The Gamer's Quarter

parkbench · . Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 145

Hi, my name is parkbench, and I'm addicted to Select Button.

But in all seriousness: I'm worried and concerend about what's happening over at SB. I want to clarify that I really like the place and I feel that some good discussion goes on there. But it's been really difficult lately.

For some time now there's been a gaggle of posters who are so far removed the civility of daily life that they will turn the mildest conversation into the most bitter, ugly vitriol, and it's hurting the place. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of seeing a thread get derailed in three posts. I know the place can do better. So I'm posting this as a kind of general petition/question to see if anybody is feeling the same way/what can be done about it.

The only thing I can think of is banning these users for a test period and seeing what happens. I'm pretty sure that after the initial wave things would settle down. It just seems like right now the approach the mods are taking is just "containment--" don't dish out any real kind of law and sometimes clean up some pretty ugly threads. Now I'm not a Fascist, but I swear to god if the mods just flex some of their muscle, bite the bullet, and ban some people for a good few months things will tone down. Or just delete the Axe? Maybe then people will grow out of one word posts that are funny approximately 1/10 of the time.

What's ridiculous is that these people are the same people always bitching about "this forum, this forum," when they're the ones causing the problem. They literally don't know how to be civil. Plus, if they really thought the place was bullshit they'd leave, but they're just as invested in it as the next guy: they're just doing it from this absurd ivory tower which I guess makes them feel good for the brief fifteen minute periods they browse the forums and piss on everything?

Maybe this seems out of place at TGQ but it's a sister community and I know if I posted this at SB the dunces would be in confederacy against me. I am frustrated!

Is it hopeless? I'm addicted, too, don'tcha know.

edit: just started reading this thread and decided SB isn't worth it.

Intentionally Wrong · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:39 am Post subject:

I felt the same way for a long time. It was worst back at IC; when we switched to SB, I had hope that things would change. It didn't take long for the usual order to reassert itself.

Considering how frustrated I was with Select Button, I'm not sure why I was so interested in going to KE3 in June. It changed my opinion completely, particularly my opinion of Joe. As much as I hate his approach to communicating on the internet, I find I actually admire him.

I think I enjoy the community the most when I make a point not to care too much about it. If there's something you don't like about the forums, ignore that part. I ignore the axe and most posts after page 5 in every thread.

Always, always, always ignore the hostile elements. Brush them off with a smile, a shrug and a shake of the head, but never address them or respond to them. With practice you'll find you can screen them out completely and your quality of life will improve.

bleak · . Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 258

SB isn't nearly as personal as TGQ, and that I think is affecting it negatively twofold: for one, it seems to perpetuate the aforementioned hostility that has bred rampant around the forums. I agree with you that it is unacceptable and I think this is the reason why. For two, after briefly glancing at the relationship thread, I realize that this is a thread that would not end up well on SB simply because of the aforementioned impersonality. People aren't invested enough in the forums; it's not a cool place to hang out and share ideas and be friends with people to them, it's just a place where words appear on the internet. It is perhaps this level of abstraction that prevents a lot of things from happening on the forums, but I'm not sure what one can do about it.
_________________

SuperWes · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:16 am Post subject:

I've been posting a lot more at SB, but it's only because TGQ got blocked at my work Sad

Anyone know where dess went?

-Wes
_________________

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

I've been posting a lot more at SB because TGQ is going through a slow phase these days.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

bleak · . Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 258

Mr Mustache · . Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 167 Location: Queens

It's a frustrating sort of place.
_________________
Straight up

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Dracko I thought you were banned from SB.

Guys should I keep posting in this forum? I get the impression I mostly just irritate people here.

seryogin · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:47 am Post subject:

You add much needed colour to the forums. (see what I did there)

In these tough times, when even our editor has abandoned us, we need you Brits more than ever! Always so prim and cheerful, ready to inject pederasty into the most droll discussions.
_________________

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Everyone loves you, you silly goose.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

seryogin · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:11 pm Post subject:

Man, it's too bad I can't find a bigger pic.
_________________

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

So true it hurts.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:09 pm Post subject:

parkbench, at last you come crawling back to us.

these forums are smaller and tighter-knit; everyone knows someone else and it's hard to have drama because no one wants it. people who show up looking to start trouble are quickly ostracized and driven away (or acclimate). that the discussion here is more focused probably helps too.

i don't even check the selectbutton forums anymore. all the fake drama is just tiring, and the content isn't anything i can't find elsewhere.

posting from daphaknee's computer as she snuggles on the couch flicking through menus in bladestorm.
_________________

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

parkbench · . Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 145

i <3 u guys in a decidedly COMPUTER LOVE kind of way

JasonMoses · . Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 407

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

yeah, I quit posting at SB some time ago. i still check it every now and then (except for the axe) but i don't like half the people who post there, i'm pretty sure a lot of them don't like me (whereas EVERYONE likes me here), and there is just way too much bullshit and i don't see why i should waste my time there. i'm sure there are lots of people who enjoy it there, but it's not for me.

the new insert credit forums look like they might be more for me, but they are a little too slow right now plus it's very japan focused and i'm much more of a western gamer.
_________________

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Oh, and I like Harveyjames, and I've never really even been to Insert Credit, and Dracko is more relevant than I am.
_________________
Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

Winged Assassins (1984) · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:25 pm Post subject:

I've never even looked at the Select Button forums, let alone the site itself.

