lots of negativity on the boards lately...

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:50 pm

Warning: rant inside, though I ask that you all read it nonetheless

I'm not going to say who, (and I prefer that nobody else does) but it seems as though there is quite a bit of negativity on the boards lately. I've talked with gannon less than a week ago, and he kind of agrees. It just seems that a lot of people are acting like... well... a bunch of punks. When the new boards were started, everyone was nice to each other and we were all a close-knit community. Now that we are past 400 members and and a bit before that, people just haven't had the kindness they used to have. Granted, I'm not saying that we need to love and worship each other (especially since that would be pretty creepy) but I'm just asking that we don't go at each other so much.

An occasional "please" and "thank you" or "thanks" makes a world of difference. Keep in mind that this (in my opinion) is different than "plz" and "thx" which (again, in my opinion, which may be pickier than others) is a half-assed way of saying please/thanks and doesn't really show gratefulness.

Also, it seems as though a lot of the things posted have little, if any meaning to the forum. Before you press that Submit button, ask yourself if it really contributes anything. A joke about something (that fits in with the conversation, of course) is ok... but a little one line post that we could have done without is... well... spam.

Finally, a lot of spelling from the people around here sucks. Sorry to be so blunt about it, but it really gets annoying after a while. To remedy the situation, try Spellbound for Firefox and IEspell for Internet Explorer.

Thanks for listening, and I hope this makes some kind of a difference

Thanks,
SpongeBuell

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:09 pm

I know I have been a teensy bit edgy but most of it is just a joke. If I need to change my attitude, please tell me. I never mean to offend anyone (unless it's an important issue)

Post by **gannon** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:18 pm

Thanks for the link to spell bound, the spell check feature in gaim always gets heavy use from me

Edit:
Testing the spel checker
Edit Edit: crap, didn't work

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:47 pm

I should mention that I have not used either of those programs, since (at least I think) my spelling isn't that bad.

HK-47 · Post by **HK-47** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:49 pm

How about this? http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=208855
And people saying "THX" and the sort is pretty annoying. If you want to say something, complete all the words please.

sam · Post by **sam** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:17 pm

Sorry, but guys please dont turn into spelling and grammar nazi's... cause that would just suck the fun right out of these boards..

Also, i made a similar topic a little while ago, and it was deleted.... although it was a little more blunt, it still didnt have to be taken down.

SgtBowhack · Post by **SgtBowhack** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:19 pm

To anyone I've ever offended- I really am truly sorry. I honestly never mean to be a wang, but sometimes it comes out that way. A lot of the time it's simply that I don't want people to get their hopes up. I admit that I'm wrong when I'm proven wrong, though (for example, my "The Radica probably can't be modded to play most Genesis games" comment). Admittedly, that attitude doesn't get people very far, but it also was partially correct in that it doesn't play a lot of games very well.
Regardless, sorry if I'm being too negative. I'm always just trying to help.

P.S. - I agree on the spell check being helpful, but I doubt most of the people who spell poorly would bother using it. They spell poorly because they're lazy (or in some cases stoned or drunk). I hope they do though, and I appreciate your finding them.

sam · Post by **sam** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:26 pm

Also, whats with all this crybaby apologizing, you guys should only apologize if you really mean it. Or you think you were acctually wrong, dont "roll over" just cause you offended someone, damn..

SgtBowhack · Post by **SgtBowhack** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:28 pm

Well, I do mean it. Offending someone is a bad thing. No one has the right to offend another. I think some of what I've said could've been worded better, and I hope that no one's dreams were crushed by what I did say. And everyone has the right to apologize for what they feel they're responsible for.

sam · Post by **sam** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:34 pm

Whatever, i dont think you should apologize just cause it offended someone (unless it was acctually hurtful, WHICH i have seen none of yet.)

SgtBowhack · Post by **SgtBowhack** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:38 pm

Just because things aren't hurtful to you doesn't mean they aren't hurtful to others. Even so, I agree with the sentiment that we should keep things clean for the general public's enjoyment.

HK-47 · Post by **HK-47** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:42 pm

Well, SgtBowhack didnt know that it didnt offend anyone. Im not saying you're right or wrong, Im just saying SgtBowhack has the right to say sorry if he wants, and shouldnt be harassed because of it. Even I have some problems, I probably spam a bit, I get angry at people a bit to much, and as some poeple put it, I boss people around too much. Wanna know what? Im sorry! Now dont go telling me im a "crybaby" or whatever, because want to know what? You not perfect either. Im sure theres some people on this board that dislike you to a degree.
Overall, dont make fun of people that want to actually gain the respect of other board members. If you dont care about resect you have some things to learn.

Overall, SgtBowhack has the right to speak with out getting made fun of.

sam · Post by **sam** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:48 pm

Can I not speak my mind?, you know what im going to do?, im going to review the crap out of the posting policy's and each time i see something not good which ive seen a lot of, im going to ask it to be removed, cause guess what just cause people dont like me on this forum, doesnt mean i fail at life or anything of that sort. and of cource im not perfect, sorry my spelling isnt up to par with you guys, i didnt take buisness cources but guess what, i try. Even if i only got threw to one person on this forum, telling them to tough it out. Then i have done my job, just cause someone says something mildly offencive everyone throws up a big "hullabaloo". Seriously, things ARE controvercial, things WILL bother you, but guess how far complaining will get you in real life?, noone likes complainers.

Seriously though guys i mean come on you cant be sheltered from the real world your entire life.

SgtBowhack · Post by **SgtBowhack** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:58 pm

sam: Just relax. No one is personally attacking you either. While I think some people are a bit too sensitive, I think that people can also benefit by trying to coexist peacefully. There's very often no need to actually start an argument, yet people do it anyway. I think all Sponge was trying to say was that the aggressiveness of the board members seems to be increasing, which your responses here seem to also be supporting. We're not saying that you shouldn't speak your mind, but being openly aggressive about it is the real problem at hand. Too many people saying "Oh, that sucks" about something that someone spent a lot of time working on, or "why would you even think of making such a stupid thing?" These statements are hurtful, and I think those are the statements that get most people's attention as being negative.
And no one singled you out for spelling, either. Personally, if I were the "spelling police" or whatever you said, I'd say yours is acceptable, compared to posts like "i wnet to the bahtroom adn it wuz fun!"
I think Sponge is just saying that the fun, friendly attitude the forums once had has turned into a bunch of flame wars, which some might enjoy and some might despise. I'm sure there's some merit to all that is being said here. But I don't think anyone should say "Hey! I have the right to offend people." Not cool.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:59 pm

Now I could be wrong but as I see it the anamosity thats grown on the boards is from the fact that all the new members are taking the easy way out and asking questions that they can use a simple search to find. I'm all up to helping those people out but when you can do a search and (just!) read past posts to find the answer.

That brings me to another thing. Newbies are bring back old old threads that are months old at a time. Yes if is fun and it can be helpful but when a thread falls to the second or futher back page that means the problem is resolved or the original author gave up, their lost. Dont resurrect old threads unless you have a good reason and helpful info.

Now for the spelling. Yeah I'm sure writting in short and is a great thing for AIM and all the other Instant Messanging or chat programs but here its better to use good old english (your native language if you must, many member could translate).

And my most hated of all is the one line posters. As stated by Sponebuell and myself in the past before you press the submitte button ask yourself this: Will this be benficial to the topic at hand? If yes please go ahead, if no dont bother. Ben has Bandwidth problems enough as it is we dont need pointless threads or posts eating up this website that he is provinding for us.