Personally to Jarulf

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

2 - (a large chunk of people that actually signed onto the board within about 2-3 months of me...there are a few older members in here though) - seems to be a mixture of good people and really flame happy people... none of us seem to really have been accepted by the first group though (for the most part....there are a few who seem slightly accepted).

THIS version of the Lurker Lounge forums was instituted on February, 2003. The forum ITSELF is only 3 months old. I find your "conclusions" quite amusing, seeing as you seem to be basing them on Join dates.

Even if you go into the previous Forum site, the "Join dates" are irrelevant, for there are several that were caught by a member flush of sorts and had to reapply their nicknames (including several of the "Charter Members"). Thus, you had Lurkers who had frequented the boards for years, suddenly appearing to have been there only 2 weeks. This became highly amusing when a newbie, not able to discern veteran from rookie, started handing out spankings to a respected name. "Embarassing" didn't begin to cover describing the result.

Then, even if you had a definitive "join date", on the original forum... you'd STILL have to take into account that they most likely had been "lurking" for some time before actually registering. I, myself, lurked for almost 6 months before actually registering my nickname.

Thus, your "Group 2" is a mistake... and based on false assumptions. Not to mention your separation of the "good people" and the "flame happy" people. In my experiences (and I have the battle scars to prove it), they tend to be one in the same. There are always exceptions, of course.

"Isolation and Stagnation". Sorry, I don't buy into this. This is a forum with voluntarily participation. There are names that don't say "boo" for months that still hold MUCH respect for their history. Personally, I think your assumption of "Stagnation" is based upon the fact that people aren't jumping in where you believe they should be. It's a fact that topics have been beaten to death with a rock in the past. When they're raised again, several of the previous participants will just roll their eyes and move onto the next topic. Some might point to links for previous discussion.

Trolling? I think Elric's Etiquette page speaks volumes on this one: Don't accuse regulars of being trolls. If they really were trolls... would they really still be regulars?

Flaming? Definitely. However, the flaming usually comes after 1 of 2 situations:

1. Newbie decides that he has a superiority complex and doesn't need to heed suggestions.
2. Newbie suggests that the unheeded suggestions (and this included FAQ and Etiquette) are bullshyte.

Either one of those will definitely get you a dozen targetting computers locked on your arse.