The Escapist to me. (and its evolution)

[JEBWrench]

*snip*
Go outside, meet people, get over this "humans aren't worth my time" or the various other "woe is me" bullsh*t that no one really cares about and grow up. You're not impressing anyone. You are, in fact, only perpetuating this so-called "elitest" attitude that you say perpetuates the topics/posts here or attracting more like-minded people who do nothing but drag your views further down with their cynicism, angst and depression.

Chances are, if you people who threaten to leave actually DO, 95% of those of us who stay won't remember you after a month unless a thread is necro'ed.

*snip*

I fully expect to be flamed for this, or even ignored, but hah, I don't care. Imagine that.

Do you expect to be applauded? Because, honestly, comrade, you deserve to be.

The "woe is me" bullshit is pretty much the reason I've left every other forum I've ever frequented. And unlike most, when I leave a forum, I don't leave a "leaving IRC forever" note. I just leave.

I firmly believe that if you're going to post about leaving, you're wanting validation from others and encouragement to stay.

 

[Joe Deadman]

How could I forget sociology? I had a double lesson for that today and everything! (perhaps im trying to forget heh).
Sociology may be right more but psychology has paranormal stuff which is a bit more interesting so I guess thats why I thought of it first.
Plus psychology has Jane Elliott which I guess is somewhat relevant to the whole elitism stuff and kinda sprung to mind.

And yeah I guess your right about the elitism, it does seem to turn up just about everywhere regardless.

I reckon it's human nature to want to elevate yourself above others. Who really, and honestly enjoys being underneath the people next door?

Elitism even occurs accidentally; "They're good people, but *situation X* annoys me."

There's nothing wrong with it either, I think. It's healthy behavior, and beneficial to the species as a whole - striving to be better is crucial to development, and what better way that comparison and competition?

Sometimes however it can be terrible for instance (and I know im invoking Godwins law here and I hope no one take's it the wrong way it just makes a really good example) the Nazi's thought they were better than Jew's and we all know how that ended up. Heck they thought they were better than the rest of the world too.

Not to say this situation is anywhere near that bad though, just food for thought. And to be fair alot of amazing technologies tend to be produced during wars, you've just got to wonder if its worth so much blood. (And I know this is a bit of an extreme example).

However on a smaller more rational scale I guess it can be quite benificial. It would just be nice if people could leave the name calling and gloating out.

 

[SeanTheSheep]

OT: Since I've joined the escapist, it's become larger, it's gotten more members, and the community has become a lot more... Communal.
But there are ways in which I have become more private and secluded.
Right now, I think that yesterday was the best day the escapist had, and now it's going to be just as good, but there will be people who think they're better than others just because they payed money, and those people will be scum to me.
Everyone else will be fine, and just the same though.

I don't think the premium membership will be a big deal *flashes shiny badge*

Aaaaaand there you have it.
I'm not putting any problem in there, but you're bringing up premium membership like I'm opposed to it, just because I don't have it.
While I'm not all guns blazing "let's do this", I'm not saying it's particularaly bad.
In fact, what I'm saying, is it won't affect me at all, unless people choose to let it affect them.

It seems to be affecting you, and by cause and effect, it's diminishing my opinion of you.
From the few memories I have of you, you're a pretty OK guy, a long-ish standing member who always has something insightful to say on the subject, but I'm not seeing you, I'm seeing a guy who's a bit of a jackass.

Hahaha relax I was only teasing.

I read that you don't have a problem, but I know for every fourth or fifth person will have an issue with it ESPECIALLY if I have the badge on my profile. I was merely remarking on the sentimentality of the people here. A part of me wants to take it off just to avoid any hostility but the other part of me is saying to tell the other people to just get over it. That and I was always a bit of a badge/achievements whore anyway.

I don't think it has any effect on the forum at all, the member's only section is indistinguishable from the rest of the web site.

Eh, alright.

