What happened, GB?

[Xandax]

Damn... I never did get those reviews up. Life got in the way :-/

Just reload an earlier savepoint.

[endboss]

Can't. I've been using autosave.

[DesR85]

Just reload an earlier savepoint.

If only life was that awesome...

[Tricky]

Just reload an earlier savepoint.

If you keep doing that after your thirties, you'll eventually end contracting Molyneux Nervosa. You'll then become unable to play anything that doesn't in some way resemble a console game.

There is an MMO-shot you can get for that, but it is worse.

[flix]

My impression of this site was always of sort of compendium or library for RPG walkthroughs, game info, and reviews. I was probably using it as such for a good three years before I finally registered back in 2008. And even then, I just signed up to help answer questions about specific games I knew about (like the Divinity series), acting as sort of a helpful 'librarian' to those needing information. As far as I'm concerned, if Gamebanshee can keep up those functions it's doing fine. I never really thought of it as a community, really, in the sense that I'll talk about life and myself and become friends with people. And I'm sure I speak for plenty of others. I'm sorry if the forums used to be 'something more' for the old hands here, but I wouldn't despair.

[Claudius]

The thing that made me leave was getting sucked into religious and political discussions that made me angry and having conflicts. I was usually an emotional wreck when that happened and I didn't need it. I enjoyed the game forums but eventually I was sucked into SYM and I was an addict even though I got burned. I was the own author of my misery so I cannot blame the site. Though a lot of sites do not allow discussion of religion or politcs such as the sacred wiki community lead by gogo blender.

Now that I mention the sacred wiki community lead by gogoblender that community has a vibe of kindness and no cynicism. A refreshing innocence and joy. That fosters fellowship and sharing. I encourage anyone interested to check out that site if they do not believe me. You can taste the difference. I wandered back only to check out what happened to gamebanshee.

I didn't know that other types of forums existed, and I understand that the gamebanshee members are different types of people but I find them to have an affect for thinking they are the most intelligent people in the universe. Or the most alternative or whatever. Which I find comical. People need to be more humble and get more interested in others which is where fun comes from than themselves.

Finally the moderators and posters at gamebanshee don't like the games anymore covered by gamebanshee. That is a fundamental problem. I play games for fun. Not to hear people trash them and bitch and moan. When I played games growing up the graphics were so bad. The game design wasn't a awesome golden age, thats BS. People look at the story of a game and they expect too much. I am satisfied with much less.

You might not agree with that and you might even think its better to be honest and a conniseur. Which is correct but I cannot help my poor taste. On the other hand isn't there something fundamentally wrong when the mods and clients don't like any game made since Baldurs Gate 2?

Regarding the sacred wiki fans of the site created at least 1/4 to 3/4 of the wiki content of course under the oversite of the moderators and owners. For free.

[LastDanceSaloon]

"Not to hear people trash them and bitch and moan."

I do hope you realise that sentence starts with a negative. It is also a naturally hypocritical sentence, an oxymoronic sentence if you will.

Which neatly brings me to this sentence:

"I understand that the gamebanshee members are different types of people but I find them to have an affect for thinking they are the most intelligent people in the universe."

Well dude, you've kind of forced me to call you out by making an obviously flawed analysis which has in turn forced me to look like what your complaining about even though I wasn't hoping to have to do this.

Which neatly brings me to this sentence:

"I was the own author of my misery so I cannot blame the site."

Which should read *I was the author of my own misery*. To which, I'm afraid, is still the case, though I take no joy in saying so.

Which neatly brings me to this sentence:

"isn't there something fundamentally wrong when the mods and clients don't like any game made since Baldurs Gate 2?"

Which implies that you really don't read that many threads at all and probably haven't for a long time considering the site was created during the BG2 hiatus era many, many, many, many years ago.

What new (and many old) games have is 'controversy' and it's often the game with the most controversy which gradually becomes an old classic over time.

You have probably also missed the post by Galrean which gives the best reason for this that I have yet read in that, increasingly, games are being released 'incomplete and untested', a trend which has become a norm rather than an exception. This will inevitably generate initial hostility to any new release that is released in this way.

