NeoGAF is down after the site owner was accused of sexual harassment/assault.

[Papenbrook]

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2017/10/21/neogaf-imploding-amidst-evilore-sexual-assault-allegations/

It's unreal.

[sdp]

That was the last "big" traditional forum left and even before this it was already going down, it really is the death of message boards.

Gaf hadn't been any good since the early 2010's though, and it's rather poetic that this authoritarian forum go out being guilty of the very thing it blamed everyone else on being.

Good memories from the 00's and even early 2010s though but all forums die.

[Powder]

Wow, wild month for this kind of news.

[Sumac]

Wow, wild month for this kind of news.
It's not like it is a first accusation against administrator of said forum.
But it's a first one, where he and his staff were unable to get this **** under the rug.

Apparently, his moderators either were disgusted enough or were just tired of covering his ass and collectively bailed out.

One way or the other, it's one less influential hypocrite.

And it's not like that forum was good either - it was basically like any other gaming community, constant hatred and whining, just about everything. The only difference, that it had a heavy dosage of "keyboard-progressives" lunatics and extremely biased moderators.

[TigerClaw]

The times are changing, people are now being outed over sexual harassment claims, I sense a huge change in policy at the workplace from now and ever.

Don't be surprise when you hear about more claims in some unsuspecting places.

[Spike Spiegel]

People need to learn how not to sh*t where they eat.

[The Deadman]

NeoGAF was a trash fire, I've seen a lot of screencaps on social media of people being banned on that site just for a difference of opinion, on anything.

[Cure]

People need to learn how not to sh*t where they eat.

Or, you know. Not be sexual predators in the first place.

[CyberCubed]

I'd been lurking neogaf since 2012 because IGN isn't very active anymore and I needed a place to go to read constant new gaming news. I had an account there but only lasted 3 weeks before I got permabanned. :lol:

But I still lurked there for 5 years from 2012-2017. The whole site literally imploded upon itself. I was there yesterday when it happened, the entire mod staff was de-modded and the owner of the site "evillore" was accused of sexually assaulting women both recently and in the past. The site was in chaos after that, and then they just shut it down.

The weird thing is it was one of the most active gaming forums on the internet. IGN is like a barren wasteland now, and unless you want to step into gamefaqs or /v/ (lol), there's not really any other places to discuss games much anymore.

[The Deadman]

I'd been lurking neogaf since 2012 because IGN isn't very active anymore and I needed a place to go to read constant new gaming news. I had an account there but only lasted 3 weeks before I got permabanned. :lol:

But I still lurked there for 5 years from 2012-2017. The whole site literally imploded upon itself. I was there yesterday when it happened, the entire mod staff was de-modded and the owner of the site "evillore" was accused of sexually assaulting women both recently and in the past. The site was in chaos after that, and then they just shut it down.

The weird thing is it was one of the most active gaming forums on the internet. IGN is like a barren wasteland now, and unless you want to step into gamefaqs or /v/ (lol), there's not really any other places to discuss games much anymore.

The entire mod team actually "walked out", so to speak.

[CyberCubed]

Yeah, they all left so as not to be associated with it. I can't see neogaf being brought back with a new owner either, the brand is toxic now. It's the death of the last big gaming forum, plus tons of developers and people in the industry posted there too.

IGN is all that's left now, besides as I said gamefaqs or smaller forum for individual franchises/games. Either that or you have to go to reddit, meh.

[sdp]

NeoGaf was a toxic brand for quite a while now, developers hated them as well as the majority of the gamer comminities. They just lived in their bubble thinking they were still the liked elite community because of their past but look at all the places like tumblr, gamefaqs, somethingawful etc telling refugees to gtfo and they aren't welcome. Developers didn't really post there anymore like the did back in the day since they knew all they did was whine and call them names.

They are just now facing the reality that everyone hated that place and its existence and since that hugbox of NeoGAF of banning anyone who didn't think like they did and erasing any evidence against the site you had all these users who thought the real world worked different than it did, and now that they see that the communities' owner was what they thought they were fighting against they have no place to go since their place is tainted and no other place wants them.

I actually think not being banned from there should be seen as a warning of the user you are :lol: Good memories from that place but just like most couldn't be more glad that its dead as well as its toxicity.

[CyberCubed]

Where do you guys go for gaming news/forums now? All I have left is IGN which I've been at since 1997.

