Leave your Sanity at the door?

[wildweathel]

The thing (the taboo against discussing religion or politics) is a part of a certain modern tendency to avoid things because they lead to warmth; whereas, obviousy, we ought, even in a social sense, to seek those things specially. The warmth of the discussion is as much a part of hospitality as the warmth of the fire.

--G. K.  Chesterton,  Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens: "Hard Times"

I don't expect RAF's special brand of warmth to appeal to everyone.  It is, by fate, design, or the grace of God, a small community.  It could become larger by becoming less personal, but in being less personal it would be less itself.  The fact that not everyone fits in is the price we pay for our community.  I may be a romantic, but I take the greatest pleasure in the small things, the things I can most love, those I posses and by which I am possessed.  For me, that price is not too high.

But, there is something else I feel I must address.  I get the strong sense that when you say "immaturity" you really (if unconsciously) mean "imagination" and by "maturity" mean (if unconsciously) "rationality."  I see no reason nor feel no rhyme why reason is necessarily mature or maturity is necessarily rational.  To illustrate this, I would like to tell a story.

There was once a bulletin-board forum dedicated to a children's sci-fi/fantasy series, very much like RAF.  The exact name isn't as important as the fact that one day the creator decided he needed to become more mature.  So, he shut down the site with a terse note, locked the other administrators out, and disappeared. 

I look down on myself for having the site. Truly was a disgrace. I'd say Digimon's on the same level as Pokemon. The anime I know that are acceptable for my age (17) are Gundam and Bleach.

And no hope for a return.

...

I outgrew this anime over a year ago. And I look down on you old people still hanging in here.

Was that mature?  To raze a community, to sacrifice something for which he had worked so hard on the altar of supposed "maturity?"  To leave without allowing anyone to take his place?

True story.

Adam, you're not like that.  But, I worry that you're starting to head down that path.  I'm sorry I can't put this more gently, but please, don't wish you were boring.  This world is far too full of dullness for that.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

OK, Jess, I know you may not like me, for many reasons, but please don't go twisting my words to make it sound like I'm being very rude and inconsiderate to my fellow members. I care about all of the members, including any new or future members that may be turned away by this issue.

And while some of you were accusing me of purposely offending and picking on other members, you are doing just the same to me. RAF is an open forum, and while Richard owns it, and whatever he says goes, we should still be able to express our opinions, and not be judged.

I've primarily responded to you in a PM, because I don't find it fair for people to drag any sort of drama out into the forum.

No matter who had posted that thread, I would have responded the way I did. I in no way twisted your words, and I in no way personally attacked you. I'm sorry if you feel that way, but I don't see how my response does that. And please realize, no one is picking on you, they're merely saying that they don't think it's fair that you're being allowed to negatively single out a small group of other members.


I've said my piece, and will be making my way away from this thread now.

[SuperBlue]

ew, drama. this is why I decided not to say anything i this thread. While im not gonna announce which side I am on I can see where both sides have some points. Adam raised some valid points but if somebody takes our silliness too seriously than they shouldn't be on here in the first place. It's our brand of fun that makes us different from most forums *cough*AFF*cough*.

All of you who oppose Adam also have a point but you're acting a little overly sensitive. I highly doubt he was trying to personally attack anybody. He was just suggesting that you guys mellow out a bit, once the new guys become more used to RAF, then it's ok to lock them in a dark room with Seal so that she can do the, very painful, procedure of ripping their sanity out via the top of their heads. As far as I can tell, no personal attacks were made whatsoever, but maybe that's cuz im trying to find the good in both sides(and i know exactly where that got me last time i tried that)

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

I never wanted this to turn into an argument.  We should be allowed to state our opinions as long as they aren't purposefully bashing or flaming someone/something.  Adam stated his points fairly and didn't flame, though it was mildly insulting to some.

Anyway, I think we should just agree to disagree and forget about this.  True, we can show both sides, and we might make certain members think we're to immature, but sometimes, to much RAFdrama can come from such little things.  Don't forget, we all have a right to what we say, so I think we should just attempt to be a little more mature and move on without getting angry at each other.

That's just my humble opinion.   

[SuperBlue]

+1 Horsie-kun

[Brad the Brit]

Mehh as far as I'm concerned are random in-jokes are what makes RAF RAF... Its the reason why i stayed... remember i only came to steal the e-books... what made me stay was the feeling of community and the way when your posting you forget about your RL problems.

take away the jokes or over moderate people to be mature and people will leave because of that more than our immature atmosphere..... i can almost guarantee that...

 

[goom]

this thread is obviously singling out those in the intro threads. (seal, cloaky, etc.)

maybe we all could afford to pay a bit more attention to the intro threads; seeing the SAME exact thing every time isn't fun. it seems like we're not paying as close attention to the person as to the intro thread itself.
if that's what ellimist meant, then i agree. but to completely be taking away the fun, that's just not right.

each of our members having their own quirks is what makes RAF what it is; a fantastic community with unique people.

[ninaTHEninja]

maybe we all could afford to pay a bit more attention to the intro threads; seeing the SAME exact thing every time isn't fun. it seems like we're not paying as close attention to the person as to the intro thread itself.

