What do you see? Why are you here?

#1

“What do you see, children?” asked the old man. “Here in the town square, what is it that you see?”

“I see lots of people, silly.” said the first child.
“I see some buildings, and the walk over there.” said the second child.
“I see you, and my friends. and some strangers” said the third child.

“Yes, you see the square. but what do you see, children? What is the purpose of this place?”

“Well, some people try to become popular. Some others try to share some ideas”
“I see people confused, looking for help. Some people help, but some do not.”
“I don’t like this place, there’s too many bullies and mean people.”

“I see,” the old man said, stroking his beard.

“What do you see mister?” asked the first child.

"Me? I do not know what I see.

I have seen many things take place here, some of it inspiring and uplifting. Other times I’ve seen frustrating and depressing clashes. I used to know what I saw, but so much has transpired I no longer recognize what I see. Where there was enlightenment there is now conflict, where there was friendship there is now disgust. Sometimes I wonder why I still come, and some days I am well rewarded. Some days new bonds are formed, other days new ideals come to fruition. I have seen many figures come and go, some my most trusted friends, others my bitterest enemies, but those days where a familiar face departs from us are some of the saddest times I’ve ever experienced. It can be hard to look forward for new friendships when all I can find is hate, but I always come back, hoping that something may have changed, or that someone has seen the pain of another.

Some days I wish things were like older times, I had friends here that have been long been gone from this place, and there was less bitterness among the people. Other days I hope against all the odds that the future holds more fortune than the past ever did. I cannot always see the path ahead, but I can hope for change, and enjoy what there is to be enjoyed in the meanwhile. I’m sorry for throwing all this onto you out of the blue, children. Perhaps I might leave myself, and return when times are different. For now though, I think I’ll stay, I would rather not put others through the absences I’ve lived with.

Thank you for listening to an old man’s ramblings, children. Maybe you will remember this someday, and it may help. How? I do not know. But the future is vast, many things can happen."

What do you see? What is the purpose of this place? Why do you come here? Why do you keep coming back?

I hope someday a spark of clarity comes to me, all I can find is contradiction and disappointment.

:neutral_face: :slight_frown: :no_mouth:

Increasing Agression
Why Does Everyone Want to be Regular?
#2

I like this. Lots of self-reflection in this one little story, it makes you think about yourself, your actions, your reasons, and your views.

Now a more lighthearted version fitting for this forum:

“What do you see, light blue stars?” asked the white star. “Here in the Nexus, what is it that you see?”

“I see lots of players, silly.” said the first light blue star.
“I see some portals, and the arena(that nobody uses) over there.” said the second light blue star.
“I see you, and my guildmates. and some spambots” said the third light blue star.

“Yes, you see the Nexus. but what do you see, light blue stars? What is the purpose of this place?”

“Well, some people try to do PPEs(LEL XD PPE BTW). Some others try to sell DECA rings.”
“I see people begging, looking for fri itens. Some people donate, but some do not.”
“I don’t like this place, there’s too many beggars and spambots.”

“I see,” the white star said, stroking his 8/8.

“What do you see mister?” asked the first light blue star.

"Me? I do not know what I see.

I have seen many things take place here, some of it inspiring and uplifting. Other times I’ve seen frustrating and depressing clashes. I used to know what I saw, but so much has transpired I no longer recognize what I see. Where there was enlightenment there is now conflict, where there was friendship there is now disgust. Sometimes I wonder why I still come, and some days I am well rewarded. Some days new bonds are formed, other days new updates come to fruition. I have seen many 8/8s come and go, some my most trusted guildmates, others stupid draggers, but those days where a hard-earned 8/8 departs from us are some of the saddest times I’ve ever experienced. It can be hard to look forward for new players when all I can find is “Fri itens plox” and “lel xd”, but I always come back, hoping that something may have changed, or that someone has seen the pain of another.

Some days I wish things were like older versions, I had guildmates here that have been long been gone from this place, and there was less hackers among the people. Other days I hope against all the odds that the future holds more fortune than the past ever did (Pray to RNGesus). I cannot always see the path ahead, but I can hope for updates, and enjoy what there is to be enjoyed in the meanwhile. I’m sorry for throwing all this onto you out of the blue, light blue stars. Perhaps I might leave myself, and return when times are different. For now though, I think I’ll stay, I would rather not put others through the absences I’ve lived with.

“Thank you for listening to a white star’s ramblings, light blue stars. Maybe you will remember this someday, and it may help. How? I do not know. But the future is vast, many things can be updated by DECA.”

