Well can't say I'm surprised at this response and I this is pretty much what I expected. I think that many people feel this way and I'm sorry that you happen to be in the line of fire. I feel very strongly in the points I have addressed and I will defend them as necessary. To make this easier on everyone I think that I will try and split this up into smaller parts.

Lets start with your first comment:

Okay, I'm having trouble figuring out exactly where to start here as there are so many things wrong with this. I wouldn't go as far as to call this forum a shitshow, but it isn't at it's peak for sure. I have stated and acknowledged the fact that there are a decent amount of scammers and shitposters on here in the section you refer to, however my point is that there is abuse and a lot of the problem is constantly feeling tags are justified. I don't wish to restate my entire argument regarding this part of my post but that's the attitude and mentality that is harmful to hold on to. Would it really be the Wild West without DT users tagging people? There are a lot of preconceived opinions here that seem to be shared with a lot of the veteran members and I think it's important to realize that they don't have to hold true.

In reference to my section on the attitude towards new members:

I already acknowledge the fact that the majority of newcomers are in-fact spammers and join here with mal intent, but that is because of this attitude. Any newcomer who comes with good intentions seems to be shut down and they leave as soon as they realize that they won't ever make it anywhere. I'm sure it's annoying and I see your frustration, but it's importance to have patience. Well from your comment about "golden users" I can't help but feel the analogy to the "golden age", which seems to be your thought. Yes this forum has had better times (and these are the times in which these users actually exist), but that doesn't really translate to right now. I'm sure many users would be happy to stay if given a real chance, but they aren't. I realize you may not be able to see the rank disparity as you are on the other side of the spectrum, but it very well exists. But you are right on one note, which I also already addressed in the post: the rank is not the problem, it's the attitude and entitlement that's the problem. If your response isn't enough proof for this, then I don't know what is. And no it's not fair to blame "peoples intensions" as that is largely opinionated and usually ill-conceived. As I have said before, yes there are people who shouldn't be trusted, but it's unfair to look at everyone that way. Although I could probably point out more issues here, I'll move on as I think I've made my point.

Your next point:
Still nothing new here, I said lack of updates and integration specifically because I know there is stuff that could be added, but it hasn't been yet. If it's finished then it should be implemented, you seem to realize that there is probably resistance around this. The most irksome part here is your assumption that "constant updates" are pointless. Updates are necessary and absolutely not pointless at all, updates improve things and motivates forward thinking. Your last sentence I think is the sad part that is one of the main reasons nothing is ever really done: "the forum will move anyways so why change anything". You need to accept the fact that it won't change if everyone thinks this way, it's the bystanders fallacy. Someone has to realize that at some point and take action on it.

The last part cracks me up a bit as I think this really drives home my point about entitlement and distrust in general:


I'm sure your natural response was to instantly look at my post history which is fine, but it really doesn't have any relevance to my argument. Again it feels like people always need something more in order to validate themselves when in reality it plays not part. And to answer your question, no nothing changed. I have had these thoughts for a lot time and decided to share them, in no way did my opinion on anything change. It seems as though you didn't bother to read most of my post, which I'm not surprised by but it makes me a little frustrated. I listed numerous ways the problem could be helped which you seemed to miss, but I think my main point was that our attitude towards other forum members must change. We need to stop blaming our problems on external factors. And yes, none of these things are really all that new, they have been around forever and that is exactly the problem. The fact that none of this is new is the most concerning part, we have known this for a while but no one is doing anything. I made this as a way to spark a discussion on these topics so we could come up with a solution.

Hopefully this response will help stop a lot of similar stuff in the future as I'm sure there are a lot of others with a similar opinion. I hope that future comments can be more constructive instead of "nothing new to see here" and the restating of my points. Again another reminder to read my post more thoroughly before posting out of outrage at the first controversial point.