Are we truly good?

[x0ny]

There are alot of us on this forum who think we're really mature, not a bunch of dicks, good mannered, polite etc etc, you know, the epitome of good.

Now I'm thinking, are we truly the bees knees when it comes to forum etiquette? Or are we only good because of fear from a higher power? IE the mods. Perhaps it's also the Matrix badges which are also part of the driving force.

I personally feel that if it weren't for the mods, I'd still act like a prick, and therefore, I'm only good because of fear of being banned/suspended. The mods run a tight ship, and in doing so has created a pleasant forum to hang about in.

What do you guys think? Are you truly well behaved? Or are you just being good to avoid the wrath and get your hands on that Neo badge?

 

[Dags90]

There are alot of us on this forum who think we're really mature, not a bunch of dicks, good mannered, polite etc etc, you know, the epitome of good.

Now I'm thinking, are we truly the bees knees when it comes to forum etiquette? Or are we only good because of fear from a higher power? IE the mods. Perhaps it's also the Matrix badges which are also part of the driving force.

I personally feel that if it weren't for the mods, I'd still act like a prick, and therefore, I'm only good because of fear of being banned/suspended. The mods run a tight ship, and in doing so has created a pleasant forum to hang about in.

What do you guys think? Are you truly well behaved? Or are you just being good to avoid the wrath and get your hands on that Neo badge?

It's all in the moderation for as big a community as the Escapist is. Without the mods there would be all sorts of spambots and trolly Grammer Nazis.

 

[PunkyMcGee]

it is true that the Escapist has the most vigalent "Mod Squad" *that i've been on* of any forum but i think that flame wars are not the way to get a point across intelegent conversation is far better. don't get me wrong i love to be a prick sometimes but that doesn't help anyone but myself.

 

[Nouw]

Eh I think twice because I want to stay here/not get banned and it'd be a lie to say this is a 'better' me. Just the only chance to express myself without being rained holy death upon. I guess partly it is the Mods but I know if they were gone and this place went to hell I'd get off and enjoy the outside world go on another forum.

Of course on Youtube I'm a bit more free but that's Youtube.
EDITamn now people are just going to read Youtube and think 'WTF?' xD

 

[viranimus]

As for the community... I think for the most part it is good. There are good people and pricks, the mods just help to weed out the latter, leaving the genuinely good, or the ones like me who exist in a lighter shade of grey.

Personally I dont try to antagonize anyone, But I know I have ideologies that honestly to rub some people the wrong way.

Thing is the nature of good is subjective anyway, so what behavior in one location is considered good, might be considered false, and condescending in another.

 

[mParadox]

Yes.

Most people are generally good, if not, the Mod Squad sees to it that they learn to behave next time. Without the Mods, this place would be any other forum.

 

[Brawndo]

I like to think that most members of society operate on a veneer of goodness and civility. When the conditions are right, we can be good, but when the shit starts to hit the fan in our lives, we have the ability to be nasty, even to those who do not deserve it.

God help us if the shit starts to hit the fan for the whole country or the whole world. As some people put it, we are "nine meals away from total anarchy". In other words, in a crisis the kind gentleman who held the bathroom door for you is liable to beat the shit out of you with a tire iron to get the baked beans in your pocket.


Oh wait, the OP was about this forum. Never mind then, that's what happens when I only read the title.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

To tell you the truth, while I did get a little obsessed with wanting my Neo for awhile, I've never really been much different than I am now on the internet.

I try to be good and helpful whenever I can.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I think that even with the mods and what not, were only one or two steps removed from the all the other forums we tend to look down our noses at. Which is like saying we're only ankle deep in the trash pile as opposed to fully dived in. We're still in it and hardly in a position to condemn anyone, but only on the edge.
That's just my assessment though.
When it comes to maturity I rarely ever encountered any examples of maturity anywhere on the Internet and certainly not here.
As for myself, I try to behave on the net much as I do IRL, but often times when one gets behind a keyboard it's easy to start typing without thinking so I have I much greater tendency to speak my mind. However in the event I do go overboard and say something overtly mean or uncalled for I'll usually apologize for it later.

 

[TragicallyInept]

I think it depends on what your definition of good is. It might sound strange, but different people have a different idea of what "good" is. It's how we can have politicians all doing opposite things, thinking they're striving for the same.

People have different ideas of what good is, and so I don't know if anyone can truly be designated as good, until we know what standards.

I think the obvious standards most people use is the be kind to others, good samaritan type rigamarole.

I'd like to think I was a good person. I've never killed a man.

 

[Blazingdragoon04]

No, I don't think we are. But to tell you the truth I don't think it's because everyone on the Escapist is a terrible person, but rather having an authority tell us what we can and can't do is where I would place most of us in terms of our moral reasoning skills.

