Contemplating capitulation to Escapist noobs?

[vede]

I happen to be in a strange sort of unhappiness right now.

It seems the forums have been flooding over with people with 12 posts and (apparently) no Shift-key (or grammatical knowledge, really). I feel like more than half the threads here are repeats or just dumb threads, and that even more new posters insist on grammar or spelling or even not being a dick to be unnecessary.

So, I ask my good friends here at the Escapist (those of you who know what I'm talking about), what do you think of this?

Have you thought about leaving? How seriously? If not, what do you do think?

Perhaps you have an idea that might help keep the forums' integrity up?

Perhaps you think that this is perfectly fine and that people who don't like it are just being elitist or snobby bastards?

(PS: I searched. Honestly, I did. Because the Search Button exists, contrary to popular belief, it seems.)

 

[rottenbutter]

Give them time.

They will either learn, or face the ban-hammer.

Either way is good.

 

[Labyrinth]

Well [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.84681] I think it's just a demonstration of the rest of the internet infiltrating our beloved Escapist. Grammar and spelling are held in high regard here, something which many new people appreciate. It's the unfortunate few who don't which annoy.

Leave because of it? No. I don't see the point. I'd rather stay and fight to maintain what I respect here. It's what we've got mods for, and strong members.

Better your own posts. Think before you hit that little button. Spell check.

I am elitist. I just do it with panache.

 

[willard3]

Personally, I prefer to just ignore them. It does get aggravating when you're scrolling through dozens of "lol wut" posts to find things actually written with proper grammar and all the apostrophes in the right place. But they're largely harmless and probably don't have much experience in forums anyway, so a little slack is in order. Sometimes.

On a related note, anytime I see the words "would of been", I want to strangle something.

 

[Ronwue]

Um... sorry to say this, but have you tried ignoring repeating posts? If language is your problem, simply skip that post. If you really like these forums why should you quit. Try beating the "noobs" with good grammar, using the shift key properly and using the search button as well. More fulfilling than leaving.

 

[mokes310]

No, I haven't thought about leaving, and I'm still a new member. I find that the truly great threads seem to find their way to the top, and all of the great members seem to have their say.

I do know what you're talking about, and yes, it is frustrating to see the same thread four or five times, but this is the internet, and everyone isn't on the same level as everyone else. You have to remember that some people are new to this "world," and they still haven't learned the rules of forum posting.

All in all, I really do appreciate the Escapist for providing a fun, safe, productive and intellectual forum, as well as pretty funny videos.

 

[Erana]

Frankly, I wouldn't mind if the staff went and locked all the blatant repeat threads.* That would discourage some of the illiterate newbs.

To the intelligent, friendly newbs:
Most Escapees absolutely love intelligent newbs, and I want to point out that the majority of the negative content of this thread is and will not be aimed at you.

*I'm not talking about locking this thread in favor of NukeLassic's thread, but those damned zombie and superpower threads 'n such. Its a personal pet peeve of mine, if you can't tell.

 

[mokes310]

I am elitist. I just do it with panache.

If you don't mind, I'd like to use that quote at a later date. It's pure class!

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

Give them time.

They will either learn, or face the ban-hammer.

Either way is good.

That, though I think it should be made clear to them. This is not a place for them to do what they want. They chose to come here and as such must follow the rules made by the people who have provided this place for us. It's well within their right to ask whatever standards they deem necessary for forum goers and as such anyone who wants to use L33t speak or whatever can leave.
It's annoying that so many of them think they can just do what they want, like forums they frequented before discovering the Escapist.

 

[Labyrinth]

I am elitist. I just do it with panache.

If you don't mind, I'd like to use that quote at a later date. It's pure class!

Yes, and thankyou. I'll be here all week.

 

[Erana]

It's funny; your own posts are sort of espousing the very characteristics you're disparaging.

Why make a thread about this?

Many threads are made solely to help fellow forumgoers better understand their opinions on a topic. This is one such thread.
Confronting us with the idea of the flood of obnoxious new users forces us to come up with peer-reviewed opinions and suggestions that can better refine possible solutions to our mutual feeling of unease.
At least, that's what I get from it.

 

[mokes310]

I am elitist. I just do it with panache.

If you don't mind, I'd like to use that quote at a later date. It's pure class!

Yes, and thankyou. I'll be here all week.

And don't forget to tip your waitress!