Do I win a prize?
_________________

extrabastardformula · . Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 295

I've inroduced people I know to SB that I swear I will never link to the Gamers Quarter.I kind of feel like it's not cool to do, but I like TGQ without them.
_________________
Signature:
This is a block of text that can be added to posts you make. There is a 255 character limit

HTML is ON
BBCode is ON
Smilies are ON

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

How many TGQers are British?

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

I'm half-British, but I guess my passport makes me a British citizen.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

What's your other half? Let me guess GERMAN

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Well, that's nice!

Also Harvey, you horrible racist, my other half is French.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:20 pm Post subject:

The Great Unwashed · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:17 pm Post subject:

So.

I'm posting here as one of those guys who actually joined this forum after reading your magazine and so when I say "I don't know what the fuck is up with Select Button" I mean it with a special kind of obliviousness. But not knowing what the fuck is up has never stopped me offensively commenting on anything before, so I'll just basically come out and say it: I don't understand this sort of morbid fascination a special sort of clique here seems to have with Select Button.

Okay, so you had a good or bad experience there, and yes, this is apparently some sort of "sister community" but the last couple of months, and I can only assume because of the troubles parkbench speaks of, have seen more than a few threads littered with comments about being banned from SB, coming here to avoid jerks on SB, swearing revenge on SB for killing their parents... I just don't understand this sort of hang-up that more than a few people seem to have here about Select Button. I enjoy this place immensely and I don't want to see it get to the point where it's the place to be because it's not somewhere else. This place has a lot of its own merits and it can stand pretty damn tall on them in my usually-less-than-humble opinion.

There, I said it. And by "it" I mean "basically nothing", but it had to be said anyway. Or not said, as the case may be.

Harvey, stick around, I like you.
_________________

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

Cycle · Mac daddy Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767

SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT ME
_________________

Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

Unwashed, this is the second time on as many boards in the fairly recent past that I've seen somebody make basically the same post. It's as relevant here as it was relevant there* and I salute you, sir.

* - That is to say that I agree. All things will pass. Breathe out the bad juju, breathe in the good good juju. Rock over TGQ, rock over TCP/IP, Come Alive, You're in the Pepsi Generation.

boojiboy7 · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:30 pm Post subject:

I don't know where I belong on the internet. I feel I can be part of the problem on SB, and not, and I don't know.

Oh god what shall I do?

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

ee_emm_ecks · . Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 98 Location: St. Louis

I'm part of the problem at SB.

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

DESS CLEARLY MEANT ME, YOU NINNIES

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

NOBODY LIKES YOU, HARVEY
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

WHAT

I'M LEAVING

Patrick Alexander · . Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 123 Location: various

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I just said that so I could lay up Cycle's 'who's Patrick' joke, but he didn't take the bait

Patrick Alexander · . Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 123 Location: various

Who's Cycle?

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Well played, sir.
_________________
"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

daphaknee · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:41 am Post subject:

I feel like im part of the problem at SB, but not because im an actual problem, but because every time i say something someone FREAKS OUT

also im really sick of how everyone hates everything at select button and fucking throws a huge hissy fit any time something unfamiliar shows up

also i can think of like 10 people off the top of my head who i absolutely loathe on that forum, i think its time to quit

but man i really liked that site at first! and there are some good people! they should just all come over here

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

parkbench · . Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 145

By the way, sorry all if I'm also being part of the problem by "braying and naying," as it were. The thing is I felt this is the one place a pseudo-constructive meta-conversation on SB could maybe kinda happen, so I was hoping it would fall outside of the realm of intra-SB bitching (which is a disaster). I'm happy that I'm not alone on this.

But I also didn't realise insert credit's forums were put back up. I think this will be an interesting development. I heard several analogies being made over there of how the IC forums will (ideally) be the "university" and SB will be the "bar." Honestly, if people just naturally start being less cock-like (resembling large, misshapen penises, that is) over at IC, I feel that it's inevitable that people will start putting up with less at SB. So maybe we just have to wait.

daphaknee · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:43 am Post subject:

parkbench i looked at insert credit and it seems a lot like its just for discussion on japanese videogames only or something
its kinda
ugh i dont know why people are so snobby about their goddamn forums really

i never posted on insertcredit, infact, i tried to stay away from forums in general because of how goddamn cliquey they are. i dont understand why people pine and whine about wanting things to be like days of old because i went through some IC archives and it was basically exactly the same aside from some names being different but its all the same drama

i guess people picture things better in their head?

whatever ive made friends and most of them post over here anyway