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What happened to NSider?


Terranort

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...I guess this is as good a time as any to potentially commit account suicide. Fuck it.

 

I and others have implied variously and overtly in this thread that the political "debates" themselves are what tore the forum asunder, and indeed, one could certainly say that they were the catalyst. I honestly don't see this as the full story, and the missing piece is not the defeatist attitude I mentioned in the third paragraph of my previous post regarding the community itself.

 

It's the last sentence of the second: broken, miserable fucking people in abundance--and a collective of mouth-breathers orbiting around them. There is a reason I brought up pessimistic destitution: It was here in spades, and it was the driving force.

 

I ask plain: How can someone get on here, tell the community about their life experience, garner all the recognition and sympathy for it, but then turn around and diminish someone else's? Hm?

 

What about all those times when we had a @strawberrykeiki or @mikecampersituation unfolding, where-in for every example of someone actually taking the damn time to break down and explain why a problem is a problem, you had some fucking poseur coming out of the wood work to jump on the band wagon with their insubstantial bullshit so they could get their little gold star for having "participated" on the "correct" side?

 

Why were these instances not called?

 

This has not been a community about the exchange of ideas, education, or rehabilitation, political or otherwise. This was a community largely for displaced NSider children, having grown in to miserable human beings on the internet to come and play the part. Maybe there are excuses for this, but at this point, I don't fucking care. The weaponisation of empathy to further a socio-political end has that effect after the first few times of witnessing the piss-poor "empathy" shown for basic human behaviour, as well as all the impotent angst. In a way, it's fitting that clubs are a thing, now; they're like a physical parallel to the prevailing mentality.

 

I'm going to toot my own horn for just a moment to concede one thing: There was at least one learner, in that I'm the kind of person who can be exposed to a diatribe and pick out the parts that are actually important and very much worth learning. I always fell towards the left, even before arriving here, but my position was quite unrefined and full of holes benefitting the worst elements of our society--to include the ones defended by the right-leaning people who were here and too damn thick to see what I, and likely others, saw. I owe a lot to Ninfora on this front, and it is the personal reason for why I'm thankful for its format, even as I see it as a poison in itself. I wasn't the only one, either; you know who you are.

 

But you know what? I was also one of the fucking cowards who sat there and practically just watched the circus happen, too fucking comfortable with my new-found Nintendo forum after losing it for a couple of years, and too afraid to really speak up when it might have mattered from a community stand-point. In some cases, I even added to the pile.

 

I'm ashamed because I saw and felt the same shit that @Iridium saw and felt before he left: a confusing ideological rapport with the most correct, yet toxically pessimistic and personally ruined elements of our movement(s) playing out right in front of me. Unlike @Iridium, I was as a bystander who didn't have the intestinal fortitude to assert herself. There's plenty of proof, but the terrible reality is that me still being here is proof enough. It doesn't even matter much that I'm saying any of this now; most of the culprits on the left, right, and centre have already departed, so I guess the only real point is my own catharsis.

 

The hour is very late, but I'm leaving this community and environment in whose construction I was complicit. There's not much else to say, except that I'm thankful for the handful of friends I made in it--some of whom having helped me to change my life in profound ways. And, that I'm sorry to the community--what's left of it, anyway.

 

I have written quite a bit in my time, here--and it is arguable that I've written enough. This shall be my last post.

 

3520, and gone.

 

Godspeed, Ninfora. I am thoroughly worn of you, but in a way, I will always love you.

 

Take care.

 

Edited by Schmengland
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@Mocha, that was one of the most enlightening things I've ever read in my life. Seriously.

 

About how video games lack respect partly due to the people who play them. About them being art, therefore inherently political--and how politics permeate every part of life. This has always been true for minorities--we "politicize" things out of survival, not because we ever want to--and now even upper-class straight white Christians with 2.5 kids are starting to realize that.

 

And especially your point about how people should be concerned about why they're being called Nazis. Too many people just want to get self-defensive and win an argument, reducing politics to the level of a high school sports rivalry, rather than taking an opportunity to learn and grow as a person.

 

If anyone in this thread skipped past any part of that post, go back and reread the whole thing from start to finish. The only thing I'd disagree on is that forums should be destined to die. No one medium will ever be the best way to discuss something. Reddit gets volume but sacrifices longevity and identity. Discord gets immediacy by sacrificing longevity, history and long statements. Forums lose speed but are the best for establishing community, fostering deeper discussions, and keeping discussions alive.