However, I shall refrain from digging my teeth into you too much as you are:

"usually an emotional wreck"

Which I thank you kindly for warning us about.



In answer to the OP - how about you stop this insane system where I get logged out if I type more than 1 paragraph? How many people join up, write an essay, lose it when they click post and never come back? I guess we'll never know...

Some of us enjoy the 'art' of writing...

[Kipi]

In answer to the OP - how about you stop this insane system where I get logged out if I type more than 1 paragraph? How many people join up, write an essay, lose it when they click post and never come back? I guess we'll never know...

Some of us enjoy the 'art' of writing...

I have experienced that problem only when I didn't allow cookies to be installed. After I checked the "Cookie?" field from log in frame I haven't experienced log outs. So, unless you are reading the forums from public computer, I suggest to turn the cookies on.

[LastDanceSaloon]

Thanks for that Kipi, I shall give it a try.

However, I've complained about this on numerous occasions and this is the first time anyone has offered a solution.

How any noob is supposed to figure that out is beyond me. I have honestly never encountered a site with such a fast log-out rate. I can lurk for hours without logging out, but the second I go to make a post, bump, I'm gone.

This has to be a site issue that needs addressing, surely.



----------------------------------------
"And don't call me Shirley"
"Roger that, Over, over"

[Claudius]

Dear Dance,

Those are just my impressions. Regarding bitching and moaning is the only one I think you did not understand. I am referring to bitching and moaning about games. Not about bitching and moaning about forums. Second it would be possible for me to be a hypocrit. Other than I confine not liking negativity to fanism of games I also may be an unabashed hypocrit. But this isn't about me it is about gamebanshee. If a thread is posted about why claudius is a dick then that would be an appropriate place for discussion.

This is about why I left gamebanshee which wasn't helped by an incident before I quit drinking in which I was put on probation for 6 months. They weren't wrong for putting me on probation. I was proselytizing in their eyes on provocation by having my religion trashed and unable to defend myself without proselytizing. I could have just ignored the comment on my religion. I didn't bring the topic up someone referred to me by name criticizing my religion as I had shared that in other threads. As I have learned over 4 years it is best not to get defensive about religion as others are bound to criticize you. Nonetheless I find the policy of not discussing politics/religion on a forum rule as wise. These are explosive topics and they are the sort of thing that CAN drive people away from a forum. Imagine if 70% of a forum were strongly of x religion and talked about that critically. And you weren't of that group. In this case I did not like atheists putting down religion. And they were a majority. They have a right to express their opinion but my point is that it is not welcoming for those of other faiths when they hear their beliefs put down.

At the same time I sought out other sites and decided that a major thing I did not like about forums was people arguing about things. And negativity towards games.

Gamebanshee is not that bad. Some other forums half the threads are complaining about games. I only wish it were even more a positive fan site. Like you and Galraen have noted a lot of the games are unfinished. Who cares? I care if its unplayable, but I really don't care if its dumbed down (Oblivion), too hack and slash, retarded story, repetitive etc, bad voice acting. The only place where I don't mind seeing honest criticism is a thread where somebody is asking if they should buy the game. And even then I prefer level headed pro and con analysis, and not hyperbole about how bad it is. I don't mind testimonies of how good it is. Again I am allowed to be irrational in what I want. Wants are not about intelligence in general, rather they are about emotions. I did say I am perhaps wrong for not having taste in games. I just prefer having a positive vibe to a forum. As I said look at the sacred wiki community site. I don't think I have seen one argument on that site. I am being honest this is not an exageration. Not one and I have been on that community for 5 years and logged 1000 hours playing sacred. Everyone loves that game who posts there. Is it perfect? No. But I don't like bitching and moaning about games and excuse the drama element. I like fans enjoying a game. It makes me enjoy the game too. Rare criticism. In measure. But here its a big badge of pride not to like games. Or at least it seems that way.

