[That’s right, the guy who never uses the f-word has put it in the thread title. So you know just how pissed off I am right now. Also, SDMB is great and always will be. Now more obvious to me than ever.]
As I write this, I’m seriously considering pulling completely out of GameFAQs for good. I have a lot there, so it’s a pretty drastic step, but I simply cannot support a website that allows…well, posts like the one Ryosuke made here -( link removed). He’s made several posts like this, NOT ONE of which was ever deleted, and to my knowledge he’s never been warned even once.
When I first went to that website, what really struck me was how much people were complaining about how strict it was. They were screaming bloody murder about how they weren’t able to get away with the total crap that they freely spewed out on, well, every single other message board in existence. For me, it was like I’d been handed the keys to Toys 'n Joys and told to take whatever I wanted. I loved the idea of a website where there were limits on what behavior was permitted and it was actually possible to get banned.
Now it’s gone completely to hell. The moderators are overwhelmed and overworked. Marking posts results in nothing. Flames, trolls, and off-topic posts routinely go through without ever getting deleted. No one gets so much as a warning for anything anymore.
Of all the websites that I dreaded descending into anarchy, the last one I’d ever expect was GameFAQs. I’m in shock.
Of course, it’s not like this was my first bad experience with a message board. In fact, the very first one I signed up on, at Samurai Shodown Forever, was plauged by ONE supreme uberdick who never, never ever was punished or even warned. Predictably, he ended up chasing everyone off the board, and the owner had to shut it down. (It’s back up now, and thankfully with a semblance of order now, but I’m too scarred to even think of going back.)
And then there was the now-defunct iidxstyle.net, where I got a cruel firsthand glimpse of what hardcore IIDX players are really like. And the best part was, there was a grand total of one moderator, who took about a week to get on anything. Lessee…stuck-up asshats, no control over avatars, or sigs, or flames, or trolls, or anything else…man, I can’t imagine why that site went down in flames. The funny thing was, they seemed pretty nice until I came aboard…must’ve been all those opposing viewpoints. (And just for the record, I’m a IIDX player…just not hardcore…so this isn’t game prejudice on my part.)
Of course, how could I forget Improfanfic (link removed). You may have noticed that it’s pretty quiet now. The reason for this is that nearly everyone associated with the site was scared off. In its heyday, you could be treated to flames, endless ego clashes, and lots of screaming over nothing. And lord forbid if you ever contributed anything. Your work would get trashed, blasted, torn to shreds, burned, and crushed, and if you had ANY problem with it, someone would fire the obligatory BS about how hatchet-job reviews were supposed to “make your better”, and shut the hell up. And of course, all the other regulars would be in lockstep agreement. It was breathtaking to see a website where the biggest assholes were praised for it. Oh, did I mention that there was one acceptable opinion for everything, and ANYONE who disagreed in the slightest got flamed to death, and there were never any repercussions for the flamers? I should know…I was right in the middle of it. (Of course, it didn’t help that Twoflower, unquestionably the biggest douchebag I’ve ever exchanged e-mail with, was at the helm. Garbage in, garbage out and all.)
And DDRFreak (link removed). God, talk about a minefield. Aside from the fact that maybe one thread in ten has is anything other than a colossal waste of time, just one slipup and you’re going to get flamed to death. Search for my thread on 6th Style (I have the same username there) for a graphic example of this. Need I even mention that virtually nothing ever gets punished over there? If you post a profanity-crammed tirade directly targeting a moderator, guess what happens? You’re ONE THIRD of the way to getting banned. And if you wait long enough, you get a completely clean slate! In all the time I’ve known about that place, about two people have been banned. I think that says it all.
Look, either there are rules or there aren’t. If there aren’t, be honest about it. Fucked Company (link removed]) used to have a disclaimer right up front saying that the boards were completely unmoderated and anything went (it’s down now, but click on any thread and it’s pretty obvious). I can see very clearly that it’s a place I should stay the hell out of, and it’s a great catharsis and stress relief for posters who are into that sort of thing. I have no problem with that. But to give the pretense of control and moderation and to have flames and trolls pop out of nowhere with nothing ever being done about it, or to be a legitimately moderated website but slowly slide into anarchy over time, like GameFAQs did, that’s unforgivable. I gave my FAQs and reviews to a good, honest, regulated website that respected my needs. I won’t keep them on a dime-a-dozen shithouse.
Sheesh, is this what it’s come to? Except for the SDMB a few others (link removed) is good; as long as you avoid certain subjects, you’ll be fine), every message board in existence eventually turns into yet another anarchic hellhole where there’s no recourse for any kind of offensive behavior??
P.S.: I have some issues with Bemanistyle (link removed), but they’re really good about locking down useless threads, and they try to keep things running smoothly. I’m not going to rip them.
