I'm in school right now to make this post.Basement Cat said:I never saw things from this perspective.EscapistAccount said:The Escapist was famous for three things back in the day; Zero Punctuation, the insanity of its moderation and the toxicity of its user base.
That's the problem the site never addressed; not specific mod loopholes but that it fostered a community which aggressively gamed any loophole it found and was obsessed with trying to prove themselves smarter, and thus better, than their fellow user.
I'm definitely going to think about it. It's enlightening.
Thank you.
I'm not so much disappointed that the Wild West was closed, as I am disappointed in the fact that there was no warning or discussion about it. It was always my view that the forum was created in order to alleviate mods from the constant passive aggressiveness that this site produces. It was a containment space where people could do almost anything, and it should have helped the mods worry less about the site in general. It's correct that the place became a bit unpleasant from time to time with bullying and harassment, but that can be remedied with a new rule against that.
I know I cracked jokes about liking bullying(yes, bully logic), but the constant harassment and abuse (even though Zontar didn't care) clogged up the forum and took out the fun. Which is why I liked to flood the place with my stolen game threads and called out on call out threads, as it was the only thing I could do as a phone poster. Most of us would actually be fine with a rule that didn't allow call out threads and bullying.
Here are some suggestions that might work if there will be a 2nd chance.
1. Add a final rule about no death threats and excessive bullying
2. If possible, make the Wild West not appear on the main page
3. Maybe make a good mod that only monitors the wild west? Someone who actually understands the place and is well balanced?
Also, I want to give my thanks for at least allowing people to see the Wild West. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to search through some of the threads that had decent discussions. I do love uncensored, unfiltered, and politically incorrect conversations.
I apologize for this post being brief and incoherent. I have a limited time and I could be more thorough with my thoughts if I had my computer.