I agree,  the same thing is said in every Intro thread. I was thinking earlier:
RAF isn't RAF without the silly-ness. But there is a point that we have to reach a maturity because we want as many RAFians to join, even if they only want to participate in the Media Threads.. We don't wanna scare away them before they get a chance to enjoy the forum

Remember: I haven't read Animorphs yet, but I'm still a fairly active participant in this forum.
People wanna feel they are welcomed, but some people (even i) are not big Role-players.. and can feel intimidated that they may have to role play to be a member or "give away there sanity" to be liked by the people of the forum.
The people who start an Intro thread are new and don't know that you get caught up in RAF and loose your sanity slowly. It doesn't mean they have to leave their sanity right there and then right?

I feel both sides of this issue were being attacked, but i also think Neither Adam, or his opposition were personally ATTACKING someone.. they were expressing their concern for this forum.

Once again i was thinking: maybe we should have Ambassadors of Role-playing who introduce themselves in the intro threads and let our newcomers know that there is an Animorphs Role-play and general role-play to take part of if they are interested.. but we should tone down our excitement and not scare of our pray..
Muhahaha

[Darth Revan]

So what's to become of this? What is the goal? So we assign an ambassador. So some of us agree to tone down the RP rhetoric.

What happens when this thread is forgotten, and the RP silliness returns, eh?

What happens if we get caught up in it again, hmmm?

Nothing. No one's going to repremand anyone for being themselves. No change will really come of this, so there's no reason to continue carrying on like this.

I've said my piece earlier. We greet newbies as ourselves, we show them who we are at the start. If they can't handle that, if they can't push past that, then that's with them. If they're going to label us as weirdos and not be bothered, than I say we don't need them here, judging us for being ourselves.
Even if being ourselves is whacky or weird.

We show them who we are. If they can't take it, it's their choice to leave.

[adamjared]

The thing that had really make me worry in the start, was when we wanted ideas for the RAF Shirt. we were looking for short peices of text to put under the logo on the front.

Some people suggested things like: "<join us>" and "<hope>". Some people liked these ideas, but then some one suggested "Leave your Sanity at the Door" or something to that effect. Apparently that was the saying that the people in that thread wanted, because that's what apparently represents RAF the most. That got me worried.

I agree that what makes us different from the other animorphs forums, is our diverse span of personalities and traits, provided by our members. But I don't look forward to RAF being called the "Insane Animorphs Forum" by the Animorphs Community.

I don't remember who, or which intro thread it was in, but I recall that there was one member who did not want to "give up their sanity." People said things similar to "But you have to give up your sanity!" and "It's a requirement of the forum!" I haven't seen things like that said since, but I certainly hope that this "Lack of Sanity" isn't pushed on new members.

I agree that this problem will probably not go away ever, even if we try and find a solution. But I just wanted to make sure that this was made known so that in case someone else felt pressured, bombarded, or something similar, it won't be the first time, and maybe we could have a solution ready if it happens again, that's all.

[Estelore]

Hi! *waves and grins amiably*
Whether or not anybody remembers the benignly silly star formerly (and currently) known as Este, I still have two or three cents to add.

I propose the following hypothesis for the analysis of everybody here:
We're taking this all just a wee bit more seriously than is perfectly necessary.
Valid points have been made by all sides. Opinions have been expressed. Anybody who has read the thread is aware of these points, opinions, and such.

So... is there any room here for agree-to-disagree?
Any room for I'll-let-you-collect-sanities-to-sell-on-the-black-market-if-you-just-do-it-while-I'm-not-looking? No? Pity.

How's this, then: Be discerning about it, folks. Sure, offer the in-joke to anybody you like, but also take their intro seriously. Give them a chance to see a little craziness, but show that you're willing to find them just as interesting as you want them to find you. Be easy on the newbies. They're newbies, and the wide world of RAF can be a scary place.
Animorphs fans are few and far between in the real world, and forums suited to them are even fewer online.

Yeah, it's a fine and dandy thing to gently let them weed themselves out, and the result is that most members of RAF are very well suited to RAFian weirdness. For the most part, nobody really bats an eye anymore at the presence of seals, icecube/dragons, nothlit dinosaurs, and sentient stars on the forum. Nobody minds Ellimists and Planeswalkers, once they've been here awhile and met the people who assume those personae.
For a newbie, though, that can be a smidge hard to stomach.

So:
1. Better to have them figure out early on that HEY GUESS WHAT, we like to have fun here. They don't have to act uptight unless they really are uptight, because we accept whatever craziness they have to offer (and then some).

2. That being said, when we tweak their brains, let's remember that they do HAVE brains. Actually comment on their intro post, okey? Pleeeeeease? For me? *huge eyes of adowability*

Maybe I'm a pacifist stellar dweeb, but I'm YOUR pacifist stellar dweeb. Can we split the difference? Just... y'know... tact.

[goom]

yeah, i don't think being too rough on the newbies is a good idea.
they're fragile.

however, i haven't seen too many turned away from RAF (based on the newbie -> now-active member ratio) because of this so-called 'insanity'.

it isn't always my cup of tea (says the armored-goomba ), but i'm not going to ruin anybody else's by spoiling the fun.
no harm, no foul.

as i said before, it would be nice to acknowledge the new member a tad more by reading and responding to what they post.



edit: i also agree with estel, if a person can deal with reading about yeerks and andalites, they can deal with seals and iceblocks)

[esplin]

Or planeswalkers!

The sparking mana flared my the finger tips stealing the sanity of gewm and concealing it safely in the green clearwater goblet of mirrodin.

Erm, sorry.

[Estelore]

Hahaha, that was beautiful.

Thanks everybody for being open-minded and level-headed on this.

[esplin]

lol sorry, I figured we could use some lightheartedness here.