Have some of the usual members left Racketboy forums ?

[BogusMeatFactory]

WHY ARE WE ALL YELLING!!???

[Luke]

Pause for HAPPY TIME!




Bitterness and arguments will resume after lunch.

[Forlorn Drifter]

[fastbilly1]

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%.

Actually no, he cant. Only database admins have access to PMs and it is a very convoluted system to get to them, made that way on purpose. Meaning only Racket and Matt have access, period. It even says this in the forum rules:

General Rules

Do not post anything which is offensive, hateful, racist, sexist, discriminatory, obscene, vulgar or in violation of local or international laws.
No personal insults. Direct personal insult of another member, i.e., "You are an idiot." and all the variations. Why? Because this isn't grade school.
Bottom line -- don't try to tick off others.
Any posts that get heated or are in a mocking fashion involving politics, religion, etc will be taken down and members will receive a warning. (try to avoid even "joking" about it)
This also applies to Private Messages - Although we do not read Private Messages sent between forum members, the rules for appropriate and inappropriate content apply to them as well.
Each member is responsible for only his or her own posts. If another member breaks rules, you may ignore them or report the problem to the moderators, but you may not use it as an excuse to break rules yourself.

Actually we should probably all go back to reading the forum rules, before this whole site becomes an elephant walk... Which is probably one of the most offensive things ever said on this forum.

[dsheinem]

Though it has been nice to hear from a few folks I haven't heard from in a while, this thread is quickly reinforcing the other, more substantive reasons I've had for stepping away of late. I suspect, like me, many others have pulled back because of some of the shifts in relationship dynamics between certain members and between members/mods as well.

To wit, I don't think the problems have much if anything to do with the mods. They are a good lot and, though the mod ranks might benefit from more regular terms/turnover (e.g. staggered term limits or the like), they do great work.

[mjmjr25]

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%.

Mods can't access PM's - I know you've said this multiple times. Admins can maybe, not sure. In the 3+ years i've been a moderator here it has never happened where a site admin shared a pm of another member. Popo and Ack i'm sure will confirm it hasn't happened in their time either. We can't see content of edited posts, we can't see who voted which direction on polls, we can't see who other members have on ignore, etc. So, maybe we can put those boogeyman to bed.

However, tell you what. You clearly have a lot of animosity toward me. I know i'm not beloved by all, not by a long shot, but i'm only aware of two people who I rub wrong so much they quit posting for awhile. One has come back and we're friendly best I can tell. The other, i've been assured i'm not the main problem, but I am part of it. I feel bad about that, but it also just is what it is. That said - you claim many people have left. Well, I can tell you they haven't been banned, or their accounts deleted. So, tell you what. You like drama. You like confrontation (your words). I'm fine with a you or I scenario here. We can run a poll - let it run 7 days so you can message all these people who've left because of me. They can vote and if you're right, then i'll be gone and they can come back. All good?

[AppleQueso]

Though it has been nice to hear from a few folks I haven't heard from in a while, this thread is quickly reinforcing the other, more substantive reasons I've had for stepping away of late. I suspect, like me, many others have pulled back because of some of the shifts in relationship dynamics between certain members and between members/mods as well.

uhm.... yeah

[Exhuminator]

This forum has the most laid back mods I've seen on a gaming forum (outside RPG Codex anyway). Seriously, if you get banned from Racketboy you had to practically beg for it. I do think it's strange how many mods this forum has however.

On the other hand, there is a tangible amount of elephant walking circle jerking good ol' boy club stuff going on at this site. What Luke said about that is unfortunately true. It might not seem that way if you're on the inside of that core group. And, since this is a really old forum, it is understandable that there's a core group of folks who've become insular, and gloss over newer member's posts out of disassociation.

At the same time, that kind of behavior is disingenuous to newer members and makes them feel like the effort they put into creating posts is unappreciated, and therefore discourages future discussion from that source (and future membership from lurkers). I say this out of experience as well as observation. It would really serve this community well to start being more reciprocative to all members' posts and treat said posts with the same level of evaluation, attentiveness, and responsiveness as classic members' posts get.

I feel like I've missed a lot of drama that happened here this year, but that's probably because a few months ago I made a conscious decision to stay out of the Off Topic sections of this site. I come here to talk about video games with fellow enthusiasts, and in those actual gaming areas of the board drama seems to be a non-issue. So I recommend that approach to those having off topic personal issues here.

I for one would really like to see Racketboy's gaming dialogue expand and diverge into what it was a few years ago when I first joined (and before that lurked). The fact that there has been a noticeable exodus from this board this year as well as the very discussion in this thread; both are clearly indicative of problems. But these problems I believe can be fixed easily enough, insuring a growing forum going forward.

[mjmjr25]

On the other hand, there is a tangible amount of elephant walking circle jerking good ol' boy club stuff going on at this site. What Luke said about that is unfortunately true. It might not seem that way if you're on the inside of that core group.

At the same time, that kind of behavior is disingenuous to newer members and makes them feel like the effort they put into creating posts is unappreciated, and therefore discourages future discussion from that source (and future membership from lurkers). I say this out of experience as well as observation. It would really serve this community well to start being more reciprocative to all members' posts and treat said posts with the same level of evaluation, attentiveness, and responsiveness as classic members' posts get.

There are definitely friendships that developed, but I don't think the groups are insulated or purposely keep others out. TSTR is a relatively "newer" poster and has formed good friendships with "long term" members.

Some of my better comrades on the site; KalessinDB, Ghudda, have only been active a year or two.

It's only natural that friendships are going develop over years, or if not friendships, mutual respect. I can only speak for myself, but I think sometimes people assume there are these deep-rooted relationships because 2 members have (A) been here a long time, and (B) respond to a post of theirs with some type of intimate knowledge. That's just part of seeing someone post over years and other than having a level of respect for that person; there really isn't much else to it. Gamerforlife digs movies an TV. The King digs beer and do-it-yourself projects. Bonesnap and Bogus are new dads and dig RPG's. Corn619 and Jrecee dig cars. I don't think i've ever exchanged a single PM with any of these guys, they are long-term members whom I have familiarity and a respect for. Not some part of a long-term member vicious circle who gather to mock anyone who would try to join the community. Quite the opposite.

NOW - on the other hand, yes...there is sometimes getting-on new members by long-term members, but it is ALMOST ALWAYS, someone who is coming in for BST only, to spam a youtube review, or ask (1) question before leaving forever. That's been my observation. The point is a good one though and somethign we should all think about too.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I just want to make clear that not one single member of this site has yet earned my respect. I don't actively disdain some of you, and that's probably as good as it's going to get.