I
imported_Hecubus
Guest
I'm gonna need a new word to look forward to this weekend. Debauchery was fun, no doubt, but one needs to be sparing wth it. An appetizer, and yet no meal.
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I hear it all the time. "Sonoma is the best of the best!" They say. "There's no shard like Sonoma!" Well- to be literal there really is only one true Sonoma shard. And rest assured, these fine Sonoma forums are still the best forums around, no?
What I'm about to share with you isn't solely intended to insult you. And I'm not saying that there are no good people or thoughtful, creative posters on Sonoma. There's no question about that. People here are generally nice (well, except for this author...).
A while back I wondered aloud on these forums whether the Sonoma forums really are still the best of the best, or, according to my suggestion, we are merely trading off the good name set forth by the wonderful posters and authors of days past.
Not a popular opinion. Maybe I'm just one of those elitist vets telling all you "n00bs" to respect your elders. Or maybe I'm one of those who fantasizes about how good it used to be- when in reality it was no better or worse than it is now- the forums are still the same quality that they were then, and in fact maybe now that everyone isn't as "opinionated" or articulate that the forums have become more welcoming of the causal gaming crowd.
Is it really? I'll let you decide.
How bout a little excercise? An experiment if you will.
Let's take a trip back in time, to those "good ole days" Hec is always preaching about. How bout umm...page 102 of these forums?
Page 102
If the link doesn't work, just manually flip to that page.
"No wait" you say, "Maybe Hec picked a good page." Okay- pick 103. Or 104. How bout any page in 2001.
Got your page? Good. Now- instead of hoping someone types "yay" or "lol" in reponse to today's posts- go back and pick a few threads from the page you're on. Give em a read. Pick different topics if you like- news articles, RP stories, pointed controversies...
Still with me? Okay, have a look at today's threads.
"No wait," you say "Today just happened to be an off day." Okay, pick page 2. Or page 3. Hell, pick any page from 2004.
Now for you bean-counters out there: Count the average number of words per post on the 2004 page and compare it to the 2001 page.
Am I being unfair? Probably. Am I being unrealistic about the level and quality of posts then and now? Sure.
Hey- we're the best of the best right? I mean, so what if they talked more per post back then...we're sweet, we're nice...we say "yay" to some posts and ignore others altogether!
"Okay" you say, "So they had good posts. They had Pluffy! They had these other folks who posted stories...they had 9/11 to talk about, they had Dor losing her shield...they had more things to talk about..." you protest.
But even when they didn't have those things- they created. They inspired.
So what am I saying? I mean, even if you do agree with my opinion here, what can we honestly do about it? "I'm no writer.." you think to yourself, "I'm just a happy-go lucky person here to share in the comraderie of these forums!"
And there's nothing in the world wrong with that. But this author tends to think that there are some writers there. That there are people with opinions, maybe even unpopular ones, like not voting, or hating Samurai Empires, or even not enjoying waffles(NO!!!!), who would love to have a say about it.
This author thinks that you don't say "Sonoma is the best of the best" by riding the wind in the sails of the past. The people who draw pride and fame from the percieved "quality" of this forum without doing their part ot maintain it are simply leeching off the good name and foundation of folks who were the real deal.
I for one, don't feel I'm doing my part to maintain the quality of days past. I might be pissing off a lot of people, I might have some of the longest single posts in recent history, but I'm not in any position to claim that I'm better than anyone.
I just want people to see things through these eyes, and hopefully gain a new perspective. My sincere hope is that even though you don't agree with my writings, that they at least cause you to evaluate your own opinions on things.
That's how the exchange of ideas works. Not to brainwash people of anything, but that they may gain from a different viewpoint. And for those who really do want this place to be amongst the "best of the best", maybe we should think on ways to encourage lurkers to post, instead of primping one another. Maybe we need to get people to want to read and think about what they've seen here.
Because if we aren't working to synergize creativity, and if we aren't challenging the norms, and causing folks to ponder, then we're really no different than any other forum.