#3

As much as I enjoyed your rework, I am in fact, quite serious. The tale accurately describes the current state of the forum, and I would like everyone to think for a change.

(Also maybe leave white star and blue star as old man and children, it’s a tad starist)

#4

I see a place of potential. A place for sharing, learning, and discussion.

A place where exchanging of ideas and information I suppose.

I find it a bit addicting to read the new posts everyday, especially the ones with great quality or enlightening discussions.

The forums have become a daily routine to me. There are also some here that I have a bond with that ties me here too.

#5

[quote=“Xaklor, post:1, topic:7962, full:true”]What do you see?
[/quote]

I see my death screen
today all comes to an end
We have traveled far


hAiKuS
#6

I see an informal battle for attention, a salted mine of enjoyment, lots of bad ideas. There really isn’t much reason to come to this corner of the internet, but it’s better than anything else I got going on. :sunglasses:

#8

@Xaklor Are you okay IRL, buddy?

#9

Since trof is gone, there isnt a single bully here.

#10

I guess i see a group of people with similar interests, and pretty good personalities. Slowly I’ve been more active on the Discord and less active here. Maybe from the sheer volume of posts now, or maybe from the repetitiveness of some of it. There is defiantly a good heart to this place, and the forum software is really intuitive.

Well at the heart of all forums is the discussion of common interests and the sharing of knowledge. I would argue that we aren’t pushing the Q & A side of the forum as much as I would like. So maybe the Mods could help pull in a better knowledge sharing community by going harder with that.

The real purpose of this place is the common interest, and mainly to have a good time. So the fact that we dwell on sour points can be a little bit counterproductive to the true purpose of the forum. I really enjoyed things like the regular group photo, and because it was fun I would like to do it again, even maybe attempt a forum wide photo one time. More use of the player events section just for people to get together in game would also be much welcomed.

I started coming here for free items. Seriously, I cam for the I come here because of the Christmas giveaway. I come here each day because it has become part of a routine, I love speaking to people here, kind of the opposite of me in real life.

I stayed I feel that it is something that enriches the gameplay experience. I walk past someone and they might say hi and play with me for a little. I fell like tips i have gotten here genuinely helped me get better at the game, and so the knowledge sharing side of the forum is working.

To conclude I feel the forum is going forward, it might just need a little steering to get it going in the right direction.

#11

My main interest in this place was (and might still be) the #news section. Once I heard Deca was buying the game I needed a place to get my news. I checked the subreddit, but it didn’t do it for me (to this day I can’t get used to how Reddit works). Happily, RealmEye came up with this brand-new forums, where I could be informed about all things RotMG.

I found out that all I needed to make a forum account was a RealmEye account, so I thought to myself “why not?”. Once here, I saw a community already formed. You see, I almost never engage with people in-game and I think I visited the Kabam forums once or twice, never even posting. But since I had an account already, might as wall start posting, and so I did. I realized that the people and the forum software promoted what is most important in a forum: conversation, meaningful or not.

But why do I stay? Well, I almost didn’t, actually. A few days before I became a regular, my activity here was declining, don’t remeber why. What I do remember is that, when I got regular, all of a sudden some people started to recognize me and I felt very welcome. So I kept posting and the rest is history. I hate to say it, but I keep coming back because now I feel as I’m part of the community. It’s an odd feeling, wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

But your thoughts are not mine, Xaklor. Is there contradiction and disappointment? Sure, of course, but it’s always been here and always will be. But there are still interesting conversations to be had and I’m here to not let them pass me by, always contributing to it when I feel I have something to add.

But hate? I almost never see it.
#12

I remember back when I first joined. The forums were much less negative. There wasn’t much anger, backtalking, or anything similar. I’ll admit, there were people I was angry over, such as Wandoffire, who told someone that they should be gassed to death, or OryxYeti, who asked to be banned, then came back with a new account and pretended to not be the same person.

Back in my day, I saw a lot of great faces. Everyone seemed to get along. I’d say the harmony peaked around the time that Shatter ran the Christmas giveaway. It all went downhill from there.

After that, more and more people came to the forums. The overall quality of it dropped; the ideas became worse and worse, the people became more and more negative, and the forums became somewhat less welcoming.

It makes me yearn for the time I joined. Everyone seemed to get along pretty well then. Whether the forums are more negative because the people grew sour or because more people joined, the forum isn’t what it was.

