What is OB?

[Guest Copycatalyst]

Well, this is coming off the "What is Beauty?" thread, but I am having a deep philosophical mid-heist crisis about. . .Just what is OB. It seems we came to some underlying, though shakey like a shake from [I]Dairy Queen[/I], definitely reason-flavored with an extra sweetening of artificiality like phenylalanine, decision on Beauty, so let us question the geek so greek question of, "What is OB?". Anyway, verbosities of vaudeville aside. I just can't seem to get this one. What is OB? What exactly is it going to become? Right now it seems dressed up in police clothes and they've prohibited fun so now there is this organized crime of various age-old OBers coming together like nothing you'll ever fuggetabout.

So let's ask. . .what is OB?

Personally I think otakuboards is in the eye of the beholder.

Now everyone post and agree with me. It's what the herd mentality wants you to do! I think if you consider I guess maybe like totally you cannot like you know like come to like an agreement on this so like it must be subjective like totally and it must be oh wait hold on let me go and shoot some hedonguns since it's the 4th of July. . .gotta celebrate the murder we're doing in Iraq! Wooohooooo!

Isn't it interesting that right now, Charles is having to fight against other mods and other OB members just because he's trying to instill a fun factor onto OB? It's a very WTFOCKLE MONOCLE with extra sillybeans with a top-off of Victorian [i]whip[/i] cream situation.

[desertphoenix]

[COLOR="DarkRed"]I have a little fantasy of imaging OB as a spin-off to V for Vendetta. Maybe Charles can be V. Maybe I should make it a working title or have someone else do it. I do get that secret presentationism vibe here.

Random mod: They will remember, why... they... need... us!

That's all I have now, but in reality, this places isn't to the extreme as VfV. Sure "fun" can be the symbol for the restricted freedoms in VfV, but who really wants random Rick rolls, [B][I][U]earth[/U][/I][/B], and grammar police.[B] Over nine thousands [/B]are funny though:animestun. My point is, I guess for now there are only going to be two different types of forums: ones with heavily enforced rules that try to please everyone or forums with barely any rules at all. There are pros and cons for both, but I really think the staff is trying to find ways to get more ways of structured fun here.[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[size=1]OB is a social community with it's own set of networks and interpersonal relationships amongst the members.

But the matter is far different from a normal group of people because there is censorship, a police force (staff), and no physical world. I think the lack of physical accountability is what compells us to have a staff, if that makes any sense.[/size]

[Guest Copycatalyst]

Well, I understand the implication of the need for mods. In my opinion though there's too many mods at OB. When mods are deleting my posts whom are meant to mod a differing forum this is quite obvious lol. Further it seems to me that now the rules are lessening. . .yet magically. For example there was the recent Fish thread where Tony and I brought to question why it hadn't been closed. . .yet many threads before had been deleted that were "intro threads." James magically said it was okay to have intro threads, apparently.

If you know of OB's history, you know it actually used to have an "intro forum." I remember Mist, and others, who were like a welcoming crew to new OB members. . .and it set a nice place for the more spammilicious posts to lay. And a nice introduction place, for newer members to feel like they were a part of OB and actually felt compelled to post. Unlike now, where Tony posts, and no one pays attention; or I post, and it's apparently of too high writing quality to be read or is too rambly. It's discouraging me to post nicely. . .or anyone. . .now I end up just posting two sentences and ending my post, unless I'm encouraged to write to my full abilities. Let's be honest. There is a set kind of herd mentality as to how one should post. . .and most follow a certain train of thought, set by well-known members, in threads.

I'm not calling for a forum like that again; it's just interesting to me that in general, the level of quality at OB is, in my opinion, dropping, for various reasons. One of the main being that there's just this cliqueishness currently, to the whole thing; I don't know, as much as Aaryana Mom seems like a neat gal. . .I find it kind of weird that she's twice, even 2.5 times higher in age then most OB members. . .This is quite odd and weird to me. I feel like I'm being watched by a mother. . .and everyone accepts this, at a messageboard of mostly 20-somethings or younger? Everyone respects her because she posts wisely; well I think if I was forty I would too, and in fact I think I post intelligently already but it's usually over most peoples' heads, which is fine by me (all the more fun for me).

