuriating, they often don't even address what I said. More recently, like last few months recently. I've also noticed a lot of threads that were almost definitely started to troll the forums, and perhaps equally bothersome, it works.

Furthermore, you see a lot of people who make legitimate posts get warned or suspended or banned, when immediately adjacent to those posts are posts that bring less to the discussion and are more offensive. And even worse, I see a few specific users repeatedly make posts with no value, or posts that blatantly have no purpose other than to piss off other members of the forum.

All in all, the community hasn't just gone downhill, it has ridden down an avalanche at full speed. I have been seriously considering leaving the escapist for the last few months, but I keep hoping that in just a few months, something will happen that will help bring the escapist back to what it once was. Unfortunately, that seems less and less likely every passing day.

 

[DSK-]

Well let's face it, the escapist forums aren't exactly a shining beacon of hope, love and interesting topics at the best of times. Your observations aren't anything out of the ordinary in my opinion.

 

[JasonKaotic]

I've been around since '08, it hasn't seemed to change much to me. If anything it's slightly better, nowadays I can post my opinion in a topic without having people mock it.
Usually.

Don't you think that is healthy though (as long as it is done in a relatively humerus manner)? Dealing with criticism makes you stronger, whereas avoiding it shows a level of insecurity to do with ones own opinion.

Not criticism, mocking. On a "FUCK YOU YOUR OPINION IS WRONG AND YOU ARE A FAILURE OF A HUMAN BEING" level. Not fun to read.

 

[FFHAuthor]

There's always been an undercurrent on the Escapist. I was a lurker long before I officially joined, and you can see it every now and again. IT's not about the flame wars, it's not about the hate-fads, it's not even about the mods...it's just...well...THERE. It's something unsavory that just rears up it's ugly head now and again. Things just happen and unless you look at the long view you don't see things, not the major things. Maybe some of the really long term posters can see it, but maybe being on the outside looking in is better. It's like with the Ocean Marketting thing, the way the community is rising up over that, it's the 12 days of Christmas thing and how some of the events went down in that.

MLP wars, CoD/BF3 hate, popular game hate, hell...the damn 'The last is your to do with.' threads, they're nothing. They're entertainment, they're background noise, set dressing, whatever you want to call it.

There's a darker side to the Escapist, and it's not really about it changing, it's about when it shows up and people actually take notice.

 

[FalloutJack]

Of course it's changed. Look.

"Hello."​

There's alot of clamp-down on things and not always for legit reasons. Certainly not in accordance with the rules. I checked. The Escapist has taken up a makeover to hide the insightly lines and stretch-marks...in a pasty white.

*Pause*

is it too soon for a Michael Jackson joke?

You sir are awesome, and it's not too soon for a MJ joke! Since you are awesome I shall therefore spare you a pie in the face!

I have it on reliable information that BB will take a pie for me. After all, he's just a television!

Anyway, that MJ comment. The Escapist really is like Michael Jackson. After such a long time of making changes, taking actions, and trying to hone its true image... It ends up pasty-white and cracking in places with severe money problems to add it its issues. We are at the 'face held together with tape' stage, yes. Other comparisons would be...

Chrono Trigger - 2300 AD
Rage (namely, the plot of the game)
The latter half of Xenogears
And...welcome to Midgar!

 

[anthony87]

*Sees posts made by "The Cool Kid"*

Oh look....Jimbo made another account...

 

[ToastiestZombie]

*Sees posts made by "The Cool Kid"*

Oh look....Jimbo made another account...

Did Jimbo get banned or something? If so then I shall rejoice and sing!

 

[Sassafrass]

Did Jimbo get banned or something? If so then I shall rejoice and sing!

For someone running a yet to collapse thread called "The Nicest Escapist Member Awards" or whatever, that wasn't nice. I thought Bronies were all about loving and tolerating, stuff like that.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Did Jimbo get banned or something? If so then I shall rejoice and sing!

For someone running a yet to collapse thread called "The Nicest Escapist Member Awards" or whatever, that wasn't nice. I thought Bronies were all about loving and tolerating, stuff like that.

No seriously we have tried to love and tolerate him, but he just says something about us being immature and smelling like old people. All bronies on this site have had it in with him, every pony thread he's on there. I think we deserve a little bit of justice once in a while. Look at what I replied to the Cool guy, that is loving and tolerating. We did that to jimbo and he basically gave us the middle finger.

Also I think I might not do that Nicest user thing, there was just not the turnout I expected. I love all the members who posted on there but I guess the Escapist just can't handle the positivity awarding a genuinely nice person can have.

 

[spartan231490]

I like this thread. I always like these threads, and I always post in every one of them. And there are sooo many of them! Primarily because they bring out all the old greats from hiding (Hi!). And, funnily enough because every time I see them I tend to agree that it's changed. Isn't it funny that way?
I also love all the love for the mods, but that's more personal.
TBH, the forums were probably at their best long before I came here, before the time of Yahtzee and when there were only a few people here. And it'd do us good to get back to the time of page long OPs and similarly long responses. But as long as I can express my opinion, have someone disagree with me, and argue long into the night without any of us losing respect for one and other, I'll continue to come back.

I would really enjoy it if you explained that a little more. How do you manage to avoid the pitfalls of this site so thouroghly? I could probably count on my hands the number of intelligent posts I have seen in several months. maybe a full year. Off the top of my head, I can only recall 2 or 3 times in the last year that I've had a meaningful discussion or a fun debate on a thread that didn't end with the other person's arguments eventually devolving into some version of "I'm right and you're wrong, deal with it." It's probably closer to a dozen, but you get my point.