Yeah, but those people are overreacting, it won't destroy the escapist, and if it does, it's because they did. Yeah people here have odd sentimentality, that's why we come here, but having seen someone who joined on (I think) the 8th of April with a personal title and the badge, it just made me wonder what the staff have done. I think that's an OK idea for the next few days or so, but everyone will have calmed down by the end of the week. I feel you on badge/trophy whoring, but I prefer to be getting my money's worth, for example, with Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC, you were getting new storylines, new weapons, new areas, new perks, and new enemies. It was a pretty sweet deal for the £8 I payed, but paying £6.50-ish for something I'm not hugely bothered by, because I wouldn't use half of the stuff anyway.

So what exactly is the members only section?
Are there slaves to bring you drinks?
Or do you just get put above the normal forums on the priorities list?

 

[SeanTheSheep]

I will actually add my opinion on this later as I can't right now as I am off to school but I'd like to say that it takes more than a high post count in my books to be in the Escapist Elite group. I do giggle everytime I see people who have joined atleast a year if not more after me yet have 10x my post now that is funny. Do I not post enough or did some people have a bit of verbal diahorea? A bit of a joke but how do these people post so much?

They either play a lot of forum games or post in user groups(namely the Asylum). And some of them post a lot.

Well I can understand posting a lot as you are an example of that but it just boggles my mind when there are some I think Hublib is an example of this with 20x my post count last I checked.

No, he doesn't have 34K posts.
That's ridiculous.
The highest post count someone on this site has is 31817 at the time of writing this.

But yeah, people go on Forum Games a lot.
I spend a lot of my time there, for the people, not necessarly the games.
I also have a couple of RPs going, which are adding to my post count.
I spend some time in userr groups but not a whole lot.

So essentially, yes, verbal diahorrea and lots of silliness, with some "srs bznz" attitude.

I meant roughly as I used be around 1,100 which he does have about that. I should have recheck my post count as I keep thinking I am on the lower end of 1,000s. That was my mistake.

Eh, it's OK.
I keep thinking of myself as just having broken 5K, but when I look at my post count I think "Woah, when did that all get there?" Of course, I like my post count despite what people say, because I've put work in to a post 7820-ish times, removing 20 for accidental double posts.

 

[DoW Lowen]

This is less directed to the OP, but more to many of the subsequent posts:

My god, it's a forum, get over it.

If you attach so much of your life to the fandoms by members of a fsking internet forum, you DESERVE to be looked down upon. Seriously.

Go outside, meet people, get over this "humans aren't worth my time" or the various other "woe is me" bullsh*t that no one really cares about and grow up. You're not impressing anyone. You are, in fact, only perpetuating this so-called "elitest" attitude that you say perpetuates the topics/posts here or attracting more like-minded people who do nothing but drag your views further down with their cynicism, angst and depression.

Chances are, if you people who threaten to leave actually DO, 95% of those of us who stay won't remember you after a month unless a thread is necro'ed.


That being said: if the topics are boring, be original and come up with new ones. Or just come back another day.


I fully expect to be flamed for this, or even ignored, but hah, I don't care. Imagine that.

Honesty and being able to express it rationally is a valuable trait. Keep at it.

Boring threads however are an issue indeed. Not sure if you were around to witness it, but list threads were rare when I first started. I think people are just expressing a disappointment in the amount of people. It's a common psychological outcome to see that a growth in numbers makes things seem less special. And indeed people are actually starting to sound alike, it's like I'm back in Asia again.

 

[Mr. Mike]

I think it works something like this: Once upon a time, the Escapist was a friendly place where people gathered to debate topics or share common interests. People only posted when they had something important to say, hence why there were never any 10K+ posters. Therefore, even a post-count of a few thousand was revered, everyone respected everyone else, happy days.

Then Zero Punctuation came into town, and with it, a whole other breed of fans. They came in, awestruck by the community. They observed the respect these "Gone Gonzo" posters had, and wanted a piece of that pie. The aim of the game for these newcomers was to bolster their post-count, not to have some actual conversations with actual people.

