- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Part 2:
Thus, without further ado, on to the primary issue: the people. Bungie.net is a community, populated by, as the very concept implies, real people. Sure, it’s just the internet, but you wouldn’t be here reading this if it were just a matter of code and browser rendering to you. So, you’ll excuse the melodrama herein.
Now what’s good about people? Nihilists would argue nothing, but it’s more accurate to posit that it is their variety. Therefore, it’s quite unnerving to log on to today’s Bungie.net and witness a horde of thoughtless drones regurgitating the same old “ideas to help the community” nonsense, or the ancient “you’ve got the wrong forum” mantra, with the general objective of, rather sadly, attaining the status of moderator. This is not always the case; occasionally an original idea with some care and thought and real dedication will come along, but said idea will nearly invariably fade out in the light of concepts that require a simple “good idea, boss” response and no real commitment nor consideration. Likewise, the odd selfless user whose intent is to genuinely help out can arrive, but is usually the first to be picked off by the “wannabe moderator” cliché. And so we have our “Marathon fans”, much like sports hooligans, who use their “passion” as an excuse for snobbery and violence respectively.
The community can be crudely divided up into a number of groups of very similar personalities, comprising of members who tend to “inhabit” a certain territory, such as a single forum. Firstly, and prevalently, there are the masses – those who don’t really give a stuff about all this online socialising malarkey and are content to log on, post to find out information, and generally neglect rules of netiquette. These people are nearly always dubbed “the morons” by those long-term users who’re so vastly superior; justifiably, too, in many cases, though crucially not always. The current community is quite happy to stay in its ways and rejects new blood.
Next up for scrutiny are the “commoners” of Bungie.net, those who frequent the fast-paced forums and get involved with a select few in their own little way. These, too, are often dubbed idiots by the hierarchy, and occupy environments such as New Mombasa, Optimatch, and the Flood. Those of the former two tend to want to discuss Halo and nothing much else; the latter party wants to discuss pretty much everything else, and usually descends to socialising informally. The boundary between these masses and “commoners” often blurs, but for the sake of argument, let us assume that the “commoners” frequent Bungie.net, whereas the masses do not.
This leaves us with the minority. The column-goers often keep themselves to themselves and rarely stray outside their groups, unless a need for recruitment calls. At one point this group was considerably larger, but in the absence of an appealing column, its current state prevails. Finally, to maintain this metaphor, we have the “upper class” and the “aristocracy”. These are difficult to distinguish between as their members can blur. Generally, the upper class offers a better quality of posting, with thought and effort evident in their endeavours, subjects ranging from Halo to Myth to the community, and they are not necessarily snobbish about this fact. They make friends with each other, occasionally with column-dwellers or commoners, but generally keep themselves to themselves. Most of these people become the drones. They lose their purpose in the crowd, they converge to a single forum - usually the Septagon – and they start to think that damn, those ninjas are cool!
The aristocracy is a different affair. The upper class won’t become moderators, though they think it cool – they don’t have the connections. At the apex of the hierarchy, however, the story is different. The aristocracy behave however they will. Abuse of those they deem to be lesser? That’s okay; their friends have got their back, since those morons really are thick. The majority of these people desire power more than anyone. They’re conniving, with intricate plans to weasel their way up the social chain. A little arse-kissing there, a lot of false friendliness there, a little addition on Instant Messenger, and a friendship is forged. This new ally, with enough prodding, can open up a network of established contacts. The next thing they know, they’re playing Halo 2 with Bungie themselves, and a mod offer is waiting in their PM inbox!
This deceitfulness, not the moronic proletariat, is the stem of rot. Because, make no mistake, ninjas are now picked on connections and connections alone. Formerly, the requirements to take on the ultimate responsibility included the augmenting of the community in some significant manner, and ostensibly this is still the case. Furthermore, the initial batches of moderators actually used their powers to make things happen, such as contests. Once the aristocracy achieve their status, however, it’s an ego trip of a lifetime. Just a lock or two here, a swift posting of an old cliché that they know the junior aristocrats will adore, and the self-centric expansion is completed. It’s bad enough that this is the case, but it is compounded by that a large number of the moderators are teenagers and not legal adults. If they’re responsible enough to moderate Bungie.net, which again with most of them I dispute, then choosing the right people is something that requires judgment a little deeper. They’re just going to pick their friends even if there’s no real malice behind it and they do honestly believe they’re making the right choice; but of course, since they are moderators, their opinion is given that little bit more validity. The façade is continued by the common “humour” – that is to say, the platitudes told time and time again, long after the effect has worn off. Bungie.net has long ceased to amuse in the conventional sense because everyone is so afraid to dodge the stereotypes. Plus, there are legions of people who respond to what moderators say and nothing else, trying to keep up a bad joke time and time again. And some opinions are common throughout the entire site, oddly.
I have an example.
Consider The Frozen Minority, a group of people initially from the community hub known as the Bungie Jumpers. The more exclusive – aristocratic, if you will – of these separated from the main congregation to form their own little haven, complete with some public forum moderators.
Have these people ever contributed anything to the wider community? Well, yes, one or two did. Of course, the real work behind their sole project (the Bathroom Reader) is done by those who lack such high statuses. But, for the most part, no, they haven’t. In fact, their actions have even been detrimental towards others. Not too long ago, their troupe embarked on a number of rampages throughout mainly the Halo 3 forum, where they took full advantage of the uninformed masses and/or commoners and had significant fun at their expense. Granted, they’re not the only ones to have done this, but their intentions were malicious and their moderator friends turned a blind eye. Again, they were having fun and a bit of fun isn’t a bad thing, but these people have no idea when to stop, and those of dignity who are aware of their actions – the respectable GameJunkieJim, say – are powerless to stop them without in some way endangering their relationship.