It took me a bit of time to muster up the courage to post this reply, and I am glad this thread exists. And to make sure that I am clear with what I am about to type as this will be my last post on this site.
In my opinion, the main reason why this forum has gone to shit is because the people, who actually frequented the site and breathed life into it, left. Chased off because we veered too far from what this forum was known for: a bunch of people who shared a passion for games of yesteryear. I'm not going to sit here and list names but the people who have been here awhile know who those individuals are. It isn’t because of the structure of some topics, or the lack of a post limit, or any other thing mentioned here. It’s because we talked about a topic that I consider taboo, politics and religion (all kinds), plain and simple. I’m calling a spade, a spade.
When I started my new job at a retail store during my time as a senior in high school, I was given one piece of advice. It wasn't the typical "listen to your boss" mantra and "hard work pays off" bullshit. It was this: there are two things you should never talk about in a workplace environment -- religion and politics. As I got older, this little nugget of advice started to permeate into every facet of my life. I didn’t talk about either topic, friend or colleague. Passions involving the opinions within those two broader topics always devolved into utter disregard of mutual respect.
It’s no secret that 2016 was one the most tumultuous times in US history. And the topic of politics was the start and end of discussions across the media, the internet, the water cooler at the office, town meetings, and even our little corner here on the forums.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=28654&start=10viewtopic.php?f=15&t=30037viewtopic.php?f=15&t=51562viewtopic.php?f=15&t=38658&start=380And even dumb shit like this:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=51390A lot of shit was thrown around in those topics. Some really fucked up shit. Archived here for all to see.
Slack, the chat app the forum uses to communicate, turned into something utterly unbearable. I’m not here to mention names, but I don’t understand how one minute we talk about some new release of a game, for example, and the next we have a particular individual or two drop the “fuck Trump” comment just like that. This has taken place in the topic marked as “General,” not the one marked “politics.” Why? How do we go from point A to point B in a matter of seconds? I had to delete the app.
Make no mistake about me: I have no allegiance to any political party (I am not even registered to vote). I am not offended by the notion of politics and religion in general. Who you marry is of little concern to me. What you do, who you like, how you choose to identify is of no concern to me either. I will treat you no different. I will treat you the way I would like to be treated – with respect. And if you decide you delineate from mutual respect, I will simply mirror back the behavior you project onto me. I am not here infringe on anyone’s right to free speech or expression. I am simply stating that a site dedicated to a particular niche, delineated into other unrelated topics, topics that causes much malcontent, and broke up the community we had here.
I came on board a decade ago: February 7, 2009 because I was heavily into the Dreamcast at the time. Loved what I saw and decided to stick around. And now I will leave like the others before me have done.
Take this post however you would like. I won’t answer regardless.