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JazzyAnna · Post by **JazzyAnna** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:10 am

I post/lurk at two other forums besides GameBanshee, and it seems to me that SYM here is more close knit then at other forums. Anyone else think that? I was wondering why that is. Is it because the people here are more mature? Is it the common interests (here it seems to be RPGs, one of the other forums I post at is mainly about electronic music, and the other is about ROMs, emulators and gifs)? Maybe it is a lot of the people who post here have been here for a while. I was just wondering if anyone felt the same way. Any thoughts?

Rob-hin · Post by **Rob-hin** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:49 am

It's 'cause SYM is where all the cool people are.

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:59 am

Cool, intelligent, and attractive. Yes, that's us.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 11:12 am

To be serious for a moment (yeah - I know - killjoy).

I think it is a number of reasons:

Maturity is one of the most predominent reasons in my oppinion, especially at SYM. Maturity makes it so that we can discuss various difficult topics in a clean and calm manner - most of the time - unlike many other forums I visit and have visited. Often you see insults and flamewars break out because people don't respect each other. This is rare at Gamebanshee.

Moderators are also a reason in my opinnion. Because we are not affraid to enforce the rules set up by Buck, it makes the punishment swift. Other boards are almost unmoderated, or the rules are vauge and unclear. Also here - the maturity comes into play, because most people accept being moderated by what essentially is their peers. If immature people visit and get moderated by somebody that posts along side them - they often question the moderating which can lead to many more problems.

Common interest. This I think it a factor in most all boards, but SYM is closely bound together at its core with the enjoyment of Roleplaying games, and especially Baldurs Gate 2. Because BG2 is a single player game at heart, there is nothing essentially to be enemies about in regards of that commen interest, which means that nomatter how bad things get - BG2 will bind people together. Unlike many online game where people compeete with each other and this can cause eneminity(sp?) which gets taken out over the forums.

These belive are some of the more predominant reasons why GB and especially SYM is so tightly knit. There are proberly other and more scientific explenations, but this is currently how I see it.

JazzyAnna · Post by **JazzyAnna** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 11:26 am

[QUOTE=Rob-hin]It's 'cause SYM is where all the cool people are.

[/QUOTE]
Definitely.

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:00 pm

I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Rob-hin · Post by **Rob-hin** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:01 pm

[QUOTE=JazzyAnna]Definitely.

[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=fable]Cool, intelligent, and attractive. Yes, that's us.

[/QUOTE]

And so modest too.

moltovir · Post by **moltovir** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:56 pm

100% right. This is the only forum I know where you can first discuss the best strategy to beat a dragon, and in the next thread the most beatiful composition of Von Beethoven

CM · Post by CM » Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:18 pm

[QUOTE=moltovir]100% right. This is the only forum I know where you can first discuss the best strategy to beat a dragon, and in the next thread the most beatiful composition of Von Beethoven

[/QUOTE]

LMAO. Now that is how buck should advertise gamebanshee

Basically i agree with Xandax. But mind you like all forums people do come and go. We lost around 50% of SYM membership around a year and a half ago. Many still visit both forums, but there was a split.

Taco Magus · Post by **Taco Magus** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:59 pm

[QUOTE=moltovir]100% right. This is the only forum I know where you can first discuss the best strategy to beat a dragon, and in the next thread the most beatiful composition of Von Beethoven

[/QUOTE]

Not only the best way to beat a dragon but also suggest different ways to make it more of a challange w/o getting flamed

A paintball forum i go to, if you suggest using a less exspensive marker(making it harder for you) in a game you WILL get flamed to hell and very rarely is punishment delt. Even the mods there join in the flaming/name calling. very biased

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:09 pm

Originally Posted by Rob-hin
It's 'cause SYM is where all the cool people are.

Originally Posted by fable
Cool, intelligent, and attractive. Yes, that's us.

]Originally Posted by Rob-hin
And so modest too.

True. Cool, intelligent, attractive, and modest. And ruthless! The GameBanshee member has these five characteristics: they are cool, intelligent, attractive, modest, ruthless, and fun-loving. Six! Six characteristics!