Very quickly, the Escapist community as pimppeter2 describes it fades into a sea of random posts for the sake of post-counts. Furthermore, being drawn in through Zero Punctuation, these people adore and idolise Yahtzee. They adopt his mannerisms, hoping they can become the next edgy thing on the internet. The snowballing continues.

With hoards of these new-comers flooding the Escapist, this effect gains momentum, everyone trying to prove they have the larger "e-peen". I would have to say right now, the snowball is at it's biggest. The "Pub Club" as others have dubbed it is like the forest the snowball is running in to. Sure, it could continue into the woods for a little while, but it's going to hit some trees, hard. Hopefully this will destroy this ego-centred showcase of a forum so that it may start anew.

Honestly, I'm one of the aforementioned new-comers. Thankfully, this thread has opened my eyes to the futility of internet fame. Really, it's stupid. This is the first time I'm actually posting something more than a paragraph. This is the first time I'm actually truly contributing to the conversation here. But no doubt people will look over this, waiting to see what Hubilub or Furburt have to say. Why do these two names always come up? They're always among the first to post on a new topic, and coupled with their high post counts people remember them.

Okay, I'm running out of steam here, but you get the idea.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Hub is exactly like Furburt, and their exactly like lord C

YES! I am original!

OT: Just as long as people who don't get the "DLC" don't get treated as second class citizens by the staff, mods and various people who bought premium, then I'm fine.

If they take away any of the stuff we have now then I will leave.

We can always form into a lovable gang of rogues who can't pay and/or won't pay, who live in the forests of the Escapist.

I'm happily an anonymous figure here, and my reluctance to make friends hopefully keeps that up. I should really have a limit of sorts.

Honestly, I'm one of the aforementioned new-comers. Thankfully, this thread has opened my eyes to the futility of internet fame. Really, it's stupid. This is the first time I'm actually posting something more than a paragraph. This is the first time I'm actually truly contributing to the conversation here. But no doubt people will look over this, waiting to see what Hubilub or Furburt have to say. Why do these two names always come up? They're always among the first to post on a new topic, and coupled with their high post counts people remember them.

Okay, I'm running out of steam here, but you get the idea.

Welp, I haven't overlooked it, and you'd be surprised to see many high-posters who are incredibly anonymous. I've seen several people with over 10,000 posts and don't know them, and more importantly have forgotten them.

In fact, the one I remember most is Skarin for his avatar, and not his post count.

And as also mentioned in this post, I am happily anonymous here - I never look to be important anywhere but in my most localised area - seriously, everyone just becomes a sycophant and fawns over you, hoping for attention.

 

[Flack]

I honestly done care if some people think they are better than the rest of the forum users. Though I am jealous of their "Top hats, fine wine, and monocles".

 

[SeanTheSheep]

And indeed people are actually starting to sound alike, it's like I'm back in Asia again.

Now hold on just a moment there.
I would bring this up to any user, regardless of whether we had a misunderstanding a little while ago (It quite seriously was a misunderstanding, we have moved on)
But was that racism there?
Because if it was, then my opinion of you just plummeted to below the ground.
If it was a joke, then it's still extremely insensitive, and you shouldn't have said it.
If it was neither, and there is something I don't understand, sorry about that, I'm not the biggest fan of racists.

 

[DoW Lowen]

Eh, alright.

Yeah, but those people are overreacting, it won't destroy the escapist, and if it does, it's because they did. Yeah people here have odd sentimentality, that's why we come here, but having seen someone who joined on (I think) the 8th of April with a personal title and the badge, it just made me wonder what the staff have done. I think that's an OK idea for the next few days or so, but everyone will have calmed down by the end of the week. I feel you on badge/trophy whoring, but I prefer to be getting my money's worth, for example, with Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC, you were getting new storylines, new weapons, new areas, new perks, and new enemies. It was a pretty sweet deal for the £8 I payed, but paying £6.50-ish for something I'm not hugely bothered by, because I wouldn't use half of the stuff anyway.