Note please that I am expressing my opinion and relaying why I do not like the forum. In summation the negativity of the gamers. The argumentativeness and quirks of the SYM posters. And thats just my gripe, I probably wouldn't tell specific people to their faces, but I think I have a case. There is something to be said for nice energy of good natured happy pantless people. The political and religious discussion which I find dislike on a forum. I know I could just avoid those threads and thats true. It is nice that those who enjoy can partake, but I have seen how the sacred wiki community. I admit thats a flawed argument. I should just not post in those still I like not having them all together. No temptation. I haven't been miserable or an emotional wreck on other sites. I don't want you to think that. This is specifically my experience on the gamebanshee forum. Mostly in SYM were the troubles. And sym has positives. A lot of those critically thinking people had really interesting posts and personalities. Sometimes with a love for showing your cleverness and individuality it comes at a price of having an argumentative pointed wit. I quite enjoy the gaming sections sharing information with a game, with the minor exception of people trashing games.

Thanks for responding though it was really interesting of course to see how my comments would be received. I think if I had taken more time with my original post and thought about it longer to see (my feeling) clearly a lot of your objections could have been adressed so I thank you for drawing those out.

[dragon wench]

I want to briefly respond to certain aspects of Claudius' post.

Lately I've posted a bit at a forum that, unlike Game Banshee, does not allow the discussion of politics and religion. Nonetheless, I can quite honestly state that I have never encountered a larger collection of self-entitled, back-biting, narcissistic, whiny jerks in my entire life.
What I am saying here is that if the population is bad to begin with, it doesn't matter what you can or can't discuss, the place will still be a dump. On the other hand, if the population is decent, tolerant, mature, and healthy debate is allowed to flourish then it is possible to discuss any subject that occurs.

Game Banshee, in my overall experience has always been tolerant and open-minded when it comes to such conversations. However, there is a very big difference between acknowledging opposing viewpoints as legitimate and accepting fundamentalism or zealotry.

As to critiquing games..
Surprising though it may seem, quite a few people here do like some games published since BG2, myself included. But, there have also been *a lot* of bad, dumbed down titles produced in the last decade. This is a forum of fairly intelligent, well-educated people, is it really so surprising that games such as Oblivion are routinely dissed?

[Claudius]

Dear Dragon Wench,

I see your point how a forum can also have a negative vibe while not allowing discussions of religion and politics. Nonetheless I prefer to avoid such discussions. Again I understand that I don't have to post in them, but I just have a dislike of such topics. As far as zealotry I think I don't mind zealots as long as they do not criticize me. The root of my problems is the nature of religious and political views themselves I feel. Most people get angry when their views are challenged in these areas. Maybe you are an exception in this case, but nonetheless I do not like my beliefs criticized. In the case in question which I discussed I was not even a participant in the thread until someone named me out and got me into the discussion. I didn't ask for that criticism. And then there were statements made about the nature of my religion which I didn't agree with. The specific statement was that my religion was transendental and maybe some others. Where I knew the teachings in my religion and I became frustrated. The root of that problem was my frustration which made me have a lack of a sense of humor. But also the whole situation was one I did not ask to get into.

But I agree even a forum with restrictions on those topics can be very negative and I avoid those places as well. Sorry I needed to whine the day I posted my response. It was not very diplomatic of me and it probably didn't achieve any constructive effect it might have if I had been able to express myself in a way more fair and less harsh to other people.

I am not accusing gamebanshee people of not being open minded about those discussions. My hurt feeling is when somebody is criticized about religion or politics. Maybe some people would like to discuss that topic but I wouldn't. I should say maybe I have learned my lesson but nonetheless I would just as soon not have those topics around.

While maybe I myself am a narcissistic self entitled whiny jerk I do enjoy forums such as the sacred wiki community where the forum atmosphere does not bring out that quality in me. I had no problem for years on gamebanshee sharing information on games, I really enjoy that. But when I started posting on SYM I did not enjoy the confrontational debates. I debated in highschool, but it was much less heated because it was just an academic thing and most of the time you didn't even believe what you were arguing.

Back on topic of the gamebanshee forum I do regret saying that people thought they were soooo intelligent and so forth. I think I thought of that and mainly what I didn't like were the arguments. Again maybe I have learned to stay away from them. I am older and wiser now well a little bit. And I really did enjoy something about the whole thing too I just had bad experiences. But I don't enjoy the negativity towards the games. For example Oblivion WAS dumbed down but that fact was harped on and parroted to the extent that I had less enthusiasm to play it. That statement could be refuted because it is vague nonetheless its how I perceive the case. I hope you will take it in faith that I wasn't just posting to blow off steam or whine. What I mean to say is that I am not fabricating this whining just to cause a problem rather I genuinely dislike some of the qualities of the forum apart from any drama I have created.

