Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be

[Commissar]

Seriously.

 

What happened to this place? Used to be, there'd be political discussions going on all the time. Now all I see are bizarre anime sketches and "Cats or Dogs?" polls. I'm not really criticizing, I'm just curious what brought about the change. Is it a user thing, or is it that the moderators tend to shut down anything that doesn't involve people handing virtual flowers to each other? Have folks actually gone and found a more appropriate forum for political debate, or have the ones who were actually interested in such things been silenced?

 

Just curious, myself. Got back from Russia and finally caught up on some good ol' American news - I was shocked to notice that we're actually reporting on the Gaza pullout, when I'm sure something terribly interesting is happening in Kentucky - and figured there were enough hot-button issues in the headlines to make this place interesting.

 

But nope. Just, you know, "I like bread!" types of posts.

 

Just curious.

[kirottu]

Politics is boring...

 

There

[Commissar]

Politics is boring...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

As Vasquez said, "Hudson may be right." Still, there was a time when it wasn't boring, at least not around here, or more precisely, where some of us were before here. But, nostalgia ain't what it used to be, as the thread title implies.

 

And the Walken thing was a hoax, as I very well knew right off the bat, though I did spend a good ten minutes trying to get the site to open on a crappy Russian dial-up connection.

[Gorth]

It's the slow death of forums without purpose thing.

 

What this place needs more than most else, is some new announcements and facts about current and future games, plans, visions etc.

 

The community is like the groupies and campers that follow like moths to a candlelight and then, besides bickering about class vs. skills also find other things they can disagree about. With new carrots, the invisible 6 foot rabbits slink away, long ears drooping.

 

The place was lively when Kotor2 was announced, less so when the information trickled to a a few drops here and there. Same thing happened with NWN2, except, that one got hijacked by Atari and Bioware and disappeared.

 

New people, new ideas, new disagreements might resurface if they start releasing info on PNJ before it hit the shelves, or all the various magazines gets it as "exclusives" first and the fans last.

 

Just my 0.25c

[EnderAndrew]

Overall the forums are quieter than they've been in a while.

[kirottu]

Now all I see are bizarre anime sketches and "Cats or Dogs?" polls. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh you big silly. Anime

and cats are good for you.

[Commissar]

It's the slow death of forums without purpose thing.

 

What this place needs more than most else, is some new announcements and facts about current and future games, plans, visions etc.

 

The community is like the groupies and campers that follow like moths to a candlelight and then, besides bickering about class vs. skills also find other things they can disagree about. With new carrots, the invisible 6 foot rabbits slink away, long ears drooping.

 

The place was lively when Kotor2 was announced, less so when the information trickled to a a few drops here and there. Same thing happened with NWN2, except, that one got hijacked by Atari and Bioware and disappeared.

 

New people, new ideas, new disagreements might resurface if they start releasing info on PNJ before it hit the shelves, or all the various magazines gets it as "exclusives" first and the fans last.

 

Just my 0.25c

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Could be, I suppose, but on the other hand, I'm the rare bird who doesn't post anywhere BUT off-topic. I came over here after the pre-Obsidian board went the way of the dodo, simply because I was used to winding down an evening with political bickering. I don't believe I've posted on-topic in this forum, or more precisely this forum's predecessor, since Icewind Dale II was hitting shelves.

 

I didn't even buy KotOR II. Or KotOR, for that matter. For my money, Star Wars games went to seed after TIE Fighter.

[Gorth]

Could be, I suppose, but on the other hand, I'm the rare bird who doesn't post anywhere BUT off-topic.  I came over here after the pre-Obsidian board went the way of the dodo, simply because I was used to winding down an evening with political bickering.  I don't believe I've posted on-topic in this forum, or more precisely this forum's predecessor, since Icewind Dale II was hitting shelves.

 

I didn't even buy KotOR II.  Or KotOR, for that matter.  For my money, Star Wars games went to seed after TIE Fighter.

I should probably have been more precise. There are two (more than two, but never mind) kinds of "followers". The fans who hang around so they can disagree with the other fans over whatever they are fans of, and those who hang around because there are others there already, even if they don't give a damn about the fanatics. They just want to disagree with everybody else about other things

[Commissar]

I should probably have been more precise. There are two (more than two, but never mind) kinds of "followers". The fans who hang around so they can disagree with the other fans over whatever they are fans of, and those who hang around because there are others there already, even if they don't give a damn about the fanatics. They just want to disagree with everybody else about other things

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh, I take your point. I was just saying that I'm not part of either camp. I'm a holdover from the days when Way Off-Topic was a friggin' cutthroat place, when Yrkoon would haul out link upon link to make his foaming-at-the-mouth arguments creditable, and when others on the opposite side would do the same. Twenty-page discussions on current events and issues.

 

I liked it.

[Gorth]

Possibly. The days of pioneering, flaming and spamming where no poster had gone before...

 

Some people apparantly misses those good old days:

 

http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php?showtopic=36468

[Walsingham]

I became embittered, sulky, then I remembered a lesson I learned way back in school: if you want something done your way, do it yourself. I still up for a political discussion, just feel a bit more keen on doing over talking.

 

The other thing is we all know each other's views down to the bedrock. And arguing when you know your first principles differ is a waste of time.

