a) The SC:BW vs SC2 debate
b) The SC2 Strategy forum
c) The current state of TL
a) The SC:BW vs SC2 debate
For a while now, I have been fed up with all the debating between BW and SC2 that's been going on here. Let me say right now that it is pointless arguing over this, imo. With the release of SC2, I was hoping that the BW players and SC2 players would be able to get along, since they are both really popular games by Blizzard, but no. With the release of SC2, there came a divide between the die-hards on both sides. Now all I see are insults being thrown across this divide, insulting other players, and even shit-talking the games themselves. I don't deny that I took part in this several times in the past, but now I realize how pointless it really is.
So for those of you who are guilty of still being part of this debate, here are some things you can do:
1. Stop arguing and respect the other game. You are entitled to your opinions on BW/SC2, but for Pete's sake, don't go parading your opinions to the other "side" just for the sake of pissing them off.
2. This one really needs to stop. SC2 die-hards: Stop posting "Yay! Kill BW so that SC2 can rise!" in BW threads and especially the Gretech/KeSPA negotiations threads, and BW die-hards: Stop posting whatever slander you do in SC2 threads (I don't go on the SC2 forums often enough to know what kind of Slander it is).
Seriously guys, these games can indeed co-exist, so please stop the bickering, as it's going nowhere. =(
/rant1
b) The SC2 Strategy forum
This particular one really irks me. I have only gone on the SC2 Strategy forum a couple of times, but what I've seen has really bothered me. I think mahini pretty much summed it up in his thread:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=163490
Basically here's what I feel about the SC2 strat forum:
1. Because of the Infancy of SC2, a lot of the threads are just clusters of ideas that can be misleading, but we don't know yet.
2. There are a lot of threads whining about "imbalance" (seriously...imbalanced may become the next taboo word at this rate =_=) when, in fact, the player is just terrible and doesn't want to admit it. The threads are essentially this except without the hidden message.
3. A lot of threads are being closed either because they are pointless and are not contributing anything, or because they are repeats of other threads because somebody was too lazy to use the search function.
For Pete's sake, please look at the BW strat forum as an example. Threads were rarely closed there because people were humble and understood that there is a problem with their play instead of the game itself. And what really irks me too is that these people keep throwing the word "imbalance" out there like it'll make Blizzard release the next patch sooner. The truth is, this trend isn't helping to speed up the balance process any further, and it is in fact slowing it down, because too many people are misusing it.
/rant2
c) The current state of TL
I've been trying to shake this feeling, but a recent convo with supernovamaniac only confirmed this feeling: The quality of posts on TL is starting to deteriorate into a shadow of its former self.
With the recent inundation of new users that came with SC2 came a large amount of posters who I can only describe as at least one of the following: arrogant, aggressive, hateful, ignorant, unwanted. I feel that these posters have been plaguing the forums for quite some time now, but as efficiently as the staff removes them, more keep popping up. I can't say that this wasn't foreseeable (because with popular games come large amounts of people, and a decent percentage of those are one of the adjectives I described above), but it seems so bad right now.
To put it into perspective: Every time I go read the automated ban list, there is at least 1 new page every day. The worst part about it is that I feel that 1 page is way too small for the amount of bad posts I've seen. The mods are being very lenient with these guys, giving out warnings where bans are due, yet those who have been given more chances they deserve still don't get the message and still make low-quality or ban-deserving posts. It really irks me of how manifested these posters have become since the SC2 wave and how many low-quality posters are flying under the radar.
/rant3
Yes I know I may have sounded like an elitist jerk with these 3 rants, but it's because I'm concerned. When I joined TL some time last year, it was such a welcoming and good mannered community where the "undesirables" were just so uncommon. Now I go through a lot of threads and I don't feel the same "welcoming" feeling or the good manner.
blahh....I guess we'll just have to wait till things finally settle down before things start to look better for me. =\