 

[Erana]

I can understand those intentions, but it feels like this topic pops up every week. What more is there to say, especially when there really isn't much divergence in opinions?

Circle jerks really aren't my thing, I guess.

"Circle Jerks?"

Anyhow, I agree that there's a weekly, "Fellow Escapists, what's going on?!" thread, but I've seen this as only a more recent trend. There issomething going on that is making a lot of Escapists twitch.

The think about considering this a repeat thread is that, though the sentiment is similar, the topic is different. I mean, the sentiment behind, "What is your favorite song" and, "What would you do if zombies attacked" is nearly identical, though the topic is quite different.
Sure, this thread and the, "Why are all threads list" thread have a similar sentiment, but the topics themselves are pretty different.

Well, that's my rationale behind not considering them duplicate threads, but to each his own.

 

[vede]

I can understand those intentions, but it feels like this topic pops up every week. What more is there to say, especially when there really isn't much divergence in opinions?

Circle jerks really aren't my thing, I guess.

I'm totally into circle je... um...

I actually really like being able to share my ideas exclusively with people who agree with me. It always feels much better inside than communicating with you than arguing with people. Wait, the 'd part and the non-'d part were identical. (Sorry if the sarcastic jokey tone didn't travel with the text...)

I really think Erana put it best up there. That's much better than I could have written it.

And yes, rookie Escapists who are also intelligent and nice are a great encounter.

 

[mokes310]

I've noticed a lot of repeat threads, but I don't feel like it's my place to comment on it. After all, even though I've been here longer than I've been signed up, I'm still new, and conversing with regulars makes me feel like the awkward nerdy kid at the prom. Except I don't want a date and everyone here is a nerd as well.

Not everyone who's on this site is a nerd. Infact, I'd say that a good portion of them aren't nerds, but people with different view-points and ideas. Labels are so 90's, get with the program j/k

I know how you feel. I've found that as long as you're honest and can argue your views in an intelligent and respectful fashion, you will eventually be accepted into the Escapist with all the Pomp & Circumstance that follows any fresh blood!

 

[PumpItUp]

There's repeat threads, that ask different questions on similar topics, and then there's repeat threads, the ones where someone decides to ask the most overdone, annoying questions like "What's your favorite thing?" Wait sorry, I meant "whatz yur favrite thnig?" Because you know these annoying dipsticks don't think and thus, don't have the capacity to spell.

Also, the repeat thread nitpickers are also annoying. Not the snobby, elitist Escapists, they've earned the right, but the snotty, elitist Escapist noobs who think they're better than everyone who doesn't always use the search button.

/thread? Well fuck you!

 

[The Iron Ninja]

Have you thought about leaving? How seriously? If not, what do you do think?

Nay. What do I think about what? Leaving? I think it's a terrible idea.

Perhaps you have an idea that might help keep the forums' integrity up?

Aye. Instead of moaning about the lack of good and discussion rich threads, make your own.
It's pretty simple

Perhaps you think that this is perfectly fine and that people who don't like it are just being elitist or snobby bastards?

Not liking it is fine, I can recognise, and in fact emphasize with how annoying this iflux of new fellows is. But we were all new once, not all the old members are fantastic posters and even more of them didn't start off that way. To assume that none of these new fellows will ever adjust seems a bit unfair. Judging a poster by their join date or post count is what I view as elitist or snobby.

 

[Erana]

There's repeat threads, that ask different questions on similar topics, and then there's repeat threads, the ones where someone decides to ask the most overdone, annoying questions like "What's your favorite thing?" Wait sorry, I meant "whatz yur favrite thnig?" Because you know these annoying dipsticks don't think and thus, don't have the capacity to spell.

Also, the repeat thread nitpickers are also annoying. Not the snobby, elitist Escapists, they've earned the right, but the snotty, elitist Escapist noobs who think they're better than everyone who doesn't always use the search button.

/thread? Well fuck you!

Yeah, the Escapist does teeter on a fine like between being filled with a bunch of intellectuals and a bunch of smartasses. Of course, I like intellectuals best, but I prefer smartasses over n00bs anyday.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Despite knowing that I will be judged in this thread based on my number of posts I will throw in my 2 cents.

