Wh... wha.... what happened to the community?? :'(

[Tifone]

O_O

No, really.
I've been out for a while, taken in the tentacles of RL, i come back here to give a look to the threads of the good old times and what do I see?

Sombre, Omnirizon, Trumanator (among others) have been banned?

I mean, those were among the most distinctive guys of this forum, very good contributors, and at least Sombre was also a mod-maker.

What in the hell could have ever happened in an already medium-sized-at-best community for so many of its veteran members to be permanently banned?

[Kheldron]

We had a Sunday Bloody Sunday of our own a few months ago.
You can still meet Sombre and the others in these forums :
http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?act=idx

FYI read these threads :
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=45509
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=45498

[Gandalf Parker]

As with most bans, at least part of the story can be chalked up to being "voluntary".
Basically raising your hand and saying "go ahead and ban me".

I consider this to be one of the harder forums to get banned from. You can get slapped forever here but as long as you dont directly challenge them you tend to last forever. But you do have to be willing to bow your head to the alphadog and say "I will be good from now on"

[NooBliss]

Ankh-Morpork does, however, ahave an extraordinarily high suicide rate, due mainly to the city's view on what constitutes as suicide. For example, walking alone through the night-time alleyways of the Shades is suicide, as is asking for a short in a dwarf bar. It is very easy to commit suicide in Ankh-Morpork if you are not careful.
(c)

[thejeff]

What happened to the community? Not much really.

A bunch of people got upset and left. A bunch more stayed. The forums are still active, games are still being organized, new people still show up.

There's a new site. There's cross-pollination between the two. The other site seems fairly hostile to newbies, which isn't good for it's long-term health, but this place is welcoming so maybe they'll pick up people who learn a bit here first.

The usual predictions of doom seem overblown.

[Ferrosol]

Originally Posted by thejeff

What happened to the community? Not much really.

A bunch of people got upset and left. A bunch more stayed. The forums are still active, games are still being organized, new people still show up.

There's a new site. There's cross-pollination between the two. The other site seems fairly hostile to everyone

fixed your post

And of course its debatable how welcome the forum will remain without at least half a dozen of the most active forum posters and modders. Now I cross post on both forums so it does not really affect me but any newbie coming in and asking questions is going to have a real hard time finding answers after the forum lost some of its most knowledgeable vets.

[Radio_Star]

Originally Posted by thejeff

What happened to the community? Not much really.

A bunch of people got upset and left. A bunch more stayed. The forums are still active, games are still being organized, new people still show up.

There's a new site. There's cross-pollination between the two. The other site seems fairly hostile to newbies, which isn't good for it's long-term health, but this place is welcoming so maybe they'll pick up people who learn a bit here first.

The usual predictions of doom seem overblown.

Okay, so this just aint true.

Being an unrepentant newbie, I can speak with authority on the tone of the 'other site', as you dub it. If I have a Dom question, my first tool is the search function here, followed by a trip to the wiki. If that doesn't answer my question, I re-assess and re-examine. If I still don't know, I assume that I have a flawed precept, start from first principles and repeat the above. If I still don't know? Then I ask, and I feel that I would get a good answer, nearly without needling.

Now, if I just got confused and asked every question that came to mind? I'd catch hell. And I should. Getting spoon-fed answers only annoys people with more knowledge and prevents me from learning.

I think that's the big difference between the 'other site' and this. This forum is, more or less, a bouncy ball castle full of child-like fun and unencumbered whimsy, whereas the other site is a boxing club. Go there as you like, but be unprepared, be foolhardy, and you may just get a fat lip.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Radio_Star

Okay, so this just aint true.

I think that's the big difference between the 'other site' and this. This forum is, more or less, a bouncy ball castle full of child-like fun and unencumbered whimsy, whereas the other site is a boxing club. Go there as you like, but be unprepared, be foolhardy, and you may just get a fat lip.

Heehee. Nicely put..
But isnt it the same description with different wording?

Either wording, both groups feel they have a handle on how a forum should be and seem to be on the road of creating it. As long as we have both, neither needs to put up with the other if they dont want to.

[Radio_Star]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Heehee. Nicely put..
But isnt it the same description with different wording?

No.

[Gandalf Parker]

@thejeff
Excellent post. Altho Im not sure about the "long-term health" thing. Some people seem to thrive in an environment where part of the fun is trying to differentiate between the help and the sarcasm. Such a place obviously cannot be run by "official corporate" admins. It would have to be a user-run site. Im thrilled that such people have a place to go to. This forum will survive and be more along the line of what the admins want.

"The only un-censored site is your own."