Gamefaqs forums are filled with too many young teenagers/trolls, it's only good for discussion of some individual games and the faqs themselves. You can't discuss anything legitimately on 4chan and the only alternatives now is reddit which I find awful to read or just social media.

I know there are several smaller gaming forums for individual franchises and stuff like that, but I can't think of any other big gaming boards anymore.

[Prowler]

Where do you guys go for gaming news/forums now? All I have left is IGN which I've been at since 1997.

1997? Wasn't it called N64.com back then? How did IGN go from a N64 website to a full blown gaming website?

I get my gaming news from video game related threads and sections in different forums, including this one. usually when big news come a thread is made or someone shares a link with that info in a thread.

I don't bother reading official reviews of videogames anymore. i just ask people I trust who are into those games for their thoughts on them. I also don't buy or read gaming magazines anymore, unless my brother happens to buy the latest edition of Edge. That mag is always worth a read.

[sdp]

I stopped using IGN during the gamecube era, when they introduced the paid IGNinsider. I get most of my news from Twitter, I don't follow gaming sites but a few people who retweet the articles that I'd be interested in so my content is already curated.

Having a place to discuss? I just use the drome or venture to /v/ or /vr/ if I want more discussion, forums are a dying medium as we've gone through in two other threads, I wish there were as many places as 10 or 15 years ago but the world has moved on from message boards.

[PApagreg]

Where do you guys go for gaming news/forums now? All I have left is IGN which I've been at since 1997.


I personally go to the escapist, also sucks what happened to Neogaf I enjoyed the Toonami community over there

[Prowler]

I stopped using IGN during the gamecube era, when they introduced the paid IGNinsider. I get most of my news from Twitter, I don't follow gaming sites but a few people who retweet the articles that I'd be interested in so my content is already curated.


It's kinda mindblowing that you once had to purchase a monthly plaid subscription on IGN in order to be able to quote or post images on IGN forums.

IGNinsider still exists but I don't think many people subscribe to it anymore.

[CyberCubed]

Man, that takes me back. I remember when IGN made almost all their boards subscription only, I think that only lasted for a year though. All the boards were made free again after everyone complained.

IGN was heavily active during the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era. All the gaming boards had tons of new threads and posted, and then The Vestibule and all the individual gaming boards like the Zelda board, Pokemon board, Resident Evil board, had tons of activity.

It was sometime around 2010, the late PS3/360 and Wii era, that IGN's activity started to decline. Over the last 7 years IGN has become a ghost town. There's still new threads every day of course, but it's a shadow of what it once was. I think it was the rise of social media in the late 2000's that killed off IGN.

What a shame. I have so much fond memories of a teenager on IGN and how active the boards were from 2000-2010 or so. I reached 100,000 posts on IGN way back in 2006. That was over 10 years ago now.

[Prowler]

Man, that takes me back. I remember when IGN made almost all their boards subscription only, I think that only lasted for a year though. All the boards were made free again after everyone complained.

IGN was heavily active during the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era. All the gaming boards had tons of new threads and posted, and then The Vestibule and all the individual gaming boards like the Zelda board, Pokemon board, Resident Evil board, had tons of activity.

It was sometime around 2010, the late PS3/360 and Wii era, that IGN's activity started to decline. Over the last 7 years IGN has become a ghost town. There's still new threads every day of course, but it's a shadow of what it once was. I think it was the rise of social media in the late 2000's that killed off IGN.

What a shame. I have so much fond memories of a teenager on IGN and how active the boards were from 2000-2010 or so. I reached 100,000 posts on IGN way back in 2006. That was over 10 years ago now.

What sorta killed the IGN Boards is actually rather simple. I twas a big board update made around 2009 or so when they forced people to log in with their e-mails instead of their usernames or something. A lot of older users already didn't use the e-mails they had used to sing up to IGN originally and thus had to either make new accounts or decided to just say "screw it" and left the forums forever. Also, after that update was made, IGNinsider wasn't really a must have anymore in order to improve your experience with IGN. Anyone could have an icon now, quote other uses, post images, etc.

IGN admins had conducted a survey/poll before enacting this update, so that users could state their position... The "no" won by a landslide. They saw it was a bad idea from the start. yet IGN still did it. basically there really wasn't anything wrong with the boards, but yet IGN insisted on making changes... which ended up doing more harm to tis activity than good. So yeah, whenever I see someone here saying the Drome needs an update I'm like "nonononono". Why fix what isn't broken?

And ofc, social media blowing up around 2010 worldwide plus websites like Reddit being founded also didn't help matters either.

