The Testing Chat III: The Time of Great Chatting

[Oxymoron]

You know that they're doing a remake of Evil Dead, right ? And from the trailer, it seems they're going for a "serious" approach.

I predict a flop.

[Flagg]

You know that they're doing a remake of Evil Dead, right ? And from the trailer, it seems they're going for a "serious" approach.

I predict a flop.

It was the number one movie when released. So...

[Crazedwraith]

that evil dead remake that's already out yes?

[Oxymoron]

Oh well, looks like I'm late to the party AND wrong, then

[Jung]

I have to say the reaction to magic princess's vs. debate threads are a lot less entertaining than I thought they would be.

I was anticipating a nerdrage-fueled angry typing frenzy worthy of the Roman Collisseum, possibly with amusing betrayed bewildered rage by some SDNers at one of their big names having gone over to the dark side.

Instead it all seems kind of ... anticlimatic?

Maybe it just happened a few years too late to have that kind of result. It feels kind of sluggish and torpid; an issue too old and stale and burned-over to arouse real passion any longer.

[Djinnkitty83]

I'm giving it a little more time. It took a few days for the latest "Maybe religion isn't all bad" threads to get warmed up.

[adr]

maybe not tho, i had a number of vs discussions on sdn that were pretty productive and interesting throughout, especially in the later days of my campaign

[RogueIce]

It could just be the usual tryhards aren't willing to go toe-to-toe with somebody like Duchess, as they would a low post count, recently joined newbie.

[Oxymoron]

Or maybe it is that apart from a few people, most don't have any interest in Vs. debating ? Or at least not beyond the silly "RAR" level ?


I mean, there's been a significant amount of turnover since 2002, and I know when I joined SDN I wasn't interested in SW, ST, or any kind of Vs. debate between the two.

[RogueIce]

It seems that you'll still get a pile-on when a nooblet makes a pro-ST post, at least from what I see when I bother to look. *shrug*

Anyway.



Too soon?

[Oxymoron]

Speaking of shipwrecks and such :


http://youtube.com/watch?v=J5gzm0kt4OU

[adr]

i actually didn't give much of a shit about vs debate for a long time. i think i had like 10 posts total between 2005 and 2009 between both psw and sw-v-st, though i did read most the main site back in 2004.

i actually still don't care about the vs debate per se but it was interesting to use it as a launching point for other lines of thought. for example my shields thread ostensibly was asking how star wars weapons could penetrate their own shields, but the thing that actually interested me was the concepts of shields, armor, and damage models in general, and SW was just a starting point for a much broader discussion. connor and jung and i think a couple other peeps got in to play ball and it was pretty cool

[RogueIce]

damage models in general

hit points lol

Anyway I actually like this one better:

[Flagg]

I don't even go into the vs forum. It's so stupid. Like comparing imaginary dicks.

[Losonti Tokash]

if there was anything i needed this month it definitely wasn't yet another video of people being horribly killed in an explosion

[Aaron]

They probably could have combined it all into one SF forum by now, but I see why they left it.

I'd like to see N&P shitcanned but it would just accelerate the boards death.

[Oxymoron]

if there was anything i needed this month it definitely wasn't yet another video of people being horribly killed in an explosion

Whoops. My bad.

[Glass Fort MacLeod]

In theory, vs debating could be interesting if you were discussing different permutations and outcomes depending on the differing capabilities, or how differences in various aspects might change the outcome. In reality its more like sporting events or politics where what matters more is 'one side' winning, and doing whatever it takes to win and be superior to the others. Or it may just be wish fufillment, preconception fufillment, or whatever. Its more tribal and its more about what the fans think is 'right' than what is actually in the setting, which is why people argue more over things like 'canon' or interpretations of specific bits of evidence rather than discussing it in a more holistic manner.

In the particular case of SW vs ST, that one will never be resolved simply because of the the emotional inertia behind it. Its been going on for decades, it will probably continue going on, unresolved, for decades. It will never be resolved becuase people will never agree on how it should be addressed (which pretty much sums up why no vs debate will ever be satisfactorily resolved.) SW vs ST has the added burden of years of well-poisoning, you're either part of one side or the other to the point you literally cannot argue a compromise because neither side is willing to compromise (again its about winning and being right.)

When you add that a bunch of vs-related aspects have become memes/tropes (shit like 'stormtrooper accuracy' or 'redshirts = easily killed') it becomes even more difficult to resolve because those kneejerk responses keep polluting the debate.

And if THAT wasn't enough, then there's always the smugosity of the 'REAL' sci fi crowd - the people who think things like 'soft' sci fi or space opera are bad because its not realistic, or it doesn't have the right quantitty of carbon nanotubes, or whatever.

Once you start realizing the utter pointlessness of the debate because of the fans, vs debating loses whatever appeal it might have to begin with.

Edit: Incidentally, the same thread on SDN got posted on SB, and its a prime example of that 'well poisoning' I spoke of.

[Glass Fort MacLeod]

I don't even go into the vs forum. It's so stupid. Like comparing imaginary dicks.

Yeah sure, like that happens any less in the non-scifi forums like N&P. I find it vaguely hilarious that N&P has simply become the new playground for the SDN style 'combat debating', only on more supposedly 'grown up' topics. Its just as imaginary and it solves very little.

[Flagg]

I ignore a good 75% of N&P because I don't care about it, but it's lamer now that the right wingers either stealth post blogs or just left.

[Jung]

This thread is depressing.

[Glass Fort MacLeod]

This thread is depressing.

YEah its depressing but can you honestly say you're s urprised at Spacebattles hosting shit like that? I mean I was looking for this thread and I remember reading that and being disgusted/outraged by the fucked up male ego bullshit spouted there. In the process of digging that one out, I've encountered all sorts of posts that are basically similarily disgusting (and thats just from January of this year) I can't believe that shit is actually tolerated in N&P. But Spacebattles quite simply just has (in its own way) a toxic culture and this is just a manifestation of that.

[Jung]

YEah its depressing but can you honestly say you're s urprised at Spacebattles hosting shit like that?

Actually my general impression is SB is suprisingly non-terrible on political and social issues. There's bullshit but there's also a fairly large and strong constituency of non-terrible people who will show up and fight it, and it often ends up being basically one or three troglodytes vs. a couple of times their number in non-terrible people, with the mods being more often on the non-terrible people side.

[Agent Bert Macklin]

RE Atheism: I've evolved to the point where I do not give a shit what anyone believes as long as they don't force it on me. IF they do, my reactions range from polite disagreements to insulting behavior, depending no the type of day I had. Earlier this semester, old Christian dudes were handing bibles to students (it's good to know that my tuition and fees likely paid these guys). I took one and promptly headed to the trash and threw it away while the old man watched. I shattered his spirit. I was not having a good day.

[Infinity Biscuit]

This thread is depressing.

I stumbled into that thread earlier today and I'd wanted to respond to it but some of the posts in there made me have to shut down the computer and go lay down for a while.

And that's even ignoring the title.