I've been following gaf/era for more than 5 years now. I am not very active in the thread discussions, but I read a lot of them.
And what I've been seeing lately, especially this year, is the negativity around this place. Somehow... it doesn't feel like a happy place where gamers are coming together to celebrate and discuss about games. Yes, there can be discussions that lead to arguments and disagreements, but many a times I sense strong hate towards companies, individual personalities, or sometimes even against each other.
Why? What's changed? I used to love this place, and I still do, but the constant negative vibe is killing the happiness and good memories I've had of this forum.
Recently I saw the thread on Jaffe and how people are just jumping on him. His opinions aside, why do we all have to hate on him. Let him be. What he is saying is an opinion and even if it's wrong, why should ERA divulge into it and give it more fire than it would deserve?
Similarly, I don't get the hate on Ninja. I don't like Fornite, nor do I follow him, but I've known about the controversies surrounding him. The whole "But he doesn't play with women..." argument was thwarted before when he gave us the reason why - it might/would affect his relationship with his spouse and even if you find it ludicrous, it's his way of dealing with things. Why does that have to justify hatred towards him? So what if he won the award? He won it for the content he's producing, not the person that he is.
Even with the discussions, the mods are so heavy with the warnings/bans. It's like... sometimes some opinions don't even look very warning/ban-worthy to me, yet they get warnings/bans. I'm not questioning the board here, but it feels so restrictive, it feels like I'm in a class-room and I have to be careful of what I say, otherwise I might get punished.
Either way, I just wanted to get this off my chest.
I love era. I always have. Not a day goes by that I don't spend my time, lurking around the forum, looking for interesting topics to read about or take part in if possible. But the negative energy that I've been getting off late has slowly started to sour my experience.
And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
And what I've been seeing lately, especially this year, is the negativity around this place. Somehow... it doesn't feel like a happy place where gamers are coming together to celebrate and discuss about games. Yes, there can be discussions that lead to arguments and disagreements, but many a times I sense strong hate towards companies, individual personalities, or sometimes even against each other.
Why? What's changed? I used to love this place, and I still do, but the constant negative vibe is killing the happiness and good memories I've had of this forum.
Recently I saw the thread on Jaffe and how people are just jumping on him. His opinions aside, why do we all have to hate on him. Let him be. What he is saying is an opinion and even if it's wrong, why should ERA divulge into it and give it more fire than it would deserve?
Similarly, I don't get the hate on Ninja. I don't like Fornite, nor do I follow him, but I've known about the controversies surrounding him. The whole "But he doesn't play with women..." argument was thwarted before when he gave us the reason why - it might/would affect his relationship with his spouse and even if you find it ludicrous, it's his way of dealing with things. Why does that have to justify hatred towards him? So what if he won the award? He won it for the content he's producing, not the person that he is.
Even with the discussions, the mods are so heavy with the warnings/bans. It's like... sometimes some opinions don't even look very warning/ban-worthy to me, yet they get warnings/bans. I'm not questioning the board here, but it feels so restrictive, it feels like I'm in a class-room and I have to be careful of what I say, otherwise I might get punished.
Either way, I just wanted to get this off my chest.
I love era. I always have. Not a day goes by that I don't spend my time, lurking around the forum, looking for interesting topics to read about or take part in if possible. But the negative energy that I've been getting off late has slowly started to sour my experience.
And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
I hope I don't get banned/warned for making this thread. It's more of a love letter to a place I've always adored.