Community

[jerich]

wait what the hell everybody here should have a functioning social life

You would be suprised. I'm not just applying this to internet addicts, but our human society as a whole.

I just tell myself that I will accumulate as much knowledge in high school and college, and then I'll have plenty of time for socializing after that.
So far it's working out pretty well.

Or you can enjoy the balance of education, social, and family life and experience stuff now that you won't experience later. But that's your choice.

[Farah]

yeah but still:

I've always struggled to understand why certain people on the forums strive so hard to form a coherent Soldat community. These movements were always superficial and transient, it seemed, and a sad attempt to recreate what those people lacked in real life.

this is really stupid as a whole because it's saying "hey look you all are insecure losers for wanting a functioning gaming community to accompany a game you play" and it's as assumptive as fuck and hypocritical considering he's a global moderator.

though when i think about it he's probably just trolling us.

[VijchtiDoodah]

this is a very pretentious way of saying GET A LIFE

And yes, it is.
Can't blame the guy though. Only now he has tasted life, so he think he's superior in some way.
Don't worry it'll wear out vin.

You don't know me well enough and it shows. I've been around long enough to cement my position in communities across the West Coast. I have been a part of religious communities in the Simi Valley of California and in Phoenix, of cowboys and ranchers on the Mogollon Rim of Arizona and the Willamette Valley of Oregon, of students in San Diego, and briefly communities of hippies in Mendocino, of hitchhikers and homeless along the entire West coast of the lower 48, of parents and guardians joined by our desire to care for the children we became responsible for, of wilderness backpackers in the Sierras, and of drug-users and artists under a variety of circumstances. Some have lasted years while others lasted no more than a few weeks or a few months, but each was a community with a unique culture that we fostered together.

The next time you think I'm being pretentious, Farah, or that I've only recently begun to experience the things I talk about, Excruciator, hold your words and understand that I might actually know much more about these things than it first seems.

In addition, you've completely misunderstood my point (and taken your mistaken interpretation to unusual extremes, Farah). I'm telling you to make or become a part of a meaningful community in any way possible. I understand why these people have put so much effort into the Soldat community and it's a worthwhile cause, but it would be much more rewarding if these same people could find communities where they might talk to people face to face, to find a connection that cannot exist through a computer screen no matter how convinced people are otherwise (barring uncommon exceptions). However, if you can't or are unwilling to find a community external to your computer and its keyboard, the Soldat community is a welcome place.

[Smegma]

I can either fail with people or fail without them. I don't see how it makes a difference.

Okay, well I do, though ultimately the final product appears to care about neither.

[Demonic]

Thy shall not question the VijchtiDoodah. Ever.

On a more related note, since I'm probably one of the main targets of the point made, striving to build a proper soldat community and being a part of it helped me out loads.

[warning, probably long egotrip coming up]

Soldat was the first internet game I really got in to - my memory fails, but I was probably around 14 at the time. Acting as every other true newbie, some of the soldat forums oldies (n00bface, Amblin, Pienne, Chakra) hammered netiquette in me. In the meanwhile, I got into clanning, making e-friends of a sort - and whilst most were short lived, or shallow to an extent, my teenage angst filled late puberty was spent with mostly soldat oriented things. Building and organising the hungarian community was extremely rewarding, the real life meet ups were adequate socialising, and there are people whom I still consider my friends to this day (text_killer namely). After 2006, it took a whole new notch up - the dutch soldat 'prominents' came to Sziget festival, the next year I went and visited Amblin in Germany, in 2008 n00bface dropped by in hungary. The online things were also beneficial - these weirdos really inspired me, there are people I look up to, people I'd love to meet and have a beer with - and at the end of the day it doesn't really occour to me that it's connected to a mediocre, addicting video game.

Now? I gave up. I know how this community 'ticks', who are the influental figures, who can make it better, what are the problems, and as a whole, it models how society works aswell. But there's no will in me to fight anymore - the things this place gave me were probably unique and unreproducable, so it's futile to attempt recreating that experience for everyone else. It might be the player base getting younger and younger, or something else - after giving it way more hours of thought than I should have, it doesn't move me. I've got a life, and in my pack there is a whole load of trinkets of internet wonders, impulses and whatnot. It was not a waste of time, these four-five years.