[Stworca]

I promised myself to stay out of this one, but to keep the good name of Gamebanshee forums (angry mob of people who disagree with each other no matter what . com ) let me respond.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but at the rare occasions that we have an active moderator, ain't religion-mocking posts removed immediately, and only constructive criticism left alone? Not-too-easy questions can also be a way of criticizing a religion without insulting it. A few examples from the top of my head :

- Bible on many occasions states that only god is saint, both in old and new testament. How come now we have Saints for every day of the year, every profession, dish and emotion? How come the faithful even acknowledge something that contradicts their Holy Book? Are words of the pope (who bears the tittle of "Holy Father" while god is just "Father") more important than these of god?
- God is supposedly the Justest and at the same time the very definition Merciful. Just ruler would send everyone of us, sinners and disbelievers to hell, while the most merciful would forgive everyone and invite them to heaven. He would invite only those that seek forgiveness? Really? We had some examples of more merciful people in our history, not to mention every single mother would do that for her child.
- Life, such as we know it, is full of suffering. It's enough to mention only that each person was sentenced to death upon birth, but does not know the date of its execution. Nobody seems to be pleased. Similarly, everyone is doing everything in his power to defer the sentence, and if it was able to reverse it, would sacrifice everything they have.
Thus each religion promises an afterlife, as an answer to the problem that each one of us faces - unavoidable death.
No religion has fallen so far due to excess of promises. The current decay of religion is associated with the fact that people are asking for evidence. However the majority prefers to accept half-truths, and stories that aren't backed up by any evidence, than face the fact that there is no afterlife, and death is certain.
When you are bankrupt, in part, the best approach to the problem is to start again with no preconceived assumptions. Let's start doubting every statement. Let's find a way of subjecting every statement to an experiment. Is there even a grain of truth in claims of different religions?
The initial difficulty is the immense wealth of material to be tested. A critical test of all systems would be an endless task; list of certificates too long. Now, every religion is equally good, and each requires faith. So we reject this question. Better to check whether there is any question to which all religions are comparable: for if this is so, it might be worth examining.
It should certainly not be found in dogma. Legends concerning miracles are probably universal, but they lack eyewitness evidence to override common sense.
So what's the beginning of religion? How did it happen that so many unproven allegations were accepted by people of all kinds? Isn't that bordering on the miraculous?
There is however a kind of miracle which certainly happens, and it is the action of genius. You will not find its parallel in nature. It is unthinkable for a "super-dog" to transform the world of dogs, while in the history of mankind this happens with great regularity. Today we have many "super-men" who are at odds with each other. What is the connection between all the prophets, from Jesus to Muhammad? Is there something that unites them?
Great biographies of each of them were written by devotes and include something in common - silence. Each one of them embarked on a journey. Each of them, perfectly silent during his disappearance. Each immediately began to teach the new law upon returning. Coincidence?
No, but while each priest continues to preach, that heretics will suffer endless torments in one hell or another, there is no place for doubts in the heart of the faithful.
-.. No, not one more. It was supposed to be just an example.. :laugh:

I don't want to sound rude, but should someone be offended by above, maybe it is time to revise the strength of yar (piratey!) faith?

I am a disbeliever, a heretic and, as a True Christian would call me : Gay terrorist that eats children, but i understand the benefits that religion brings to the table. If you are faithful, dear reader, focus and for one minute imagine that there is no god, and there is nothing that awaits you after you die.. Your friends, family, will not visit heaven or Valhalla, and eventually you all will be forever forgotten.
Sucks, doesn't it?
It does. I admit.
Faith puts the mind at ease.

Would my ranting make you leave the forum? I'd rather have you (viewer) respond to it, perhaps educate me. A civilized, polite conversation i'd look forward to.

Now to adress the part :

Finally the moderators and posters at gamebanshee don't like the games anymore covered by gamebanshee.