Back then every property had its own sub-forum there. Remember the TMNT one? It was fun discussing the newer 2k3 episodes there.

Next to The Vestibule, GTA and SmackDown had the most active boards iirc. I don't think GTA and SmackDown boards still exist there, though.

The Vestibule is still a quite active board but all I see there these days is everyone trying to act like a political expert.

[Papenbrook]

I just feel bad for all of the victims involved.

My thoughts and condolences are with all of the victims. I wish for their safety, recovery, and well-being. No one deserves to go through that much pain and misery. :(

I also feel sorry for the people who genuinely liked NeoGAF. I imagine that most were unaware of the situation.

Still, they don't deserve to have their website go down.

[Sumac]

Where do you guys go for gaming news/forums now?
That's the question I am trying to solve now.

Most of the NG discussions were shitstain, but they actually were very fast in delivering various news. Now, I guess, I resort to checking some Twitter feeds from sites like IGN and...I dunno.:ohwell:

[Papenbrook]

Wow, wild month for this kind of news.

I imagine that the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #metoo movement inspired many people to come forward to tell/voice/discuss their own experiences with sexual harassment/assault and rape.

Companies might change/update their policies on sexual misconduct, and will probably take the victims more seriously.

[The Deadman]

I personally go to the escapist, also sucks what happened to Neogaf I enjoyed the Toonami community over there

The Escapist is apparently in dire straits at the moment as well, albeit not for the same situation.

[Cure]

Like, there is a huge thing going on right now with sexual harassment all over the place and...the only thing people care to discuss is how ****ing message boards and cartoons like Loud House are affected. Jesus Christ, people.

[Sumac]

Like, there is a huge thing going on right now with sexual harassment all over the place and...the only thing people care to discuss is how ****ing message boards and cartoons like Loud House are affected. Jesus Christ, people.
This topic is specifically about NeoGAF closing.

If you want to discuss those events in general - create a new topic for this. What's the problem?

[dl316bh]

Companies might change/update their policies on sexual misconduct, and will probably take the victims more seriously.
I hope so, but the next couple months are going to be telling. It depends on if people keep coming forward and people keep talking about it even if the news cycle moves on. Half the time, that's what they're waiting for.

[CyberCubed]

Seems like a lot of old neogaf users are returning to IGN. There's a neogaf thread on the vestibule right now. I think it was also obvious a lot of the reasons IGN lost its activity was so many people left to go to neogaf, now they're coming back.

The others will probably go to reddit or /v/ or wherever. I could never just use something like twitter for gaming news, that's awful. I need a site and forums to navigate.

[Prowler]

Never cared much for neogaf. Only knew the name. Was it even a good place for gaming discussions?

[CyberCubed]

There was a lot of good gaming news posted and it was the most active forum. The hate neogaf gets is the political side of it, but I never ventured outside the gaming sections much so I never saw it. There were also a lot of good threads on various cartoons/anime/movies, etc.

I discovered a lot of new movies to watch thanks to some threads there. They had active threads for all cartoons and anime too, like Dragonball Super, etc.

[Prowler]

There was a lot of good gaming news posted and it was the most active forum. The hate neogaf gets is the political side of it, but I never ventured outside the gaming sections much so I never saw it. There were also a lot of good threads on various cartoons/anime/movies, etc.

I discovered a lot of new movies to watch thanks to some threads there. They had active threads for all cartoons and anime too, like Dragonball Super, etc.
Political discussion? that's what made lots of people get tired of IGN boards, mainly The Vestibule, in the last few years as well.

I've only read a few NeoGaf threads so I'm not very familiarised with the website.

[sdp]

It used to have great threads and discussions but eventually off-topic became only extreme-left political discussion and slowly it festered into the gaming section as well, you couldn't go to a topic without plenty of users mentioning how that game hated minorities/women/etc, if you disagreed they banned you so after a few years it got to the point where it was a huge echo chamber where no discussion could be had.

Google some of the bans people got on neogaf and topics users created, it almost seems like a left parody website. Seriously, google some, don't take my word for it, you'll get a laugh.

But yeah back in the day it had a lot of influence and it was great as gamers had voices, when it became all about censoring games that's when users and developers stopped giving a crap about neogaf which is why it became what it became and why most people are happy its gone.