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:15 pm

[QUOTE=Xandax]Moderators are also a reason in my opinnion. Because we are not affraid to enforce the rules set up by Buck, it makes the punishment swift. Other boards are almost unmoderated, or the rules are vauge and unclear. Also here - the maturity comes into play, because most people accept being moderated by what essentially is their peers. If immature people visit and get moderated by somebody that posts along side them - they often question the moderating which can lead to many more problems.
[/QUOTE]

Similarly serious here, for a bit: we also try to stay unbiased. When I moderated this forum, I took sides on occasion with members whose religious or political views were very antithetical to my own. That was because the issue wasn't their views, but the way the rules were being broken by somebody else.

I've been to another board, not unlike GB in its setup (RPGs and SYM-style forums), where the mods were just as active, but extremely biased (as was the site owner). Anybody was welcome to be as vicous and flaming as they wanted, as long as it wasn't against a neo-con. When I criticized Israel, once, I was called a Jew-hater and anti-Semite, then a liar when I mentioned having half my family wiped out in the Ukraine by Hitler.

So it's not just a matter of being active, but keeping neutral.

RandomThug · Post by **RandomThug** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:29 pm

To be honest most symers are just weasel posting under a bunch of different names, the rest of us just go along with it. It's part of his thearpy, he kind of lost it a while ago.

You know multiple personalities and all... what I never understand is why he created that one user that pretended to be a girl and he flirted with himself... it was real wierd.

Taco Magus · Post by **Taco Magus** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:30 pm

[QUOTE=RandomThug]To be honest most symers are just weasel posting under a bunch of different names, the rest of us just go along with it. It's part of his thearpy, he kind of lost it a while ago.

You know multiple personalities and all... what I never understand is why he created that one user that pretended to be a girl and he flirted with himself... it was real wierd.[/QUOTE]

weasel, go away

Tower_Master · Post by **Tower_Master** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:34 pm

I'd say it's a tri-part combo, as opposed to the other boards I post on: one, people are just more mature, no questions asked, two, the moderators have no issue with laying the hammer down and closing threads and such, and three, we're just so gosh darn good looking, all the wackos get scared away (for the most part...

).

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 6:14 pm

[QUOTE=RandomThug]To be honest most symers are just weasel posting under a bunch of different names, the rest of us just go along with it. It's part of his thearpy, he kind of lost it a while ago.

You know multiple personalities and all... what I never understand is why he created that one user that pretended to be a girl and he flirted with himself... it was real wierd.[/QUOTE]

Well to tell the "Weasel" truth, once Minerva fell for Waverly because of the Limp Link Incident, I had to find another beauty to spread my "Light" to. Being the DF's seem to have a goal of enslaving all men ( and some boys

) I had to come up with a beauty of my own...Ms. Incredible. IMHO a beauty (Not in the same grouping as Minerva, but there is only one Minerva).

OT,

I post at this board (mainly) and two others, one is a flamefest and the other mod squad central. Why is GB different? Take parts of Xandax's, Fable's and Cm's and you have the answer. Disregard Thugs

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:53 pm

[QUOTE=Weasel]Well to tell the "Weasel" truth, once Minerva fell for Waverly because of the Limp Link Incident, I had to find another beauty to spread my "Light" to.
[/QUOTE]

I had heard rumors, but really didn;t need confirmation.

I post here, mod on one board, and post on two others. I just like drifting.

Chanak · Post by **Chanak** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:26 am

Buck runs a great site. I refer friends to GB when they desire to get the most out of the games they are playing...in other words, when they progress to becoming a gaming addict like most of us here are.

Things might have changed on SYM somewhat over the past year or so, but it still remains my favorite forum on the internet. I like (most of) the posters here...and I also like how the moderatorship makes it possible to wear a straightjacket instead of an asbestos suit.

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:43 am

[QUOTE=Chanak]I like (most of) the posters here...[/QUOTE]
Chan... I didn't know you feel that way about me

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:54 am

[QUOTE=moltovir]This is the only forum I know where you can first discuss the best strategy to beat a dragon, and in the next thread the most beatiful composition of Von Beethoven

[/QUOTE]

Ludwig van Beethoven.

I think it is not a common interest that keeps SYM together, but rather the differentiation in interests. Many topics can be discussed, because people most users are interested in much more than RPG:s and roleplaying. Some of us are actually quite uninterested in RPG:s.

Then, just as in society and in real life socialisation, the age range, the cosmopolitan nature and the excellent moderating of SYM plays a large role in setting the atmoshpere and the norms. A forum with an age range from 12-over 50 and people from many different cultures, gives less stereotype and narrow norms for behaviour and opinion than a forum with a more homogenic population.