First phrase I see: "penis stretching"
But to be serious, I can understand where Ezer is coming from, in many ways. Though, I think it's a bit overexaggerated, as are most complaints regarding the forums, and the devs. For example, the devs and moderators may be strict, and indeed, they're honest enough to tell you that when they err, they tend to err on the side of too strict. But they are not "national socialists", as I've seen them called.
But if I had to name one thing that I really dislike in this community, it would be the incessant ridiculing that goes on all around. When a new member, probably a little kid about 12 years old, comes around and doesn't know how to act properly, the community seems to care more about poking and prodding him until he explodes in a fit of childish rage. Any actual good advice or help anyone gives to the person is usually so filled with expletives that it does absolutely no good at all. Here's where this important point comes in. You have to not only
be right, but you have to
sound right. And if you don't do that gently and persuasively, you'll often sound asinine, instead of sounding right. I can't stress how important it is to communicate yourself properly. Especially as on the internet, you can't see the other person's body language, or hear their tone of voice, it's very critical to phrase everything just as you want the other person to interpret it. If you are filling your sentences with the F word when you aren't really angry, it's very easy for someone to think you are genuinely pissed off. In the same way, sarcasm is a bad tactic, because it relies mostly on tone of voice to get the point across. I have seen countless times where people misinterpreted each other because one unsuccessfully tried to use sarcasm on the internet.
So tell me, were you an idiot when you first started using the internet? Chances are, you were. I know I did my fair share of unbelievably dumb things on VGMusic, which was my first forum. I look back with shame on it now. But what made me learn lessons? Part of it was just experience, and time to learn to think about my actions. I had people ridicule me multiple times, but that just made me sore at those people. What really helped me, were the few members who took the time to talk to me maturely, chastise me accordingly when necessary, and generally deal with me as someone who they believed had potential. Of course, you could always say "the people that treated me like shit made me realize that I was being stupid and it made me change my way of doing things and start standing up for myself" and use that as justification for treating new people like shit. But that argument is only as logical as the "my parents bullied me and I learned to stand up for myself, so obviously abuse is beneficial and I will in turn bully those under me".
But really, as humans, if we have any interest in harmony, we ought to be building each other up, not throwing stones at each other. It's not a one fits all approach. Sometimes, someone needs a harsh word, to wake them up, especially if you've told them the advice multiple times, and they haven't responded to it. Just like children need spankings or such when they act up in direct defiance. But before you lash anyone, you ought to be fairly sure it is what they need. Everything you say to someone, should have their best interests in mind. I don't mean what they want, but what they need. After all, doesn't everyone have potential? I know some of you may not agree with me on this, but I believe that within every person is a certain amount of potential, potential to make a great destiny. Whether they will embrace this potential and use it, or not, is not our call. But we can help them along the way, whether it be by giving them warm hospitality, or by kicking them out the door, into the cold outdoors. Sometimes people need a hand to help them out, other times they need a whack upside the head. There is an appropriate time for each. We can't leave them wallowing in mud, but we also can't let them track mud all over our houses. Let's show them how to wash themselves, and hope they develop a sense of cleanliness. But no amount of hands, whether helping or hitting, will ever force someone to be great. But it will certainly leave them without excuse.
But it isn't only new people that get ridiculed in this community. If I may be so bold to bring it up in this topic, why on
earth is BlueZero4 still a regular topic of derision in #srb2fun? I don't even join the chatroom that often, because I find it very distracting, but even for the few times I am there, I've seen lots of discussions where people talk about how stupid and pretentious he is. I mean,
really. He made a few hastily written votes a few OLDC's ago, that he really didn't think through. When he realized how stupid and jerkish he had sounded, he went around, actually apologizing to those he had offended. That
should have been the end of it. But no, merely a week ago, there it is again, everyone mocking out BlueZero4 for the very things he apologized for saying. And Mystic, our head administrator, was right in the thick of it. It's this kind of gossip that is completely unnecessary, and hurtful to the community.
I could name many other situations, too. I remember when I released The Map with No Name into the OLDC, it was badly recieved. For good reason, I had seriously screwed it over when I made it as dark as I did. But when I was shocked just how vehemently people ridiculed me over it. I was trying to defend its good points, and some of the ideas behind it, but no. It was "fucking terrible", and according to MrMystery, 'Charybdizs obviously isn't going to listen to advice, so why are we talking to him?' I'm sorry, but I learned a lot from that map. And quite honestly, I learned a lot more from those who were willing to actually come beside me and explain it gently, instead of poking me with hot irons for it. In case you're curious, those people were CoatRack, and Whackjood. But hot irons, they tend to be a little distracting. Hard to learn when you're angry.
I'm constantly surprised by how quickly anyone will jump into criticising something they know nothing about, too. To list one more incident, just the other day, I was holding a discussion on #srb2fun. I had asked for some advice, because I felt a little irked over something someone had done, and I wanted other people's opinions on whether my displeasure was justified, or not. I hadn't made any actions on it, I just wanted to know what others think. In the middle of a full fledged conversation on it, Mystic popped into the conversation, not reading anything but the past few lines, and said "Someone sounds butthurt. Ridiculously hilariously butthurt." That's quite ridiculous, because the mode of conversation was phrased
exactly as I just described it. "I feel a little bruised about this. Should I be?" But people are so hasty to pronounce judgements about something they weren't even there for.
But that's the negative. On the opposite note, I have to say, I have a lot of respect for the staff, each one of you, for keeping the level of maturity at what it is. I took it for granted for a while, and then I found the minecraft forums. Here, almost every post is interesting, and a contribution to the discussion. There, it's useless to read past the OP, even for important topics for well known mods. But here, everything is intelligent, or at least attempts to be, and it's worth reading. I usually even read topics that don't interest me very much. Discounting a few trolls, I've had plenty of awesome and edifying discussions in the Colosseum that never erupted into mass chaos or drama, which is amazing in and of its own. I think the only major problem about this community, is the damaging but very prevalent cynicism. That could use some attention.
Edit: That all being said, I have nothing against some of the ridiculing. Like, SoniMoc. It's not like we ought to be trying to help the children grow better at making sprite comics or anything. :p