 

 

As for the politics tearing NSider apart--I'm not going to say that's a bad thing. The rise of Trump has brought everything ugly about western culture to the surface. Racism is not a new problem. Sexism is not a new problem. Neo-Nazis are not a new problem. We're just finally fucking acknowledging them. And it's not like both sides are equal. Both sides are not equal. A shameful part of the right is fueled by disinformation and hatred, vile problems we've just never talked about before. And the people most susceptible to that manipulation have also been taught not to allow themselves to be questioned by anyone, including themselves. The statistics gathered in this Reddit post will shed way too much light on this problem.

 

If people have been chased out of this community for sympathizing with Nazis, or for echoing Nazis' talking points, that's not a bad thing. That's an overdue thing. Now it's also possible that thing have been blown out of proportion by some on the liberal side--liberals are also fucking idiots who like to believe that everyone not 100% on their side is their mortal enemy. That's why we always find a way to lose against all odds. We like to fight each other over who's the most pure and overrun with self-righteousness.

 

So anyway, long story short, maybe we were never much of a community to begin with. Or maybe if the community is dying, we can learn from it and become better people--for conservatives, that means educating yourself properly and far away from Fox News. For liberals, that means understanding how political systems work and not going around trying to make literally everyone into your worst enemy. This is not a problem specific to NSider in any way.

Edited by Destiny Hero
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Some of y'all motherfuckers take the concept of a community too seriously.  Take what good people you care about with you wherever you go, the interface shouldn't honestly matter.  If you're insular enough that you don't want politics or controversial discussion, then surround yourself with people who don't want it either.  Gaming is a volatile medium that's been embroiled in social politics since its inception into mainstream society has increased, to begrudge people for wanting to discuss it is retarded.

 

God forbid people care about the entertainment they enjoy and the assholes it attracts.  Go full apathy, because we all know there's nothing worse than giving a shit.

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I think it's not just political discourse, it's a matter of  people not able to handle other opinions. There are some people on this site who are like:
 

Image result for rick and morty shove it

 

Arguments here never go: "I disagree with you, here's my reasons why." They go: "I disagree with you, here's my reasons why, and you're also an asshole for having that opinion." And who the fuck wants to deal with that? Might as well talk about nothing because that's the only thing that won't get you lambasted by the group.

 

There's like no respect around here and there's someone here who actually said "Respect has to be earned not giving" and that's the same bad attitude I see from a lot of people here. You see, you have to make people want to earn your respect first, if you treat them like garbage from the outset nobody will want to earn your respect, and then we just end up with people who despise each other and causes people to leave.
 

Which might actually be what some people want around here because you're not pursuing anyone by being rude to them or have five people at once explain how wrong they are. So, the feeling I get from this forum is it wants to be a small isolated group, which is weird because I thought it wanted more people. Honestly, I don't know what this forum wants anymore, but let me know what it is if you know.

 

Also, calling people nazis doesn't help either. I mean, you might as well be calling people witches, because I mean, shit, if everyone says I'm a witch then I must be a witch, right? Get the stake ready to burn me on. Argumentum ad populum, eh?

Edited by Yellow
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Not every opinion deserves respect flower;

I think anybody with asshole opinions deserves a callout as long as it can be backed up tbh


Some people deserve to be called Nazis, even if they aren't walking around with a Swastika.
White nationalists and their sympathizers should be labeled and disrespected accordingly.
 

Like Destiny Hero said, not everybody has the privilege to be indifferent or polite about politics that affect their lives and safety.
I'd personally rather maintain a small community if it means there's one more place to actually talk about games without it being so awful.
Nearly every other one actually alive on the Internet is full of the whole gamut of trash from edgelord teenagers to bigots and crypto-fascists, and the apathetic people or "well-meaning" liberals that give it a free pass.

I sure as hell don't wanna share space and be civil with people like that.

 

I wasn't part of the blowout, I guess. I don't know what specifics people were at each others' throats about.
But we also live in a world now where you can literally say "fuck off 1488 nazi trash" and all the sympathizers will still scream "NOT EVERYBODY YOU DISAGREE WITH IS A NAZI!!"
so it's really hard to not roll my eyes when somebody uses that as their main complaint.
 

