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Comments
Louie: Not at all!
Oh, okay, I think that actually sounds kind of interesting, but I guess I do tend to agree with the general consensus here that sitting around typing on your computer all day long is not necessarily going to make you a good writer. I suppose the truth of that statement kind of depends on the context too, since certain genres probably benefit from experience more than others.
Feel free to message me the link if you would like. I am curious to see how that thread actually unfolded.
Neo_Crimson,
Like others have said, there's the problem with cyclical arguments, extremism, bad logic, and how vehemently people defend their own arguments just makes it an incredibly frustrating place to be.
I think you really hit the nail on the head when you described it as a frustrating place to be. I definitely do not believe it is worth it to hate certain tropers just because they post in OTC. It is the atmosphere of the place itself that I dislike more than anything else. I guess that is kind of ironic since some people seem to feel similarly about the old IJBM.
I feel like part of the reason why some might not see why a lot of IJBMers really dislike OTC is because having a preference for IJBM may entail having a preference for certain types of conversations that are just not found in OTC.
korohoro147,
why can;t we all just get along? :,(
That sounds like an excellent idea to me.
On that note, I tend to think that at one point IJBM and OTC were kind of similar. Both were home to heated arguments about serious topics, both housed people with... extraordinary opinions, both were used by the very same politics duelists as battlegrounds, and overall they were the two places to hang out for arguing, only that with one you could have wonderposts and memes to go along with your debates and such.
For whatever reason IJBM1 later became even more wonderposty, topics on serious matters became less frequent and, well, you know the rest.
^ Agreed. There are people I'd regard as annoying posters who I could do without reading, but I wouldn't sit there hoping they'd die in a fire with their whole family or something.
Getting too emotionally invested in a website is a bad idea, really.
On that note, I tend to think that at one point IJBM and OTC were kind of similar. Both were home to heated arguments about serious topics, both housed people with... extraordinary opinions, both were used by the very same politics duelists as battlegrounds, and overall they were the two places to hang out for arguing, only that with one you could have wonderposts and memes to go along with your debates and such.
For whatever reason IJBM1 later became even more wonderposty, topics on serious matters became less
frequent and, well, you know the rest.
That definitely brings up an interesting point and I wish that IJBM had not been completely wiped out so we could go back to look at it for more examples of those parallels. My memory of the old IJBM gets worse by the day, but I think your description of it is fairly accurate. There were after all, debates and the like there, some of which did seem to get quite heated. I also remember complaints about there being too much wonderposting and it distracting from the serious arguments.
Still, I feel like one big difference between OTC and the old IJBM was that IJBM did not have the intimidation factor going against it. I remember quite a few instances of people explaining their reluctance to post in OTC by claiming that they did not feel smart enough for it. Your mileage may vary on whether that kind of self-selection is a good thing, but one thing I liked about IJBM was that people felt freer to discuss things there without needing to be ready to enter into a heated debate.
ninjaclown,
I think emotionally invested is the whole problem. Not that I think it's
exclusively their problem, but they seem to take pride in their site
and their forums, and will regard criticism against their home or their
personal views an attack on who they are.
This seems to pretty much sum up the serious atmosphere issue with OTC. Maybe having derails and memes from time to time helps get rid of the kind of problem you mentioned by putting a little more humor and friendliness into discussions. Then again, I have seen memes used pretty impolitely too.
Good messaging convinces people. Facts and good logical support are for when people poke holes in your argument. That, or shouting/spamming people down.
There are plenty of people on OTC whose feelings on certain matters descend right into outright hatred. You're lucky if they bother putting up a thin veil.
Amirite fellas? eh? eh?
....I'll go now.
I dunno >
Also check your inbox^ Well, that's the OTC we're discussing. There is also, apparently, the Ohio Turnpike Commission.
And in British public schools there's the Officer Training Corps.
^^ And attention-seeking. Mustn't forget that.
The main issues are that "serious" does not mean "civil", and "serious" also does not mean "worthy of discussion". For example, you can get people engaging in lengthy and heated discussions about how a theoretical war between the United States and China would unfold.
That said, it contains a lot of really useful information if you want information on specific topics, and DON'T have the silly idea that that place will emulate a Harvard law class in terms of civility and content.
This. I haven't really seen much on OTC that I don't see on pretty much any online community with the sample size that TVTropes has.
I'd actually venture to say that the WoW forums were an order of magnitude worse back when I still followed them.