So what exactly is the members only section?
Are there slaves to bring you drinks?
Or do you just get put above the normal forums on the priorities list?

Over reacting indeed. But you're right it'll blow over quickly. Internet time moves fast, even March Mayhem blew over faster than I expected. I bought every single DLC for Fallout 3 and each one, even operation anchorage was worth it. If I love the core material I just have to grab every expansion (not so much the non-canon ones) as I can. It's my way of immersing myself into the universe, even a grim one like post-apocalyptic Washington.

As for the member's only section, I could be a dick and tell you buy your own stone cutters ring. But it's nothing special. No priority, no special treatment, no monkey butlers (yet). However we do wear monocles and berets, and Sunday is cheese night where we sit by the fire side and ***** about Sweden.

 

[DoW Lowen]

And indeed people are actually starting to sound alike, it's like I'm back in Asia again.

Now hold on just a moment there.
I would bring this up to any user, regardless of whether we had a misunderstanding a little while ago (It quite seriously was a misunderstanding, we have moved on)
But was that racism there?
Because if it was, then my opinion of you just plummeted to below the ground.
If it was a joke, then it's still extremely insensitive, and you shouldn't have said it.
If it was neither, and there is something I don't understand, sorry about that, I'm not the biggest fan of racists.

Oh right, I'm Chinese. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Spoiler: Large post is large

Whilst the aesthetics of the site have changed for me, I don't view this as a good or bad thing. It's an occurance, and thinking about it in any other way would simply result in a clash of opinions and a shouting contest. I will still post here, albeit less often, but that isn't because of the forums changing for the worse. In all honesty, I suspect it's because of me changing for the better. I'm becoming more responsible, both as a user and in real life. I'm writing better and thinking deeper than I have done so prior to this time, and this is something which I carry with me into the forums. I don't see any reason to abandon that aspect of me or seperate that aspect of me from a site which helped me achieve it so much.

And he had tiffs with the mods, but the ban may have been a bit too far. Now, I can't remember what his banning post was, but I'm going to go check again now.

Max was banned for saying something along the lines of:

You know what?
Fuck you.
Seriously.
You're not a person.

Given his reputation of mod wrath and the fact that he was contemplating a requested ban anyway, I feel that it is deserved.

FINAL EDIT:

Yet Pimppeter2's post (which you agree with) isn't stuck up at all, especially in the way that he says that he will read posts by users like myself instead of users like Furburt and the way that he thinks other users are carbon copies of eachother. Definately not stuck up.

People have always thought that they have been better than eachother on this site. Just look back at old users like Anarchemitis and Darth Mobius and PurpleRain, all of whom have said something along those lines in the past, going as far as to directly insult some users whom they consider themselves superior to.

The whole ideas that the freed users will be looked down on by the premium? Yeah, I think that's very very likely given this website. Already I see so many people displaying their new names and their "I'm a premium user" badge. The badges are a mark of pride as such, and how you think of yourself. I don't display my badges in the order I received them, and I don't think other people do either. Even within a day, people are displaying their badges, this is only the beginning as far as I can see.

This is by no means the beginning. The Holiday Council earning the Thanks! badge back in late 2008/ early 2009 is closer to the beginning. They all showed it off and made the badge infamous, bragging about it and treating it like a secret cult as it were. Achieve a rare award and people will show it off, that should be self-explanatory with the idea of boasting achievements. This idea of elitism has been around long before this system was invented and putting all the blame on it isn't very justified.

The mods being too harsh, well pimpiter just got put on probation for his opinion, okay maybe talking shit about high post count users but no names in particular.

I guess its just a habit. I guess my moment of like yours would be when Max was banned. Not that I was particularly close to the kid, but he signified the end of the users I was part of. The other two being people like you and New Classic and Zombie Fish, but for a long time you guys had all been on a posting hiatus, and I never say any of you. Then Max and Sanity got banned, and all I was left with was people like Hub and Furburt, who are great people, but I just don't care about them.

