GameBanshee Forums

I thought I'd give SYM a bastardization of a bastardized fight-club quote to think about.

You are not your goddamned system specs. You are not your uptime stats, your scripts, or your oversized desktop screencap. You are not your broadband connection. You are not your goddamn post count.

Once we strip all the machoism from the above message, there is a tiny bit of wisdom left. And by 'wisdom' I really mean common sense.
I have been here long enough to remember the time when a large majority of the SYMian population were deleting their old posts to reduce their post counts so that it seems their stay in SYM was more than just mindless drivel in tavern threads. Just as inane, yes, but this goes to show that we don't really view a post-count as a status symbol. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly certain there's still a bit of the old 'high post-counts are a sign of no thought behind posts' mentality.

So before you start another post-farming thread, post in a post-farming thread, or decide replying with a single smiley or word is a good idea, stop and think if what you're posting is funny, informative, or interesting at any level. Please post messages that are for others to read, not for their own sake.

For the sake of the Post I Post this Post.

Sorry Vicsun....

God is my witness, I saw this one coming.


Consider this post to be a no-spam request. We can be constructive here, people

I have sort of just rolled my eyes at everyone babbling about post count and haven't cared about mine at all until I've noticed how much more I've been posting lately. So, I'm curious as to why this happens to bother you so much? Is there something particularly offensive to you with this or are you just wanting to share with others that most don't give a hoot?

As I posted in the "Terminator" thread, I think the post-farming behaviour comes from the erranous idea that post count is a way to increase your status or respect. I know this is the case at some internet forums, but certainly not here at Gamebanshee - it has never been.

For a new member, there are many ways to gain liking, status and respect here at SYM. You can participate in discussions, in general social interaction, you can post entertaining stuff, serious stuff, you could post your personal opinions about things, share your experiences of life, share some information you have, joke a lot or just hang around and be social in general. It doesn't matter much which way/s you choose, as long as you contribute to SYM with posts that has a content that to some extent is meaningful to the readers. Posts with single words, smilies only or meaningless ramble, will not be remembered as meaningful and thus is will not matter if you post 2000 such posts - you have not succeded in becoming more liked or gained a higher status. On the contrary, you may instead have created a bad reputation for yourself and decreased your possibilities of being taken seriously.

[QUOTE=Magrus]I have sort of just rolled my eyes at everyone babbling about post count and haven't cared about mine at all until I've noticed how much more I've been posting lately. So, I'm curious as to why this happens to bother you so much? Is there something particularly offensive to you with this or are you just wanting to share with others that most don't give a hoot?[/QUOTE]
It's mostly because I think there is a growing misconception, especially among newer members, that your "status" in SYM is somehow determined by your post-count. This is simply not true, and reflects badly on both the board in general in the form of reduced quality of posts, and on those who have the misconception. We'd be all better off if this myth were to die.

I will lay this honestly as i seem to be doing that lately. You will not be accepted because you have more posts.

Look at Magrus he is easily accepted and only now like 3 months after people accepted him he has 1000 posts. We the people who are regular here the ones people desire/want to/ feel the need to fit in with don't give a damn about post counts. We do it in a method of taking the piss.

People with 2000 posts or more have bene here for a while and we still don't accept them because the annoy the hell out of us. CE is an accepted member how many posts does she have?

We speak of the Slurrs all of them have less than 4000 posts. Why? Post counts mean jack if we think you are a retard. Accept that your posts are what count. Not the number of times you can post.

Personally oozae i am more willing to accept as a full regular member of SYM and he has less than 500 posts last time i checked.

[QUOTE=CM]You will not be accepted because you have more posts

People with 2000 posts or more have bene here for a while and we still don't accept them because the annoy the hell out of us.

Post counts mean jack if we think you are a retard.[/QUOTE]

...aaaand CM strikes the nail on the head again in a less than subtle manner. I'll quote the above again, just because it was so beautifully said.

[QUOTE=CM]You will not be accepted because you have more posts

People with 2000 posts or more have bene here for a while and we still don't accept them because the annoy the hell out of us.

Post counts mean jack if we think you are a retard.[/QUOTE]

LMAO!! Being subtle is a futile endevour when comes to the current posters on SYM.

[QUOTE=CM] Post counts mean jack if we think you are a retard. [/QUOTE]

That's the most beautiful thing I've read at SYM for a long time

Actually, I think a high postcount may have a negative effect if you are a retard - 10 posts demonstrating you are a retard could be coincidence, but 1000 posts demonstrating you are a retard cannot be a coincidence.

[quote="Magrus]
So"]

Look at the threads "Word association", "This or that" and "Three word game" and notice how active they have been lately, plus how many posts there are by a small number of members. Also, there has been some discussion recently where people have mentioned they have got the impression that post count is of imporance.

In the earlier days of SYM, it is true to say that there did exist a preoccupation with post counts, hence part of the reason if it's creation, but that mentality, for the most part, has long since faded from the foreground. The people who do have the high post counts, also have a couple other things that encourage that post count: Tenure, in that we've been here for such a long time, we've had lot's of time to post in large quantities, and in some cases, Moderators. We post for fun, and we post to moderate, which in some cases, doubles the amount of posting.

Threads that are appearing these days, especially having three of them on the go at once, is simply an image of post farming, at least to those of us who don't bother posting in the threads (myself, being one of them).

