The Prude Brood Monastery

[Marokai Backbeat]

This proliferation of mines and institutes where other posts are just quoted out of context is bad. With the exception of the comedy goldmine, they're mostly used just as a lazy way to express one's own opinion without actually responding in the thread.

With the exception of the Good Post Gallery, which at least encourages people to make good, lengthy, and thoughtful posts, I 100000% agree with the sentiment here. It's made a lot of the discourse around here even more smarmy than I remember it being, as it encourages people to continue trolling along with their ridiculous caricatures or try telling people off in creatively insulting ways just so they get noticed.

I wish people could actually just talk to one another like people that are interested in discussing things, instead of just trying to out-clever each other with attempted coup de grâce after attempted coup de grâce. Then again, maybe my head was just too deep in Atlasia until the last 6 months to notice the quality of discourse on the rest of the forum was always terrible to begin with. Still, I don't remember it being this snarky.

[Marokai Backbeat]

And furthermore it's actually improved civility here

You and I have different definitions of civility, because all I see lately are a bunch of people talking about others behind their backs, coming up with stupid in-jokes for all their IRC-bros, or making snide comments about them under the protection of these bulls**t "institutes." More "civil" than having out and out flame wars, maybe, but it's far from a particularly friendly or welcoming atmosphere. It just comes off as smarmy and cliquish.

And the idea that they even do anything to contain the trolling or bickering is just revisionism, anyway. The 2012 board was a total nightmare and everybody hated it. All these mines and institutes did was just highlight people so they could be picked on more, it didn't do anything to control the fires.

All I can speak to are my own experiences, but what I can at least say for myself is that being on this site has been a miserable experience for the last year. There are barely any serious discussions to be had anymore outside of the most impenetrable of philosophical arguments, it's just a lot of people throwing around one liners and finding new people to gossip about. It's like all the worst elements of Atlasia have now infected the forum at large. Atlas has become so shallow I've been struggling to find any way to meaningfully contribute anymore.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Edit: Meh, mayhap you're right. I'll leave it be.