I'll scroll down to read Zombie Fish's or your post, but I rarely scroll to find what Hub has said on the subject.

...what?

EDIT: Because I didn't dislike your post enough:

This is a good example of what I mean
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.187858-Extra-Punctuation-Kratos#5775513

He didn't say anything particularly note worthy or interesting and by the 8th post 2 people have sucked up to him. Kind of thing that makes me want to leave some days

Umm, what actually happened was:

Hubilub said something which could be seen as reasonable.
Someone agreed with him, but got his name mixed up with Furburt's.
Hubilub pointed this out.

There is no sign of any sucking up to users in the post. If agreeing with a point is sucking up then I'm a major kiss-ass.

Now the indie thing, have you ever gone on to a thread with the title "worst" anywhere? It doesn't have to mean video game, community or culture as long as it has "worst". People will be able to link it back to some big AAA game and say how they hate it. I mean the hate for Halo, Half Life 2, WoW, GoW and any other triple A title will get hate is this thread, somehow.
I am just sick to death about hearing how much a triple A title sucks because most of the time; people never finish the game, it's come from Zero Punctuation and the person is just trying to earn indie points and be "shocking" and "dramatic". You just look stupid and the funny thing is they almost never have a good reason to believe it

You're using ad hominem here. What makes this even weirder is that you're accusing the users of characteristics which you don't know they have. You're assuming that they match a stereotype before going on to assume that that stereotype makes their reasoning useless in an ad hominem attack, instead of actually challenging their reasoning and proving it useless with counter-arguments.

I wish The Escapist would get rid of the post counts as a public viewing and maybe only available on their profile, I think discussion would increase for the lower post count users and encourage people to stay

That's quite the assumption you're making there.

Can you explain how people got customized titles, before this premium thing went on?

Generally they were done by competitions or handed out by the editors/ staff. I don't think it makes too much of a difference, though. The titles that were handed out by the staff are in italics so its obvious that they were earned, and if people have gotten custom titles as well from the premier system, they then have two titles unlike other users. It hasn't lost its value, it's just that the value is represented in a different way now. This is a misunderstanding which people aren't realising for some reason.

 

[jboking]

Exclusive member forum access - Enjoy private discussions in a special "walled garden" of forums only available to members.

Discussions will be just as pointless and poorly-phrased there as here. There is no kind of filter limiting who can buy a membership, so all kinds of people will be in there. No worries that the intelligent threads will be quarantined off somewhere. Except maybe on another forum. Burn.

It may be a burn, but it does make me feel better. Thank you for the perspective, didn't consider that.

 

[MissPixxie]

Sorry to be the new member to post, so I imagine my opinion is going to count for naught but...

Why all the hate, seriously? It's just another way to support the site. At the end of the day, who cares if you have some pretty words under your name, a shiny badge, or even 50k posts? Your opinion should be counted the same as everyone else's. This elitist shite I'm seeing of 'I don't care because you're all the same' disgusts me. I've not been here long, but everyone I've spoken to has been kind, interesting to speak to and different from the last person that sent me a message. In the cases where there have been differences of opinion we've discussed them like mature adults, and seen from both sides the argument. No one has been better than anyone else, and no one should be regarded as better than anyone else.

As for the member's only section, I could be a dick and tell you buy your own stone cutters ring. But it's nothing special. No priority, no special treatment, no monkey butlers (yet). However we do wear monocles and berets, and Sunday is cheese night where we sit by the fire side and ***** about Sweden.

I do hope there will be red wine too when I eventually arrive.

 

[PixieFace]

*snip*
Go outside, meet people, get over this "humans aren't worth my time" or the various other "woe is me" bullsh*t that no one really cares about and grow up. You're not impressing anyone. You are, in fact, only perpetuating this so-called "elitest" attitude that you say perpetuates the topics/posts here or attracting more like-minded people who do nothing but drag your views further down with their cynicism, angst and depression.

