One is never too old to have a happy childhood.
And
Maturity has not much to do with age.
And
We're all bozos on this bus regardless of how old we are.


There are no rules against disagreeing, only against doing so in a condescending way. And being able to disagree without threatening another's pride or making them feel like a lesser person is a sign of maturity. Being nice to the people you don't like or don't agree with isn't called two faced, its called growing up.

And as an aside, I'm not getting older but just leveling up.

Thank Christ you didn't make that post a few months back, I would've been insulted.

I so wish I could get that [censored] from my parents. I miss them so.

I was half-joking I tend to disagree even if I agree. You get far more out of the conversation that way. When everyone agrees, you basically have a conversation about nothing. Some people just don't like their viewpoints being challenged though, and that's when things get unpleasant.

I love playing devils advocate, so much fun to see people get fumed over things.

No. And I don't mind internet memes, -speak or any of that stuff.
I went to the internet on my own, now I have to respect how people of the internet acts. If I don't like it I'll just leave.
If I don't like what someone post, I just ignore it. And I'm sure there are lots of people who ignore my posts as well.

And some memes are quite funny.
Oh, and I'm 19.

That is why members get into trouble for trolling and flamebaiting - deliberately doing that on these forums can cause trouble.

The trick is to do it without trolling or flamebaiting, legitimately challenging view points with valid arguments shouldn't be considered flamebaiting or trolling, but to often if one side of the discussion gets too emotional then the other side is blamed and the thread gets locked. Challenging view points and intentionally saying "your views are wrong, mine are right so there" are two completely different things.

I do it all the time :shrug: I don't do it to rile people, I do it to get more out of the conversation. People will be more vocal when someone challenges their opinion than when someone agrees with it and, unless the person gets all precious about someone disagreeing with them, it shouldn't be a problem. If attempting to get more out of a conversation is too much, then lobotomise me now.

I think there's a difference between causing trouble and causing discussion (one not always observed, judging from the way I've seen some threads closed). Just because people disagree to challenge a viewpoint doesn't make it trolling or flamebaiting: personally I think if the person can't stand up to questioning of their viewpoint without resorting to childish shout of "troll" they should get up and go (and return as soon as they've re-affirmed their views or grown up a tad). An oversensitive approach to the above surely hurts the forum more than it helps maintain friendly relations?

Yes, but again this comes down to the thread topic about ages. There are some members who can challenge viewpoint or post opposing views and some who can have a constructive discussion with them. However, with the wide age and maturity range on the forums there are those who see it as a challenge to their opinions and start to bite. This is not a great problem in Community Discussion as the majority of members here have been around some time, although it still happens - but it certainly happens elsewhere on these forums.

There will always be those who shout "troll" or get angry in a discussion, there are those who are smart can control their "opposing views" and still have the fun of the to and fro, sadly there are also those who just do it for the baiting and don't give a damn about the consequences and do it to inflate their ego.

Stop trolling Rohugh...

...I keed! I keed! Don't beat me again.....

Anyway, on topic:

I don't feel 'old' on these forums, and the community discussion is practically dominated by people my age (16) or older. There's a few young-uns around the 13-14 mark, but the ones I've seen tend to post and act reasonabely maturely. On other forums it's a different story, old or young.

A good challenge can be had without backing someone into a corner and making them feel there is no way out and/or demeaning them. There is a huge difference and sometimes it's best just to let folks believe the way they believe and not back them in a corner. Rather take the time to try to educate them in a non-confrontational way. It's generally fine to give someone an alternate opinion and suggesting they think about it. But to confront them by just telling them how wrong they are is a one way street to a fight. And it is always best not to be so sure of oneself as to indicate someone else is flat wrong. It causes anger and embarrassment and rarely has any other effect. And nobody is ever always right and backing up is hard to do.

Basically if someone takes the time before a challenge to ask themselves how they would feel if challenged in the same way and then wording it in a way that they don't feel attacked is fine. But if someone feels attacked, the flames start. It's not a good way to impart knowledge or changes in opinion or even intellectual thought.

Agreed on all counts.

While I try not to back anyone into a corner providing a counter point to an opinion I'm sure I have, just like I have lost my cool a few times when someone challenges my opinion in a way that makes me feel backed into q corner.


One great thing I will say about this site is that it has sharpened my debate skills exponentially.

:slap: Third time this week isn't it?



There is also how busy the forums are. At the moment with the release of FNV the whole moderating team is very busy and if a report comes in on a topic here where there is a bit of niggling going on it is easier just to lock it. In "quieter" times a mod would go through and sort it with edits/deletions/behave or else posts to try to keep it on track.

