The Escapist Community is a tad too toxic

[Nathaniel Grey]

So, I've been coming to the escapist site since back in '09 and I've noticed that the community has been becoming progressively more uppity and hostile over the years. I've encountered insults and snarky comments in many of my own posts but lately I've been seeing it throughout most forums. Take for example

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.881615-Ms-Marvel-Vol-1-won-Hugo-award-really

A thread in which the OP made a comment about Ms.Marvel Vol. 1 winning the Hugo award. I clicked on the thread because I read Ms. Marvel and while I like the book it should not have beaten (opinion) its competition for the Hugo award. Instead of a discussion about the merits and faults of the comic everyone latched on to the last sentence of the OP's remark about why he/she thought Ms.Marvel won. Half of the commentors clearly hadn't even read Ms.Marvel, yet felt compelled to be the loudest ones in the room. The whole discussion dissolved into a series of quips about diversity instead of a discussion about Ms.Marvel.

I find that to be the source of the toxicity. An OP posing a question, or making a statement, and the majority of posters latching onto one sentence that they personally take issue with. They ignore the rest of the OP, or more often the main point, in order to focus on something irrelevant to the discussion as a whole. I could find more examples but your already on the site. Just look around.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Seems more like the OP tried to sell a particular view and people didn't like that his reasons for his claims were flimsy. The solution is to maybe support your views better

And come on really, it's transparent as hell that the suggestion was not just some small side thing. Suggesting that it won because 'diversity' seemed to be the main point. It's hardly like we have to pretend that certain people aren't always quick to claim that people do things for 'diversity' and complain about it. And it's not like we have to pretend we don't see inu doing it some of the time.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Seems more like the OP tried to sell a particular view and people didn't like that his reasons for his claims were flimsy. The solution is to maybe support your views better

That's kinda like victim blaming isn't it? It's the OPs fault for making reasons others don't agree with.

Now don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with people calling out someone, hell i start to think people take pride in calling me out BUT at the very least do so after having answered the question at hand.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Seems more like the OP tried to sell a particular view and people didn't like that his reasons for his claims were flimsy. The solution is to maybe support your views better

That's kinda like victim blaming isn't it? It's the OPs fault for making reasons others don't agree with.

Now don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with people calling out someone, hell i start to think people take pride in calling me out BUT at the very least do so after having answered the question at hand.

No. Think about it. He has to be a victim first. Being disagreed at doesn't make him a victim.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Seems more like the OP tried to sell a particular view and people didn't like that his reasons for his claims were flimsy. The solution is to maybe support your views better

That's kinda like victim blaming isn't it? It's the OPs fault for making reasons others don't agree with.

Now don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with people calling out someone, hell i start to think people take pride in calling me out BUT at the very least do so after having answered the question at hand.

No. Think about it. He has to be a victim first. Being disagreed at doesn't make him a victim.

Well "like" being the keyword. Nathaniel is saying the community is toxic because of how the thread became about one sentence the OP said. And you are saying that the OP tried to sell his view and people didn't like his reasons.

So either the community is at fault for being too harsh or the OP is at fault for having the wrong reasons.

I just compared blaming the OP to Victim blaming. Basically" if OP didn't think [x] people wouldn't have reacted like that, he shoukd have known better". Like " if she didn't dress like [x] she wouldn't have been sexually assaulted, she should have known better".

I personally believe the community is a little toxic.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Seems more like the OP tried to sell a particular view and people didn't like that his reasons for his claims were flimsy. The solution is to maybe support your views better

That's kinda like victim blaming isn't it? It's the OPs fault for making reasons others don't agree with.

Now don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with people calling out someone, hell i start to think people take pride in calling me out BUT at the very least do so after having answered the question at hand.

No. Think about it. He has to be a victim first. Being disagreed at doesn't make him a victim.

Well "like" being the keyword. Nathaniel is saying the community is toxic because of how the thread became about one sentence the OP said. And you are saying that the OP tried to sell his view and people didn't like his reasons.

So either the community is at fault for being too harsh or the OP is at fault for having the wrong reasons.

I just compared blaming the OP to Victim blaming. Basically" if OP didn't think [x] people wouldn't have reacted like that, he shoukd have known better". Like " if she didn't dress like [x] she wouldn't have been sexually assaulted, she should have known better".

I personally believe the community is a little toxic.

Responding to someone because they said something you disagree with seems hardly sufficient to deem the interaction toxic.

