@MrGreenWithAGun It's words. If people are so sensitive that words affect them so strongly, then exposure to people like Schnitzel is what they need.
*people act like assholes* "No, it's the people who they're being asshole to that are the real issue!" I like that we've had a thread on here outlining all kinds of **** on how to make this site get more traffic in several ways, but maybe people don't stick around here because this place is a toxic shithole.
I think it's both. People shouldn't take it personally, because it's not personal. There are also certain words, phrases, types of communication that probably shouldn't be allowed on a public forum.
No, I'm pretty sure people just need to realize this is a forum about a level designer in a dying franchise. If they take these nerd fights, insults, and disagreements to heart they really need to reconsider how social interaction works.
Whether or not people SHOULD be upset by words is kind of beside the point. The fact of the matter is that people ARE upset by words. The sites staff can't just ignore that fact, even if they think those people should toughen up. As a community site, what's good for the community as a whole is the most important thing. Allowing people to say whatever they want to whoever they want whenever they want doesn't make sense in that context. This means that when people cross the line some type of action has to take place. The challenge comes in determining where 'the line' is, and what action is appropriate in each case. I don't think there's any question from anyone who's been around for a while that Schnitzel said things that crossed 'the line'. Part of what's working against him is the fact that it happened repeatedly over many, many years, and shorter bans didn't change the way he interacted with people. At a certain point, continuing with short bans and expecting them to result in a change in behavior becomes almost an act of insanity. If the goal is to stop the problematic interactions, and short term bans are making no difference, there's only one option remaining. If you don't take that option, you're essentially sending a message to both the individual person, and to the entire site, that you can pretty much do whatever you want and you'll get a slap on the wrist at most. My personal opinion is that people SHOULD toughen up and not take everything so seriously, AND that Schnitzel earned his ban by not changing how he interacted with people despite obvious evidence that the site/staff, and LOTS of individual community members deemed it unacceptable. I wouldn't have any problem with him coming back to the site, but I also don't feel bad for him in the least. The ban was/is most certainly justified.
You have to ask yourself if new people would find it worthwhile to join a community where a bunch of people are acting like assholes on a consistent basis. It's one thing to ask senior members to not take it all too seriously, but why would a new member bother? Because in between all the garbage there are some days where people act like normal human beings and can have discussions about Forge without calling each other faggots and **** suckers? For all the talk about not taking it so seriously you guys sure get upset with each other over all this nonsense. It's fine if you want to keep it this way, but don't complain about the lack of activity or new members in the same breath.
Straight up, the population and activity of this forum is a DIRECT result of how good the current Halo game is. End of discussion. Whether or not we're assholes and scare people away is a drop in the water bucket. Halo 3 was playing with blocks, we couldn't even merge. Making maps literally took months. Why did it have 20x the population we have now if not more. I wouldn't blame schnitzel or any of the discussions in the past months on a single percent drop in member activity.
Wrong. With schnitzel it's personal. And when he attacks people and their character it becomes personal.
That's your opinion. I disagree. He 'attacked' me on several occasions. I never felt it was personal. I never took it personally. He was mad, and was expressing his anger, or maybe just talking **** for his own entertainment. Why should I take that personally?
What' your deal, man? Why do you think your experience with him is any more significant than anyone else's? We've all been exposed to that side of Schnitzel.
Because I would get his **** a lot. I wouldn't put up with it. And that bothered him more than anything else. in retrospect, I don't care if they let him back in, but it wouldn't be a WISE choice for a forum community that is wanting to grow. EDIT: My answer really focused on me instead of you. I apologize. My experience isn't relevant here. The question is why do you put up with him? I am one to walk away from anti social behavior. But you seem to want more of it. Why?