And our claim is invalid.
I am Jack's Whispering Rose from Deathrage.
- Hec
********************************************************
I hear it all the time. "Sonoma is the best of the best!" They say. "There's no shard like Sonoma!" Well- to be literal there really is only one true Sonoma shard. And rest assured, these fine Sonoma forums are still the best forums around, no?
What I'm about to share with you isn't solely intended to insult you. And I'm not saying that there are no good people or thoughtful, creative posters on Sonoma. There's no question about that. People here are generally nice (well, except for this author...).
A while back I wondered aloud on these forums whether the Sonoma forums really are still the best of the best, or, according to my suggestion, we are merely trading off the good name set forth by the wonderful posters and authors of days past.
Not a popular opinion. Maybe I'm just one of those elitist vets telling all you "n00bs" to respect your elders. Or maybe I'm one of those who fantasizes about how good it used to be- when in reality it was no better or worse than it is now- the forums are still the same quality that they were then, and in fact maybe now that everyone isn't as "opinionated" or articulate that the forums have become more welcoming of the causal gaming crowd.
Is it really? I'll let you decide.
How bout a little excercise? An experiment if you will.
Let's take a trip back in time, to those "good ole days" Hec is always preaching about. How bout umm...page 102 of these forums?
Page 102
If the link doesn't work, just manually flip to that page.
"No wait" you say, "Maybe Hec picked a good page." Okay- pick 103. Or 104. How bout any page in 2001.
Got your page? Good. Now- instead of hoping someone types "yay" or "lol" in reponse to today's posts- go back and pick a few threads from the page you're on. Give em a read. Pick different topics if you like- news articles, RP stories, pointed controversies...
Still with me? Okay, have a look at today's threads.
"No wait," you say "Today just happened to be an off day." Okay, pick page 2. Or page 3. Hell, pick any page from 2004.
Now for you bean-counters out there: Count the average number of words per post on the 2004 page and compare it to the 2001 page.
Am I being unfair? Probably. Am I being unrealistic about the level and quality of posts then and now? Sure.
Hey- we're the best of the best right? I mean, so what if they talked more per post back then...we're sweet, we're nice...we say "yay" to some posts and ignore others altogether!
"Okay" you say, "So they had good posts. They had Pluffy! They had these other folks who posted stories...they had 9/11 to talk about, they had Dor losing her shield...they had more things to talk about..." you protest.
But even when they didn't have those things- they created. They inspired.
So what am I saying? I mean, even if you do agree with my opinion here, what can we honestly do about it? "I'm no writer.." you think to yourself, "I'm just a happy-go lucky person here to share in the comraderie of these forums!"
And there's nothing in the world wrong with that. But this author tends to think that there are some writers there. That there are people with opinions, maybe even unpopular ones, like not voting, or hating Samurai Empires, or even not enjoying waffles(NO!!!!), who would love to have a say about it.
This author thinks that you don't say "Sonoma is the best of the best" by riding the wind in the sails of the past. The people who draw pride and fame from the percieved "quality" of this forum without doing their part ot maintain it are simply leeching off the good name and foundation of folks who were the real deal.
I for one, don't feel I'm doing my part to maintain the quality of days past. I might be pissing off a lot of people, I might have some of the longest single posts in recent history, but I'm not in any position to claim that I'm better than anyone.
I just want people to see things through these eyes, and hopefully gain a new perspective. My sincere hope is that even though you don't agree with my writings, that they at least cause you to evaluate your own opinions on things.
That's how the exchange of ideas works. Not to brainwash people of anything, but that they may gain from a different viewpoint. And for those who really do want this place to be amongst the "best of the best", maybe we should think on ways to encourage lurkers to post, instead of primping one another. Maybe we need to get people to want to read and think about what they've seen here.
Because if we aren't working to synergize creativity, and if we aren't challenging the norms, and causing folks to ponder, then we're really no different than any other forum.
And our claim is invalid.
I am Jack's Whispering Rose from Deathrage.
- Hec