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Whats the Current Status of GAF in general right now?

Chittagong

Gold Member
I am starting to wonder if I should make December a GAF only month to see if it relieves any stress.

Strange to think that a video game forum could provide so much stress but I think it might be part of the issue. It's almost embarrassing, really.

Give it a go. I was surprised how much the community I participate in affects my overall mood. When you first join, you get hooked on the good stuff, and then the hostility and toxicity sort of silently creeps up on you. Eventually when posting, you can only think about whether what you are about to post will give people grounds to gang up on you. It’s like being bullied in the school, you will eventually be afraid to open your mouth.

I really vividly remember laughing so hard at some stupid joke here for the first time since my return, sitting at my desk in the office. It struck me - “wow, I haven’t done that ever in this office, where I’ve been in three years now.”
 

Papa

Banned
I mean, it really wasn't. The forum became so popular that it got up its own ass and treated members like fungible abstractions. New members especially became disposable because it was the website full of industry insiders and celebrities that often got suggestions in the gaming press - it was the hard-to-get-into forum everyone wanted to join, so there was never a lack of new members waiting in the wings if the mods decided they felt like ending tens of accounts on a particular day on a whim. The 2016 election exacerbated the issue to comical levels - but to be fair -the election almost literally put entire globe on tilt to the point that it might have shifted the axis of the planet. That might have been the expressed ideal, but it wasn't close to meeting it as long as I've been here.

All that said, it was still one of the best websites on the internet, in spite of that, and for some reasons, because of it.

I'll admit that my perception of this place might not be very accurate, since I haven't interacted much since the schism. Most of the threads that I pay attention to are the ones that are talking shit about the other forum because I like to compare and contrast how both tribes are handling the aftermath of the former fallen state. But in any case, I wasn't really suggesting that the "anti-ResetERA" sentiment was happening at a structural, administrative level, but more on the community level. That's just the general sense I get when I compare and contrast the same topics and nature of the discourse on similar topics on each forum.

You're right if you're referring to a particular time period, in my estimation ~2012-2017. It wasn't always like that though.
 

bitbydeath

Member
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Rien

Jelly Belly
It has been a long time since i browsed gaf tbh. I migrated over to Era during the collapse last year. I myself didnt do it becaus of the stuff what was happening in here but more of because i just wanted to go where the people with good information went to and i like threads that are busy.

I like Era a lot. Spend a lot of time reading stuff there, not much of a poster myself, altough the atmosphere as a whole at Era is starting to take away the fun of reading for me.

I got banned for some stuff in which i can replace myself in them for banning me. I was not good informed and jumped in with both legs in a discussion that i didnt knew enough of.
So i got the ban for a week.. but later on it got expanded to 2 weeks and the reason they gave was something that didnt really felt fair to me.

Now i can live with a 2 week ban cause i have better things to do.

I am thinking of quiting forums completely just as i quit other social medium. So much people are se angry at the world and i am sure they have good and legit reasons for that but as a reader, and a person who personally isnt a strong person, it starting to get bored.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
You know, why expend energy getting angry over things when you can be you know... Productive in real life? :p

I'd really rather be chill and productive rather than triggeredt over things I don't even see in real life and be unproductive.
 

Scopa

The Tribe Has Spoken
You know, why expend energy getting angry over things when you can be you know... Productive in real life? :p

I'd really rather be chill and productive rather than triggeredt over things I don't even see in real life and be unproductive.
Who are you talking to?
 
I'd really rather be chill and productive rather than triggeredt over things I don't even see in real life and be unproductive.

no one says theyre "chill" anymore except for 2001 burnouts. seems like you missed a lot and i wont help you get back. so all i can promise you is that i WILL continue to make fun of you and that i will get a certain amount of pleasure from it
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.

M0G

Member
Long time lurker here more than anything. I'm a member of both forums but I'm definitely more hopeful for GAF's success tbh. The whole SJW thing over there is way out of hand, it's like people are literally trawling the net looking for a wrong to put right and then putting it on the board. The bias towards one side of an argument is ridiculously off-putting and severely distracting from the main attraction of both boards... video games. GAF looks to be finally picking up big time, for a long time the front page was over a course of 12 hours or more, now it's down to minutes again! Like I said I post a little and I read a lot more but hats off to you guys for keeping the board alive and getting back on track.
 
