Celebrate old Escapists! The war against the newbies has been won!

[Barbas]

On other forums around the internet, it's not uncommon to see people with join dates more than a decade old. There's one particular forum I also frequent where almost all of the regulars have join dates 2003-2005.

Why does The Escapist have such a (comparatively) high turnover of users? Is it because people get bored of it quickly? Is it the moderation? Perhaps it's because people tend to join this site when they're fairly young IRL, and grow out of this place after a few years.
I'm not really sure the reason...

The site's forums haven't been around for all that long. They got started some time in 2006, IIRC, which was as far back as threads with comments in will currently load for me. Earliest join date I saw was 2004, I think, belonging to someone who helped put the site together. A lot of people joined back then and simply don't post in the forums, ergo they aren't seen as much nowadays. The mute white faces are legion.

 

[2fish]

Yay more people telling me I am old. What next? You gonna tell me to eat healthy, cut soda out of my diet, stop with the human sacrifices?

New people will be safe in my windowless murder van. Please come in one at a time and disregard and odd sounds or liquids.

 

[chocolate pickles]

Not really sure if this is a good thing. New people = new opinions.

 

[The Lunatic]

The "funny" thing is they're not the ones that should worry people most. Because while that form of outright hate is damaging, they're not the ones setting the tone.

I don't really think it's your place to lecture the homosexual on homophobia, dear.

Er...might this be a region based thing, that "the" gay community you are talking about is "a" gay community? Cause there's plenty of gay men that would really, really disagree about that.

I guess, and some people, claiming to be scientists will insist the world if flat. Ultimately, you can only really use "Everyone I know, and have encountered" so many times before it becomes implied.

And at the end of the day, I'd rather there just not be any homophobia at all, as unrealistic as that may be.

I realize that isn't exactly a unique position. But I'm not exactly the type of person to accept any sort of compromise with regards to these sorts of things, which is exactly why I don't visit those websites and I strive to report any such posts I find here. I'm not content to accept that that's just the way things are.

I'd snarkily wonder exactly how "progressive" the userbase here is anymore.

It's a noble aim, but, ultimately impossible. Even if you eliminate any "I hate the gays" people, there's still plenty of people, even on this site itself that have very firm beliefs on what a homosexual should think and say. And that in itself is homophobic, surely?

A particular memory stirs in which I was accused of "Internalized homophobic" for not agreeing with a particularly "Progressive poster" on a matter of homosexuality.

The only way to achieve such a goal is to remove any distinction of homosexuality. I guess if we're all "fags", we're all equal!

There's still enough progressives to make a shitstorm.


Though, to be fair, that's any number higher than zero.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Alas, when the Gamergate war broke out, the newbies were the first to go. Who would want to come into a forum environment like that? At-least now that has died down and is contained in the GID province, perhaps we can have our own forum baby boom. Though I think the Escapist has past it's peak population, Yahtzee hasn't been drawing the crowds like he used to (his videos now being hosted on YouTube may be partly to blame for this) and the loss of Jim and Bob last year demolished the video content here even further. Unless they find another crowd pleaser, we old Escapists may reign on indefinitely.

Frankly anyone that came here for MovieJerk we can do with out. Maybe those kinds of people play video games, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know.

 

[FPLOON]

Uh... Yay? Glad to see that the Escapist Buyer's Club is still as exclusive as a one-console video game franchise? I don't know what to do with this kind of info in my hands... I think I need another shot of sarcasm to take it all in...

Joking aside, it's it still hip to bring in new cats to the bar? About a year or so ago, I think I would of had a completely different answer this this metaphorical question...

 

[chiggerwood]

Um... Hooray? Yippee? So fucking what? I never minded the newbies. Most of them were just people discovering a new site, and it looks like the old curmudgeons chased them off the law- No, not a lawn, a park. You chased them out of a park, a public park, because for some reason we have become elitist who don't want... those kind on our playground. Seriously, do you want this site to become an echo chamber? Because this is how you get an echo chamber.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

In a way I find it quite sad, the fact that everything's moving towards one/two sites that provide all our content. I've never been fan of the whole Singularity thing. It undermines plurality, a vital component for a healthy democratic society.

So yeah, as one of the old farts around here; bring on the new blood, if that new blood is friendly and mature.

