Other Gaming Forums

So what's your opinion of other gaming forums? Are there any that you feel are particularly in line with your sensibilities, or do you give most gaming forums a wide berth?

I think I'll go on the record and say that TA is my favourite gaming forum for how it handles gaming discussion; people are objective and intellectual, and if someone is acting in a subjective, illogical and stupid way this will be raised to that person's attention - meaning they can correct for that behaviour or expect scorn to be heaped upon them. There also is too much meme dickery here apart from when used in the ironical sense, which again can stand in the way of the intellectual discussion if not careful.

But most gaming forums are complete fucking shit - and it pisses me off when these are the dedicated forums for a particular game, as that should be the go-to place to discuss said game. Really what prompted this was the BioShock Infinite forums, of which I've partaken in due to the latest DLC, are just full of stupid, belligerent and (most likely) ugly people.

The big trouble with BioShock Infinite is it was a triple A game - attracting both the (relatively) intellectual original core fan base and a mass of extra people who are 85% pure fucking idiots. As a bit of background for those who don't know the main female lead, Elizabeth, is largely targeted at males who seek to protect her because she naive and unburdened by a cruel world she has never experienced - or because they think she's attractive; that combination of reasonably attractive youthfulness and innocence stirs something in most unfulfilled men, not because she's particularly attractive to them beyond anyone else who fits the young and innocent category, but because they're desperate to re-capture that sense of flagging vitality.

What this means is the devs pitched the game perfect to their core demographic, and so instilled a fanboyism like no other; where people find Elizabeth beyond reproach and will all agree that some (purely fictitious) best possible outcome happened to her - despite any logical evidence to the contrary. They also have "intellectuals", who despite not being able to use proper grammar constructions believe that they are champions of scientific lore and will obstinately argue these points to the death.

All in all this makes the forum completely toxic to any rational discussion conducted within the purview of the existing lore, and any intellectual allusions you make feel like your pissing into the wind (for example I made comparisons to Elizabeth's Innocence compared to Booker's Experience with the capitalisation being a reference to William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience but, as no one gave me the huge pat on the back I expecting, my capacity for supreme and artful intellectualism was a complete fucking waste! I mean, why people aren't already queueing up to herald my genius on these forums I don't know).

That being said, some forums like the Unofficial Elder Scrolls P-something also seem impartial and I've had good experiences on them. Maybe it's just a matter that only independent forums are reliable? Still, you should be able to go to a main forum for a game and not be punished for posting objective - rather than subjective - opinions.

 

tl;dr: Boo hoo, the people on the BioShock Infinite forums are mean and didn't compliment me for being smarter than them.

 

Haven't really spent time in other gaming forums, but I can assure you that it's not just gaming forums where people seem dopey.

I used to moderate on psych forums, because of course I did, and if I didn't know most people had some psychological issue there I'd swear they were all trolling 24/7.

I went to Grasscity forums to see what that crowd of people liked in pipes, and I even offered my work to sell on their website - it really goes to show that not everyone who smokes, and especially those who gather online, are as smart as they think they are. It's true that at a certain level, THC can increase the strength of the alpha brainwave, amping up creative thought. What THC doesn't do is make people geniuses who understand 5 dimensional mathematics and somehow apply that knowledge to the bible. I remember specifically telling someone not to smoke pot out of a trombone mouthpiece because it wasn't made of medical grade brass and they could die of zinc poisoning.

I think it's safe to assume that 85% (an arbitrary number, arbitrarily ripped from your own post) of people aren't really smart - and they'll call people smarter than them varying colors of dumb or crazy because they obviously know better than people who form cohesive points. Or they recognize it and feel self conscious, so they lash out. I don't know.

 

Well. This i Basically the only forum at all i visit.

 

Re:

I'm glad you were sympathetic to my plight Flick, it really made me feel better.

No my mentions of how supremely intellectual I am was self-parody; I know plenty of people vastly more well read than me. Still near-sighted fanboyism is irritating in any context, I don't care how intellectual a person is as long as they can present an objective and logical argument on a game forum. In debates of a real life context, I don't care even if a person presents rampantly subjective argument, as long as it does still follow some form of logic.

I guess there's just no accounting for boundless human stupidity in any context, though the guy using the trombone mouthpiece does sound especially special.

 

I [strike]waste[/strike] productively spend a whole lot of time on the official Skullgirls forums. It's ok.

Moderators are rigid enough to stop anything detrimental before it escalates yet lenient enough to let known non-malicious jesters have their fun.

Members are helpful for those who ask for help and don't act like halfwits while at it. Plenty of room for gameplay/mechanics/lore/fanwork discussion. Regulars are often biting/provocative towards each other, but it's harmless since most of it is pretty tongue-in-cheek. The general competitive atmosphere is noticeable, but it's motivating rather than toxic.

I don't frequent other fighting game forums, but I've been told the SG community as a whole is generally more open and less self-righteous than most other fighting game ones.

 

I mostly spend my time here, as i like a bit of intellectuality with my gaming, this is also one of the only forums where it's users are (mostly) tolerant to each other, other than that, the now very limited gene pool around makes it for a very personal experience.

Other than this forum I've taken part mostly in the No Mutants Allowed and Dwarf Fortress forums, but the former's old vs. new school and exaggerate 'Murican gun nut presence, and the latter's Pony/Homestuck/Too cutey interaction is the thing that prevents me to really get bonded with the community.

 

I sometimes troll on the Bay12Games Forums. I used to be fairly prolific around those parts. The admin once threatened to ban me if I didn't stop giving bad advice in the Life Advice forums, so I mellowed out a bit.

 

No more than four or five. I stumbled on somebody from my hometown once which caused some consternation as to the ethics of the whole thing.

 

Not to sound obvious, but people tend not to seem as human online, and therefore not as worthy of consideration, until you know them.

It's like the storm-trooper effect;

It's much easier to shoot people when you can't see their faces.

 

Because they can see the strangers' faces.

 

The best way to read a thread is to skim it briefly, and make up your own story as you go. Coincidentally, I found this thread hilarious.

 

I don't join in games' forum a lot. And most of which I signed up are old games or indie game. I'm agree that forum of AAA tittles today are mostly spammed by trolls, arrogance, stupidity (I sound bit arrogant here, too). The fact is that old games or small games have much better community, make me more comfortable.

 

I concur; I've been perusing the official Skyrim forums recently and it seems like people are either dumb meme-adoring morons with the english proficiency of an eight year old, or they're complete pretentious wankers who think that the way they role-play the game is superior to how anyone else chooses to play it. Many of them even go so far as to sleep everyday, take regular meals with their character, never run through towns, never make their horse run too much so it doesn't get tired, never wear a helmet in a town, never fast travel, etc. - which would be fine by itself, but when other players ask how they can do something like level their skills up quickly they have the gall to be condescending and act like everyone should have the free time or the desire to play the game like it's a menial chore simulator. I'm almost surprised they don't make their characters stop every 20 minutes and crouch to simulate taking a shit.

I guess the point of this tangent was, with AAA forums the only people who stick around after the game is a few years old are usually dicks or idiots; at least with more niche or retro forums people have more of a shared interest and it takes a bit more wherewithal to stick around.