Arrogance and Snobbery found in retrogaming community

[shotblue]

Any of you experience this? Some cliques of collectors have a general haughty attitude towards general outsiders or people that don't own as much etc..This can be found in trading or debates on any given forum etc..

Don't know if all groups have their fair share of people like this. what do you guys think?

[maD_mAN1983]

can't say i have found any people like that in the retro community as far as i have noticed

[TombRaiderKuchen]

And I certainly don't think we have any members here who would judge someone by the size of their collection. I think we're all just happy sharing a common interest

[UltraMagnus]

Yes, there are people like that. its a pity but all hobbies have that. Movie fans, Music fans, and gaming fans. They all have those people who think they know best and like to try and lord it over people and feel superior.

I welcome anyone who wants to play the classics. whether its someone with a huge collection, someone who is just trying out evertything through emulators, or even someone who only owns one machine with a handfull of games he owned as a kid. No matter the level of involvement, anyone interested should be encouraged.

although these boards seem to be OK in that respect.

[gunstarhero]

Previous to joining Retro Collect, I had no real desire to post on forums. I've found this forum to be full of insightful, likeminded gamers and I love seeing the amazing things so many people have in their collections that I've never seen before. I've found this to be a great community and enjoy looking on here every day and feeling able to contribute to discussions without being shouted down.

[chocklo]

arrogance and snobbery exists on all forums due to the mere nature of them. They consist of communities of collective interests, with differing degrees of attainment. Since snobbery exists in everyday offline life, there is no reason why snobbery should not be conveyed also in forums. It's interesting why you should isolate this to retrocollecting forums since this is just as prevalent in every other forum. I guess that a proud owner of a huge caravan with all mod cons would be only to pleased to share their pics of their pride and joy on a camping forum, while those with similar though lesser tents would celebrate the pictures out of a shared appreciation of the common subject matter.

I guess i'm veering off piste here but....my food's arrived so I'm cutting this short...

nope, snobbery is scarce on here. We've really got a great mutually respecting community and that's why I like it here.

[mr_wistles]

I have to agree, that NTSC forum is full of them. I got conned for almost 3k (managed to get my funds back) due to a poorly worded auction (my fault I did not check).

They were of the consensus that as one game in the bundle I bought was in good condition it did not matter that the rest were smashed. They were all high fiving each other in the thread saying that it was my fault and how I had no chance of getting my money back, I did.

I am a regular poster on a number of forums, home cinema, Range Rover and Porsche and I have never encountered snobbery.

[maD_mAN1983]

on this forum it seems that everybody like to help out with stuff we are wondering about or help with finding games (unless you are looking for the same game yourself that is ) that we are looking for, have had some great help from with finding German exclusive titles and Dutch exclusive titles here, and if i need it i bet i could get some help with finding those Australian and French exclusives i am missing if i can't find them myself when my collection is getting close to complete, and always nice to see other peoples collections no matter how big or small, we all have to start somewhere to build it up

[Farzlepot]

The only time I can recall seeing anything like snobbery is over at the Retrogamer forums (only very occasionally, mind). There are sometimes people who get very patronising over what they consider to be 'retro', and on one occasion even angry. And some posters cast derogatory remarks towards anybody who is 'dumb' enough to play modern games, too.

Other than that, during my minimal interactions with the community, people largely seem to just be a group of like-minded and passionate gaming nerds. This is the best forum I've been on in all my years on the 'net though, irrespective of the topic.

[hash47]

I have to agree with you Farzlepot on the Retrogamer forum, there seems to be some aggressive people on there wanting to get into arguments and demean others.

Never seen anything nasty posted by regulars on RC though, i think this is one of the most friendly forums i've been on!

@Mr_Wistles, What forum was that, behavior as you mentioned should not be tolerated on any level, especial within such a small community as retro-game collecting is, even more so they should never be applauded for misleading/deceiving someone out of money!

[mr_wistles]

NTSC Uk, it is now called Bordsdown.net. Funnily enough it was from there that I discovered this one, which is very friendly.

[UltraMagnus]

I have to agree with you Farzlepot on the Retrogamer forum, there seems to be some aggressive people on there wanting to get into arguments and demean others.

Never seen anything nasty posted by regulars on RC though, i think this is one of the most friendly forums i've been on!

@Mr_Wistles, What forum was that, behavior as you mentioned should not be tolerated on any level, especial within such a small community as retro-game collecting is, even more so they should never be applauded for misleading/deceiving someone out of money!

I was going to mention RETROGAMER as well.

Seems like some people think they decide on whats retro and anyone else gets a torrent of abuse if you disagree. Not to mention people who constantly enter Nintendo/sega/atari threads simply to make sarcastic comments and derail the thread.

[totalgridlock]

The only time I can recall seeing anything like snobbery is over at the Retrogamer forums (only very occasionally, mind). There are sometimes people who get very patronising over what they consider to be 'retro', and on one occasion even angry. And some posters cast derogatory remarks towards anybody who is 'dumb' enough to play modern games, too.

