HelpfulProgrammer

Is this something you believe is true of something you want to believe is true despite all evidence to the contrary? Sounds like you need to point your browser to Salon.com more often. Jerry Seinfeld isn't a "real comedian"? Neither are Louis CK or Steve Martin? Or Patton Oswalt? Or Steven Colbert? Or The Onion. Or INSERT NAME OF ALMOST ANY COMEDIAN HERE. It would be great if persecution for not being "politically_correct" or comedians not being persecuted by "social justice warriors" or however you want to phrase it was not a thing, because it being a thing forces one to think about being a "social justice warrior" in ways beyond cartoon good fighting vs. evil. (I put those terms in quotes because I don't like them or use them myself) But the reality is that a lot of liberalism does veer into persecution and pile-ons for questionable reasons, and that is certainly true in comedy. I'm not a fan of dismissing people as "SJWs", but dismissing real issues out of hand simply because you don't want to believe in them is no better. I don't know if Jerry Seinfeld genuinely feels persecuted (maybe he doesn't give a shit about what some Gawker idiots say) but a lot of outlets did their best to try to make him feel that way. This is not "ruining comedy" but it should be embarrassing for people who consider themselves liberal. Article I largely agree with: http://betabeat.com/2014/02/outrage-porn-how-the-need-for-perpetual-indignation-manufactures-phony-offense/

Why would I want to fit in with this crowd? I genuinely have no idea.This community is a tiny bubble - the vast majority of people who sign up for these forums post maybe zero or one times, quickly realize it's a small clique full of self-reinforcing behavior and smartly fuck right off. In terms of post quality this place is well behind Neogaf ffs - well behind. There's no universe in which "Boo fucking hoo" is a good post. On here posts like that are congratulated by multiple other members - literally celebrating how rude and awful they are to another poster. A bunch of you are extremely nasty, but you're nasty to people who can't or don't fight back. When you shit on them they look around and see everyone in your clique shitting on them too so they just go away. And thus even though your community is extremely toxic you don't see any problems, because it self-selects and self-reinforces. The guy who you all savaged in that Bioshock Infinite thread? Guess when the last time he posted was? You all shit on him, then you high-fived each other for shitting on him, then he didn't post any more. And because he just stopped posting instead of fighting back you didn't experience any disruption and can keep pretending that you aren't bullies. Why is that acceptable in the culture here? Not just acceptable - encouraged! That's not a culture a normal person would want to be a part of. Throughout this whole mess your philosophy has been "it's bad to insult people - unless we're the ones doing the insulting." This is so self-evidently ridiculous yet you see no problem with it. Where was your pearl-clutching in the BI layoff thread, when there was post after post of nasty invective before I even showed up? Nowhere to be found. If I'm the problem why did that transpire before I posted? "I sincerely hoped that you'd find a tone and place suited to you in the Idle Thumbs forums..." I don't want to fit in here - that would be disgusting. That would mean I've accepted and helped normalize the culture of casual nastiness and ignorance. Yeah, I could fit in. When 3 or 4 posters in a row pile on someone and rip into them I could join in and say "yeah, way to shit on that guy! Good job everyone!" I could do that - but why would I? Fitting in to an awful community isn't a virtue. Go back and read that BI layoff thread and stop reading when you get to my post - don't even read it. Do that with an open mind and try to adopt the perspective of someone other than yourself. Instead of evaluating who is on your side look at how people treat each other. And ask yourself, is this civil? Is this constructive? Is this the sort of behavior that should be considered normal or even encouraged? Are these posts in line with the values I claim to espouse? You freaked the fuck out when I said "Boo fucking who" to you before, even though that was me quoting someone else. Yet when that statement was originally made in earnestness rather than to make a point you had no reaction. It was completely acceptable to you. You've learned to either turn a blind eye towards or actively encourage that sort of behavior. To be fair you don't seem like someone who revels in nastiness the way some of the people here do. You just accept it as normal and thus help normalize it. I don't honestly think you're a shitty awful person - maybe none of you are shitty awful people. But being shitty and awful is the social norm. It's so normal to you that you apparently don't even see it. But I suspect a lot of people do see it and are repulsed. Bye Gorm. I sincerely hope you can look around you with fresh eyes and gain some perspective, instead of continuing to indulge in transparently self-serving philosophy. Feel free to delete this account whoever. I've said what I wanted.

Thanks for your kind words friends. Sadly I post this from beyond the grave (read this in a spooky voice for maximum effect please!) as I was IP banned by a mod for inexplicably not fitting in with what from the outside looks like a self-evidently ridiculous insular bubble. It turns out, in a twist that is incredibly shocking to nobody with a brain, that a professional in the video game industry reacts poorly to forums where they see people they know and respect ridiculed by people who are speaking out of their asses. I genuinely love helping people make cool games and get better at programming and stuff! So I would love to stay and help you guys out. But I assume this account and probably this post will be deleted in short order by the nefarious Herr Tobacco. (You figure he would at least have the decency to say "uh guys, aperson isn't going to reply to you" while running his finger across his throat) Good luck in your programming endeavors. If you guys frequent a games/programming forum that isn't modeled after Nazi Germany only more dystopian post it here and maybe I can continue to help you out. I'm not sure how much helpful programming advice you'll get on forums like this - cough cough. So farewell my friends. Whenever you run into a particularly nasty bug listen to the wind, and perhaps you'll hear it whispering my name: aperson....aperson...aperson... --- Seriously though, thanks for the kind words, sayonara! (Also f uck Nick)