I belong to alot of forums, with less than 100 posts on all of them(that's not cumulative). I check them about twice a week, and generally keep my opinions to myself for two reasons.
1. Someone has already said what I was planning to say (I know, those darn kill joys)
2. People on forums seem very mean, unwelcome to new ideas, have an encyclopedic knowledge about subjects and talk down to me for not having such knowledge, or just all around D-bags.

For someone who just likes to jump in and throw their 2 cents into a conversation, posting on any forum is like stepping out into traffic blindfolded at night dressed in camouflage. And I can forget starting new threads, because no matter how long I search, or how many variations of a topic I type into the darn thing and get nothing, I still get flammed for posting an already written topic.

I know that not everyone on forums are mean, but the majority of posts I see lean towards the majority being that way. I see people with 3k-4k posts on a forum and just think "God dang", and wonder how someone can post that much on one forum. Granted they have probably been on the forum for a few years, but that's still a truck load of posts.

Threads like this certainly don't encourage me to become an active member on the forums either. Yes there are certain people who come off as having an IQ of 3 when they post, but that's no reason to lump new members all into one group. There have been more than one occasion on forums where I have posted a construced, well thought out, and as close to gramatically correct reply to a thread and still get dismissed as being the sterotypical stupid and uninformed nub that trolls forums looking for a fight, simply because my post count is low. To begin with, I'll never look for a fight because unintelligently yelling at someone is not fun. What is fun (god that sounds really nerdy) and mentally stimulating is an intelligent discussion about a topic, something that I don't commonly see on the internet.

Yes, I like a good argument about game mechanics, or about the art direction for a game, or playing the devil's advocate when the general populace hates a game. I'm an intelligent person, and if I treat you like an intelligent human being when replying to your thread/post or posting a new thread, I expect the same respect from you as a person. Despite that I continually get treated as a sub-human poster due to my small number of posts, I will continue to come back to forums and post my 2 cents with the respect and dignity that I feel everyone deserves. However, if you piss me off I will bring you down a peg or two, and I won't be nice about it. You bite me, I'll shoot you.

Please note that the my opinons in this post do not apply to this particular forum, more they apply to the behavior I have witnessed in the forums I have joined over the years. I do not intend to offend anyone, and if I have I am sorry.

My spleen has been vented for the week, so please do your worst simply because my post count is low.

 

[Handofpwn]

I happen to be in a strange sort of unhappiness right now.

It seems the forums have been flooding over with people with 12 posts and (apparently) no Shift-key (or grammatical knowledge, really). I feel like more than half the threads here are repeats or just dumb threads, and that even more new posters insist on grammar or spelling or even not being a dick to be unnecessary.

So, I ask my good friends here at the Escapist (those of you who know what I'm talking about), what do you think of this?

Have you thought about leaving? How seriously? If not, what do you do think?

Perhaps you have an idea that might help keep the forums' integrity up?

Perhaps you think that this is perfectly fine and that people who don't like it are just being elitist or snobby bastards?

(PS: I searched. Honestly, I did. Because the Search Button exists, contrary to popular belief, it seems.)

To quote one of my favorite songs:
Fought and fell for our great king
we burned alive and boiled
The dragon, red and wrathful calls
We rise and march once more.
Cursed in death, we starve for flesh
Our skin is cooked and curled
We'll eat our kin and smash them in
In Hell, we'll grind their bones.


Save our city
(Fought and fell for our great king)
Keep our souls, Lord God
(We burned alive and boiled)
Through [the mayor's ruined head, the boy steps through the window] the
rapture
(The dragon, red and wrathful calls)
of this world. [and cries out from the ledge to the people below.]
(We rise and march once more.)

Save our city [There's a time to pray and there's a time to fight]
(Cursed in death, we starve for flesh)
Keep our souls, Lord God [Anything can be a weapon if you're holding it
right]
(Our skin is cooked and curled)
Through the rapture [Defend what is yours, they will not take our souls]
(We'll eat our skin and smash them in)
and so we [it's time now to] rise and fight!

I believe this sums up my feelings nicely. I believe that we need to stay and combat the tides of idiocy and /b/tards. Let not the fools of the internet persuade you to leave, but show them the light! Show them the shining, glorious light that is the escapist! Teach them our ways so that they might become civilized and contributing members! Do it for susan, do it for the website, but most of all, do it for yourself!

/speech
I personally believe that, given a chance, people can reform to the expected standards.



Edit: Well, the segment of the song was relevant, in my opinion.