8 years posting on GAF and I was never banned. 1 year posting on ERA ive been banned 3 times. Not for insults or trolling but daring to state facts that go against the narrative some want to spin. Dont like some of the stuff that slides here now, but I dont know how much longer I can stand having to be a slave to the narrative they want to push there. Im all for respecting diffrent oppinions, but I shouldnt have to accept being banned because I dont accept denying facts because people are sensitive to the truth.
 
8 years posting on GAF and I was never banned. 1 year posting on ERA ive been banned 3 times. Not for insults or trolling but daring to state facts that go against the narrative some want to spin. Dont like some of the stuff that slides here now, but I dont know how much longer I can stand having to be a slave to the narrative they want to push there. Im all for respecting diffrent oppinions, but I shouldnt have to accept being banned because I dont accept denying facts because people are sensitive to the truth.
Welcome back. We need more racing enthusiasts because we never can have too many racing enthusiast lol.
 

Ten_Fold

Member
Been a while since I’ve been back on gaf, got banned for like a month on era for basically saying i had a female friend (use to) who basically said if her man ever cheats she is gonna say he sexually assaulted her because she is hurt an that’s just to get back at him. I said stuff like that can get a guy in jail an they banned me because they say that’s basically impossible lol man people. Seems pretty chill here so I’m just gonna stay here.
 

Wings 嫩翼翻せ

so it's not nice
I found out recently that as a Neo member we cannot. Once we move past that status, we will be allowed to. There were good reasons laid out to me as to why it’s this way.

Having "Neo Member" under your name is cooler, anyway.

I remember I was so upset that I had mine for like a year.
 

Papa

Banned
8 years posting on GAF and I was never banned. 1 year posting on ERA ive been banned 3 times. Not for insults or trolling but daring to state facts that go against the narrative some want to spin. Dont like some of the stuff that slides here now, but I dont know how much longer I can stand having to be a slave to the narrative they want to push there. Im all for respecting diffrent oppinions, but I shouldnt have to accept being banned because I dont accept denying facts because people are sensitive to the truth.

And that’s totally fine. We should be trying to strengthen people to tolerate stuff that tickles their tendies, not infantilise them and encourage witch hunts.
 

ILLtown

Member
lol what?

Why???
I've run a forum for about 15 years and I've always had my forum set so that new members can't edit their posts either.

Sometimes people sign up to forums with bad intentions and in some cases, they might try and edit their posts to cover up those intentions. It's a case of a small minority ruining it for everyone else.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
After being "back" mostly just cruising the Politics board for about a month now I feel like I'm in a better position to comment on the state of things now rather than when I did upon first returning.

In my initial post I made a honest error of words by using the term 'alt-right'. I apologized for the mistake but was still jumped on by a lot of people which was disappointing. It seems to me that those here that do lean right politically are very defensive of their beliefs and that results in them having a very negative outlook on posters challenging their views.

In a twist of irony those posters are planting the seeds to become everything they hated about "Old GAF". It's nowhere near there yet but the seeds are there. You see the same group of posters in threads aggressively trying to belittle or shut down oposing views. It's sad and I hope they realize what they are doing.

Another thing I've noticed is a lot of the content creators are right leaning posters. So by just looking at just the Politics forum thread titles one would get the impression that the board is more right leaning than it actually is. Once inside a thread it's clear their is more of an equal balance.

I really only follow the Politics Subforum because that's what I'm most interested in. I'm going to stick around and hope the community continues to grow.
 
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cormack12

Gold Member
In my initial post I made a honest error of words by using the term 'alt-right'. I apologized for the mistake but was still jumped on by a lot of people which was disappointing. It seems to me that this here that lean right politically are very defensive of their beliefs and that results in them having a very negative outlook on posters challenging their views.

No. you bore the brunt of ire and frustration because you did what most people do. Come here, throw around a buzzword which basically labels everyone here as something awful then go 'aw, shucks!'. You've owned your problem and people are past it, you're not a martyr. People are tired of it, and people are working hard to rebuild the community in a fair and open way. They no longer have the time or patience to spend on these boring fallacies any more. Maybe the counter was equal to the attack.

I really only follow the Politics Subforum because that's what I'm most interested in. I'm going to stick around and hope the community continues to grow.