Edited by Pichi
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4 hours ago, Destiny Hero said:

Now it's also possible that thing have been blown out of proportion by some on the liberal side--liberals are also fucking idiots who like to believe that everyone not 100% on their side is their mortal enemy. That's why we always find a way to lose against all odds. We like to fight each other over who's the most pure and overrun with self-righteousness.

This is partly why identity politics and such has made me rather jaded, tho it should come as to no surprise that both sides (on the left and right) have its share of terrible people, or just idiots, whatever, but regardless, it does make it harder for others to support their cause in like some of the liberals’ case, however good said causes may be.

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There's no political affiliation for shitty people, but the whole "everybody with radical opinions is equally terrible" horseshoe theory narrative is some hot garbage. There are definitely people that bristle way too hard at the slightest of grievances, but if some internet brain geniuses suddenly make you run to the opposite side of an issue, you probably didn't believe it in the first place. Take time to understand why you stand where you do and no irascible idiots should be able to ruin it for you.

Edited by Pichi
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True, and of course; am not going as far as to say all radicals are equally bad or anything to that extent. Even I’m not that centrist. lol Sometimes being radical is necessary to get a message across... But demonizing someone over the slightest grievance, that I generally can’t abide by which is all too common now.

 

And fair enough. Will try to look at it that way more often.

Edited by Ridley Prime
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It's important to keep in mind that only one side is actively campaigning for the mass removal of human rights from victimized minorities who they've been told to hate by a giant media conglomerate.

 

However, it's no less important to understand that lording over those people with moral superiority isn't going to change anyone's opinion. It just makes everything worse. I often wonder if there's any way to get through to people who refuse--sometimes violently--to think for themselves, but for the most part I do my best to understand them and appeal to them. I hate homophobes with all my being, and that's why I study the Bible and engage in civil conversation with them, speaking their language and their culture, hoping to purge the bad while also incorporating the good parts into my own life.

 

I've had friends everywhere on the political spectrum. I want everyone to remember that this political drama has just escalated and encompassed everything recently. It may indeed be impossible right now to be friends with someone on the other side. But this is "simply" a climax. This is not normal. Things will be normal again eventually. And when they do, communities like NSider will be stronger and healthier.

 

By nature, this bubble is bursting in every community, in every part of life. It's temporary. Engagement won't decrease like this forever. And even if NSider doesn't survive through it, that doesn't mean we were a shitty community. It just means we were diverse.

Edited by Destiny Hero
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I don't know if I share your optimism. I don't want it to go back to normal. Our normal was never good. I want this shitshow to create resolve for a much, much stronger push in the other direction. I don't want bigotry to be swept under the rug in the name of civility again. I don't want this steady march into the inevitable pitfalls of capitalism.

I don't want everybody to just calm down and submit to the Way Things Are™ again

I used to think the way you did regarding discourse, but so many people hold their political beliefs like religion that I honestly believe the only worthwhile discussion for people like that will come from their own social circle or their family. You can't talk somebody you don't know well out of it unless they're already questioning it. Fuck wasting time on strangers. It's stressful, it's time consuming, it's a never-ending void where you feel drained, as if you're making a huge effort, but one which bears almost no results.

The only exception is if you're doing it in a public enough space that questioning people can see you. I suppose those are the people you should argue your best for. Because they might be sympathetic to your position or likely to consider a strong argument even if the discussion inevitably goes unresolved.

In that way, I actually think a place like Ninfora is better than social media, since this is a community whose members have been around each other so long. Even Schmengland mentioned that before losing his shit over some people he mostly agreed with. . . I think?

Again, I think people are just realizing who they want to be around. Otherwise, forums are just dying and this is a global trend. That an insular community on an unpopular internet medium has a negative growth rate is the standard, not an anomaly that needs to be analyzed or blamed on any one.

Edited by Pichi
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9 hours ago, Anselma said:

 

Have I ever called anyone a feminazi?

 

Do people calling feminists feminazi make it okay to call other people nazis? I mean either you're saying it's okay to stoop down to their level, or somehow you can see why calling someone a feminazi is wrong, but not see why calling someone a nazi is wrong, which is baffling to me.

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