I think we need to reevaluate what OB is, and especially, slacken on the rules a bit, and actually actively explicate just [i]what[/i] the rules are any more. Also the modship needs to lessen; it's just teeming with superfluousome persons currently, because you just don't need that many mods when it's not that hard to mod a forum since in the first place you're a mod here because you're here often, so you don't need so many mods to do the work of what half or a quarter of the amount there is now could do. Also I think we need to learn to treat our members nicer. . .there was this thread where Shy basically told a member off. . .and at times we're quite mean to less-known members. For example, in my position, I am never too harsh on newer members. . .older ones, of course, and more well-known ones, of course--because they deserve it. . .:p

So I think we need to consider these things. There is just something inherently wrong at this message board and I'm just straight-up asking for an approach or a formulation of how to improve the quality of OB, and to make it not function so wrongly.

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]What is [B]Otakuboards[/B]? Home away from home. The place I reside on the internet. It is a community full of every type of person, some types in excess, lol. OB is a place where we talk about **** and we talk for real. It's not that we always take it seriously, but we talk honestly and give a real, meaningful opinion. That'swaht makes OB so great - it's a community that begs you to lay everything out on the table and let us all see each other for real.

It's a place full of the people I know. I know some better than others - some are more reserved or just haven't been around long enough to show themselves, but eventually we all get to know each other.

To me, Otakuboards is in every post we make, and every thread we create. It is the drama of [B]the Panopticon Underground[/B], the conflict of the [B]Otaku Lounge[/B], the remniscnce of the [B]Entertainment [/B]boards, the silly goofing-off os me PMing [B]Premonition[/B], the personal talks with [B]Fyxe[/B], the serious discussions with [B]Indifference[/B], the holy crap that was weird messages from [B]Raiha[/B], and so many more.

It is the essay-length posts of [B]Mitch [/B]and [B]Allamorph[/B], the sarcastic humor of [B]Sara [/B]and [B]DeathKnight[/B], the one-liners of [B]DeadSeraphim [/B]and [B]Charles[/B], the kind remarks of [B]BKStyles [/B]and [B]Aaryana and her mum[/B], the relationships that spring up all over like [B]Rachmaninoff [/B]and [B]SunfallE[/B], the brilliant stories of[B] Dragon_Warrior[/B], the crappy stories of [B]Premonition [/B]and [B]Naruto [/B]fanfic-writers.

It's [B]The Boss [/B]telling me what it means to be cool, [B]Dagger [/B]and [B]Desbreko [/B]talking to me about anime and giving me name changes every couple months; it's the troupe of crappy posters who I have taken as my eternal slaves, the commandeering of music threads by myself and [B]Jakehammaren[/B], seeing my RPs come to life at the hands of talented role-players like [B]Darren [/B]and [B]Wet_Cement[/B], and seeing the amazing artwork of people like [B]Delta [/B]and [B]Jigglyness[/B].

Otakuboards is Otakuboards, through and through. How you feel about it is up to you - I know I wouldn't have it any other way.[/COLOR]

[Nomurah!]

[B][COLOR="HotPink"]What is this....OB? Opinionated, by Hunter himself.

OB is the best forum ever.

OB is a place for fun.

OB is a place to meet cool new people.

OB is a place where we have great mods, and great members.

OB is a place of arguments and debates.

OB is a place where you can hate a member and secretly look up to them at the same time.

OB is a place for such things as Anime, Manga, Books, Music, and telivision.

OB is fun.

OB is awesome.

OB is a place where you have alot of weird fan-clubs.

OB is a place where you have such clubs as the Desbreko fan club.

OB is a place where I can assasinate people in an awesome RPG created by Josh and Charles.

OB is a place where Nomura roams free, being an idiot.