As for the content, I'm actually quite happy with the new content. We got some nice movie-related content, with Good Bad Flicks and Matt as a decent reviewer, there's some cool stuff related to comics and cosplay, nice editorials even though I don't read them all that often and game reviews that seem pretty good as well. The only thing I find questionable is the increasingly sensationalist news posts, but that might be worked on.

Oh, don't worry, I'm not really on board with the homogenization of entertainment either; neither content nor distribution wise. Variety keeps things competitive and interesting, after all.

And thank you for reminding me about Good Bad Flicks. I actually really like that one. The problem is that his entire back-log is on youtube, so we run into the same problems as we do with Yahtzee.

Not that I'm against making things more convenient for folks to find the entertainment they want, but from a business perspective the decision to host things on what is, ostensibly, a competing site, strikes me as more than a little short-sighted. But, then, I don't have access to Defy's financial records. Moving stuff to youtube may be making bank for 'em. Hell if I know.

Sensationalism is an entirely different subject and it's a problem affecting nearly, if not all, online media outlets. And I can't really blame them. Clicks = Revenue. So, logically, it behooves them to do what they can to generate as many clicks as possible.

It's just annoying/grating/teeth-grindingly aggravating for anybody who isn't receiving any of that revenue.

Dunno about that. Just seems like you're taking offense to a formation of letters than the actual words themselves.

Ultimately, I think you should really let the people in question decide what's offensive or not, there's very little to be gained by getting offended for them, especially to things that probably don't even regard as offensive. I'm certainly not offended by people using the word "Fag" and by all accounts I am one.

This is one thing I sincerely adore about chan culture, even though I don't participate outside of a few /a translation threads for raws.

They take words like, say, "Fag" and thoroughly render them impotent through non-traditional usage. When everybody's a (inserthobbyorthing)fag then it kills or, at the very least, neuters the term's potential to cause 'harm.'

I like it. I think that sort of thing should be done with more 'offensive' words.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Question: with a join date in 2012(though I'd been lurking for two years prior) would I be considered an oldie, or a newbie?

 

[inmunitas]

That's being a bit too simple on chan culture, honestly.

Words are very flexible, generally speaking, as far as the "Gay community" is concerned, "Fag" has been pretty much co-opted as a banterous word, usually thrown around as a subtle dig at another for engaging in overt and cliche homosexual behavior.

A SFW example between myself and a friend.

"I kinda want to go all out with pink on this one." "Fag. :V"

I fail to see how that's different from what I said, to be honest. Unless you're specifically taking issue with my saying that co-opting the word "fag" doesn't somehow remove its homophobic connotations.

You do relies there is a world outside of North America, and the term "fag" doesn't necessarily have homophobic connotations else where, right?

 

[shrekfan246]

You do relies there is a world outside of North America, and the term "fag" doesn't necessarily have homophobic connotations else where, right?

You do realize that "chan culture" clearly does not use "fag" with British or Australian meanings, right?

And that I had more posts in this thread in which I specified that that particular word is merely the tip of the iceberg with regards to problems I have with the ways people conduct themselves online.

 

[vallorn]

Well, you can't say we of MrPip's didn't try to stop this. We did a lot to advertise this place and give newbies coming in the lo down of the forum culture here. Some people didn't like that (because they are sad, sad people) and actually complained to @Archon about it, resulting in this.

https://twitter.com/archon/status/585886709524475904

But yeah, who wants to be in a forum culture where trolls (and they do exist here) can passive aggressively inflame tensions over and over till people are banned, just to win arguments by forum attrition usually, and you cannot call them out on it. The CoC needs an overhaul to be more newbie friendly really.

As well as that, We lost a lot of older members too during the age of the GG megathreads, so the forums aren't as populous as they were which also doesn't attract people.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

So how do you feel about winning the war against the newbies?

Now we need to bring back the 2008-2009 people and reclaim our ancestral land.

The war never ends.

 

[inmunitas]

You do relies there is a world outside of North America, and the term "fag" doesn't necessarily have homophobic connotations else where, right?

You do realize that "chan culture" clearly does not use "fag" with British or Australian meanings, right?

Actually it's not clear at all, given that there are multiple definitions and uses of the term which are quite similar but have different implications.