Chances are, if you people who threaten to leave actually DO, 95% of those of us who stay won't remember you after a month unless a thread is necro'ed.

*snip*

I fully expect to be flamed for this, or even ignored, but hah, I don't care. Imagine that.

Do you expect to be applauded? Because, honestly, comrade, you deserve to be.

The "woe is me" bullshit is pretty much the reason I've left every other forum I've ever frequented. And unlike most, when I leave a forum, I don't leave a "leaving IRC forever" note. I just leave.

I firmly believe that if you're going to post about leaving, you're wanting validation from others and encouragement to stay.

It makes me grin to see sensible people.

It's a harsh analogy but the message is the same: When someone tells you they're going to commit suicide, they are usually not likely to actually do it. It is a cry for attention.

The exact same is going on with people who threaten to leave or whine about how the forums have degenerated. If you were really dead set on leaving, you would not care about what other people thought. You would have already made up your mind. As it stands, those people are still vying for the attentions of others.

I enjoy this place for silly jokes, playful jabs at fellow users, the random memes that pop up, the occasional mature discussions, and the long talks about video games. I leave making solid friends and fun memories for real life. The Escapist simple helps me wind down, de-stress, and giggle. That doesn't mean I can't share a laugh with people online or appreciate their opinion. It just means my real life is indeed outside the realm of the internet.

I hate to drag up this cliche argument, but if you are replacing your social life with ones and zeroes, then... Well, it makes me really sad. You need to step back and take a breather. Go outside and sunbathe. Have a drink with a buddy. Go shopping for a snazzy hat. Whatever. I think some people would do well to remember that whatever happens on the internet isn't worth getting worked up over.

It's the internet. Nothing is a big deal.

Can I please have my lulz back?

 

[JEBWrench]

It's the internet. Nothing is a big deal.

Can I please have my lulz back?

Crysis 2 writer says The Escapist is too full of whiny drama!

 

[SeanTheSheep]

-snip because this page takes ages to scroll down-

'Fraid so. But I hope it will blow over at least, if it sticks around then I'll be sorta cheesed off. True, though the forums had overloaded traffic for quite a few days after MM. Ah, I would have, but I didn't really have the time to play through them all, and would be bored by the time I completed it, so I only bought Broken Steel because that seemed to give me the most for my money, considering I probably wouldn't finish two. Fair enough, I just don't feel the need to immerse myself too much, because if there isn't enough in the main game, then they're doing it wrong.

So essentially one of the reasons I might have gotten premium is pretty much just more of the same? Eh, I wasn't expecting much, but a few monkey butlers or extra shininess would have been nice.
I kind of like Sweden though.
Someof the people maybe not, but the country hasn't done anything to me.

-Snip, see above-

Ah, now that would be the logical thing to think.
Probably why I didn't.

Thinking on it, it isn't that obvious a thing to think, so I'm going to fool myself into thinking it was good to be suspicious of what someone has said, because it means I care about other races.
Hooray for deluding yourself into thinking you aren't a horrible person!

[sub]Don't expect a reply too quickly, I've been awake for 32 hours, so I'm going to have a nap.[/sub]

 

[Maquette]

Sorry to be the new member to post, so I imagine my opinion is going to count for naught but...
Why all the hate, seriously? It's just another way to support the site. At the end of the day, who cares if you have some pretty words under your name, a shiny badge, or even 50k posts? Your opinion should be counted the same as everyone else's. This elitist shite I'm seeing of 'I don't care because you're all the same' disgusts me. I've not been here long, but everyone I've spoken to has been kind, interesting to speak to and different from the last person that sent me a message. In the cases where there have been differences of opinion we've discussed them like mature adults, and seen from both sides the argument. No one has been better than anyone else, and no one should be regarded as better than anyone else.

