I'd just like to say that the forced inclusion rule, much as I oppose it, has nothing to do with my opposition to merging NES and IOT. We still apparently have to let in anyone regardless of how much they ruin our games - and that, I don't think, is something that would be made much, if at all, more problematic by having a few extra people (IOTers) who may or may not happen to be such people merged into the NESing forum rather than having to go to it individually. That's basically a totally different issue.
The problem is all about the fact that NESing has an identity separate from IOTs, which the IOTers don't e
ven seem to recognise even exists. The fact that IOTers can't recognise that there is a genuine difference just goes to suggest that they are unlikely to respect it if we're all bundled into one on the assumption that we're similar enough really. I've got nothing against IOTers, and I don't think many of us have anything against IOTers. But we're not IOTers ourselves; if we wanted to play IOTs, we'd come to your forum and play them. We know you exist, and most of us just don't want to play your games, because - with all due respect - we don't think they're much good. The notion that a merger would somehow save your game is laughable. We're not going to play your games just because they happen to shoved in front of our nose by some moderatorial action.
Look - it's a bit like this. Let's suppose we're all university students starting for the first time at university. We all need accommodation, and so we obtain it from the college authorities. There are two groups of friends, Group NES and Group IOT. Group IOT comes up to Group NES and says "Share a college house with us." Group NES says "no, we quite like you - but we want our own house, but you can come round if you like, and we'll come round to yours." Group IOT then goes to the college authorities and says, "Group NES doesn't want to share a house with us. Can you assign us to the same house anyway?"
Well, you wouldn't do it, would you? Finding yourself largely rebuffed by most of the people in the house you were trying to be admitted to, you'd say, "I don't really want to share a house with people who don't want to share a house with me," and then you'd get on with your lives.
Accordingly, I would like to suggest that IOTers might consider: do they
really want to impose a merger on the NESing community that the NESing community manifestly doesn't want? Do you not think that this should basically be a consensual thing? I do. I don't like Lucky's rants on the subject either, but surely the hostility you are evoking from people like him should make you less eager, rather than more eager, to join with us?
I say all this, I repeat, as someone who has nothing whatsoever against IOTs.
Accordingly, the proposal of a merger will not achieve its aim of unstagnating IOT, which should probably be remerged into forum games if anything; and such a merger will only create a mess, and will not by means make it any easier, or any harder, for NESers to join IOTs, or IOTers to join NESes. We are each welcome in each other's forums, and we can and do join each others' games. The status quo is perfectly good, and, since it isn't broken, we shouldn't fix it.
Hostile behavior is a must when said community continuously posts about me behind my back, as can be pointed out in recent threads in their subforum. I'm the nice guy here. You can't herd every sheep. Some are just stubborn.
This is what we call a vicious circle, Lucky. You're not exclusively to blame, but you surely cannot be entirely oblivious to the obvious fact that they're reacting to you as well as you reacting to them.
I think we could get what we mutually want simply by using
this thread advertising IOTs, in the NES forum and
this thread, advertising NESes in the IOT forum. If these threads were a bit more heavily used, it could help to generate a healthy rapport between our two communities.
This is also quite right. As I said above, it's perfectly possible for NESers to join IOTs and vice versa, and people do exactly that, as and when they want to, and that's how it should be.