[Prowler]

It used to have great threads and discussions but eventually off-topic became only extreme-left political discussion and slowly it festered into the gaming section as well, you couldn't go to a topic without plenty of users mentioning how that game hated minorities/women/etc, if you disagreed they banned you so after a few years it got to the point where it was a huge echo chamber where no discussion could be had.

Google some of the bans people got on neogaf and topics users created, it almost seems like a left parody website. Seriously, google some, don't take my word for it, you'll get a laugh.

But yeah back in the day it had a lot of influence and it was great as gamers had voices, when it became all about censoring games that's when users and developers stopped giving a crap about neogaf which is why it became what it became and why most people are happy its gone.
On IGN there is also a lot of political discussion and there are people of different ideologies posting there. IGN doesn't ban people as easily as gamespot and NeoGaf seem to do though.

[CyberCubed]

Well also any new member there who is there under a year if you get banned once its permanent. It's not like other forums where you get a ban for a week or two and get to come back.

I only lasted 3 weeks there and got a ban. Funny thing is I don't even know what I did, the ban screen didn't give me a reason. It's a strict website.

[Prowler]

Well also any new member there who is there under a year if you get banned once its permanent. It's not like other forums where you get a ban for a week or two and get to come back.

I only lasted 3 weeks there and got a ban. Funny thing is I don't even know what I did, the ban screen didn't give me a reason. It's a strict website.

Where? on NeoGaf? I've heard that gamespot forums are known for having nazi mods. I guess NeoGaf is kind of the same?

I like the modding style here in the Drome. Mods cannot ban anyone here. Only Machias and Krang can ban people afaik. And you don't get banned that easily around these parts. Bans here seem to usually be justified.

[Sumac]

It used to have great threads and discussions but eventually off-topic became only extreme-left political discussion and slowly it festered into the gaming section as well, you couldn't go to a topic without plenty of users mentioning how that game hated minorities/women/etc, if you disagreed they banned you so after a few years it got to the point where it was a huge echo chamber where no discussion could be had.
I'd say, the fact that discussions on NeoGAF has become worse, was not only due to the far-left leanings of some of its members.
It was very typical for a self-contained community, incredible level of self-entitlement coupled with belief in their importance for industry and developers, as well as lack of self-awareness.

Their gaming discussion were barely any different from 4Chan's - they basically had two modes: "This game is the best game in the history of media" and "This game is the absolute pile of dogshit". There was no in-between pretty much.
And what's curious, the games that were highly praised on the forum, during their release, after several months were heavily criticized often for the very things they have been praised or due to some little and petty reasons.

Of course, they were some number of "untouchable" games, that always were praised and some games and characters that always were condemned, to the point that it was really "fashionable" to turn threads about those games and characters into topics with "funny" gifs and stupid "memes" only. Not very different from /v/.

Lunatic-leftists only served as the addition to all of the above, sometimes creating crazy discussions like "Why not give people option to skip boss battles?", "Is it immoral, if developers dare to hide information about their games, after it was leaked?" and the like.

In the last few months, it was fashionable to condemn developers and publishers for every perceived slight. If you was trying to say something good about them - then of course you was corporate shill, who was ready to eat everything that "evil corporates" had to offer. The funniest thing about this, that it was coming from the people who condemned elitism in gaming community. :D
Twice as funny that NeoGAF had some moderators and users who were indeed corporate shill, who allegedly were banning people for discussion of other consoles and games.

So, in the end, NG Gaming Discussion suffered not from "keyboard-progressives", but from elitism, the very thing that people on the forum "fought" against.

Go figure.:roll:

Off-topic discussions were just another can of crazy worms. Now this is where left lunatics were "shining" at their best.

It kind of symbolic that the last thread I have seen on NG was: "Why NeoGAF hated so much on Internet?". Some of the, "keyboard-progressives" come to conclusion that only people who hated NeoGAF were banned users and far-right.
But the final post in that thread could have summed up the whole story of NG in the last few years: "Zero self-awareness: The Thread".

[CyberCubed]

There were also daily Trump threads with people talking about how much they wanted to immigrate to Canada or how they're, "tired of waking up in fear" every morning. lol.

I mean I don't like Trump either, but if you're seriously having mental breakdowns every day because he's President, then yes something is wrong.

[Sumac]

There were also daily Trump threads with people talking about how much they wanted to immigrate to Canada or how they're, "tired of waking up in fear" every morning. lol.

I mean I don't like Trump either, but if you're seriously having mental breakdowns every day because he's President, then yes something is wrong.
Yeah, fear mongering was on the whole other level down there.