That's your problem. Using a videogame subforum for 'politics'. It's meant to be a subsidiary area for overflow topics, not the primary focus. There are far better and dedicated forums that have politics as their sole focus, with much broader opinions and the general level of education is higher. However, given you can't even use the term alt-right correctly, I'd suggest you stay away from politics for a very long time. Join in the video game chat, that's what the forums is for and what will help the community grow.
 

farmerboy

Member
It certainly seems like this place is starting to gather steam. I'm happy about that. There is the odd poster that I feel probably should get banned but I'm kinda glad they dont. I have no issue with different opinions, just keep it civil, yeah? Even those posters can offer great insight, its rare that any one poster is just a total shit show. Its great to get a feel for all these different personalities.

I kinda wish I had the time to post a little more and write some more meaningful commentary so that you could all get to know me better as well. I'm pretty easy to get along with!

But life is pretty busy isn't it? See you all around.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
cormack12 cormack12 why do you feel the need to talk down to me? You are being quite defensive just like I described in my post.

I don't find it to be a "problem" that I follow the politics forum here. It's far from my only source of political discussion.

You are doing a bad job of "rebuilding the community" if all of your posts to users that express a opinion that differs from yours is as condescending as your post to me was. It certainly doesn't make me feel welcome in this community.


Edit- have you actually read the interaction I'm talking about making in my post. It really sounds like you haven't and are just assuming it went the way you might have seen it go in the past with others who drive by here for a pot shot.
 
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Papa

Banned
After being "back" mostly just cruising the Politics board for about a month now I feel like I'm in a better position to comment on the state of things now rather than when I did upon first returning.

In my initial post I made a honest error of words by using the term 'alt-right'. I apologized for the mistake but was still jumped on by a lot of people which was disappointing. It seems to me that those here that do lean right politically are very defensive of their beliefs and that results in them having a very negative outlook on posters challenging their views.

In a twist of irony those posters are planting the seeds to become everything they hated about "Old GAF". It's nowhere near there yet but the seeds are there. You see the same group of posters in threads aggressively trying to belittle or shut down oposing views. It's sad and I hope they realize what they are doing.

Another thing I've noticed is a lot of the content creators are right leaning posters. So by just looking at just the Politics forum thread titles one would get the impression that the board is more right leaning than it actually is. Once inside a thread it's clear their is more of an equal balance.

I really only follow the Politics Subforum because that's what I'm most interested in. I'm going to stick around and hope the community continues to grow.

I thought you copped it a bit unfairly over the alt-right comment as you were willing to admit your mistake. As cormack12 cormack12 suggested, you likely bore the brunt of several months worth of Ree members popping back in to wring their hands and throw driveby alt-right labels so it was unlucky timing for you I guess. As I’m sure you are aware now, it translates to Nazi in social justice Newspeak, and it’s obviously not true. It would only appear that way to someone who has locked themself away in an echo chamber like Ree and severely damaged their personal Overton Window.

I don’t agree with you about the same seeds of discord being sown. There is no meta-narrative here right now; no party line to toe; and you are free to express your mind with very few limitations. If you see anyone belittling or unfairly shutting down reasonable opinions, speak up then and there. Don’t complain about it after the fact.

You must be looking at the Politics subforum threads with political beer goggles on because it’s a fairly even spread across the spectrum. Many of the threads currently on the front page were created by our resident lefties, including: yourself, HenkDV HenkDV , Arkage Arkage , TheLaughingStock TheLaughingStock , @whiskeystrike, Gander Gander , AfricanKing AfricanKing , and luigimario luigimario . Seems like you’re ignoring those and framing your argument solely around the ones that make you feel uncomfortable. Get used to it, because there are things in life that are going to make you uncomfortable, the least of which are the very mild moderate-left to centre-right opinions you see here. The onus is on you to adapt to their presence, not the other way around. That said, I do respect your willingness to stick around and contribute fairly respectfully. I can’t say the same for many of the comrades from Ree.

To sum up, I think you should spend less time complaining about opinions you don’t like and more time figuring out how to counter them and win people to your side. It’s the hard way, but it’s the only effective way in the long run.
 

Patrick S.

Banned
My plan is to post five times every day. No negativity, don't need that shit. I won't make threads for the time being though, because I don't think I'd do a great job at it.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
Hey Papa Papa I appreciate your response and I think you make so good points especially regarding the 'political goggles' in browsing through the thread titles of the political Subforum.

