So, because you
fine chaps started posting about me and I was made aware, here is the Audioboxer dossier none of you will actually read. A novel that attempts to politely state my feelings, offer some feedback to Resetera higher ups and be a complete waste of nearly 40 minutes.
Yes, I left of my own choosing. After the 2-week ban was upgraded to a month. At 2 weeks I’d probably have returned again but 15 mins later being upgraded to a month made it clear an admin or admins would rather I didn’t come back. Not entirely sure how they go from putting a 2-week ban, to minutes later upgrading it to a month. So, whoever bumped me to a month essentially killed me off. I asked Hecht on Discord to delete my account, he asked for me to contact Resetera. Sent a normal polite message, account deleted. No one asked why someone with like 14,000 posts from the start was bailing, but I didn’t really expect them to. As much as you lot seem like conspiracy nuts at times, there probably is inner lists of posters staff don't like.
As for why I would have gone back? No problem saying the concept of Era, like GAF originally, was a good one. Have a discussion and keep total nutjobs off the community. There are good people on the site and as much as they unfairly get mocked as a collective, they are a big gaming forum where you can indulge in lots of topics with lots of people. Whether you guys like your shitposting or not, which most of you clearly do dunking on Era in a dedicated topic, much of the internet is a cesspool and no, I don’t want to be around non-stop abuse/nonsense. Hey, I like some laughter myself, goodness knows that goes down like a brick in the ocean on Era at times (most of the time) due to how problematic all comedy/mild trolling is (yes I got banned for a week for a double rick-roll), but no, I’m not really out to get personal with any individual people or snipe them from afar where they cannot respond. I mean many here moan about being banned from Era, or if still posting on Era still moan here (
Hi Dennis, I see you). Whatever shit is said, everyone has some draw to the place like GAF before it.
Is Era predominantly left-leaning? Sure, but so am I. I vote for the SNP, a centre-left democratic socialist party. I’m an atheist, I’m down with whatever equality acts you want to list at me, I think trans men and women are men and women. I think non-binary and other gender identities are real and not all just "Tumblr trends". Abortion is a legal right for women. Systematic racism is real and Governments are directly responsible for impoverishing certain demographics/communities. Healthcare should be a human right in a wealthy country. I’m a man of science and reason and I only care what is true and has evidence to back it. I’m an individualist through and through, with that meaning I can self-reflect and critique things related to "my side" and I can talk to people with different views/political holdings. Etc, etc, etc. That is probably the kryptonite for some on Era. They paint you as something you are not, then get mad when you share your deeply held beliefs and it’s not what they expected. It gets them annoyed they can’t get you banned for what you’re saying, so instead they say out loud they know what you are
actually thinking – You saw as much in that Cyberpunk topic where a poster I was talking to kept dropping hints they wanted moderation to ban posters they felt were problematic but “knew how to skirt the lines”. That does get annoying because I’ve never once had the intent to do that to another poster nor ever would. It’s totally unfair and it’s calculated and tactical. I prefer to just talk to people myself. Not constantly ask for intervention and moderation. I’m not interested in getting people banned to “defeat them”. It’s a conversation on a forum, not the fucking hunger games.
I did once report Kirblar for PMing me saying the mistakes of the Iraq War were comparable to the mistakes of Era redesigning their forum layout, but cmon bro, even as a WTF that was worth reporting just to see if PM’s were actionable. Hint, they are, lmao. Ignore my bad grammar below I was replying in haste whilst thinking the fuck?!
(No, I don't hate Kirblar either, but that PM was just funny. No, I'm not sharing anymore PM's from Resetera, and I can't see old ones anyway)
Sadly, like NeoGAF at historic times, I think that’s just the environment owners sometimes want to cultivate whether the intention is good or not. If it’s genuinely thinking they need half their community living in fear of being banned or being wiped out at the push of a button, or a stereotype is true that many who navigate towards wanting to moderate forums/websites have streaks in their personality that gets a rise off of bans/bullying others. Way past the point of clean-up duty or protecting their forum from genuine assholes and into having some sort of fun or some sort of obsession with bans/authority. Like it’s a sport. It would be pure speculation to say so with certainty and a bit ironic given I always suggest people to be wary of speculation, but from the types of ban messages that get written to just how many bans get handed out daily on this forum, correct or not, the owner of Resetera has to accept many people will get the impressions they do for a reason. But if you actually want to cultivate those impressions and that is not seen as a negative by ownership, a user just has to accept that for what it is. Users are visitors to forums, not owners or moderators. Either agree to those terms/culture or move on if it’s just not working.