Like some, supposedly black users, were seriously saying that there is big conspiracy going on and that absolutely all other races (white, asians and so on) hate all black people.

Hillary boot-licking and hate for everything related to Sanders was also of the charts, as well, as absolute belief, that Trump won only because of Russians and racists.:teek:

[plastroncafe]

I'm surprised that all of this didn't come out sooner, what with the huge emphasis on ethics in game journalism.

[CyberCubed]

Look at this thread on IGN welcoming neogaf refugees. There were also a lot of other neogaf threads on IGN lately:

http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/the-official-welcome-neogaf-refugees-thread.455043203/

LOL, as well as well as people saying, "We did it, Vesti, we got neogaf shut down...time to take out reddit next!"

Only on da Vesti.

[Sumac]

I'm surprised that all of this didn't come out sooner, what with the huge emphasis on ethics in game journalism.
Admin of NeoGAF was accused of sexual harassment as far back as 2012. And in July of this years, there was scandal, when it was founded that one of the mods had child porn or something like that.
So much for "highly-intellectual community fighting for equality and tolerance".

Well, they nailed tolerance part at least, just not exactly the right kind of tolerance.:tlol:

[CyberCubed]

To be honest it seems quite common for a lot of famous internet site owners to be shady people in real life, either with porn, sexual assault, or money laundering of some kind. This is way too common.

It's almost like all the stereotypes of internet dwellers are true. Most of these people started these sites and forums over 15 years ago when they were still teenagers or in their early 20's, and it all catches up to them.

[Sumac]

It's almost like all the stereotypes of internet dwellers are true. Most of these people started these sites and forums over 15 years ago when they were still teenagers or in their early 20's, and it all catches up to them.
It's not a justification, but a lot of people are idiots when they are teenagers. Usually they grow up and become wiser and better people.
But admin of NeoGAF apparently was not like this. That is the problem, I'd say.

[Papenbrook]

Admin of NeoGAF was accused of sexual harassment as far back as 2012. And in July of this years, there was scandal, when it was founded that one of the mods had child porn or something like that.

The owner was also accused of leaking and distributing revenge porn of someone's girlfriend.

It's disgustingly hypocritical. :(

[DestronMirage22]

This is surprising.
I feel for those who had to suffer because of the site's owner.
And for those who were members of the website. I wonder where they'll go next.
Kinda makes me wonder what we'd do if this place was ever shut down. Where would we go to talk about TMNT?

[The Deadman]

The owner was also accused of leaking and distributing revenge porn of someone's girlfriend.

It's disgustingly hypocritical. :(

Thats usually what happens to people who lean to the left politically, they're found out to be hypocrites and terrible human beings.

[plastroncafe]

Thats usually what happens to people who lean to the left politically, they're found out to be hypocrites and terrible human beings.

3/10
You're trying really hard here.

[The Deadman]

3/10
You're trying really hard here.

THe site owner was a shill for Clinton and tried to be a champion for women's rights. Just like all these Hollywood big wigs that were just accused of sexual harassment.

[plastroncafe]

THe site owner was a shill for Clinton and tried to be a champion for women's rights. Just like all these Hollywood big wigs that were just accused of sexual harassment.

So kind of like all the right leaning folks who have wide-stances, rent-boys, or extra-marital affairs.

It's almost like people in power abuse that power, regardless of their place on the political spectrum.

[ProphetofGanja]

Thats usually what happens to people who lean to the left politically, they're found out to be hypocrites and terrible human beings.

We're just gonna ignore all the hypocrisy of the right then? All the evangelical, holier-than-thou politicians caught having affairs? Or pro-lifers trying to coerce their mistresses to have affairs? Draconian drug law advocates caught getting high?

[CyberCubed]

There were also some really strange users on neogaf with bizarre life stories.

One of the weirdest was one guy said his father locked him in a basement shed for 9 months when he was 11-12 years old. He said his father brought him food and all he had to play was a Gameboy with Pokemon Red. And he said for 9 months he was kept locked down there because of something he did. People asked him how that can happen, why a school or something wouldn't ask why he was absent for nearly a year, and he said nothing like that happened.

The guy is 25 now, so he said he's fine and lives a regular life...but that was the most bizarre thing I ever heard. What the hell kind of parent can lock a 11 year old boy in a shed for 9 months and get away with it?

[DestronMirage22]

There were also some really strange users on neogaf with bizarre life stories.