That's what OB is.

Yahr.[/COLOR][/B]

[Retribution]

[quote name='Copycatalyst']Well, I understand the implication of the need for mods. In my opinion though there's too many mods at OB. When mods are deleting my posts whom are meant to mod a differing forum this is quite obvious lol. Further it seems to me that now the rules are lessening. . .yet magically. For example there was the recent Fish thread where Tony and I brought to question why it hadn't been closed. . .yet many threads before had been deleted that were "intro threads." James magically said it was okay to have intro threads, apparently.[/QUOTE]
[size=1]Each forum has a certain number of mods that's more or less proportionate to its activity. I agree that we probably have too many in that some don't do anything. As for the rule thing, I really don't know. I'm having growing pains trying to learn the new system and accommodate James' vision.

[QUOTE]...or I post, and it's apparently of too high writing quality to be read[/QUOTE]
Don't flatter yourself, friend. :p

[QUOTE]I'm not calling for a forum like that again; it's just interesting to me that in general, the level of quality at OB is, in my opinion, dropping, for various reasons.[/QUOTE]
I find it ironic you were ardently supporting Charles' RPG if you are of this opinion.

[QUOTE]I feel like I'm being watched by a mother. . .and everyone accepts this, at a messageboard of mostly 20-somethings or younger? Everyone respects her because she posts wisely; well I think if I was forty I would too, and in fact I think I post intelligently already but it's usually over most peoples' heads, which is fine by me (all the more fun for me).[/QUOTE]
If you want to challenge her, feel free. But she's not some Big Brother figure either, heh.

[QUOTE]I think we need to reevaluate what OB is, and especially, slacken on the rules a bit, and actually actively explicate just [i]what[/i] the rules are any more. Also the modship needs to lessen; it's just teeming with superfluousome persons currently, because you just don't need that many mods when it's not that hard to mod a forum since in the first place you're a mod here because you're here often, so you don't need so many mods to do the work of what half or a quarter of the amount there is now could do. Also I think we need to learn to treat our members nicer. . .there was this thread where Shy basically told a member off. . .and at times we're quite mean to less-known members. For example, in my position, I am never too harsh on newer members. . .older ones, of course, and more well-known ones, of course--because they deserve it. . .:p[/QUOTE]
I agree with you more or less. I think OB is going through a transition period from one version to the next, modification of rules, rearranging of forums, etc. You have to understand that during these times, things aren't going to move like clockwork and we need membership feedback to make this place better. Don't worry, most of the kinks will be ironed out in a bit.[/size]

[eleanor]

[quote name='Copycatalyst']
Also I think we need to learn to treat our members nicer. . .there was this thread where Shy basically told a member off. . .and at times we're quite mean to less-known members. For example, in my position, I am never too harsh on newer members. . .older ones, of course, and more well-known ones, of course--because they deserve it. . .:p[/QUOTE]

[color=dimgray] That is a point. OB has been sort of off-putting to some, and it's probably not fun for a new member to be mocked or put down by famous or well-loved members. I just recently got a PM from a new member that was already afraid of suggesting new ideas, which is pretty sad.

The fact that OB strives to be a quality forum in terms of substance makes it inevitable that cliques be formed, be it the smart people or the oldies or whatever. It's best to just ignore it, since I think this has pretty much always been OB works, and it's not always bad. [/color]

[Aberinkula]

[COLOR=navy]What is OB? Well OB is great, but now, I just don't know.[/COLOR]

[quote name='James']If some of the attitudes I've seen lately don't improve - from multiple members - I'm really not going to hesitate to block several people from OB. In all honesty, it's just not worth the hassle if some of you can't be respectful of one another - there's no room for that crap on OB and I've put up with it for long enough.[/quote]

[COLOR=navy]Personally I'm starting to get afraid of posting myself. I feel that one of those members may be me. Despite me never really meeting [B]James[/B], I respect him. So if I'm one of those members I don't want to disappoint him.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=navy]But OB is a place for fun, and we have had fun. But I kind of feel like I shouldn't be here, I don't know why though. So for me OB is great, but I don't feel welcome.[/COLOR]

[conpiracymonki]

[size=1]I cant really comment because I generally only ever visit this one section of the boards now but it feels like there arent as many new members posting anymore. By new, I mean 'new new'. I'm sure most of the members I dont know have screennames that were familiar 6 months ago too, so I wouldnt really consider them fresh blood.