I love these forums, I must as I have been around for a long time - most of it as a mod - and the members are diverse, interesting and at times amusing, it's a good community. But as long as there the odd few who think they are a gift to the internet there will always be a need for moderation from a wide age ranged team.

*sigh* gotta go shake my stick at a few more.

I know I personally have a problem with this both here and in real life, I am not easily offended and find it hard to view things from other peoples point of view. I look at something and say "how could anyone possibly be offended by this" and go ahead and post it, then it turns out someone has a problem with it.

This made me :rofl: in real life. Literally.

The words 'troll' and "Rohugh' don't go in a sentence together.

Unless the sentence goes; Rohugh curb-stomped and roundhouse-kicked a troll.

That there is the only condition..

I think one of the things which makes the forums somewhat "stale" for those of us who have been around longer is the disappearance of a lot of the members who used to be around us. For one reason or another, a lot of old timers have dropped away. Off the top of my head, the likes of Lord Nibbler, Rabish, Stormy, HeavyJack et al haven't caught my eye in a long time. Still, with the large influx of members (certainly we've grown at LOT in the 5 years I've been here. Far more in the 10 since HD joined), there are always a few who settle in the gaps others have vacated.


Now that's out your system, fancy getting back on topic?

You don't even need to be nice, just polite will do.


Unless they're making a statement like "As the laws of thermodynamics say, you can't get energy from nothing and nowhere" (reference to a recent thread which probably illustrates some of what has been talked about on this page an the last).


And an aussie who who's name has slipped my mind (I'm kicking myself about it, vegetarian, puffy hair, from years ago), Wierd (always educational to read his posts), wazername (damnit!) from Hong Kong, that friend of Suga (god, this is almost embarrassing. And because I can't remember her name, I can't check if I've just managed to miss all her posts), some of the other people who hung around the TeamSpeak server when that was going on...

Then there's our most infamous member , who 'died' a while back. He was quite a nice bloke, except for the big problem of using a made up character the entire time we knew him. And BoRaiChe, Jaleena (I believe he made a fresh account, may even still be around), and maybe others I've forgotten, who are/were much more forgiveable.

Yiasemi.

I don't recognise any of the other people you listed

I remember when I first joined, happy days...*sigh*

Heh. It's true. But that's an amusing CD-centric thing. I think the regulars in CD sort of forget that the majority of the people on this forum are here for the gaming threads. CD is kind of an extra bit, but many regularly posting members don't bother with it.


I don't consider myself either particularly young or particularly old. I like games and this forum has a lot of members on it who either like the same games I do and can discuss them for ages, or like different games than I do, and give me some great and diverse opinions. I don't give a rat's ass how old someone is - here, or at my job or whereever. On a forum, it's what they talk about, how they say it. We've banned people of all ages for behaving like jerks. It has nothing to do with their being 15 or 50... jerky behavior is jerky behavior, whether it's on the internet or in a line at the bank. :shrug: Members of ALL ages join this forum, and some of them post interesting, witty, intelligent things in a range of different topics. Others obsess about a particular point or three over a game, others join, post actively for a short period and drift off to the next thing that catches their interest. Maybe certain behaviors bug you more, OP, and thus you notice them more?



Nope, it's more against the rules to not be able to figure out how to have a reasonably civil discourse without resorting to flinging personal remarks at someone you disagree with. Yeah, we know that's the law of the land over much of the other internet real estate, but we like to keep the flames down here. :shrug:

I think it'll be cool to see which NV members stick around. At the moment the NV boards are like WWI trenches, with criticisms of Obsidian ricocheting off your helmet and a faint smell of pee. I joined for FO3 so this is my first time seeing a forum 'invasion'.

I remember the time when this place was much smaller and much more relaxed. That was really nice, but I wouldn't say things have gotten worse, I'd say they've changed :shrug:. I may miss some of the stuff which came with said smaller community, but I also admit that memory removes details and less memorable bits . I suppose I could elaborate, but I can't be bothered :hehe:.

Personally, the reason that I hang around CD almost exclusively is simply that I just don't have much interest in discussing games at this point in time. I might look up some mods when I finish my current playthrough (its been years since the last one :bolt:), and the lore might catch my interest at some point, but for the moment I'll be hanging around here.


EDIT: Oh, and I don't think I've answered the original question. Having just turned 21, no, I don't feel too old to hang around forums.

*giggles*

:whistling:

also: Third Eye, Surajo, esme, bretonspellsword, sugardrive, and the people from the Teamspeak server. (Yes, even Killaer )

I can't remember one username, the guy who hosted the server, Jack? What was his username? Crunch something? bah



there... is intelligent life outside the community discussion? :blink: