Jump to content
Awoo.

Attitudes and Respect


Chris

Recommended Posts

And let me just note that the staff have discussed our role in the attitudes of the forum here as well. We would like to all together bring up the general level of respect and courtesy on these boards.

 

It's something we all need to be aware of when making posts, and hopefully this will bring about a bit more positivity between everyone's general dealings on the boards.

  • Thumbs Up 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In order to better demonstrate this attitude, I've taken a recent snippet from a status update which has quite a bitter feel to it, and of which has upset me as well as some of our staff:

 

3wZzz7W.jpg

 

 

I think I'm slightly confused.

 

I am the one who asked if another Sonic game help topic could be created because I was interested personally in assisting others, hence why I said the thing about the Dino egg mission. This status update was intended in no way, shape or form to be bitter, sarcastic or anything even remotely like that, it was an honest question. I just want to iron it out whether or not my status update there came off as negative to the staff because cross my heart, I never ever intended it to be like that or come off as that.

 

If my update is not the source of upset than I apologize in advance for jumping to conclusions/being inclined to get the wrong end of the stick.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the source of upset is the one right below yours.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. I too thought it was highly unnecessary when I read it.

In regards to the situation in general, it was good to see that most people recognized that what happened in the topic was unacceptable. Yes, maybe people dragged the criticism out a bit far, but the fact that the criticism was there was a good sign in my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Chris, I do agree that we all need to be nicer towards each other or we may get stereotyped as the "mean" Sonic fans.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Chris, I do agree that we all need to be nicer towards each other or we may get stereotyped as the "mean" Sonic fans.

 

We kind of already are, just not for the reasons that this topic is addressing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to entirely derail the topic, but are Edit tags really that big of a deal to people?

Edited by Solkia
  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My God that thread was painful to read. *Winces*

 

This probably why I stay out of Sonic Discussion I am fish out of my depth there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am really upset because I thought we had made progress over last year, and it looks like we took one step forward, but two (thousand?) steps back.

 

It's like every time I feel like there's still hope for humanity something happens that ruins it for me... And deep inside, I feel that this is never gonna end; that no matter how good of a job the staff is doing (and they are, believe me), there will always be members that will lack any kind of sympathy and make all of us look bad. I don't want to give up, but at the same time, it's not easy...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am really upset because I thought we had made progress over last year, and it looks like we took one step forward, but two (thousand?) steps back.

 

It's like every time I feel like there's still hope for humanity something happens that ruins it for me... And deep inside, I feel that this is never gonna end; that no matter how good of a job the staff is doing (and they are, believe me), there will always be members that will lack any kind of sympathy and make all of us look bad. I don't want to give up, but at the same time, it's not easy...

As I said, if you look at the activity in the status updates after the fact, pretty much everyone was denouncing the behaviour in that thread. It's not like people fucked up the thread and got it locked, and then everyone else went on to be like "lol, that was funny shit". Sometimes this place is too pessimistic even for me (who, in real life, is pretty damn pessimistic).

Edited by Frogging101
  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I said, if you look at the activity in the status updates after the fact, pretty much everyone was denouncing the behaviour in that thread. It's not like people fucked up the thread and got it locked, and then everyone went on to be like "lol, that was funny shit". Sometimes this place is too pessimistic even for me (who, in real life, is pretty damn pessimistic).

 

When did I say "everyone"? In fact, my whole point is how there will always be a minority ruining it for the rest of us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When did I say "everyone"? In fact, my whole point is how there will always be a minority ruining it for the rest of us.

But you said:

 

I am really upset because I thought we had made progress over last year, and it looks like we took one step forward, but two (thousand?) steps back.

This makes it sound like this event means that the entirety of SSMB took two thousand steps back. Yes, in any relatively large community some people act like idiots, but that doesn't mean that they represent what the whole community is like or how everyone else acts.

Edited by Frogging101
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think there's any need to be down on anyone in the topic anymore anyways. Quite a few of the people have come forward apologizing for their actions and in the end it's been dealt with. 