The clique-ishness has always been around. I'm more curious about how members interact with one another now. Before, members would hold huge AIM chatrooms and most of the OB 'socialising' would go on in AIM behind the scenes, and then we had Blogger and myO and whatnot. Some of us would even phone each other and send one another mail or even meet up in real life.

I know the older members have kinda expectedly grown apart, but do the newer/new members still do all this kinda stuff? I'm kinda getting the vibe they dont, but I honestly wouldnt have a clue.[/size]

[James]

[color=#606060]I pretty much agree with Mitch in the sense that OB is in the eyes of the beholder. If you want an issue to peddle and you see OB as a "police state", that's what you see. If you're here for fun and not to troll...chances are, you'll have fun. It's pretty much what you make it.

I think we have a trend at times where some members ironically call for higher quality while simultaneously telling us that quality standards are too high. In reality, we can never - and will never - be able to please everyone; especially those who just want to have a good argument. That's life. That's just how things are I guess.

I think Mitch's advice about "treating members nicer" is something he and pretty much everyone should remember. That includes being respectful of others and dealing with issues or disagreements in a reasonable manner. You can't claim that new members are scared to post (implying it's something to do with the way the site is set up) and then post endless paragraphs of vague and insulting tripe which itself is probably what's scaring new members more than anything else, lol.

So yeah. To make a long story short...I think [i]everyone[/i] should remember that principle of treating others with respect and if you can't say something pleasant, don't say anything at all (or at least be constructive in what you say!) If everyone tries to stick to that simple idea, we'll all be able to get on with our fun (whatever brand of fun that may be). :catgirl:[/color]

[Guest Copycatalyst]

Holy Jehsus, yeah, I'm afraid to post too. Oh wait. I just did post. Damnit, contradicting and stuffs. :D

Hehe.

Yeah. . .Well the thing is James, OB is simultaneously a police state, a nerdsy place, a drama place, and in the end, it amounts to this. It is everything, every single perspective to me. That's what makes it the sex.

[James]

[color=#606060]Yeah, something like that.

Anyway, as I said, as long as everyone can treat each other well there's really no need for any major issues. I think it's easy to forget that.

I'll tell you one thing I sometimes dislike about OB though: we are a very introspective community. We constantly have threads about our experiences here and our history.

That stuff is all great for Otakupedia...but often I wish we would focus on building [i]new[/i] history, rather than frequenty reliving the past. I'm all for nostalgia (I did encourage Otakupedia afterall and I'm very happy about it), but what I really love to see are new concepts and ideas...new artwork, new stories, new everything really.

This is why I'm very open to new suggestions and it's why a lot of site elements have changed lately. It's good to keep things fresh and to continually think of new ideas. I just wish I had the time to put together some of my more recent RPG concepts... [/color]

[Gavin]

[quote name='AJeh'][size=1]I cant really comment because I generally only ever visit this one section of the boards now but it feels like there arent as many new members posting anymore. By new, I mean 'new new'. I'm sure most of the members I dont know have screennames that were familiar 6 months ago too, so I wouldnt really consider them fresh blood.

The clique-ishness has always been around. I'm more curious about how members interact with one another now. Before, members would hold huge AIM chatrooms and most of the OB 'socialising' would go on in AIM behind the scenes, and then we had Blogger and myO and whatnot. Some of us would even phone each other and send one another mail or even meet up in real life.

