Have some of the usual members left Racketboy forums ?

[Blu]

I think I've seen this on other forums that I've once been a part of. Thoughtful topics are brought up, we exhaust them. People move on for good; some members return after a leave of absence only to find others are away. It's honestly just the nature of forum posting.

Fast has a point about the reddit, Facebook, Tumblr culture. I feel like on those sites I'm more of a nobody, just an anonymous face in the crowd. I don't feel like my opinion amounts to much or is given much consideration. That could very well be the case here, I could just be delusional and you all put up with it! At least here we get to do meaningful things, like charity auctions, trades, and secret santas. I get to see glimpses of your game rooms, things you do for hobbies outside gaming, and Mike throwing his kids across the pool and being attacked by Louis (how is he lately by the way?). I don't mind that our numbers swell and shrink at times, the core group is pretty devoted and faces come and go, just like any other passage of time in our lives.

That being said, I'm happy to revamp some of our existing articles, like the rare, valuable, or hidden gems articles. I'd be happy to draft something up for Gamecube, Xbox, Dreamcast, you name it. It could be a series focus, it could be a genre focus. I would think Bogus and I could be a bang-up tag-team writer / editor combo. I'd even buy Bogus an editor's hat.

I'm not kidding about any of these previous statements. Please, let me write all the things! I can send you my resume and thesis.

[Ack]

elmagicochrisg was vocal and passionately opinionated but he only got worked up when people started on him first (which was common and deliberate).

Yes, but he actually got in trouble for other things: racism, harassment of members via PM, questionable business deals, that kind of thing. Later we discovered he was operating multiple user accounts as well. Busomjack, I honestly don't remember.

Generally we don't ban people unless they manage to get three warnings, and we typically only issue warnings these days if there is a complaint. We used to be more proactive about issuing warnings but in the last five years have stepped back to let folks handle their own business unless requested. I prefer more often to step in with a post telling people to cool it than to actually issue warnings; usually that works well enough to stop the problem.

Case in point, Chupon and Reprise recently got into an argument over Watermelon's business practices. I stepped in to tell them to cool their jets, and both parties chose to walk away. No warnings were issued, and everything's cool. They're both good members, so I'm glad things worked out.

[Luke]

The loss of Busom Jack still saddens me. He was ripped to the core and hilarious.

All of the members...Most of the members..At least half of the members that had beef with me was squashed hella quick via PM. Mods need to chill and let members settle their differences when they occur...or you get what's going on now where people would rather just leave.

A PM of "Settle down" isn't moderating, it is useless judgement. Now MOZ would go over board with editing people's posts, but at the end of the day I doubt he meant any harm. Would love to have him back.

Izzy...well, he's Izzy. He was very strongly opinionated and loved to argue...something that should happen on internet forums. This forum is also entertainment for some people, as they understand that a "mean" post is gentle ribbing. That is for people who take a second to digest what they are reading (not many do).

Pickles.

[AppleQueso]

Retro gaming gets old lol.

I mean I basically left because I had no more reason to stay. I'd sold my retro collection off to Dave, wasn't super interested in getting back in 'cause I just plain had no money. My life was spinning out of control anyways and the non-retro discussion I found here made me angry more often than not. I had my 'last straw' moment and decided that was enough.

Like I got way caught up in retro collecting because I spent a good 5 years in a work/sleep pattern with no social life and it was something to do with my time and money that didn't require me to deal with my internal bs. I did this with lots of things in hindsight, and sticking with retro stuff so long is probably a testament to how fun the community here was. When I started seriously tackling my internal bs I guess it stopped being fulfilling. (Plus, as others have noted, I'd kinda thoroughly mined that well and was kinda running out of interesting new old things)

IDK I suspect this is the case with a lot of people. Life moves on, maybe some of us discover that retro gaming for us wasn't what we thought it was, or maybe it outlived its purpose in our lives. For all the talk of permanence and preservation here, it's kinda funny how many of us just assume we're going to need this stuff forever. Could probably spin a whole thread out of that.

I've been through a lot of shit the past year or two. I guess I finally made it to Austin TX, and in the process I lost most of my stuff, my home, my car, my job, my bank account, got way in debt, ruined my credit, lost a few friends, lost my girlfriend, and had a pretty solid blow to my mental health. ...but i did make it here I guess.

I have a place to live now, fwiw. I've got some amazing roomies, tons of new friends, and an active social life. Not bad I guess?

I dunno, I'm rambling. Communities move on, I've checked in on places that have had 2 or 3 generations of users, and I don't think anyone should feel bad about moving on themselves. Hopefully everyone stays in touch with their friends. FWIW, i'm always willing to read and reply to a PM or two or something if anyone ever wants to say hi.