Anyway, speaking of bans, because I’ve seen some people incorrectly say what I was junior’d for (couldn’t create topics), yes, it was being reactionary to a poster stating Dark Souls is transphobic. So, I did a call out topic in a bit of a dickish way and was told if I hadn’t removed the posters name I was calling out I would have been perm’d. Fair enough, I fucked up. One of the times on Era you’re not going to have me saying I did nothing wrong. But none of this was anything to do with having a problem with trans people. I’m a huge Souls fanboy and overreacted to something I felt seemed a bit extreme for a game that in my view handles identity pretty well. Should have just been like okay, that’s a way to view this, and moved on. But we all get jimmies rustled at times when it was best just to shut the fuck up. It’s okay to admit I’m human sometimes isn’t it or at least I would hope so.
I’m well aware of the amount of shit trans people get on Era, some of it very personal if not outright harassment. It is very cruel at times, aimed at people who are obviously struggling in life getting treated as if they are a circus show. There are people behind avatars. Yes, Era does seem to have a disproportionately high trans userbase, but can you blame some of them when it is true other sites online are the wild-wild west and you go on them as a trans person and probably have 25 trap/you’re a man jokes facing you within minutes? Yes, without a doubt, some posters "get away" with being incredibly hostile, aggressive or ban-baiting with almost mod-approved results. I get the trans users on Era, almost as a collective, being very defensive and suspicious and grouping together/asking mods to give them more attention.
But me debating with a trans person, even if I might be wrong about something or deserve to be challenged back, does not mean I dislike you as a trans person. It doesn’t even mean I dislike you at all. It means… what it might mean for me talking to anyone, I’m struggling to see the evidence for a claim you might have made and want to speak to you. I’m trying to do my best to articulate my feelings and that’s it. The concept of staying in your lane has never meant to me never leaving your lane. Simply trying to be wise/decent about when you might choose to sit something out/listen because you are ignorant or from another background. But I think on Era at times they adhere more to you should never leave your lane. You’re a bad person if you leave your lane. Cement yourself in your lane and shut the fuck up. To me that’s just not how life/human interaction will ever work, that kind of rigidity.
Tldr, it felt like those on Resetera with the power would rather I leave, so I did. Life goes on. Yeah, it’s shitty that there will be some posters right now thinking they got rid of someone hateful, but why let that get to you when you are a decent person and hold none of the views some very polarized individuals that barely know you almost want you to hold just to call you a piece of shit/demand you get banned. That’s the part of Resetera that is frustrating and ultimately what causes some to snap/get banned trying to defend themselves. All the constant suspicion and accusing that goes on simply for a forum being used as… a forum. As I said, the bump to a month was probably a collective “we don’t really want you here, take the hint”. One poster, me, leaving an internet forum really doesn’t matter when the forum has like 40,000 users and many more desperate to sign-up. But sure, cheers, pint raised to anyone who enjoyed talking with me or anyone who didn’t agree with me on things but enjoyed the debate.
And as for sticking around in this topic, genuinely not to antagonize any of you, because I recognize some poster names and did appreciate some reasonable/kind words around my ban, the best thing to do is move on from Era. No point in really sticking around to mock anyone. It’s not really my thing anyway, he says after writing a 2000-word no1care lolumad gitgud manifesto. They can do what they want, I’ll go off and do my thing. I didn’t even leave NeoGAF with posting scat porn, saying stupid shit or being a mad cunt abusing everyone and anyone because the fear of a ban didn’t matter anymore. I just left at that time because others I knew left *shrug*.
Post your no1cares gifs, but remember, you fuckers asked me to come here.
