Let's Talk: Why Can't We Be Friends?

[GingerBoi123]

@Lord WraithSorry man xD

[Mao Mao]

I regret everything

@NuttsnBolts or @POOHEAD189, can we shut this thing down?

@Lord Wraith

me right now:

[Hero]

I regret everything

@NuttsnBolts or @POOHEAD189, can we shut this thing down?

@Lord Wraith

You were brave enough to ask, sadly the thread proves precisely why we can't all be friends. Differences of opinions, egos, hiding behind a screen, anonymity...It could be one thing, it could be multiple things, but honestly, I almost feel like that's why cliques exist. If you find a nice group of people that you vibe with well, you avoid that stuff for the most part and you generally stick with them. I don't think it's too far fetched to think maybe someday people can put their petty differences aside. But right now? I just don't think this community is there just yet. I'm hopeful I can be proven wrong.

[AlteredTundra]

@Lord Wraith To me, it's not the hobby itself that stops everyone from getting along. We all have similar interests no matter where our genre preferences reside. It's the people who participate in said hobby that blacklist people for this reason or that.

Now, I'm not going to pretend I haven't done the same because I know I have played a part in blacklisting/ostracizing people or rubbing others the wrong way, but I'm not alone in this. Disagree or not, I know there are a lot of people who have done similar things. At the end of the day, there's a breaking point of how much shit one can take. I do agree it would be a lot less stressful if I didn't have to worry about what to post in fear it'll be used against me in the future, but this is where we're at. It's far too late to change the opinions of those who have their minds set in stone. The only thing most of us can do is just do our own thing and not poke the bear.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

There, now that is an actual element of discussion, thank you, @GingerBoi123. The first sentence is entirely true, yes, but from thereon out it appears the distinction was somewhat lost. As a preface, blacklisting and banning people was common on old forums throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s and I in no way specifically attributed this one; I can speak not at all to anything that happened here until some five years ago and would be wrong to pretend to know anything of it because the staff do not discuss it and one of the core ideas of the Roleplayer Guild as is that we expressly do not use it. On every other forum I had ever been to prior, this process of elimination was exceedingly common, and I am of the opinion, not the action, that is not an incorrect stance to take. It returns to a matter of culture as well, as the forum itself, in its base of users, do not exemplify this ideology; some still keep the concept of blacklists, most do not. The consequences are minimal for the proposed issues and generally neither are addressed, one because the community opts not to as a societal standard, the other because the ethos of operation.

With moderation, my emphasis, especially from my angle as a moderator is that it is absolutely crucial that moderators do exactly that, moderate. I entirely support the idea, enough that I pursue it relentlessly because I value the concept of an environment without these problems or at least that which can be realistically attained. If I did not, I would have surrendered my station. However, I am not so blind as to see some of the benefits, as well as pitfalls, of the older system I described. In today's age I do not reckon that as much would be successful and it would be a paradigm shift for the standards set out. On the Roleplayer Guild, people have tremendously more liberties in the community than I have seen elsewhere and there is really little to no actual ostracization of those who deviate from the straight and narrow. This is inherently a good thing, just that not all souls appreciate its graciousness to noble ends.

[GingerBoi123]

@The Harbinger of FerocityFunny, I haven't seen you moderate shit, and especially as I see one Harb Condenser got banned within half an hour for merely existing on the thread, I call absolute bullshit that the guild is against blacklisting

[NuttsnBolts]

@POOHEAD189 um Poo.... the thread was locked. Topics over and everyone has agreed to be friends again.