Just keep the balance and try to blend RL and the 'nets together. I guess.

[VijchtiDoodah]

You're one case of beer and a touch of angst away from an echo_trail rant.

And now you have me thinking about Pienne and the rest of our IRC gang. I miss those kids.

[Hair|Trigger]

Just a little personal input;  Soldat has always been an awesome community for me to be a part of, since late 2007 (when I started gaming for a hobby) I think I have been much better off than what I would without this community (not so much SF, but just a few of the people I've met in-game etc)

but it's important to keep in touch with reality sometimes. 

[echo_trail]

You're one case of beer and a touch of angst away from an echo_trail rant.

And now you have me thinking about Pienne and the rest of our IRC gang. I miss those kids.

I was gonna be positive about this, but now you've ruined that. Thanks alot, Vijcht. THANKS!

I do agree with Demonic, though. I was lucky to come here early enough to experience the forums as they used to be. Even if my interrest in this place is falling every day, I'm definitely not blind to what it has given me in the past. You guys have helped me(despite my ranting) through some tough times, and I appreciate it.

[STM1993]

I work better in a less social environment and in an environment that doesn't need immediate response, that would mean that I would work better online than in real life.

When it comes to learning in here, other than school and some other necessary interaction, I don't learn much. It's as though everything is kept within the classroom, it's like we're being taught to follow rather than to think. Plus, given my personality, I find it all the more difficult to gain true independence and self-reliance.

Actually, if not for the internet, I would probably have been just a self-centered person living in a small world, with no knowledge of the outside world and I wouldn't have really learned to think or learned to be mature (I would have behaved like those stereotypical 12-year-old). I also learned more about the ideas and opinions of others, and that the world wasn't so perfect after all. There's a much bigger world out there and I've found more people who share my interests. Therefore, I treasure my time on the internet and I like to be a person who helped to contribute to developing something great, as long as I have interest in it.

However, it does not mean that my real life is unimportant. I may not be a very sociable person, but I make it a point to be involved with my friends and spend time with them etc. I know there are many real life events that would change me and have changed me, and it is real life that you cannot be disconnected from until death, unlike the internet, which only lasts as long as the communication can.

Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, though real life is ultimately more important - being on the internet is just a great extension. It's ultimately about striking the balance between the two if you wish to be more versatile person.

[croat1gamer]

@ jrgp- well, it has its flaws, but on the other hand i have rl friends
you know what can i do
1) get drunk
2) if not, i will be f**ked up the whole night by them because of it
3) i would get so or so f**ked up by them

an great alternative to being on the computer

well, im 8th grade now, elementary school (14yrs), i have been "forced" to go with them
and i live 1 hour of driving with a bus from the next town
and here are just 1k ppl

so, i dont have much things to do, and if i even do it, i would have 2 options
1) go alone
2) go with these f**ktards that would just f**k me up and make jokes of me

well, i have these two awesome options
i choosed the one that leaves me some sanity
well i like it so, even if its not the best option

next year im going to middle school, on a gymnasium, which would give me much more options with socialization, because i would meet there some people which share same interests with me

but currently, im f**ked up


*btw. i met alot of ppl from an another forum in real life, and we are really good friends, but we dont see us so often

[Graham]

See what happens when I leave for just a little bit? The forums fall apart and stupid topics like this come up. If the Army didn't have me by the balls I might straighten up this here town with not but my six shooter and a bottle of gut rot.

[VijchtiDoodah]

Oh, � , always so manly. What he doesn't mention is that he has balls of steel. The Army might have a firm grasp, but that's only because they're using his balls to bludgeon the other recruits.

[Laser Guy]

I thought it was Chakra who had balls of steel...

[GSx_Major]

Oh, and find purpose in your life and work for a greater good and give to charity and live happily ever after, etc. People just can't figure these things out without someone telling them.

As for me, my social life always suffers during the winter. Something about freezing your ass off just makes you want to stay home.

[Graham]

Oh, � , always so manly. What he doesn't mention is that he has balls of steel. The Army might have a firm grasp, but that's only because they're using his balls to bludgeon the other recruits.

I don't even need my IBA, I just tie my sack around my chest.