[MrPopo]

The loss of Busom Jack still saddens me. He was ripped to the core and hilarious.

He also managed to get a ton of threads locked due to his asinine behavior.

[Luke]

The loss of Busom Jack still saddens me. He was ripped to the core and hilarious.

He also managed to get a ton of threads locked due to his asinine behavior.

Like that time he created a lame thread about buying a mystery bin of games from an old lady that led to members leaving the forum? Classic Busom humor. So hilarious.

[mjmjr25]

A PM of "Settle down" isn't moderating, it is useless judgement.

You realize those "settle down" pm's are a result of a formal complaint from another member, right?

Luke - you are a smart, often likeable guy. You bring a lot of action to the site, sometimes legitimately funny, sometimes legitimately eyeroll (like...I/We LITERALLY roll our eyes), sometimes offensive. Overall though - the good outweighs the bad and having you around is good for the site. That said, you are being ugly right now. I'd rather this have been a pm, but you're currently posting everything publicly. I'm happy to do this via phone, pm, or email if you like.
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@bruno - the 4 bans were all legitimate and there was no other recourse on any of them.

Elmagico as Ack pointed out had some shady things on the side; he was smart enough to not post or pm them here, but they originated here and he followed people to their personal emails. When confronted about the behavior - instead of explaining his side; he forced the hand by posting nude pics and linking to the DC forums where he had also just been banned. So, while being asked to "settle down"; he laid loose with posts that generated multiple complaints and broke forum rules about inappapropriate images.

Busomjack while trolling one night began posting in every thread - trying to derail them. Posts were flagged. He was given a 24 hour "settle down". He created a second account a few minutes later which immediately was recognized as him - he was told to "settle down" and take 24-hours off. His response was, "I'm behind 7 firewalls - you can't stop me!" He then created a 3rd account - this is all within an hour. Hobie stopped him.

DC4Evar legit scammed foxhound1022; at one point trying to then scam paypal by sending Fox a real package (after not sending one and providing fake tracking numbers). He sent foxhound a Playstation...instead of a Neo Geo and games. We had to make calls to paypal and local law enforcment; it took hours of sending photos, letters, forum posts - eventually fox was made whole. There was no way he'd be allowed on this forum after that.

[mjmjr25]

The loss of Busom Jack still saddens me. He was ripped to the core and hilarious.

He also managed to get a ton of threads locked due to his asinine behavior.

Like that time he created a lame thread about buying a mystery bin of games from an old lady that led to members leaving the forum? Classic Busom humor. So hilarious.

I know of one person who legit didn't like that thread. I know they aren't active right now. If there are others who actually "left the site" because the thread was that offensive - spill it? If it's true - i'll eat my words and leave.

Before that though - see the irony/hypocrisy. This site membership is too "thin-skinned" (says you yesterday). The next day people are leaving because my joke thread about buying lot of games was too offensive and i'm the problem.

And Luke, she wasn't old. She was young, and hot. Her boyfriend mistreated her.

#justfacts

[Erik_Twice]

I really think you are the only one who thinks moderation has been a problem, Luke. I don't know of any forum with softer, more easy-going mods than this one that isn't full of people calling each other "fag" and "nigger".

Really, I think the actions of Ack, MrPopo and all other moderators has been top-notch and leagues better than any other forum I have ever seen. The fact that they are going out of their way to engage on a personal level in the age of zero toleration policies ala Neogaf is something I really appreciate.

@bruno - the 4 bans were all legitimate and there was no other recourse on any of them.

Wow, I knew about the DC4Evar scams but didn't know about half of the other stuff, that's terrible

Especially when you make wrong statements like those two. TMNT: The Arcade Game is the best beat'em up of all time and Battle Garegga isn't a shmup; it's an exercise in masochism.

I don't condone violence, but those that defend Konami beat'em ups that aren't Violent Storm should have a quartercircle performed on them you know?

[Luke]

Luke - you are a smart, often likeable guy. You bring a lot of action to the site, sometimes legitimately funny, sometimes legitimately eyeroll (like...I/We LITERALLY roll our eyes), sometimes offensive. Overall though - the good outweighs the bad and having you around is good for the site. That said, you are being ugly right now.

You don't get it. I do not need any reassurance that I'm smart, that I can be obnoxious, and that I welcome confrontation. What you may not recognize is that you just solidified the fact with your post that you are judgmental. James 4:11-12 and such.

The truth can be ugly.

"Noise is short, JT has a weird hair cut, and I'm being ugly". So what? Who cares?

And asking me to rat out ALL of the people that you have made leave the site? Never going to happen. As a mod you can probably access my PMs and find out for yourself. You will also find PMs of great members of this community that agree with me, 100%.