Are these forums really useful?

[Nouw]

Yes, yes it is. These forums have made me a better person.

 

[Pat8u]

I use the forums to learn new things

 

[NerfedFalcon]

My own 'controversial' opinion basically comes down to 'there are no anime characters a normal 16-year-old boy can relate to'. And by 'normal' I mean 'normal' according to real life, not 'gets a whole bunch of random girls, usually with special abilities they hide from everyone else'. Not to mention it's impossible to relate to any of those girls, no matter who you are: sure, maybe some of them actually do have faults, but they're lucky more than anything else. How did they gain their powers? Being in the right place at the right time. Getting stronger? Luck. Being like that in the first place? Their luck started while they were still just an X-chromosomal sperm. What makes it even worse for me is that while some girls can pretend their sperm was as magical as that of Usagi Tsukino, I have no such avenue. And that just turns me right off everything, even stuff I'm still slightly interested in: Black Rock Shooter, Fate/stay night, Nanoha, Madoka Magica, and yes, Sailor Moon. And you know what else? Usagi is probably the worst of the whole lot!

*inhale*

Feel free to rip my opinion apart, as usual, just quote the parts you object to so I know you're doing it.
~~~~~~
Edit: For comparison, here's the only anime (or anime-ish) character I've ever even slightly related to: Neku Sakuraba. Yeah, he's just as lucky as Usagi up there, but he has actual character flaws that a normal person (like me) might have. Also, I control him. That's also why I don't put Reimu up with the others: I can stand video game characters better because if I stop caring about the characters, I can't continue the game.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Kind of Ironic the first post was banned, Yeah this forum isn't useful, as freedom of discussion and speech on controversial topics is not allowed unless you support the side that is supported by the majority or the moderators.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Im not sure I agree with him getting banned, but Im afraid to express my opinion, because I might get banned.

Part of the problem is that, for the older users who've been around since before the forum health-bar, previous infractions for which you've done your time (and forgotten about, in my case) still added a pip to the bar. I don't remember Generic Gamer being particularly abrasive, but then we seem to float around different forums. I think he's more OT and I'm almost entirely R&P.

You can't "fix" opinions as it were, true, but you can at least influence and guide. And yes, it is true, many in this community are really not what they make themselves out to be.

Ah, Lord Mountbatten! It's been a long time!

How went the lobster fishing in Mullaghmore?

 

[Joey Wonton]

So these forums are used more primarily for fun and time consumption then?

Does that mean, to keep the passive tolerance and happiness we experience in this forum, we need to appease the greater number of people with the most agreeable content, so as to not cause disruption and general negative output?

Individually, it does feel oppressive, but the macro effect of it creates a much less hostile environment (non-constructive hostility). Look at 4chan boards and youtube comments and their reputation. Little or no moderation, and so hate can spew in all directions, drawing in more people to fuel it and basically building a self-perpetuating machine.
The effect of mods just aren't realised because of the natural law "You don't know what you have until its gone" and you can only speculate what it would be like without it.

Perhaps, to maintain the somewhat structured community of these forums, we must omit the luxury of absolute free speech, so as to keep as many people as we can smiling/not angry. Not upholding that could eventually lead to a much less desirable space in which to converse.

However, I don't see a 'serious discussion' forum going amiss. Unless that's what the 'Religion and Politics' section is; I've not visited it much, I believe because of me not being into either of the topics.

At least I understand the moderation now.

 

[Klepa]

I know they work towards an actual discussion if there were a small number of posters, on a smaller forum, but I made the title intriguing and mildly offensive to the user, so that it would hopefully attract a lot more attention than I deserve.

I actually didn't find it offensive at all, because I've been pondering the same thing myself. The forum's biggest problem is that it has so many users. Most people, myself included, have no choice but to skip over a lot of replies, unless they want to spend their whole afternoon reading about opinions and viewpoints, which may or may not have something to do with the original post. That can and will result in people repeating the same thing over and over.

It's unfortunate, but nobody is to blame, and it can't really be helped.


Also: I think a lot of people set themselves up for disappointment, when they join this forum. We spell-check posts, we often cite sources, and the religion forum is alarmingly civil. This can create the illusion that everyone in The Escapist is Stephen Fry, a sophisticated renaissance superman, when most of us are actually just John Smith, average guy who bothers to spell-check.

 

[CODE-D]

You know what be useful, an anime discussion.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Ah, Lord Mountbatten! It's been a long time!

How went the lobster fishing in Mullaghmore?

Excluding me of course.

I mean, it's obvious that I'm Louis Mountbatten. Only a buzzkill pessimist would believe that I didn't survive the cataclysmic explosion and reached the age of 111.

 

[Wolfy2447]

Individually, it does feel oppressive, but the macro effect of it creates a much less hostile environment (non-constructive hostility). Look at 4chan boards and youtube comments and their reputation. Little or no moderation, and so hate can spew in all directions, drawing in more people to fuel it and basically building a self-perpetuating machine.
The effect of mods just aren't realized because of the natural law "You don't know what you have until its gone" and you can only speculate what it would be like without it.

Perhaps, to maintain the somewhat structured community of these forums, we must omit the luxury of absolute free speech, so as to keep as many people as we can smiling/not angry. Not upholding that could eventually lead to a much less desirable space in which to converse.

But then whats the point of "forum". Its like a totally censored world that automatically censors anything that could be considered "bad" or "dangerous" leaving you with pretty much very little and boring things to do.

At least 4chan forums have some hilarious stuff if you are not touchy and you ignore the overly sexual fapping porn threads XD, at least they are not trying to LOOK intellectual...

Daily lulz i found: We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies

But thats the other end of a forum, its purely for entertainment something which i believe needs freedom to work well unless you want to hear generic jokes every day because others jokes might make the "masses" defensive and cause flame war if the op doesnt have the brain to ignore them or does it on purpose. Honestly there is no point in "censored" forums

Hate repeating but the escapist is a very big game website with many viewers due to the video they use, and since most people happen to be overly touchy and defensive and get insulted by opposite cultures or religions and get trolled they need moderators so they wont lose the common every day people that might also get affected by the horrible advertisements they get paid for. And who doesnt love his money-Thats a possible scenario
People need to learn 2 use addblock for each browser...

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

Erm, so why was Generic banned when he offered a thoughtful opinion on a majority of the community here?

If anything it was constructive criticism and that's never a bad thing but should be looked at for improvement.

 

[Dark Knifer]

I usual frequent here for a laugh, some information about the various topics but I rarely post, due to the nature of internet arguments. I keep my opinion to myself and weigh both sides in order for the most rational opinion I can gather. Not for a sense of "I'm a better person because I avoid arguments" but merely a pursuit of knowledge. I find the discussions interesting and educating basically and this place is good for a laugh and news on things.

 

[Nietz]

I used to find these forums useful and insightful, but lately that feeling has kind of faded. I still lurk around a fair bit, but it rarely ends with me posting something or voicing my opinion. I guess I'm getting a little to old for this forum, and the forum is getting a little to ugly for me.

There is a lot of good things to say about strong opinions and the people that they inhabit, but when you have them butt heads with each other, with no hope of any real discussion, things turn ugly really fast.

There are still a couple of good threads around, but they grow weaker and smaller with each passing day. This thread, on the other hand, I will keep my eye upon, because it seems interesting. No growth can come without introspection... or whatever it is you say.