Drama in these forums, and I don't mean this particular section, mind you, is the biggest issue here. Regulith's attempt at making the forums nicer was mislead, for it isn't any level of flaming or bullying (or whatever you want to call it) that's the issue, it's the level of drama here.
The typical path one will follow upon joining these forums can be generally defined as one of the following:
1) The user joins, and is an average user throughout their time here.
2) The user joins, and after a while is a semi well-known or well-known user, either due to their reasoning or their in-game abilities.
3) The user joins, and is ridiculed and hated for any given reason, as long as it exists.
4) The user joins, becomes a well-known user, or simply an average user, then presents a stance on something which people disagree on, and is torn apart by the crude humor or other members
Now I won't claim to belong to any of them, although I have a feeling I'll end up as path 4 after posting this, and I really don't care. I'm also not claiming that any of these paths other than 4 are wrong or should be corrected, so don't try to call me out on that.
With those four paths in mind, I would like to get back on task. Paths 1 and 2 present no problem for obvious reasons, so they will not be discussed, but may be referred to. Now, path 3 only creates temporary drama, in which case a topic may be made or an argument may be struck and the user in question will be ashamed, driven off, or might choose to stay for more if they're not banned for idiocy. We see this happen pretty often, and it's not my reason for posting.
No, my reason for posting is path number four, which is what I despise seeing happen. There is a certain elite circle on this forum, of who I have respect for (there is a reason why they're elite), who from time to time momentarily lose my respect. The reason? Perhaps one of our normal members, or even one of our more highly appraised members decided to post something that the elite did not agree with. Sometimes it is reasonable for the elite to disapprove of this member, and other times it is not; the crude humor, low strikes, and public humiliation is what I have a problem with.
No matter how bad the mistake was, no matter how disrespectful they may have been, any half-decent member of these forums should not be treated as I am seeing because they made a mistake. If it was some troll, or some illiterate lowlife, I really couldn't care less, because chances are they were asking for it. In most cases that deal with our better members, they were not asking for such harsh treatment. I'm not trying to rebel against the elite, because like said I respect them, nor am I trying to spark a crusade for better forums. All I am doing is expressing my opinion, and if you hate me for doing that, so be it.
