The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Retreater]

The internet is like the not-corpulent-yet Marlon Brando:

"Hey, random internet person, what are you arguing against?"

"Whaddya got?"

I like to argue, and I tend to be pretty opinionated about issues I'm passionate about (like gaming). However, I know this doesn't foster a welcoming community here. So coming on this thread and typing something unrelated helps me bite my tongue.

 

[embee]

One podcast I listen to reviews movies simply as “Best Movie Ever” or “Worst Movie Ever”. The joke being that there’s no nuance on the internet; a movie can only be one of those two things.

I'm reminded of the old movie reviewer from the 80s and 90s who declared every movie he saw to be the best movie he had ever seen.

They were invariably terrible movies (Uwe Boll, Paul WS Anderson, and similar drivel) but his declaration was able to be used as a pull-quote for the ads in the newspaper movie listings.

I'm actually surprised there isn't a light-hearted documentary about him and the terrible movies he promoted. But when he died, there was finally a movie that was the definitive best movie he had ever seen.

And it was undoubtedly terrible.

************************************************************

Also, for those who are younger than 40, there used to be a terrible director named Uwe Boll who made terrible movies based on video games as a tax dodge.

For those who are younger than 30, there used to be a thing called newspapers. It was like the internet but it was printed on cheap paper that would leave ink on your hands. And that is where you would find out if a movie was good or not - by reading a review by a professional paid movie critic.

For those who are younger than 20, you used to have to look up when movies would be playing at your local movie theatre in the newspaper because there was no Netflix, Amazon Prime, or any other streaming service, and Fandango didn't exist. Neither did Moviefone.

For those who are younger than 10, there used to be a thing called movie theatres. They were dark rooms where you would sit in a public place with total strangers and watch a movie from start to finish without the ability to pause it. You had to buy at least 1 ticket, either using an app or website or, in the real olden days, by talking to another human being who worked at the movie theatre. You would give them cash and they would give you a ticket, which you would hand to the ticket taker.

For those who are younger than 5, there used to be a thing called cash. It was like a prepaid debit card but it was made of paper and had been touched by thousands of randos before you. And you would carry it around in your pocket. All those germs. In your pocket. And you would exchange it for other pieces or paper that had also been handled by random weirdos.

 

[Eltab]

I'm asking as a relative newcomer to this site (I've only been around for a year or so), is it always like this on this site? I know the internet tends to get nasty the longer a thread goes on, and the mods generally tend to do a good job at shutting down threads before they erupt into all-out flame wars, but has it been this bad forever, or has the pandemic been making it this bad? I like participating in threads on this site (if I didn't, I wouldn't be posting here), but there does seem to be a lot of toxicity from my limited experience here.

I've been here since the WotC forums were closed, about 6 (?) years ago. Both US Presidential election years, Morrus succumbed to his worst impulses and opened up the site for politics / politics-adjacent subjects. Ire walked in the open door. Last time Morrus got back his good senses in just a few months. He's taking longer this time. I figure eventually he will get tired of the self-inflicted extra work and remember that it is more fun to participate in a site dedicated to RPGs - something people do together.

 

[Morrus]

I've been here since the WotC forums were closed, about 6 (?) years ago. Both US Presidential election years, Morrus succumbed to his worst impulses and opened up the site for politics / politics-adjacent subjects. Ire walked in the open door. Last time Morrus got back his good senses in just a few months. He's taking longer this time. I figure eventually he will get tired of the self-inflicted extra work and remember that it is more fun to participate in a site dedicated to RPGs - something people do together.

I really don’t like being talked about like I’m not right here. If you have something to say to me, say it to my face. Maybe with less snark than that and fewer remarks on my ‘worst impulses’ and ‘good senses’. You’re a guest in my house.

 

[billd91]

I've been here since the WotC forums were closed, about 6 (?) years ago. Both US Presidential election years, Morrus succumbed to his worst impulses and opened up the site for politics / politics-adjacent subjects. Ire walked in the open door. Last time Morrus got back his good senses in just a few months. He's taking longer this time. I figure eventually he will get tired of the self-inflicted extra work and remember that it is more fun to participate in a site dedicated to RPGs - something people do together.

Yeah, participate together - which means that issues of what that means will come up as well as what it means to participate equally, openly, and welcoming people to do so. So, yeah, politics is going to be inherent in some of those topics. If those topics discomfort you, fortunately we have this thread where you can declare you didn't take part.

 

[Cadence]

That's called the placebo effect.

 

[Cadence]

< Insert something on future generations looking back at us for things we do regularly RE: climate change and environmental contamination >

 

[Mercurius]

< Insert something on future generations looking back at us for things we do regularly RE: climate change and environmental contamination >

That's just the stuff we know that we are doing wrong. If we look back at human history, it is filled with bad ideas, or ideas that seemed good at the time but were later realized to be bad. So there's tons of stuff that is Proven By Science! to be right and true, or agreed upon by Good Opinion! that, someday, we'll realize was just off base or created more problems than solutions. I've got some ideas, but don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

We can see this microcosmically by scanning our own biography. Pretty much every decision I made before the last few years seems...ill-chosen. Or to put it visually:

Thankfully I haven't turned into a desiccated skeleton due to any of my bad decisions...yet.

 

[Cadence]

Is anyone sure that <poster name a> and <poster name b> aren't the same person, just that <A> can't be used in threads whose name would clash too badly with <name a>?

 

[Parmandur]

I'm asking as a relative newcomer to this site (I've only been around for a year or so), is it always like this on this site? I know the internet tends to get nasty the longer a thread goes on, and the mods generally tend to do a good job at shutting down threads before they erupt into all-out flame wars, but has it been this bad forever, or has the pandemic been making it this bad? I like participating in threads on this site (if I didn't, I wouldn't be posting here), but there does seem to be a lot of toxicity from my limited experience here.

That's just the nature of forums in general.