With that in mind, I present this to you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg%27s_stages_of_moral_development

Having studied it before I can verify that the 6 stages are pretty accurate on the wikipedia page. Most people never get to stage 6, as it takes an obscene amount of abstract reasoning, and even stage 5 is hard to grasp entirely. But stage 4, obeying authority, is basically where most people stop, and it's where I think most of the people here at the escapist, and in life in general, typically lie.

Kohlberg's a great read too. A bit dry, but he has some interesting stuff to say.

 

[Nouw]

To tell you the truth, while I did get a little obsessed with wanting my Neo for awhile, I've never really been much different than I am now on the internet.

I try to be good and helpful whenever I can.

Guess it turns into a good thing after all!

But to tell you the truth I don't think it's because everyone on the Escapist is a terrible person, but rather having an authority tell us what we can and can't do is where I would place most of us in terms of our moral reasoning skills.

Agreed, after all everyone has different morals and are on different places on the 'moral' ladder.

 

[RanD00M]

I will be the first to admit that that I might be a little too nice in certain situations.
And I'm nice here on the Escapist because I'm nice in real life, for the most part. And the matrix badges don't drive me forward since I had them all, and then asked a mod to remove my Neo.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I believe in a certain standard of civility and intelligent discourse, even as I freely admit I'm an egotistical jackass with an axe to grind on certain topics, heh. So no, I probably would conduct myself in an essentially identical fashion if the Sword of Damocles that is the threat of moderator wrath wasn't dangling over my head, it's not in my nature to resort to the sorts of low-brow conduct that the moderators frown on when there are perfectly acceptable ways to have fun at other people's expense while looking squeaky clean.

The best part is that if I do ever happen to provoke someone into making personal attacks, I'm the charmingly self-aggrandizing jackass with a vocabulary he uses for evil, composing posts in unsullied English, and they're the ones swearing at me for mysterious reasons in what is probably a sub-literate abomination of internet grammar and spelling - who do you think gets punished?

Without the mods there would be all sorts of trolly Grammer Nazis.

Ha, I've lost track of how many times I've popped into the comments section of a news article simply to correct grammatical mistakes the author of the news piece has made. Also there is no E in "grammar" (though I almost suspect you did that on purpose[footnote]But not enough to simply let it slide without comment, because then I'd be a shitty Grammar Nazi.[/footnote]).

 

[Merkavar]

isnt that the reason everyone is good in real life. fear of the punishment for being bad. either fines, jail, hell, people not respecting you, people hating you etc etc

 

[Geo88]

I will be the first to admit that that I might be a little too nice in certain situations.
And I'm nice here on the Escapist because I'm nice in real life, for the most part. And the matrix badges don't drive me forward since I had them all, and then asked a mod to remove my Neo.

This. I'm nice here because I'm nice in real life. I even have trouble choosing evil or dark side options in moral choice games. Empathy is a ***** like that. (Seriously, I had to use the Mandalorian girl glitch in KotOR 1 to get full Dark Side Points, and it killed me to be that mean to that stowaway.)

A bit more OT: Compared to other forums I've hung out on, the Escapist is pretty good about people respecting other members. Yeah, I've seen tempers flare up, but it's a lot better here than most elsewhere.

The key I see here a lot is something I learned in my largely pointless Intro to Communication class back in college. People here tend to own their opinions. Instead of saying, "Game X is terrible," I see many people, including myself, say, "I think Game X is terrible." The "I think" part seems like a stupid addition, but it actually makes a huge deal as to how people view your statement. Even better, most people here provide reasons as to why they like or dislike something. That's a pretty refreshing change of pace.

 

[Death God]

On this site, yes. I am mature. Or at least I try to be. I want the Neo Badge but I'm not going to force mature-ness. But youtube is a different matter. People on that site are real asses sometimes and though I don't like to admit it, I act im-mature to get a point across after they wont listen. But on the Escapist, yes. I do act mature.

 

[Count Igor]

Yes. Screw you you motherfu-!
..
Oh right. Sorry about that.

But yes. I am. I'm nice here because I'm too nice in real life and in games. Not because I want to stay (Which I do), but because I want to be nice.
That said, there are still some douches here.

 

[Kaboose the Moose]

No one can be inherently good when anarchy rules! We are programmed to conform to the rules, it's called "attempting to have a civilised conversation/discussion".

If it wasn't for rules we'll be 4chan circa before the rules.

That said, there are still some douches here.

You can say that again!

 

[Guffe]

I wouldn't say so. I am often trying to act here like IRL but for example sarcasm can be hard to interpret without the tone of the voice or body language and so I've had a few encounters that then were sorted out by the fact that we both understood that the first post was meant sarcastically. I think the ban thing is something that keeps people in line but I hope most people would still be great people here without them or with less strict rules.