This was essentially what I was going to post. Arbitrarily judging the validity of a point put forward by post count is absurd.

 

[CINN4M0N]

*snip*
Go outside, meet people, get over this "humans aren't worth my time" or the various other "woe is me" bullsh*t that no one really cares about and grow up. You're not impressing anyone. You are, in fact, only perpetuating this so-called "elitest" attitude that you say perpetuates the topics/posts here or attracting more like-minded people who do nothing but drag your views further down with their cynicism, angst and depression.

Chances are, if you people who threaten to leave actually DO, 95% of those of us who stay won't remember you after a month unless a thread is necro'ed.

*snip*

I fully expect to be flamed for this, or even ignored, but hah, I don't care. Imagine that.

Do you expect to be applauded? Because, honestly, comrade, you deserve to be.

The "woe is me" bullshit is pretty much the reason I've left every other forum I've ever frequented. And unlike most, when I leave a forum, I don't leave a "leaving IRC forever" note. I just leave.

I firmly believe that if you're going to post about leaving, you're wanting validation from others and encouragement to stay.

It makes me grin to see sensible people.

It's a harsh analogy but the message is the same: When someone tells you they're going to commit suicide, they are usually not likely to actually do it. It is a cry for attention.

The exact same is going on with people who threaten to leave or whine about how the forums have degenerated. If you were really dead set on leaving, you would not care about what other people thought. You would have already made up your mind. As it stands, those people are still vying for the attentions of others.

I enjoy this place for silly jokes, playful jabs at fellow users, the random memes that pop up, the occasional mature discussions, and the long talks about video games. I leave making solid friends and fun memories for real life. The Escapist simple helps me wind down, de-stress, and giggle. That doesn't mean I can't share a laugh with people online or appreciate their opinion. It just means my real life is indeed outside the realm of the internet.

I hate to drag up this cliche argument, but if you are replacing your social life with ones and zeroes, then... Well, it makes me really sad. You need to step back and take a breather. Go outside and sunbathe. Have a drink with a buddy. Go shopping for a snazzy hat. Whatever. I think some people would do well to remember that whatever happens on the internet isn't worth getting worked up over.

It's the internet. Nothing is a big deal.

And you Missie,


Can I please have my lulz back?

Hear him, hear him. The ones with the massive post counts, how much of their day do they spend on the Escapist? It seems a little excessive.

Sorry to be the new member to post, so I imagine my opinion is going to count for naught but...

Why all the hate, seriously? It's just another way to support the site. At the end of the day, who cares if you have some pretty words under your name, a shiny badge, or even 50k posts? Your opinion should be counted the same as everyone else's. This elitist shite I'm seeing of 'I don't care because you're all the same' disgusts me. I've not been here long, but everyone I've spoken to has been kind, interesting to speak to and different from the last person that sent me a message. In the cases where there have been differences of opinion we've discussed them like mature adults, and seen from both sides the argument. No one has been better than anyone else, and no one should be regarded as better than anyone else.

As for the member's only section, I could be a dick and tell you buy your own stone cutters ring. But it's nothing special. No priority, no special treatment, no monkey butlers (yet). However we do wear monocles and berets, and Sunday is cheese night where we sit by the fire side and ***** about Sweden.

I do hope there will be red wine too when I eventually arrive.

You don't need to open with an apology. The point a lot of people are making is that you're a person, same as Furburt or Hub or Pimp or anyone, and as such your merits are in what you have to say, not how many times you've said anything.

I have to admit, drudging through all this lot, I was wondering what I was going to add and was subconsciously considering starting with something similar, but when I read yours I realised I didn't need to. I'm getting the feeling that most people here don't actually like those aforementioned posters.

 

[SextusMaximus]

It's amazing how people actually hate the fact that everyone is civil on the site, and that it is heavily modded. Both of those are fantastic and hell, if I'm a "carbon copy" of everyone else, at least everyone's decent and friendly here.