 

I don't think it's a matter of these people lacking sympathy or being awful or idiots, it was a case of something that built up because people were trying to be lulzy and funny, which isn't some horrible thing, but at the same time it does undermine the fact that someone tried to make a serious and helpful topic and people disrespected it by turning it into a joke (and one that seemed very mean spirited). 

 

I think dogpiling is a tricky subject, because while I think everyone should be entitled by there right to post, it is very often that topics just turn into person after person essentially either copying the style of someones post or outright saying the same thing. In the case of discussion or debate, it's not usually a big issue but with spam or jokes or whatever it leads to things getting out of control fast. Most people here know better then that, it's just a matter of not giving into the temptation.

  • Thumbs Up 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This makes it sound like this event means that the entirety of SSMB took two thousand steps back. Yes, in any relatively large community some people act like idiots, but that doesn't mean that they represent what the whole community is like or how everyone else acts.

 

This symbolizes what I meant better:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npOGr9mwyVw

 

Sorry if I made the whole community look like the bad guy, that was out of alignment with what I was thinking.

 

Edit: And as it was mentioned, it's water under the bridge now.

Edited by tenchibr
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know we're all snark knights here guys, but seriously. There's a very fine line between being sarcastic and being an outright jerk. Keep the rudeness to a minimum, everybody.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think there's any need to be down on anyone in the topic anymore anyways. Quite a few of the people have come forward apologizing for there actions and in the end it's been dealt with. 

 

I don't think it's a matter of these people lacking sympathy or being awful or idiots, it was a case of something that built up because people were trying to be lulzy and funny, which isn't some horrible thing, but at the same time it does undermine the fact that someone tried to make a serious and helpful topic and people disrespected it by turning it into a joke (and one that seemed very mean spirited). 

 

I think dogpiling is a tricky subject, because while I think everyone should be entitled by there right to post, it is very often that topics just turn into person after person essentially either copying the style of someones post or outright saying the same thing. In the case of discussion or debate, it's not usually a big issue but with spam or jokes or whatever it leads to things getting out of control fast. Most people here know better then that, it's just a matter of not giving into the temptation.

That's sort of the thing that keeps me from flat out leaving this place.  While I may get offended at the actions of some of the members, I don't get the vibe that the worst of the actions were done out of malice or cruel intentions.  I love being funny.  Hearing that I've made someone laugh really brightens my day, but there is a point where it goes too far, and I think the community has yet to understand where that point begins.

 

When I make a joke in a topic, I typically follow it up with a serious response. If I can't think of a serious response to the topic, I just don't post, no matter how funny I think the joke may be.  This isn't always the case, but I try to make it the case a good deal of the time.

 

But then there comes cases like a couple of days ago where a good chunk of the community felt the need to make hateful status about a kid making a stupid video on YouTube.  I do agree that the video was methodically incorrect not to mention unbearably obnoxious, but as the old saying goes, "Let thee who is not retarded throw the first stone."  Or something like that.  It was unnecessary, bitter, and spiteful, and most certainly not something that should be condoned on these boards.

Edited by Akito
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess I missed the exact posts and statuses that brought up this topic, but what a damn shame. I thought that topic was a great idea. I hadn't seen anything like it in a while, and it only makes sense to have a "help me on this one part please" topic, right? I was actually going to post in it a few hours ago, but decided not to because my question was on a part in NiGHTS into Dreams and not Sonic, and I didn't want to get yelled at. tongue.png

 

Though I know everyone can't help a little sarcasm now and then, I do wish though that people would be a little bit nicer and mature on these forums. Most of us are at LEAST young adults, we should all act like such. 