Your comparison just shows a failure to understand what victim blaming is and the problem with it. The problem is shifting responsibility. Committing a crime is not an appropriate reaction to how someone dresses. Replying to someone because you disagree with them is not an inappropriate reaction. Is this really so hard to imagine? It seems very simple to me.

 

[Saetha]

Kinda gotta agree with you. I haven't even been here two years, but the difference between how the forums are now and how they were when I joined is.. unpleasant. It's like a damn war.

Ironically the various attempts to be more inclusive have only driven people further apart.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Huh. For some reason, I actually remember them being a lot worse. Of course, the controversy that shall not be named riled things up quite a bit, but now that it's been quarantined things actually feel pretty tame around here.

Then again, I was a lot more easily offended back then when compared to the apathetic husk I am now.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Everything always seems to look worse now than in the past

Can't really say if it is or not tho

We need an empirical study to determine this!

 

[Redryhno]

Everything always seems to look worse now than in the past

Can't really say if it is or not tho

We need an empirical study to determine this!

Would you say that we might need some...News...to cover this study?

 

[Zhukov]

I find that to be the source of the toxicity. An OP posing a question, or making a statement, and the majority of posters latching onto one sentence that they personally take issue with. They ignore the rest of the OP, or more often the main point, in order to focus on something irrelevant to the discussion as a whole. I could find more examples but your already on the site. Just look around.

*reads thread*

That thread went to shit because many people are familiar with the OP. He's constantly doomsaying about political correctness.

So when he makes a thread claiming that a comic about a female Muslim superhero didn't deserve an award people start maaking some obvious conclusions. Especially when he ends his post with, "It just seems to me it got an award for "diversity" rather than actual merits which makes me wonder what the fuck happened to our culture." People latched onto that sentence because it was the crux of his issue and the main thrust of his argument.

That said, you're not wrong about the forum having essentially divided itself along battle lines. A lot of the activity is the same set of faces repeatedly clashing over similar topics. Hell, I'd probably be one of them if I posted more often.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Ironically the various attempts to be more inclusive have only driven people further apart.

What attempts were made to be more inclusive?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

It's not just you noticing. The forum has basically become an even worse version of R&P.

 

[madwarper]

What attempts were made to be more inclusive?

How about the decision to allow GG threads to exist on the Escapist?

OT: I'm not sure it's the Escapist's community that's necessarily toxic, but just the general miasma that surrounds the internet as a whole.

I don't see why people were getting bent out of shape over who won an award. It's not like whether or not something you like gets an award will validate you for liking it. Though, if someone thinks they could do a better job of deciding award winners, then they should make up their own award and start handing them out.

 

[Sarge034]

I think it's just a product of the times. Back when I joined the most heated things to come up was kids dying in games, anon ddosin some folks, and *gasp* a metric fuck ton of game discussion. Now that we (as a gaming culture) are taking an interest in a wider scope of topics (ethics in the industry, equality, racism, et all) the tone has shifted with it. It's not just fun and (pardon the pun) games any more, it's gotten serious. I do dislike the word "toxic" though. It doesn't really describe anything because a dissenting opinion can be considered "toxic" in an echo chamber environment.

 

[Saetha]

Ironically the various attempts to be more inclusive have only driven people further apart.

What attempts were made to be more inclusive?

Various attempts? General talk about how the community needs to be more welcoming and accepting?

You really want to start a debate here, in a thread that's complaining about toxicity in the forums?

 

[Tsun Tzu]

It's not just you noticing. The forum has basically become an even worse version of R&P.

Been saying this for mooooooooooooooonths.

Annoyingly so.

Gratingly so.

...I'm so lonely.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

It's not just you noticing. The forum has basically become an even worse version of R&P.

Been saying this for mooooooooooooooonths.

Annoyingly so.

Gratingly so.

...I'm so lonely.

See, the only problem is that it doesn't bother me. I was born in R&P, molded by it.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Ironically the various attempts to be more inclusive have only driven people further apart.

What attempts were made to be more inclusive?

Various attempts? General talk about how the community needs to be more welcoming and accepting?

I mean what actual attempts because I am utterly unaware of any.

General talk isn't exactly an attempt at anything...

You really want to start a debate here, in a thread that's complaining about toxicity in the forums?

Oh I'm so sorry instead of asking when someone says something I find odd I'll just believe mindlessly. There is that better? It was a simple question to you but if it's ever so toxic to merely ask a question I can respond like this instead.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

What attempts were made to be more inclusive?

How about the decision to allow GG threads to exist on the Escapist?

I imagined that wasn't an attempt at inclusivity so much as it not being against the rules and them not being willing to take the step to say they didn't want it.