One of the weirdest was one guy said his father locked him in a basement shed for 9 months when he was 11-12 years old. He said his father brought him food and all he had to play was a Gameboy with Pokemon Red. And he said for 9 months he was kept locked down there because of something he did. People asked him how that can happen, why a school or something wouldn't ask why he was absent for nearly a year, and he said nothing like that happened.

The guy is 25 now, so he said he's fine and lives a regular life...but that was the most bizarre thing I ever heard. What the hell kind of parent can lock a 11 year old boy in a shed for 9 months and get away with it?

Sounds like the story was made up. The guy could be trolling or just crazy enough to come up with something like that.
I'm sure some effort would've been made to find a kid who disappeared for that long.
Also, how was he gonna keep play Pokemon Red that entire time? Pretty sure most Gameboy's batteries don't last that long.

...

And what does this have to do with anything???

[Sumac]

Thats usually what happens to people who lean to the left politically, they're found out to be hypocrites and terrible human beings.
It's like right politicians, priests and the like have never been found to be hypocrites, harassers, rapists, pedophiles and the like.
No, sir, never had happened.:roll:

Very low quality bait, my good sir. Very low quality.

[sdp]

I think the point that should be made is that the more "wholesome" a person appears to be the more he is hiding, we're all humans and make mistakes.

For those curious about what NeoGAF culture was like check out this Reddit thread, just arrange from newest comments first to see actual experience from people there.
thread:https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/782ca6/neogaf_goes_silent_following_allegations_against/
or read the tweets of https://twitter.com/Boogie2988 , not a fan of his but probably the most chill dude about anything and he describes how he was treated there. Sumac also did a good job in the last page.


I don't even think Plaston would've agreed with how opinions were managed there, hell they would've banned her for being a fake feminist hurting the cause and racist eventually as well :lol:

[Papenbrook]

There's a NeoGAF replacement on Discord.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/resetera-forums-new-neogaf-replacement

[dl316bh]

I think the point that should be made is that the more "wholesome" a person appears to be the more he is hiding, we're all humans and make mistakes.
That's a far fairer assessment than what was actually said. Because damn, if people really wanted to make it a politics thing, it's not like the world is short on fairly recent conservative sexual harassment claims. But I'd argue that it's even less that and more just that if the wrong person attains power they can try to twist it. It could happen at your local Burger King.

It would probably happen a lot less if we as a society actually tried to believe the accusers more instead of immediately putting the onus on them every time something happens and dragging them over the coals. After all, it persists because the type of person who would rape, sexually assault or harass a woman (or man, even, given what Terry Crews revealed) either believes or has prior evidence they can get away with it. But I don't think we're there yet. Even with the recent examples being taken seriously, there's stuff like the reaction to that private list that got leaked of names to be wary of or stay away from.

[Papenbrook]

I read a YouTube comment that said that capitalism and the socioeconomic system (via a class society) were the two main reasons that pandemics like this existed. The comment also listed corporation corruption, a failing government system, and a lack of proper education as possible reasons as well.

I didn't believe it at first, but now I consider it.

[dl316bh]

I read a YouTube comment that said that capitalism and the socioeconomic system (via a class society) were the two main reasons that pandemics like this existed. The comment also listed corporation corruption, a failing government system, and a lack of proper education as possible reasons as well.

I didn't believe it at first, but now I consider it.
I'd say that probably has something to do with it if only because it specifically sets up the hierarchies and power structure that gives the opportunity for this sort of thing, but until capitalism itself starts falling apart and we transition to something else, that's probably going to stick with us.

I think we'll see social changes and attitudes on this change sooner, but like I said, I don't necessarily think we're there yet, even if some of these scandals are blowing up right now.

[Sumac]

I read a YouTube comment that said that capitalism and the socioeconomic system (via a class society) were the two main reasons that pandemics like this existed. The comment also listed corporation corruption, a failing government system, and a lack of proper education as possible reasons as well.

I didn't believe it at first, but now I consider it.
Hierarchy supports such behavior and ensures that some people become super-untouchable, until there are a lot of evidences that couldn't be ignored or until they crossed paths with equally stronger people in hierarchy.

The true root of the problem - is that some people just assholes. And they do bad things, regardless whether they have power or not.

Now, how you fight this - I dunno. But I think education and good and loving upbringing are the keys. Most assholes have psychological problems, which date back to the childhood or teenagehood.

