(urgh, I should be asleep right now)
Yes we have problems, and yes we need to fix them, but it's not going to come by yelling.
Anyway, when I'm more lucid, it seems a worthwhile discussion to have, and might be worth starting a thread of its own.
Tried that once. Despite my efforts to keep it as impersonal and civil as possible, given how a "let's fix things up" notion gets people on the defensive and getting personal would have sundered the effort, the community reaction was largely "I don't understand; I come here
for the inane babble" or "There isn't a problem, why does this thread exist?" Wouldn't have really done much good even if people had been interested anyhow because Toady deliberately ignored the entire thing due to personally disliking me (largely due to him thinking that I was posting on Dasleah's behalf, as far as I ever discerned). I've been a lot more distant from the forums since then, as it's pretty clear current trends are just going to worsen and neither the forum members nor managers are interested in changing anything to turn things around.
Also, jesus christ, does anyone know what 'troll' actually means in this context? It's not something you just slap on people because you don't like their post. Honestly, if you're not willing to have a constructive debate just don't post at all.
...You know, I typed up a whole bunch more, but I just backspaced it all because there isn't really a point in trying to convince the problem that there's a problem. I might as well let go of what's left of my connection to the forums, really; the last few months has really got me wondering what's even keeping me here. The few non-nonsense discussions can hardly get afloat before LOL TOUHOU or LOL GIANT IMAGE or LOL I SAID A RANDOM THING LOL ME TOO suffocates them, and without an actual moderator staff there's not a chance this hardly-used, reactionary form of irregular moderation is going to cull the natter. Think I'll just take off. I'm not usually one to turn in the face of confrontation, and knowing that a lot of you dislike me certainly isn't enough to stop me from continuing to try and make my point, but honestly, why should I bother if you'd rather be happy in your insane microcosm where everyone posts incessantly yet nothing is ever said? My desire for actual discussion sure as hell isn't going to be fulfilled here, and generally speaking the people worth talking to I see outside the forums already.
Hm. Yeah, that sounds good. I'm gonna figuratively tidy up a bit and then split. Ciao.