Edited by Sapphire
Link to comment
Share on other sites

gedDrok.png

 

Topics like these warrant some type of serious discussion, but us (and I mean all of us, including me) often create a specific expectation of what a topic is considered a good topic. I still think this topic warrants some type of discussion value and some arguments that are quite interesting like "How would the game seamlessly flow from SEGA style to Archie Style?" and "Would It have RPG elements similar to Sonic Chronicles?".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bandwagon thing is something I've noticed and been bothered by for a long time.  I'm gonna talk very matter of frankly because there's no nice way to put this stuff and it's not stuff that comes out well when articulated into words and it sure makes one sound like a snob, but... some people just aren't very funny.  That feels horrifically mean to say.  A lot of people would agree that -I- am funny.  And that sounds horrifically pompous and self-centred to say.  But all my life I have enjoyed and prided myself on making people laugh, and more often than not I am successful in that.

 

So it's peeved me off so many times when I see funny posts, both by myself and the many SSMB masters of wit, where people will feel a need to somehow "extend" a joke which was perfectly formed on its own.  Now and then the extension is just as funny or more funny.  9 times out of 10 it isn't, often completely missing the subtleties of the original joke.  That's what I felt happened with this thread on an utterly disastrous scale.

 

As a guy who likes to make people laugh I am perpetually thinking about how, if at all, I can make fun of everything and anything.  This isn't a concious thing, it's just automatic for me.  It's how my brain works and how I deal with the world generally.  So when I looked at this topic and had nothing specifically constructive to say, I automatically fall back on plan B which is "can I say something entertaining enough to make people laugh that it justifies the lack of content otherwise".  Of course, the vast majority of the time the answer is "nah not really" and I go on my way, but in the end I made some connections in my head and realised that the one game this topic could not apply to in terms of "if you are stuck on "a level"" was Sonic Dash.  Thus I made the joke, parodying the idea that someone could be dense enough to not realise Sonic Dash is a level-less, infinite game.  The joke was at the expense of this hypothetical character (played by myself of course) who doesn't understand Sonic Dash.  It was not getting at the topic's goal, or the OP.

 

Then came all the other posts.  While I was clearly the start of the joke posts, the other ones were all a totally different joke.  The others were all based off ridiculous impossible scenarios that never happen in the games and it just made me go "ugh".  Partly because they were destroying the topic and partly because they seemed to be trying to extend what I had started when... that wasn't even the point of my joke.  And obviously by the time you get half way down people don't seem to be doing it to be funny anymore but because they've apparently seen jokes as a sign that this topic is pointless and have all decided to beat a dead horse.

 

 

Now this level of analysis just kills humour.  Hell it makes me never want to do snappy joke posts again because of how much it just spoils the silence of the process of a good snappy post.  But also because I never feel like I can make joke posts anymore because I know there'll be someone who thinks the joke somehow requires an addition.  I mentioned earlier that sometimes it works and I have to say it's usually from the people who are also making these snappy joke posts in the first place.  I really don't think humour is a skill one can teach or learn consciously, you either have it or you don't, y'know?

 

But essentially I've been upset all afternoon because I feel I got in trouble for the actions of others.  I feel that if people hadn't all felt the need to escalate the jokes, my one wouldn't have bothered anyone.  It makes me not want to come here anymore because what's the fucking point in expressing my sense of humour freely like I always have done for the years I've been here if it can suddenly cause something like this?  I literally made that post and logged off for a while.  When I came back on it had all gone to shit and I was shocked and felt guilty for starting it.  You can rest assured I'd have never made my joke post at the bottom of all that if someone else had started it.

 

 

This was a horrible post to write for so many reasons but it's all truthful to how I feel.  In the end if you feel the need to do a follow-up to someone else's joke you should REALLY think hard about whether the joke needs following-up.  Even after all that stuff about how my sense of humour just comes naturally to me and is automatic, the one time I really think about it is when there is a risk of treading on someone else's joke.  Humour is precious and personal and you need to be good at it to build upon the foundations that someone else has set with theirs.  And even moreso than that you need to recognise when you're trying to build on foundations and when you're trying to build on top of a house.

 

 

 

(For the record despite calling non-specific people out here I'm not judging anyone on how they acted in that thread.  One of the advantages of me having avatars turned off to avoid Lost World spoilers is that I dunno who the fuck anyone is right now lol).

Edited by JezMM
  • Thumbs Up 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.