I know the older members have kinda expectedly grown apart, but do the newer/new members still do all this kinda stuff? I'm kinda getting the vibe they dont, but I honestly wouldnt have a clue.[/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]I actually miss those massive AIM chats, it was always a lot more fun just chatting to people in a kind of relaxed atmosphere and laughing at some of the random things that would occur. MyO seems to have lost most of it's hype, at least compared to it's introduction when everyone and their mum had a MyO.

[b][Edit][/b] To actually answer the topic, for me, OB has always seemed like the home of my extended family, where I talk with people I've known for the last five and a bit years, or less and have fun doing stuff I don't do in real life, like writing stories for fun. It's a lot more than just a collection of forums with recurring familiar users. [/SIZE]

[James]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]I actually miss those massive AIM chats, it was always a lot more fun just chatting to people in a kind of relaxed atmosphere and laughing at some of the random things that would occur. MyO seems to have lost most of it's hype, at least compared to it's introduction when everyone and their mum had a MyO.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[color=#606060]I think there are more people now with myOs than before...it's just that most of them aren't on OB. It's a little weird in that way, hehe.

I miss the AIM chats too. Maybe we should think about putting another one together, yes? ~_^[/color]

[Guest Copycatalyst]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]I actually miss those massive AIM chats, it was always a lot more fun just chatting to people in a kind of relaxed atmosphere and laughing at some of the random things that would occur. MyO seems to have lost most of it's hype, at least compared to it's introduction when everyone and their mum had a MyO.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Yeah. . .this is an idea I presented to Charles. We should make it a point to have official AIM chats again. Those were the dog's bark, the chemical's molecule, the laughing's cackle, the banana's peel, the mom's dad. We need to do that again, and officially, and such--meaning, announce it on OB and have a set time where we can chat together.

[desertphoenix]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR=navy]What is OB? Well OB is great, but now, I just don't know.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=navy]Personally I'm starting to get afraid of posting myself. I feel that one of those members may be me. Despite me never really meeting [B]James[/B], I respect him. So if I'm one of those members I don't want to disappoint him.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=navy]But OB is a place for fun, and we have had fun. But I kind of feel like I shouldn't be here, I don't know why though. So for me OB is great, but I don't feel welcome.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkRed"][FONT="Verdana"]I thought I was the only one who felt that way. There is not a single word in what you just said that I don't agree with. Well, maybe the James mention. I don't know him too well or his impression of me.

As for as being accepted goes, I never felt I've belonged anywhere. All my friends are pretty much not connected to me anymore. I've figured that out when I had to watch Pirates 3 by myself. And lastly, I have very terrible people skills. I don't think it's mild autism, I think it's just me. No matter were I've been, whether it was a bus, school, online, I've always felt like the scoundrel. So this is why I stay here. As weird as it may seem, I'd rather be in a place like this with post standards than a lawless forum. Even with the fear that I would likely be banned for poor post quality or spam, the fear is a goal for me to try to better myself. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]I think there are more people now with myOs than before...it's just that most of them aren't on OB. It's a little weird in that way, hehe.[/color][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Yeah, that's kind of what I meant. MyO at the start was a very OB-centric thing and they sort of got impersonal where all the highest views went to people nobody had ever heard of.[/SIZE]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]I miss the AIM chats too. Maybe we should think about putting another one together, yes? ~_^[/color][/QUOTE]

[quote name='Copycatalyst']Yeah. . .this is an idea I presented to Charles. We should make it a point to have official AIM chats again. Those were the dog's bark, the chemical's molecule, the laughing's cackle, the banana's peel, the mom's dad. We need to do that again, and officially, and such--meaning, announce it on OB and have a set time where we can chat together.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]That'd be great, and you two won't get any complaints from me, or any other member or so I'd imagine. The only reason I never do them is I could never get the damn things to work, and I had awful lag.[/SIZE]

[conpiracymonki]

[size=1]
I think having an official chat is [i]just a bit[/i] too forced. Everyone should instead frequently annoy one another and create spontaneous 3-man chats in the hopes that they may unexpectedly grow both in number and fun. And ta-da! AJ's supreme ideas [strike]once again[/strike] save the day.[/size]

[Guest Copycatalyst]

So you're saying you want threesomes. I understand, Ajeh. :p I don't know, having an official chat would still be cool in my book. It's only as forceable as maybe giving birth. Also we need teh silly circus again. Egads.

