[QUOTE=Braskeyb; 1562728]I thought I was excited to return to Indy, but the last few times I've checked the board everyone has just been bitching at each other.
Before I left 3 1/2 years ago, there was the occasional flair up, but nothing like this. It's the same guys too. WTF happened?[/QUOTE]Can we just note here, without prejudice, that immediately afterwards you gave us a paragraph detailing your take on everything? That's what happens. It's amazing, or amusing, to note how often it is that the guy who says "Can we get back to the purpose of the board" was either in the middle of the previous spat, or will be in the middle of the next one.
And your opinion was thoughtful and valid. Most are, to whatever degree. It's not the disagreements, which are healthy and vital, but the immediate offense taken at having one's opinion challenged, the confusion of English with a mallet and the related delusion that one can cudgel one's opponent's brains out via Wi-Fi.
What happened? Well, edotcom died, another victim of the big-city police. The slow migration, or coagulation, around other, inferior sites, has taken time, and that time coincided with the Super Bowl, and its influx of anti-sex brigades, flying nun battalions (armed with message soap!) , and other tax-exempt, licensed beggars the headline writers take note of. Lots of people ducked for cover. Wisely. Lots of insiders (I'm not one) thought it prudent to talk among themselves. Lots of younger posters (I'm not one of those, either) don't even remember the previous status quo. Indianapolis, never a CL town, became a BP town by default. The internet is one big game of Telephone. Here, just like everywhere else. Just like life.
What happened? Well, I don't blame you for not wading through it. I haven't either. Which is why I can tell you what the forest looks like, but not who pissed on what tree. Freckle Freak wrote a bad report."Scathing" I believe is the correct word. Were I his counsel I'd have advised him to savor the fire he put in the thing, then tear it up and rewrite it for public consumption. I'm not. Here, and elsewhere, others objected. As is their right. And, as usual, most of the objections preferred divining the quality of his innermost life to a calm discussion of his words.
There is, at the bottom of this, the serious question of the report / review process. There are serious reasons the average reader will suspect that bad reviews are filled with venom and good reviews infused with poppy. Regardless of the truth here, that problem isn't improved by the fact that so many people feel obligated to make sure the world is informed of their attitude about the thing.
And yeah, I'm one of 'them.