#13

I am fine, thank you xD

But I am truly sick of these hostile and combative personalties, it’s one thing to prove a point, but it’s quite another to prove that the other is an idiot.

Like others have said already, not everything is that bad. But the problem is getting worse. Maybe being serious for once will get people’s attention. For now, I’d like people to stop and think about these things.

Why Does Everyone Want to be Regular?
#14

@Xaklor story’s too deep for me, but I see a lot of friendly people. The problem is, I also see a lot of asocial people who take subtle mistakes of others and endlessly try to down others in an attempt to make themselves look cool/better.

This is a frequent problem on social media communities, and especially for RotMG I notice this. I hope there’s room to grow but for me the only room I have is for my Kendo Sticks :cry:

#15

Might want to explain how that doesn’t describe most of your post history (and mine now that I think about it :grinning:), lest people start thinking you’re a huge hypocrite.

(not saying you’re wrong, just that you need practical examples to truly make the distinction clear)

Why Does Everyone Want to be Regular?
#16

Oh it totally does, but is it really impossible for me to be sick of myself? If I stop will it help others to see?

I have a lot to think about :confused:

Why Does Everyone Want to be Regular?
#17

If you can’t stop yourself from being sarcastic and confrontational, you can still try to make sarcasm funny and confrontations constructive.

#18

While I’m all for constructive confrontation, it’s very hard to “do” sarcasm over the internet. No amount of winky faces or “/s” or [small fonts in italicized brackets] will guarantee that nobody will misinterpret sarcasm. That’s one reason I’m really not a fan.

It all boils down to open and honest communication, which sarcasm by its very nature is not.

#19

Well, you can’t be sure people won’t misinterpret sarcasm in real life too, for that matter. But it is easier to do it in real life as sarcasm is often in the tone of your voice and the face you make while speaking, so you have a point.

That said, I wouldn’t discourage people to try it on the internet, at least when the conversation is not that important.
#20

Incomplete homework. :confused:

Wasting my time. :confused:

Because I am addicted. :confused:

See above. :confused:

Good. :confused:

#21

thanks for directing me here Xaklor!

Im’s surprised there isnt more discussion here.

to be honest, i didnt just quit the forums for 1.5months just b/c of school. If it was that, i would’ve quit long before.

I was also disappointed in the amount of negativity that was created in the forums. I didnt really noticed until one day when @jawsjakt (i think it was him), said on discord, that the main reason of a game was to have fun. That caused me to think about why i was on this forum.

I remembered back in august, i joined because there was a forum on a great website about realm! I just browsed around, i posted super short comments and no one really knew me, and i didnt really know anyone else, i participated in forum games because i was bored, it was actually fun for a while. However, that was later stopped, i kinda quit forum games after the forum spam i guess. I just stuck around b/c of the tight nit group that we had, all of them were very nice and it was fun to joke around. Then the christmas giveaway came, it was a fun activity where the regs got to make history making one of the biggest giveaways, i was very proud to be apart of that event. But, since most times when you attract people using free items, you get hobos, cheapskates or some variation of that. So since then, the quality of the forums have been decreasing. But that was ok, i didnt really join the forums to get thought-provoking discussions like RMGnoob.

But, soon Zlushy joined, (actually several others before which i didnt admire much). No one really liked him, but not much would really come out and say it (@shatter maned up though). The place just turned into a war-zone (there were small skirmish every so often). Also because of school, i decided to leave a while. in hopes that it would get better i came back, everyone missed me. It made me very happy that everyone liked me so much (quite different irl). So, i just read through some random threads, but i had noticed an overwhelming amount of flagged posts. Some might say that its these “new users”. But lots of the times new users follow the atmosphere created by current users (not always), but also some of the older users become restless, they generally didn’t say anything because they didnt want flags.

I consider @xaklor a friend, but one thing i noticed, is that he has become less and less patient, he used to rarely ever get flags for spazing at someone, but i think i just saw 2/3. same with shatter. although, i cant blame them one bit.

Although, i dont know why i keep coming back? is it because of the friendships ive established with some users? or is it obligation, to please those that wish me to be here? Is it so i can be an old man and tell the new members “back in the day”. Its not a habit since i stopped for 1.5month. Who knows…

sorry for the ramble, i dont know if it actually relates, but i just felt like rambling.

but i think the most important part was not addressed too heavily. that is, how to fix the current problem, and before someones says the kick or try to ban __, but i think the problem is not on a certain few, but instead of the entirety of everyone the forums. The power of diffusion.

Not sure if i even made sense.