- prometheus25
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- Exalted Mythic Member
Old school Bungie, born and raised,
In the Septagon is where I spend most of my days.
Relaxin', maxin', posting all cool,
Talking about Halo, life and some school.
Got in one little argument, and the mods got scared,
they said "You're gonna get banned and your member title'll be bare!"
This whole ordeal reminds me of a story I once read. Went something like this...
The Earth was old and grey, to start off quoting Queen. Humanity was booming! Production capability peaked and resources were being mined out of the deepest mines.
But this was a problem.
You see, no matter how far they pushed production or resource gathering, population growth would still outpace what humanity could deliver. You can see where this is going.
All the great powers of the world gathered. A solution was needed, and fast. Euthenasia, reproduction limits, forced war... Lots of ideas were tossed around, but nothing would solve the problem permanently.
Finally, a conclusion was reached. The bounds that kept Humanity on Earth had to be broken.
A planet was found. A ship was built. Hundreds of people were chosen.
Technology, though, was not where it needed to be. You see, there was no cryo-sleep, stasis, or what have you. People lived, loved, gave birth, and died for several generations on this great interplanetary journey. The ship provided everything that the people needed. Exercise, food, medicine, entertainment, education. All was given.
Years went by, and the planet drew closer.
Seven generations. That's what it took to get there. Humanity still existed on Earth, but it was a struggle everyday. They were glad, though, for our genes, what made our species, would survive on the new planet and, with luck and faith, flourish.
Finally, the day came when the great ship was to reach the planet. And you know what happened? It kept right on sailing by, into the great void of space!
What happened? Well, you see, it was only the first generation of space travelers that knew, really knew why they, why Humanity, left Earth. Their children had a decent grasp on the concept, as they heard the stories told by their parents of over crowding, struggling, and wanting to feel the sun, long blotted out, on their faces. That would have been sufficient, had they been the generation to arrive at the planet, but they weren't.
Their children's children's great grand children's children were. And all they knew was the spaceship. The spaceship that gave them everything they needed. They didn't know struggle, they didn't know why their ancestors left. And thus, faced with the looming challenges of starting from scratch, they tossed in the towel.
Sound a little familiar? I hope it does, a bit. You see, back in the day, people fought over petty things to prove their opinion was worth something. Join dates, ranks, who they knew. All these were petty.
Thus, member titles were made to help alleviate some of the woes the community faced. Believe me when I say, it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. This concept took a while! It helped members see who has been here a while, whether or not someone's comment was more likely eccentric, out-of-the-box thinking, or just simply luring people in to argument.
Believe me, it did help.
But now, "many generations later," many of the members might not know about how bad it was, why we had to leave Earth, if you see where my metaphor is going.
Don't take something away on a whim. Trust those that came before you that they acted out of the community's best interest and not malice.
That's all I've got to say.