This is my main beef with some retro gamers, a pedantic need to call everything released before a certain point 'retro' and everything after 'rubbish'. I'm sure you've all read some of those letters to Retro Gamer when they dared to start covering PS2-era and PC titles! I'm of the opinion that it's the quality of the game that counts (and for magazine coverage, whether there's a good story behind a game), not the release date and I'd hope most folks here would agree.

I can't say I've found any real snobbery in terms of collection size or quality though. People love to show off, it's only natural but I don't think I've come across anyone who has come across as snobbish or superior... maybe just a slight case or two of smugness. I love to look through people's show-off threads and like being able to ask around the retro community for advice from experts in particular systems/genres etc.

[muppet42]

I think it can happen on forums sometimes but I echo everyone else and say this is by far one of the better ones out there. It's not perfect of course but I like the friendly and even handed approach most have towards fellow forumers - it's rather refreshing

I will say though, the car forums are a hotbed for such things. There's the very definition of presumption towards certain brands and models that always gets in the way of many a discussion. Top Gear could be blamed for a lot of these opinion of folks knocking something without trying it but then it all depends on how an individual forms an opinion.

I'm always very much a neutral poster on the forums I frequent. I try not to rock the boat and merely let everyone else get on with it. However, if someone's being unfairly lampooned for their opinion, I'll most certainly throw my hat in the ring to defend them if I know their in the right

[mainvein]

nope never came across it in regards to retro gaming communities, unlike in the tv/media/actors - i've met some right arseholes

[SHIFTYTIGGER]

Some forums can be very cliquey and if youre easily offended or upset by internal banter then dont really bother with them.

I can see a forum like Sealed Game Heaven would seem snobby , as they are quite protective of their obsession - but I enjoy the forum regardless of this - its still informative and interesting to see an extreme of collecting. Also helped give me a wake up call that if a game is sealed , I cant enjoy it. (not their words obviously)

So i tend to stick to here and Retro Gamer , avoiding getting involved in the pettiness helps. Just let them get on with it...

[Jet Set Radio Future]

Any of you experience this? Some cliques of collectors have a general haughty attitude towards general outsiders or people that don't own as much etc..This can be found in trading or debates on any given forum etc..

Don't know if all groups have their fair share of people like this. what do you guys think?

This sites great i mean you get the odd SNES vs Megadrive rant or 'what is retro' but it's all in good nature and a laugh.
I do understand were your coming from though. There are a few sites were if you dont have a huge collection they just troll. I wont name the site but yeh...

For the record Snes FTW

[arma_dillo2009]

There are a few sites were if you dont have a huge collection

Absolutely hate forums that have that mentality. They judge your personality on the size off your bloody collection. Sad but true, Sealedgameheaven is suppose to be quite bad when it comes to people being very snobbby and looking down on people with a smaller collection than others with a "huge" collection. We all use this site for the love off gaming/collecting regardless big or small collection, everyone should be proud with there own collections regardless if its small or big, but theres always a few who will look at it in another light.

My experience on this forum has been amazing, awesome community off people on here and a very chilled out feel about the whole site, enjoy reading the threads and checking out peoples collections. It is just the way it should be but i guess there is always one or 2 idiots that hop on the wagon, but it has been brilliant up until now.

[Tyron]

I have to agree with you Farzlepot on the Retrogamer forum, there seems to be some aggressive people on there wanting to get into arguments and demean others.

Never seen anything nasty posted by regulars on RC though, i think this is one of the most friendly forums i've been on!

@Mr_Wistles, What forum was that, behavior as you mentioned should not be tolerated on any level, especial within such a small community as retro-game collecting is, even more so they should never be applauded for misleading/deceiving someone out of money!

I was going to mention RETROGAMER as well.

Seems like some people think they decide on whats retro and anyone else gets a torrent of abuse if you disagree. Not to mention people who constantly enter Nintendo/sega/atari threads simply to make sarcastic comments and derail the thread.

I third or fourth that. I mentioned something quite personal on Retro Gamer about being nervous and feeling sick for an interview and all I got back was "your a man, grow a pair".

I also feel that as I don't associate with pre-NES games (purely because I wasn't born in that generation!) - and a bit snobbish because I don't like loading tapes or floppy discs.

[ninjabearhug]

I see this allover the place, it affects loads of retro forums. It seems the bigger a community gets the more bell ends it attracts . This place is pretty well policed, and while the odd nutjob does get through they don't tend to last long .

From my experience the European forums seem to be much friendlier in general, which I do find strange because for the most part Europeans are ruder than Americans when I've had dealings with them away from forums lol. Nintendo forums do tend to be a lot more angrier places than Sega ones too, always seems to be more arguing on them . I do think people mistake arrogance and snobbery quite often too though, lots of people posting on these kinds of forums aren't speaking their native tongue so their posts can come across as quite abrasive even though the poster is probably just trying to ensure it reads well .

I've never understood that retro starts pre-sony BS, surely anything not current gen is retro? Not that I care, I'm a gamer - retro or modern it's all good . Doubt you'll ever stop the willy waving, although TBH it's the main reason I visit forums to look at other peoples collections and finds, and to post mine, You can find some people have elitist opinions about there own collections though, personally I don't get it, smaller collections generally have better selections of games after all lol!