That would be <deleted>, the rest of us likes the games covered by gamebanshee :laugh:

Lastly, my dealings with Wiki community were always brought down to "Hey, i've edited another page, that's #xxx, how fun".
I admire their commitment, but as a editor of few humongous entrances (WW2) i must say it's not a big deal. We all post, be it on wiki or forums, and not one of us is getting paid. Although editing wiki is somewhat more constructive.

P.S.

gamebanshee members are different types of people but I find them to have an affect for thinking they are the most intelligent people in the universe.

That's not true. I am also more intelligent than myself from other dimension. (translation : I wonder what made you come up with such ridiculous statement)

Kind regards. Truly.

[Claudius]

Dear sworc,

you have some excellent points just sticking to your idea that gamebanshee moderators would remove religion mocking posts. My idea is that they may remove 'mocking' but not critical posts as these can fall under the heading of open minded discussion. The downside is that many when their beliefs are put under scrutiny however open minded and balanced may get defensive and the discussion can get quite heated.

Thank you for sharing your view on religion, I read it with interest although I would take it to PM with me if you want to discuss it thank you.

The community I am from is very avid in playing the game which is exciting. Gamebanshee is also a cool place. I have many posts and I don't know why I forgot that gamebanshee is great. I have always liked the gaming discussions.

I don't think the criticism that gamebanshee people do not like the games is enirely true on reflection. I will say that a lot of people mainly like games not covered on gamebanshee as their favorites and have a lot of frustration with many of the current titles. Is that wrong of them to be frustrated? No. But I do like a culture of celebration of the games I play. Making the best out of each game aside from the ones that are totally unplayable such as quest breaking bugs where you cannot play. Even those usually a patch comes out.

I think I was wrong to say that the posters view themselves as sooooo intelligent. I think what I was getting at is the arguments. Maybe they have changed but when I was here the discussions would go on for pages with people in a very pointed way going back and forth. On that note I think its good to discuss: attitude towards games and politics religion good/bad. Those are legitimate concerns in my opinion that possibly could give one or the site pause on whether they want to make changes. But it wasn't appropriate for me to make personal attacks. I regret that and if someone wants to discuss that with me please personal message me.

[Claudius]

Dear Dance,

I have had posts get eaten by the timer too. What you can do is hit the back button. For me the post in progress is still there. From that point select all text and copy or cut. Then click on gamebanshee forum and navigate to the original place where you were. Reply again and with your copied text pasting it from the clipboard.

If you remember you may avoid that by typing in a text editor your text and then copy/paste.

[dragon wench]

Since I don't like to auto accept cookies, I have the logged out problem too.

As a workaround, whenever I know I'm going to write a longer post I always Copy my text when I've finished, and as an experiment hit "Preview."

If I haven't been logged out I can just go in to post normally, if not I relog and simply Paste my post.

Somewhat cumbersome, but it's not too bad.

[galraen]

I usually avoid cookies, but made an exception for GB, and have not had reason to regret it so far.

Another site which I'm admin on has the same fast boot problem, and nothing can help there as the server admin is super-paranoid. However I've found that if you just log in when it happens, then go back (either clicking or backspace) you can then submit your offering; don't know if that will work here, haven't had to try.

[Claudius]

"I am a disbeliever, a heretic and, as a True Christian would call me"

I think few would make an issue of your being a disbeliever. There are fundies of course, but a good number of Christians are just going about their business. It also depends how you treat them, that affects how they will treat you. Action reaction.

Even fewer would call you a baby eater etc. Maybe you could find them at Christian chatrooms but probably not too many of the Christians who get active in charity causes such as habitat to humanity and Christmas angel tree.

These are all generalizations. You cannot judge a specific Christian or Atheist by a generalization, well thats prejudice based on stereo types.

[Stworca]

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke"]Sigh...[/url]

I hoped that such a radical exaggeration (Gay terrorist that eats children) would be enough. Now that it's possible that some of my statements were slightly less than serious, let us go through them once again, ahoy!

[Claudius]

I honestly thought you were serious. I figured you had experienced some kind of intolerance. Thank you for providing a link as to what a joke was :laugh: I had never heard that one before.