Plea for a community.

[joemanf]

abstractangel is cool... she helped me lots of times... idk bout hods

Hods is one of the silent types. He talks only when needed to.

[Wildor]

Folks, this is not about Moderators. This is about ALL of us.

[WN1 Hit]

to me all of us should be 'moderating' ourself instead of being a baby and needing someone to do that for us...

[woody513]

to me all of us should be 'moderating' ourself instead of being a baby and needing someone to do that for us...

It used to happen...

[Wildor]

How often do I have to repeat this is NOT about moderating or moderators.

This is about an attitude we should ALL bring to this place. I am asking, again, for a shift in focus. A different view of the place and the people in it.

[Demonhero]

Yes, we are rather exclusive. However, this is not solely our doing. We simply are who we are, and sometimes people might misconstrue that. Perhaps I make a joke. Someone takes it the wrong way. A fight starts. Naturally, because I make many jokes, and because many of them can be easily taken the wrong way, I won't see anything wrong with what I did. Nor will anyone who knows me. Because they'll know its a joke. But the person who took it the wrong way, who jumped to conclusions, who doesn't have any idea if I post things like that often or not, will believe that they are righter then I.

Its the self-righteous attitude of some newcomers. As of lately at least. They will defend to the death their right to meander through our neck of the woods (And no Foxy, I do not mean ours as in we own it. I'll address that point in a moment.), and do whatever they feel like simply because the rules are ever so slightly more lax here. They see nothing wrong with what they've done. Because its the internet, because they should be able to what they want, where they want, when they want, and because anyone who tries to tell them what the rules is, instantly becomes target for a fight nobody looked for.

Ownership. We of the OT know perfectly we don't own it. And I try to browbeat it into the others when they forget. However: It is a home away from home for us. Think of it from this perspective: You rent a hotel room, for quite some time, due to traveling alot, and it is where you stay when not at home. You know all the people who frequent the hotel, and those who just pop in now and again, and those who are just passing through. Then, one day: Someone enters your room. They begin perusing your mini-bar, ordering your room service, and doing things of a harmful nature to your bill.

The hotel is here. The price we pay, is our reputation, respect, and relationship with the evony staff. The mini-bar and room service are things which would lower the respect we have from the higher-ups of the Evony staff, they would see the OT as perhaps less of a gathering place for harmless nutjobs, and more of another area for completely insane people to mouth off about everything known to man, and its donkey.

I hope I've made clear my points, because I'm not fully sure I understand them...

abstractangel is cool... she helped me lots of times... idk bout hods

Hods is cool. Take my word for it.

[Wildor]

Thank you Storm. That is the kind of feed-back I was looking for.

If I understand your argument correctly (and please correct me if I'm wrong here), what you are really saying here is that a lot of us already invested a little of themselves in this place. Maybe even a lot. And have already started to feel part of a community, or at least a "home away from home". I agree completely. It is what I have been saying.

But having done that, we shouldn't try to close the door. I sincerely believe this could be the start of something bigger, wider and more important in people's lives, as I believe most on-line communities eventually will be. And also help people all around the planet to get closer, fostering better understanding and goodwill (picking up a point VesuvanPrincess and others made earlier in here).

Fanciful "futurology"? I don't think so. It's already started. Here and elsewhere.

If we as a community want to be part of this, then we can't afford to be a closed club. And if some of us, having been here a while and contributed to laying down the foundations (so to speak) of this community, can find it in themselves to see the future potential of this place and embrace it, then not a little pride would be justified.

[Fallbreeze]

May a OT newbie share her views? Coming from a different perspective, it's difficult sometimes to figure out a way to contribute that's helpful to the already established community. The smart newbie will look for ways to contribute within the rules, and with stepping on as few toes as possible. The problem lies in the not so intelligent newbies who just decide that "Hey, I'll get more attention by flaunting, face spitting, and annoying everyone!" It's those newbies that generally give us a bad rep, and starts to jade the veterans after awhile.

Demon has the right analogy for this place. He does forget that sometimes there's the person that moves down the hall, that might knock at the door, or send a cup of coffee room service, for no other reason than to just say hello. Unfortunately, that seems to happen after repeated room break ins. All I ask for is a fair chance to prove myself. Even if others before me aren't as 'enlightened'.

[Wildor]

May a OT newbie share her views? Coming from a different perspective, it's difficult sometimes to figure out a way to contribute that's helpful to the already established community. The smart newbie will look for ways to contribute within the rules, and with stepping on as few toes as possible. The problem lies in the not so intelligent newbies who just decide that "Hey, I'll get more attention by flaunting, face spitting, and annoying everyone!" It's those newbies that generally give us a bad rep, and starts to jade the veterans after awhile.

Demon has the right analogy for this place. He does forget that sometimes there's the person that moves down the hall, that might knock at the door, or send a cup of coffee room service, for no other reason than to just say hello. Unfortunately, that seems to happen after repeated room break ins. All I ask for is a fair chance to prove myself. Even if others before me aren't as 'enlightened'.

Your words move me. And people like you are at the core of my concerns and hope for this community.

[VictusDeus]

When I first started hanging out in OT I just paid attention to how the the people who frequented it before I got here generally interacted with one another. You can easily pick up on a posters tendencies and tell the difference between a joking post and one that was meant to be mean. Although I'm not exactly social like alot of the ones here, I find the OT a great place with plenty of humor and great discussions, and many of the ones that seem to get ostracized from the community actually are causing it themselves by just ignoring the way that things are done in the OT and trying to establish themselves as a member of the community forcefully with spam or posts that disrupt a thread in way that is unacceptable by the veteran community. Being tolerant of others is necessary sure, but if those others do nothing but disrupt the current community then it is only natural that they will not tolerate it and will do what they can to make that person leave the community.

Then again I rarely actually interact with anyone in OT and when I do they tend to just ignore my idiotic posts so really I guess this is one of the most tolerant communities I have been around lol