Why are we still going on about Bill's rant 6 years later? The forums have changed. People have moved on. Even Bill has popped back on these forums for a brief moment here and there since. The drama is over. At least it should be.
Warning. So then I end up making a long post about these forums. Ha ha ha, The forum rants never end.I'll admit, that the only time it started to get to me was 2013 when Wii U sales stopped after launch and then 3rd parties started pulling support right away. The console discussion was just one thread after another on some variation of all the negative press and news and focus on the Wii U. At the same time, it's hard to make positive thoughts on negative news but it just seemed to end up being the same tired discussion and arguments over and over. Fortunately, that seems to have become far less frequent and frankly, the forums lately have seemed to be more positive (with the usual exceptions) and more active as well. It seems like a lot of previous posters have popped in for a moment here and there to say hi or check up on things and there just seems to be a better community spirit going on right now or at least more tolerance for people. Part of me wonders if whether a lot of the posters who have left over negativity were to come back right now, to add their comments and make threads they'd like to talk about, would find that this place is not as bad as they made it out in their minds to be at the time they left.
10 years later, this is still my go-to site for Nintendo news and information and is the only community I'm really active in. I'll visit other sites here or there and check up on them maybe every month or so like PixlBit, Pietriots, OperationRainfall, etc but despite looking through other forums and communities, I still like the controlled chaos here, the way the news is handled, the level of discussion and the more intimate nature of things here. There are a lot of regulars here so there's always some kind of topic or discussion happening but it's not an overwhelming amount of people so it is easy to get to know a lot of the posters and build up a rapport with them and most people here are pretty reasonable and intelligent so I'm happy to engage with them in discussion.
Are there ways we can be better? Sure. But that is true with every site. Moreover, there is no universal solution. There is nothing that is going to appeal to 100% of people. It's like food. There is a wide variety of things a person can eat yet even the most consumed foods can have people who dislike them. Bananas are number 4 on the list of most consumed foods in the world behind rice, wheat and corn. And yet, there is someone at my work who dislikes bananas and will not eat them. So, no matter the mass amount appeal of a product, you'll have people who dislike it.
Therefore, you can not appeal to every individual and you just can't take it personally if some people dislike what you offer. That's not to say one shouldn't listen to the points a person makes in disagreement. There may be some truth and useful wisdom to gain from them. But at the end of the day, you can't turn a banana into a grapefruit. Maybe you can make the banana more appealing by turning it into a chocolate covered banana or Banana's Foster instead of just serving a plain banana. Even then, you'll get people who don't like chocolate (weirdos) or ice cream or cinnamon. Thus, it is up to the individual to decide whether they will accept what a thing is or if they will not. Maybe you'd like Apple Crumble but you're getting Banana's Foster here. Can you accept that or not? Either answer is ok but, in the end, you have to accept that maybe you are the only one here who really prefers Apple Crumble. Or maybe others would like it but they are content enough to stick to the bananas they've got so they aren't going to demand Apple Crumble with you. At the same time, if you feel this forum is only offering plain bananas and want to make it more appealing like Banana's Foster then go about trying to create it. That's what I've been trying to make more of an effort to do.
Going back to 2013 and how much the console discussion forum was getting to me and how the Funhouse seemed to be lackluster, I could either just keep letting it get to me and maybe leave or I could do something about it to try and change things. Not by adding to the negative spirit by just complaining about how things should be changed but by trying to bring back some of the community spirit and random laughs and fun that there seemed to be in the late GameCube and early Wii years. So, I started trying to get more Mafia games going again. I've thrown out random joke threads in the funhouse. I've tried to get other games going like Password and now Safe Words.
I thought about how Bill would often post anime screenshots and other posters would throw up some funny images also in threads and other discussions which made the other forums a fun place to be. It would give me a smile or laugh while reading through threads. I decided I should try doing that more myself. Why leave it on a few other posters only do it? I can contribute to that spirit as well. I try and look now for more threads where I can post something fun instead of just sticking to a couple forums or reading a few threads. If the discussion seems to be negative and serious, I try to see if I can't cause a bit of a release from the negativity while still being positive. Like Oblivion/ObbyDent's thread, where he said, after this gen he was jumping ship. I know that if I buy another console in the next gen, it would be Nintendo's no matter what the competition has. Rather than just say that, I thought I'd illustrate in a silly pic. It is in this way that I am trying to create positive change throughout the forums.
That doesn't mean I still can't have a serious discussion on things or that I'm going to make a joke about everything. One can still do both. However, I have found that by doing this and looking for ways to make myself and others laugh and try to make things more positive, I've found myself enjoying spending time on these forums more than I have in probably the last 5 years. I don't worry about the negativity because I'm creating positivity. Yet, I know that such postings will not appeal to everyone and I'll get a complaint about them here and there. Like I said, some people don't like ice cream. They'd rather have a plain banana. It's individuality. Likewise, I'll still clash with someone and post an argument if I disagree with them at times.
Yet, I recognize everyone has their own way of thinking and it is pretty hard to change a person's mind or for them to change the way they think. So, I'm probably not going to do that from a few forum disagreements here or there. Still, that is the nature of a forum. To hear, discuss and get viewpoints from many different people and backgrounds. At the end of the day, you can still learn something from anyone provided you are willing to accept that you can and look for it. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. When you are only convinced that you are right or that only your opinion matters, then you are not going to get along with other people on these or any other forums, you are probably not going to have a good time here and you are just not going to grow as a person.
Recently, I've been going over M*A*S*H quotes while playing in the current mafia game. I came across this gem from Frank Burns:
That's like saying we can all be ourselves but only it we are positive about everything Nintendo here. Or as long as no one does things we dislike. I think we can all agree that is a wrong viewpoint in life. Yet, at the same time, an individual doesn't have to impose their will and views or thoughts on everything. If you go to a classroom in which there is no assigned seating so you can sit anywhere and you notice over time that one person has a certain seat that they keep sitting in every time you attend that classroom, must you then go to that class and start sitting in that spot over a period of time also? There's no assigned seating and there is no rule against sitting there. As a member of the class, you are within your rights to sit there. Yet, what does that accomplish? Why is it so necessary to assert your rights as individual and cause friction and animosity where it didn't exist before and didn't need to exist? I'm sure I could think of a better example later but I think my point is still made with it. It's the fine line every poster in this forum, and I think any other forum, must walk. The balance of allowing individuality and freedom of expression yet maybe not always needing to use that right to the fullest extent we can. It is a balance we may not always be successful at doing. However I think if that was the rule everyone went by in this forum, it would help quell a lot of the "forum drama" that can occur.
To wrap up, I'm like Gandhi and being the change I want to see in the
world forum. You don't have to agree with everything but you also don't have to disagree with everything either just because you can. What you put in is what you get out. These forums are bananas. Khushrenada writes long posts. And I'm hungry.
Topic: Game Over: One final rant... (Read 208508 times)