I've been here for over a year now, and I seriously don't see why people would want to post in a forum just to increase their post count. Is that some sort of new compulsive disease that I'm not aware of? It must be the ultimate way of telling the world that you have absolutely no goals and no life outside the internet.

Look at the threads "Word association", "This or that" and "Three word game" and notice how active they have been lately, plus how many posts there are by a small number of members. Also, there has been some discussion recently where people have mentioned they have got the impression that post count is of imporance

Often it is those members that do post farm that have this impression. I seem to recall recently someone saying somethign on the lines of "You've been here for 4 years and only have 600 posts, I've been here for 3 months and have the same number, now who is more useful?" I expect the english language was bastardised slightly more in the original, but Personally I find it amusing to see someone who joins the board, posts 10 times in each of the three post farming threads we have atm, and says, "Yeh but I must be better coz i have 80 posts in one day" or something alike. I have no idea where what i'm saying is leading, and this is just a general rant, so, in the words of Locke..

....nipples.....

[QUOTE=Vicsun]I thought I'd give SYM a bastardization of a bastardized fight-club quote to think about.

You are not your goddamned system specs. You are not your uptime stats, your scripts, or your oversized desktop screencap. You are not your broadband connection. You are not your goddamn post count.
I have been here long enough to remember the time when a large majority of the SYMian population were deleting their old posts to reduce their post counts so that it seems their stay in SYM was more than just mindless drivel in tavern threads.[/QUOTE]

Strange you should say that.. I have been looking at my post count and almost wishing it was still possible to delete old posts

It is an odd irony though, I have never given a rat's arse about post count, because it has always seemed totally irrelevant to me. So I've never understood the obsession of posting just for the sake thereof.
I mean, why? As others here have stated, if your posts are largely inconsequential drivel you simply look like an idiot, an irritating one at that.

As far as the word threads go, I think it is unfortunate there is a tendency for some people to use them as a means of boosting their post count. Because, IMO playing with words can be fun. When Word Association first started up, it was pretty good and people actually put some thought into the words they contributed. But, it has really degenerated since then.

[QUOTE=Moonbiter]I've been here for over a year now, and I seriously don't see why people would want to post in a forum just to increase their post count. Is that some sort of new compulsive disease that I'm not aware of? It must be the ultimate way of telling the world that you have absolutely no goals and no life outside the internet. [/QUOTE]
I have absolutely no goal in life that I am aware of (yet).
I have a compulsive disease to check upon this forum from time to time, when I'm at school, or at home, having absolutely nothing better to do. So there you have it.

EDIT: however, I don't care about my postcount. I post in wordascociation only because then I know where I left off last time I checked that thread (yes, I read all the words , I find it interesting, for some reason. )

[QUOTE=Vicsun]It's mostly because I think there is a growing misconception, especially among newer members, that your "status" in SYM is somehow determined by your post-count. This is simply not true, and reflects badly on both the board in general in the form of reduced quality of posts, and on those who have the misconception. We'd be all better off if this myth were to die.[/QUOTE]

Those would be good points. I suppose it's never bothered me to such an extent as I just post to have fun and ignore everything else. I think perhaps the newer members have a tendency to look up the members who have been here some years, and with that post count there to show that someones been around for say 4 years, and has accumulated 10,000 posts, they struggle to accomplish that as well to fit in.

[QUOTE=giles337] I seem to recall recently someone saying somethign on the lines of "You've been here for 4 years and only have 600 posts, I've been here for 3 months and have the same number, now who is more useful?" [/QUOTE]

This perfectly illustrates the misconception that is the topic of this thread. I wish the member who said that did a search on members like Tom and Delacroix and read their few but mostly extremely high-quality posts. A lesson in how to express meaningful and interesting content in few posts - and none of them are even native English speakers.

[QUOTE=Magrus] I think perhaps the newer members have a tendency to look up the members who have been here some years, and with that post count there to show that someones been around for say 4 years, and has accumulated 10,000 posts, they struggle to accomplish that as well to fit in.[/QUOTE]

I suspect you are right in that regard. But, at Game Banshee, SYM in particular, people are accepted, or not, based on the quality of their posts, their sense of humour, and the general usefullness of what they say, even if it just takes the form of casual socialising. In sum, quality over quantity. I suspect it takes a lot of new members a while to figure this out. Further, some new members do not seem to realise that continual screaming and/or fawning for attention will only cause more established members to ridicule them, either 'behind the scenes' or publicly.

The culture at GB/SYM is very different to most forums in this regard, so I think it comes as a shock to newer members when they realise nobody really gives a damn how many posts they have. CM's "Justice League," thread illustrates this rather well. Tower Master, as an example, has been readily accepted because he has an attitude, and sense of humour, that fits into the existing culture very well. I couldn't tell you how many posts TM has though, it is not something I take any notice of.

[QUOTE=dragon wench]Further, some new members do not seem to realise that continual screaming and/or fawning for attention will only cause more established members to ridicule them, either 'behind the scenes' or publicly.[/QUOTE]

It's amused me to no end noticing this and seeing that those being ridiculed tend not to get the why of it.

If asked six months ago, I'd disagree. But now, I agree completely with Vicsun. And CE. Just check my siggie.

And I dont see evil in the "postcount boost threads". They are cool too, and a part of SYM. If there are so many people posting, it means it was accepted by the community, and shall not be despised.