- Trey_Garner
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The Seventh Column demands it.
Posted by: x Foman123 x
Mob mentality, my friend.
The speed with which threads fill up and/or disappear in the Halo 3 Forum increases the poster's sense of panic that his or her well-thought-out, intelligent, and proofed reply, begun when there were zero replies, will be buried on the second or third page of the thread by the time he or she finishes. Just as bad, a well-thought-out, intelligent, and proofed reply quite often ends up on the second or third page of the forum within a matter of 4 or 5 minutes, unheeded and unread even by those who would intelligently respond in return.
Moreover, the prevalence of "TLDR" posts or general flames for no good reason increases the poster's inherent and easily upsettable worry that an intelligent, well-written reply will be met with insolence and sometimes outright hatred.
Another point for your consideration: the lack of quality original posts in the Halo 3 Forum, itself a product of the above two factors, acts as a catalyst for the behavior you have pointed out. It's much harder to look like a moron if your one-liner flaming reply is in response to a moronic original post rather than an intelligent, well-written one. This, of course, is what we call a classic "vicious cycle."
These factors, combined in a perfect storm of cacophony and mayhem that we call the Halo 3 Forum, are not conducive to intelligent discussion. Until we can consciously (or, at the very least, subconsciously) put together an effort to change the Halo 3 Forum culture, you will continue to notice this behavior. And, being the friendly guy I am, I will give you the well-founded advice of seeking out intelligent Halo 3 discussion elsewhere. Private groups on BNet are an excellent place, as discussions tend to be more focused (MBT for strategy, CI for Halo universe and storyline discussions, etc.) and move at a slower but much more interesting and intelligent pace.
Sadly, he is right. The ignorance on this board is baffling, but I still type my essay-legnth threads anyways. =/