Add:
As for NeoGAF replacement...
Will it be better than NG forums, because, some people will learn from their mistakes there? I am afraid not.
Nature of some humans is such, that even when they know what they were wrong about, instead of improving, they just double down on it. And since a lot of left-lunatics on NG propagated idea, that their forum was sole bastion of "virtuosity" amongst the crowd of evil nazis and horny uneducated basement dwellers and NG replacement will have some former NG moderators, I do not expect it to be very different from NG, in terms of either politics, discussions or toxic moderation. Which saddens me immensely.

If there was a time to learn from their mistakes - it was now.

[Papenbrook]

I'd say that probably has something to do with it if only because it specifically sets up the hierarchies and power structure that gives the opportunity for this sort of thing, but until capitalism itself starts falling apart and we transition to something else, that's probably going to stick with us.

It doesn't help that we have a "work to live, and live to work" mentality in our society. That allows corporate interest(s) to come first for most people.

It's depressing. :(

[dl316bh]

It doesn't help that we have a "work to live, and live to work" mentality in our society. That allows corporate interest(s) to come first for most people.

It's depressing. :(
Yup. And even further than that, if you can't get work, you're a pariah in the society. If all you can get is menial service jobs, you're a pariah who doesn't deserve a living wage, despite the fact that you're working, because your job is not "good enough" and you should be striving for better, even though "better" is often out of reach and there aren't enough decent jobs and life happens. A lot of people in those higher positions want it stay the way it is, for power and money. They pretty much turn us against each other and convince us they are more important, their profits are more important, their power is more important.

Capitalism - and hell, US society - is pretty grand, innit?

[Papenbrook]

Yup. And even further than that, if you can't get work, you're a pariah in the society. If all you can get is menial service jobs, you're a pariah who doesn't deserve a living wage, despite the fact that you're working, because your job is not "good enough" and you should be striving for better, even though "better" is often out of reach and there aren't enough decent jobs and life happens. A lot of people in those higher positions want it stay the way it is, for power and money. They pretty much turn us against each other and convince us they are more important, their profits are more important, their power is more important.

Capitalism - and hell, US society - is pretty grand, innit?

... and if you decide to go on a strike, you'll either risk losing your job, or you'll end up going to jail/prison. If either one of those scenarios occur, the corporate leader will hire someone else to suffer the same fate, whether it be overworking for underpaid hours, receiving low salaries, having job cuts, risking layouts/layoffs, or dealing with harassment/assault/abuse.

If you try to take your complaints to human resources, they will most likely side with the corporations. If you go the police, they really can't do anything without evidence. If you try to sue the corporation/file a complaint to court, you would have to pay with a lot of money and time. If you try to lobby/get Congress or the government to make/pass laws, well ... that's self-explanatory.

So much for "the land of the free." :(

[dl316bh]

... and if you decide to go on a strike, you'll either risk losing your job, or you'll end up going to jail/prison. If either one of those scenarios occur, the corporate leader will hire someone else to suffer the same fate, whether it be overworking for underpaid hours, receiving low salaries, having job cuts, risking layouts/layoffs, or dealing with harassment/assault/abuse.

If you try to take your complaints to human resources, they will most likely side with the corporations. If you go the police, they really can't do anything without evidence. If you try to sue the corporation/file a complaint to court, you would have to pay with a lot of money and time. If you try to lobby/get Congress or the government to make/pass laws, well ... that's self-explanatory.

So much for "the land of the free." :(
And if you dare, DARE, to get upset about it or want things to change for the better, a favorite response is "well, then move to another country then, this is AMERICA, best country in the world blah blah blah" or insults or, more likely, both.

[CyberCubed]

The site is back up now, they removed the off-topic section. A lot of people are trolling to purposely get themselves banned for whatever reason.

[Papenbrook]

Check out the NeoGAF Twitter.

It's unbelievable! :o

[sdp]

Well the admin said it was all a lie, It's a fractured website now and will never be what it was which is great, no one can take it seriously anymore and will always be a joke.

On the other hand the modteam is making a new forum called resetera and in the discord channels already stated they'll be stricter with the moderation and who they let in, its these people who made the toxic gaf community in the first place so this will be an even smaller niche alt-left website that will have no reach with their toxicity.

Best of both worlds.

The good users can will just join other places for discussion, an end of an era for sure but not a bad thing.

[CyberCubed]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1453438

At least some people are getting themselves banned in good humor. :lol:

[Sumac]

Well the admin said it was all a lie, It's a fractured website now and will never be what it was which is great, no one can take it seriously anymore and will always be a joke.