[Commissar]

I became embittered, sulky, then I remembered a lesson I learned way back in school: if you want something done your way, do it yourself.  I still up for a political discussion, just feel a bit more keen on doing over talking.

 

The other thing is we all know each other's views down to the bedrock. And arguing when you know your first principles differ is a waste of time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Is it, though? I mentioned earlier that on the old boards Yrkoon and I were at each other's throats constantly; I came to the realization a while ago that today we'd probably be in agreement on most issues. I certainly know that my views have changed (or as I prefer to think of it, matured) over time, and I'd imagine it's possible for others' to do the same as well.

 

Furthermore, you guys may know each others' views like the backs of your hands, but I sure don't. I drop in only occasionally, and I've probably missed a lot. The only ones I could really nail down would be 11XHooah (or somesuch), who I haven't seen recently, and metadigital.

[Kaftan Barlast]

You just came at a bad time, Id say we have atleast one decent political argument every week. I had planned on making a thread about the importance of separating chruch from state but I got distracted.

 

 

And no matter what, political debates are tons of fun :D

[Cantousent]

Don't blame the moderators. WoT has gone way way way off-topic. I remember the religious and political debates. They weren't terrible "foaming at the mouth" debates in the first place. I've had some heated discussions with TEETH, meta, Atomic, and even you in the past, but no actual flame wars. It's fun to spar every now and then. It sharpens the ol' rhetorical skills. I don't think any of us involved in those political/religious debates had lasting animosity for one another, no matter how angry we were at any particular time.

 

I hope we get more heated discussions, I was trying to keep one going with the Walken thread, but Atomic stopped posting and the thread devolved into another spam fest.

 

As far as the "foaming at the mouth" thing goes, I'll close threads that get ugly. There's a line between heated but reasoned debate and personal attacks. If there are former members who enjoy engaging in personal attacks, calling other members names, sending hostile personal messages to other members, or other activities of a similar nature, they will be warned, put on moderated status, and eventually banned.

 

I think Di can attest to the sorts of things that used to happen at the old IP boards. These aren't those boards.

[metadigital]

Seriously.

 

What happened to this place?  Used to be, there'd be political discussions going on all the time.  Now all I see are bizarre anime sketches and "Cats or Dogs?" polls.  I'm not really criticizing, I'm just curious what brought about the change.  Is it a user thing, or is it that the moderators tend to shut down anything that doesn't involve people handing virtual flowers to each other?  Have folks actually gone and found a more appropriate forum for political debate, or have the ones who were actually interested in such things been silenced?

 

Just curious, myself.  Got back from Russia and finally caught up on some good ol' American news - I was shocked to notice that we're actually reporting on the Gaza pullout, when I'm sure something terribly interesting is happening in Kentucky - and figured there were enough hot-button issues in the headlines to make this place interesting. 

 

But nope.  Just, you know, "I like bread!" types of posts.

 

Just curious.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A lot of "regulars" are absent (co-incidentally, I assume). Or should I say, a lot of the "regulars who enjoy a contrary world-view for argument potential" are absent.

 

Debates spark up, but without strong characters to argue the opposing sides, they become simple statements of belief: "I believe green fruits are better than yellow ones".

 

Of course, you could always post a political topic. That way you'd be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

[LadyCrimson]

Another aspect to forums is that sometimes the 'regulars' - assuming there are any - run out of new/unique serious topics to post and thus the chatty threads become more prevailent. Or the board gets slower. See it happen all the time.

[Musopticon?]

Or Baley happens.

[LadyCrimson]

lol...everyone's so 'mean' to poor Baley. :D

[Musopticon?]

He's 16. He can take it like a man. Like a healthy romanian male.

[DeathScepter]

where is that bastila loving spam Master??

 

he can be very funny at times

[kirottu]

I thought Mus? got pretty quickly 1500 post or so... Not pointing any fingers, but...

[Musopticon?]

Hush, hush. I can take those fingers...

[Cantousent]

lol...everyone's so 'mean' to poor Baley. :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Not to contribute to the spam, but the kid loves it. He'd be upset if people didn't pick on him.

 

Now, my suggestion, if you want a serious political discussion, is to start one. I don't mean trawl the waters or act the part of the evil clown, but come up with a legitimate premise with which folks can agree or disagree and then see if anyone bites. I've started threads about serious news items recently and got a whopping two pages out of it.

 

You're a smart fellow, Commissar. Start a lively debate and see folks pick sides.

[kumquatq3]

It's the slow death of forums without purpose thing.

 

that, and in terms of political disscusion, the election is over and/or it's been done already

[metadigital]

It's the slow death of forums without purpose thing.

that, and in terms of political disscusion, the election is over and/or it's been done already

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know this might come as a shock to you, Mr Kumquat, but there are other countries in the world, and they have elections, too!

 

 

For a political discussion, how about this:

Yesterday, insurgents timed three explosions to go off in quick succession.

 

This had the effect of killing loads of people with the first explosion (a busstop, I think), then a car bomb went of a few minutes later, killing and injuring the medical staff who were attending the scene. Then a third bomb went off.

 

I find it indefensible that these people (who aren't killing themselves, these were vehiclar bombs on timed / remote detonation) now target doctors and nurses.