 

[Cold Shiny]

As a new guy, I wasn't aware this was a thing, but now I have been informed that I lost a war.... of some kind...

Now I'm depressed.

 

[Nowhere Man]

umm.. Congratulations I guess? It really doesn't matter to me since I lurk here way more then I post anyway.

 

[Barbas]

So how do you feel about winning the war against the newbies?

Now we need to bring back the 2008-2009 people and reclaim our ancestral land.

The war never ends.

Bah. I resent the assumption that age bring experience and maturity! That's purely outdated thinking. Anyway, if you want good people then you can make them yourself by treating 'em all right.

You do relies there is a world outside of North America, and the term "fag" doesn't necessarily have homophobic connotations else where, right?

You do realize that "chan culture" clearly does not use "fag" with British or Australian meanings, right?

Actually it's not clear at all, given that there are multiple definitions and uses of the term which are quite similar but have different implications.

Uhhh, well then hopefully the reactions of people you call it in conversation will clarify the matter. I bet it will shortly after they assume you're not referring to them as a bundle of sticks or a rolled-up cigarette. That is what tends to happen in my experience of seeing it, which is why I don't call other people that and probably why a lot of those I know don't do it either.

On other forums around the internet, it's not uncommon to see people with join dates more than a decade old. There's one particular forum I also frequent where almost all of the regulars have join dates 2003-2005.

Why does The Escapist have such a (comparatively) high turnover of users? Is it because people get bored of it quickly? Is it the moderation? Perhaps it's because people tend to join this site when they're fairly young IRL, and grow out of this place after a few years.
I'm not really sure the reason...

The site's forums haven't been around for all that long. They got started some time in 2006, IIRC, which was as far back as threads with comments in will currently load for me. Earliest join date I saw was 2004, I think, belonging to someone who helped put the site together. A lot of people joined back then and simply don't post in the forums, ergo they aren't seen as much nowadays. The mute white faces are legion.

Forums take a lot of work to run well, and the payoff can be hard to see unless they're doing very well. It's not a shock that a lot of sites are tossing their forums, and at best using Disqus or something similar. Maybe there will just be an Escapist Subreddit at some point?

There already exists such a place, and, in a word, it is hysterical.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

So how do you feel about winning the war against the newbies?

Now we need to bring back the 2008-2009 people and reclaim our ancestral land.

The war never ends.

Bah. I resent the assumption that age bring experience and maturity! That's purely outdated thinking. Anyway, if you want good people then you can make them yourself by treating 'em all right.

Surely you didn't think I was serious?

Escapists have been guttersnipes since the servers first opened. From what I've seen, the nicer people come from all join dates. My opinion of join date 'supremacy' is the same as my opinion of post count prowess. [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XsMIc-FqCT0/Umm9EoskPpI/AAAAAAAAANw/SalFHRk2RPk/s1600/Post+counts.png]

Its all a joke to me

 

[Barbas]

Surely you didn't think I was serious?

Escapists have been guttersnipes since the servers first opened. From what I've seen, the nicer people come from all join dates. My opinion of join date 'supremacy' is the same as my opinion of post count prowess. [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XsMIc-FqCT0/Umm9EoskPpI/AAAAAAAAANw/SalFHRk2RPk/s1600/Post+counts.png]

Its all a joke to me

People are sadly often serious about that sort of thing, though they'd never admit to something like that. "Guttersnipe" is a real Victorian's insult, but I prefer the more comical "ragamuffin". Again, sadly, I think it may have fallen out of vogue some time ago to refer to people as urchins. :<

 

[inmunitas]

You do relies there is a world outside of North America, and the term "fag" doesn't necessarily have homophobic connotations else where, right?

You do realize that "chan culture" clearly does not use "fag" with British or Australian meanings, right?

Actually it's not clear at all, given that there are multiple definitions and uses of the term which are quite similar but have different implications.

Uhhh, well then hopefully the reactions of people you call it in conversation will clarify the matter. I bet it will shortly after they assume you're not referring to them as a bundle of sticks or a rolled-up cigarette. That is what tends to happen in my experience of seeing it, which is why I don't call other people that and probably why a lot of those I know don't do it either.

Except British usage of "fag" doesn't come from shortening the term "******" (a bundle of sticks) it comes from the term "fag end".