View PostMasaccio, on 20 October 2010 - 11:35 AM, said:
To quote Wooderson, "I get older, they stay the same age."


I've been bouncing around on internet forums since I was 15. I feel like the old man, now. The majority of forumers act like whiny immature high school kids who's arrogance makes it impossible to carry on a discussion without me having to edit and dumb down my posts. Don't dumb it down. If they don't understand it, they can look it up or ask what you mean;
The internet is a collection of memes and unoriginal one-liners that seem only to be struggles for attention.That's painting with a broad brush. There are definiitly sites with fairly high brow conversations. Maybe look harder?
This is one of the, nah it is THE only mature forum I've been on and I'm wondering how many of you feel similar to how I do. Maybe its a changing of times, maybe I'm just outgrowing it, but there's no substance, no merit. We keep cycling through the same age group and it all just feels like a waste.Yep, the subjects cycle around. If you don't like it, then take some initiative and start one! wait...nevermind


Maybe you don't agree with me on that, but does anyone else feel kind of old compared to the general internet community? On here, a bit. At 41, I'm on the older section of the curve; however there are a good number of like-aged and a bit older folks here. (Haven't seen Dreadful McDude for a while though, hope he's OK.) Besides, it can be fun being a crumudgin(sp?) :poke: But really, if I felt too old, wouldn't I have left by now?

EDIT: apparently I'm also too old to use the proper form of "too". :rolleyes: erm, maybe too you young to use too, 2 old 2 use 2?

I can't imagine why you'd think I were older, not after the last 5+ years of flaming, random weirdness and general grumpiness

The whole "This forum is mature/well behaved" comes up often, and is something I generally disagree with. It definitely isn't the only well-behaved forum I am aware of, and I've always felt that the "maturity" on here are primarily due to how absolute the rules are and how much they are enforced. All hot topics are forbidden. Maturity can only be proven when you have the chance to show maturity, which, given the restricted topics, isn't the case here IMO.

Don't get me wrong, I do like it here, hence I come back, but I also like it on other forums that I frequent where those topics aren't forbidden and don't devolve to flame-wars. IMO the rules prove that this forum has a lack of maturity (and therefore needs to be kept in check) rather than a level of maturity.

And no, I don't feel old on the Internet at all. I generally make an assumption that everyone is around the same age as me, until stated otherwise.

People should be forced to give out their real names and some kind of ID when signing up for online forums and services.

And no don't give me that crap about your rights to be anonymous online. Is it ok to run around in public wearing a Guy Fawkes mask yelling random obscenities at people? Of course not. It's even illegal to wear a mask in public (or to hide your identity in public) in some countries.

That would just lead to some very dead forums.

Because people would be forced to behave like they would when talking to people in person?

Nah people would whine about it for a while and then get over it. The internet would be alive and kickin' as before but without the flaming, trolling and all that [censored]

Because people would be forced to behave like they would when talking to people in person?

Nah people would whine about it for a while and then get over it. The internet would be alive and kickin' as before but without the flaming, trolling and all that [censored]

Well you would have to be with a trustworthy host that would not sell you off to the drug "medicinal enhancement" lords, and I would not want anyone within spitting distance of my information, but as an extra conformation method sure.

Because people would be forced to behave like they would when talking to people in person?

I don't give out that information at a bar when I meet someone or talk to them.

"Salutations. My name is Andrew G. Wadsbottom, and I live at 1 de Dam, Amsterdam, zipcode 1000AA, tel: 067 - 980 - 4567, Dob 04 -05- 1911." As I sat at an empty stool at the bar. The other smiled briefly and nodded as I continued. "Gotta light?"


Granted, if she's hot I probably will give out that information. But then, she's probably coming home with me already by that point B)

But the average joe doesn't get that info, hell no. Why should it be different here? Because we have wacky names and pictures instead of faces? Admittingly, I get thrown off by avatar chnges, but other than that.. :shrug:

People should be forced to give out their real names and some kind of ID when signing up for online forums and services.

And no don't give me that crap about your rights to be anonymous online. Is it ok to run around in public wearing a Guy Fawkes mask yelling random obscenities at people? Of course not. It's even illegal to wear a mask in public (or to hide your identity in public) in some countries.

:lol:

That's essentially what I was proposing... but this is a bit extreme. Regular members wouldn't see any information except your name, but the rest would be there, just not visible to anyone except the hosting company. That way they can verify that you are in fact old enough to register and if you do something naughty (something illegal I mean) you couldn't hide behind an avatar, fake name and a proxy server :shrug:

So you wouldn't be giving out your information to strangers, just your name.

"Salutations! My name is Andrew, gotta light?"

you see what I mean?

I'm not being completely unrealistic and unfair here... right?

And how would you know people are submitting real info?

I can't really see that being beneficial in all but the most serious cases. Lack of anonymity might deter some troublemakers, but you're still online where the threat of facing any real consequences is significantly lower than conflict in person.

Forums and chatrooms are just ways of meeting new people and communicating with them, just like going to a bar or something (bad example but you get my point) so why shouldn't it have the same consequences for your actions when your online as you would in real life?