On the other hand the modteam is making a new forum called resetera and in the discord channels already stated they'll be stricter with the moderation and who they let in, its these people who made the toxic gaf community in the first place so this will be an even smaller niche alt-left website that will have no reach with their toxicity.
NeoGAF admin once again proves that he is not a decent human being. Not much of surprise really, but still.
Saying that all of those allegations is a lie, is very childish and quite similar to behavior which he and his cronies were condemning.

And yeah, instead of one single community there will be two **** communities - one mostly dead, because, it's unlikely that left lunatics and all decent users would like to associate themselves with NeoGAF and another - far left paradise, even more toxic than NG.

I am not surprised that former NG moderators will double down on totalitarian rulership over new forum - that it's exactly like I said: they either make right conclusions and stop enforcing toxic echo chamber or they will double down on it. Given, who they are, I am not surprised that they made a wrong choice.

If anything, problem was not with users on NeoGAF, but with its administration.
But considering that we are talking about same people who gladly worked with harasser, closing their eyes to all allegations and not-noticing toxicity they have created, just to rule over forum and enforce only their opinions...I am not surprised.

Really sad. Doubly sad, that those people call themselves progressives.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1453438

At least some people are getting themselves banned in good humor. :lol:
Nice one.
I hope after this incident some NG users will stop drinking far left cool aid and maybe will see what exactly was wrong with NeoGAF.

[Sumac]

If you ever wanted to see hysterical paranoia in real time - then current Off-topics on NeoGAF are exactly that.

Usual far left lunatics crawled back to the site owned by the person, who, technically should be someone who they can not tolerate, and now whining how NG will turn into 4Chan.

As if it was not funny by itself, level of discorse is hilarious: some posters try to explain what exactly was wrong with NG community, but they met with arguments that all people who were banned or abandoned forum were "far righters" and bad people in general.

But some of them go even further and state that NeoGAF community only pretended to be liberal and that there were a lot of "secret agents of far right using coded language and "dog whistles" to offend minorities" and that all bans were, of course, justified.

I have seen insanity in real life, when people refused to acknowledge reality and this is quite similar. One thing is desire to keep racists and homophobes away, but literally saying that everyone who were disagreeing with you were "racists, homophobes" and that those people are infesting forum and using coded language...it smells not of desire to be progressive.
It smells of fear mongering and paranoia, that their precious imaginary bubble, where everything is black and white, will be bursted and they will encounter real world, which is much more complicated and where they can't ban people who disagree with them about something.

Article-investigation about what happened on NeoGAF. (https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/qv384d/inside-the-sexual-misconduct-allegations-rocking-neogafs-last-48-hoursd)

Also, admin of NeoGAF accused woman who made allegations, that she is "mentally ill". So much for a leader of bastion of liberalism and progress.

[Peanut]

NeoGAF was always good for two things - lightning fast breaking news/leaks and absolutely hilarious threads revolving around people who were too stupid to breathe. I've also heard they had really tight communities, but I never followed the place enough to get that deep.

The place was always bad, but it got especially toxic in the last few years. Gaming side skewed so hard towards Sony that it was almost impossible to read threads involving Nintendo/Microsoft, because it would end up clogged with bullsh*t console warriors trying to kneecap each other with petty insults. Drive-by sh*t posts and mental gymnastics were the name of the game. SalesGAF and review threads were particularly vile. It was always full of overreactions to meaningless news, sh*tty hot takes and god awful gif memes. I hope I never see that f*cking Antonio Banderas gif again. Dogpiling became a real problem at some point, especially when detective GAF got on the case and blew everything out of proportion, like it always did.

All that said, it was an easy way to catch up with news or get a quick general opinion on stuff in games. The community was so huge you knew whenever news hit it'd be top thread on GAF and someone would have created a meticulous OT with all the relevant information and links available. There will never be a forum as central to games as GAF ever again and that kind of sucks.

A lot of the bigger named posters have apparently created a new forum, ResetEra, which is set to launch any day now. They've got a pretty wild set of Admins and Mods for the place, but it remains to be seen what exactly that place looks like after it launches. I think the community has splintered to a point where it'll never be as huge and all-encompassing as it once was, but it might turn out OK.

[Sumac]

ResetEra - a new gaming forum, which consists mostly from NeoGAF staff and users, is open.

So far it looks like NG with smaller userbase and relatively the same tone of discussion. But on uglier engine.