[2010DigitalBoy]

[quote name='desertphoenix'][COLOR="DarkRed"][FONT="Verdana"]I thought I was the only one who felt that way. There is not a single word in what you just said that I don't agree with. Well, maybe the James mention. I don't know him too well or his impression of me.

As for as being accepted goes, I never felt I've belonged anywhere. All my friends are pretty much not connected to me anymore. I've figured that out when I had to watch Pirates 3 by myself. And lastly, I have very terrible people skills. I don't think it's mild autism, I think it's just me. No matter were I've been, whether it was a bus, school, online, I've always felt like the scoundrel. So this is why I stay here. As weird as it may seem, I'd rather be in a place like this with post standards than a lawless forum. Even with the fear that I would likely be banned for poor post quality or spam, the fear is a goal for me to try to better myself. [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]Awww... you should join my [strike]harem slave-crew army[/strike] club. Basically, most of the members who feel that way are in it :animesmil

Anyway, the number one rule of survival at OB is that if they don't have a modrod, don't do [i]anything[/i] they tell you regardless of how old they are. The mods are respectable, but everyone is is just a jerk if they're looking down on you. Remember, equal rights![/COLOR]

[Nerdsy]

[color=deeppink]Otakuboards is just a silly little message board I post on from time to time. People talk about stuff, (mostly socks), and occasionally some people band together and try to start a revolution.

Also, it's blue.[/color]

[James]

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]Otakuboards is just a silly little message board I post on from time to time. People talk about stuff, (mostly socks), and occasionally some people band together and try to start a revolution.

Also, it's blue.[/color][/QUOTE]


[color=#606060]This post gets my nomination for the Nifty Fifty, whenever that comes around again. :animesmil

The chat doesn't have to be official...it can just be something we do now and then and whoever's online can join in. In the old days it was always just ad-hoc like that I think.[/color]

[Dagger]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]
I'll tell you one thing I sometimes dislike about OB though: we are a very introspective community. We constantly have threads about our experiences here and our history.

That stuff is all great for Otakupedia...[/color][/QUOTE]
[I]So[/I] true. Otakupedia etc.: Good. Needless drama: Bad. I'd go into more detail, but talking about navel-gazing has an insidious way of contributing to the overall level of navel-gazing itself. Sure, the Internet is Serious Business; OB doesn't have to be. :)

~Dagger~

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[quote name='Copycatalyst'] One of the main being that there's just this cliqueishness currently, to the whole thing; I don't know, as much as Aaryana Mom seems like a neat gal. . .I find it kind of weird that she's twice, even 2.5 times higher in age then most OB members. . .This is quite odd and weird to me. I feel like I'm being watched by a mother. . .and everyone accepts this, at a messageboard of mostly 20-somethings or younger? Everyone respects her because she posts wisely; well I think if I was forty I would too, and in fact I think I post intelligently already but it's usually over most peoples' heads, which is fine by me (all the more fun for me). [/QUOTE]Try 49. As for why I'm here? I thought it was obvious. My daughter's a member here as well as some friends from real life. ;) I'm also disabled and for the most part restricted to staying at home. I can't hold down a job or do a lot of the things I use to.

So I'm here since I find it interesting. Not to actually watch anyone. Though on some level I do watch my daughter's online activities. One would hope that all parents do that. Perhaps not as much as I do, though that only happens here. I do not visit any other site she is a part of.

But one thing I do not do is sit around watching others here, other than to read their posts in topics I find interesting. And I do enjoy the rpg aspect. Though I'm not into video games at all.

As for the topic? OB seems more like a community to me. With the younger members, the 20 somethings and those others who are a little older. Along with drama and silliness thrown in there. All of it coming together in a way that's fun.