It is more of an even mix maybe it is the language used in some of the right leaning thread titles that make them a bit jarring and stand out a bit more (which might be the point).
 

Arkage

Banned
Hey Papa Papa I appreciate your response and I think you make so good points especially regarding the 'political goggles' in browsing through the thread titles of the political Subforum.

It is more of an even mix maybe it is the language used in some of the right leaning thread titles that make them a bit jarring and stand out a bit more (which might be the point).

I've been here for a while now and lately it seems to have gotten more balanced than it used to be. I.e. there aren't daily Hillary conspiracy theory threads being created by the more extreme members, which got pretty exhausting.
 
Just to piggy back on a few things said...

1. We are rebuilding, taking feedback from criticism, and trying to solve our own problems. We've made incredible steps in the last 12 months, headed by our wonderful staff. They've given use a great site and great features. We need to keep pushing forward.

We have a Volunteer thread going if you would like to help that group.

2. I encourage everyone to make Threads (OP's and Titles) unbiased and not trolly click baity. It makes the site unwelcoming to lurkers and gives our nay sayers ammunition to say negative things about NeoGAF. Looking at a thread title that says "Republicans are at it again" or "Democrats are at it again" (just examples) can only start a conversation in a negative way.

3. Encourage yourself and others to have a baseline of respect for your fellow human being. Regardless of how far apart we are on a view. Someone so far right like Alt Right or Nazi's will be handled by our wonderful staff.

4. Report content (posts and threads) that are in violation of NeoGAF Rules. Keep the site clean.

We have people who come here who are enemies of NeoGAF. It's the only way I can put it. They log on and attempt to start a quick fire. People reply to defend the community. And I am as guilty as anyone.

But be kind. It actually works in their favor when we lose our shit over it. Think how someone lurking will view this. Think of how old members who are checking the site out again will view this.

Over the last month I've seen people come here and say "We allow hate speech" or "We have Alt Right members". Every time they've been asked to show proof, all but one didn't even reply. And the one that did showed a completely out of context and not what they said it was at all. And then didn't reply back at all.

Don't be baited into the troll. Be better than them. It serves the community we are all part of better.

5. This whole GAF vs GAF thing, Old GAF vs GAF is dumb imo. Old GAF members have come back. Old GAF members pop in from time to time. So them that they are still Gaffers and welcome to stay.

We got great people here both Old and New. I appreciate everyone effort in supporting NeoGAF and continuing to make it better everyday. This community has given a lot to people over the many years. I believe we have many years ahead of us.
 

Papa

Banned
Hey Papa Papa I appreciate your response and I think you make so good points especially regarding the 'political goggles' in browsing through the thread titles of the political Subforum.

It is more of an even mix maybe it is the language used in some of the right leaning thread titles that make them a bit jarring and stand out a bit more (which might be the point).

As harsh as it sounds, I can only suggest to harden up. Try to look past the words that make you bristle and attempt to understand the ideas that the person is trying to express. Also keep in mind that many of those people have had to put up with baseless accusations of racism, sexism, Nazism, whatever buzzword salad for years and it becomes more understandable. I think a better metric to go by is whether someone is telling the truth as they see it rather than whether they make you feel uncomfortable.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
If the goal is to grow the community I just don't see how harsh words that don't need to be said to make a point and ultimately do more to shut down a conversation than advance it help realize that goal.

First impressions mean a lot so I agree with Musky_Cheese Musky_Cheese post that we should all look to tone down the rhetoric, make unbiased thread titles, and refrain insulting other members with strong words instead of strong arguments.

Then we wouldn't all need to eat nails or concrete or whatever to measure up to this toughness standard you keep throwing out.
 
If the goal is to grow the community I just don't see how harsh words that don't need to be said to make a point and ultimately do more to shut down a conversation than advance it help realize that goal.

First impressions mean a lot so I agree with Musky_Cheese Musky_Cheese post that we should all look to tone down the rhetoric, make unbiased thread titles, and refrain insulting other members with strong words instead of strong arguments.

Then we wouldn't all need to eat nails or concrete or whatever to measure up to this toughness standard you keep throwing out.
Absolutely

With unbiased thread titles, the thread starts on the middle ground and also the community to determine what happens.

Biased starts the push and pull that tends to happen with heated topics. It doesn’t have a middle ground from beginning to end.
 
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