unforum

[hints]

writer of said JRPG dialogue here. Yeah, the style for it sucks, but I had such trouble trying to find a way that it could still be represented blogstyle without it just being story dialogue, so I chose to pattern the actual conversation in a way my char was familiar with, namely FFXI's text style.

I have only kept it due to consistency, really, but next blog I write, it'll lose that.

Thanks for reading it, and tolerating the dialogue style. Peace!

[SolDL]

To my most esteemed compatriots,

It does appear, I wager, that this is no longer a debate of substance, but one of semantics. It has turned from the most honorable of fights, being, of course, one over an internet meme, to one of no culture whatsoever: boiling down to "I'M NOT MAD!" "I'M NOT MAD EITHER!" "THEN WHY DON'T YOU STOP MESSING UP MY AWESOME DISCUSSION?!" "...BECAUSE IT'S A DISCUSSION!"

As you can see, the level of intellectuality has severely petered off, and my intention is to bring the discourse back to where it should be: pretentiously talking about a white bloke in Armani, and the new media which surrounds him in all of its wondrous entirety. But prior to this circumvention of the juvenile elitism which has so begun to plague this topic (my own elitism is, at the very least, teenage), there is a little, teensy ol' point I feel must be addressed: that of the alleged blogger/uF rift. The present rebuttal will serve to prove that, not only does it not exist (Much like Santa Claus, our Good Lord on High, and the Gulf War), but that the very idea of it existing is, in itself, erroneous. I will seek to prove this whilst stealing thesis lines from Jean Baudrillard.

Anyhow, to the first portion of my rebuttal: the blogger/uF rift never happened. The first I ever heard of the blogger/uF rift was from, well, the bloggers in question. I feel this is due to one major reason: the disproportionate amount of discussion afforded to vlogs over blogs. This is something close to the heart of this topic, apparently, so I will not spend my time providing background, though I will make one last observation as to why it is the case: This is an ARG board. The blogs are for the most part barely ARGs. I mean this in the sense that they are not immersible and interactive for the responder; rarely can players change the outcome of the game. (Of course, blogs such as Just Another Fool are a clear exception to the rule.) Thus, EverymanHYBRID gets a million topics, and only either the most popular blogs, or those which have puzzles worked into their fabric, get past the first couple of pages of discussion. I feel this is reasonable for an ARG board: Slender Nation focuses far more on narrative, we are the collective detective. However, due to some reason on the part of some of the creators, possibly some deficiency of love/discipline in the Oral/Anal stage of development, not being discussed here makes them feel unloved and in need of big hugs because they think UF hates them. More on this in the surprise third part of my thesis.

Secondly, the blogger/uF rift will not take place. Why? Because it can not take place. The terms by which a rift between writer and responder might be estranged involve participation by both sides, and this is in itself a ridiculous notion, particularly because the sides are not clearly defined. As has been stated before by...possibly SublimeInsomnia, generalizing blogs as one amorphous mass is an exercise in idiocy. There are exceptions to the supposed 'rules', but far more importantly: Every man and his dog at uF is writing a blog. A rift between uF and the blogging community would be a rift of the self. The blogger/uF rift will not take place, as the blogger/uF sides do not exist. There will still be blogs at uF, and there will still be uFers writing blogs, and enjoying blogs. While blogs cannot be generalized, neither can their responders, and I feel that point has been glossed over somewhat: there is not a forum-wide trend to poo-poo blogs because 'fuck reading', that is a false premise that I feel has been more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than anything else. There is, however, an individualistic trend to stick to what appeals to you, a trend which resides in absolutely everyone with a sense of self-preservation and fulfillment. Which brings me to my third point.

The uF/blogger split is not taking place. Contrary to what it may look like in this topic, I feel the blogging community does a great job in their own field. However, it is when a great deal of self-righteous butt-hurt gets involved that I start to get a little antsy, and then a little fight-y. All this bemoaning of the intense schism between writer and responder actually makes blog reading less appealing to me, knowing that the authors involved in this hysteria are so in need of someone to pat them on the head and say "you keep doing what you're doing", of this outside authentication to keep doing what they clearly love. I find the blog circle in question (we all know that this discussion is mostly centering around a certain few) impenetrable for the outsider, but I can see its merits in another way, as an exercise in roleplaying. The interaction between characters, the crossovers...It might look daft from an outside point of view (perhaps not all outside points of view, either) but I can tell that if I was in there, I'd be having a ton of fun. And I can respect that from a theoretical point of view.

Now can we please get back to talking about our super-special-awesome meme instead of forming a merry old train of spite on qaqa? That'd be really nice.

[qaqa]

I don't take the train.

I AM THE CONDUCTOR.

[Lewa]

I even have evidence to suggest uF is more blog-friendly than Slender Nation. Without naming names, a certain blog was posted both here and over there, and using the blogsite-provided statistics, there were over three times as many people referred to this one blog by the uF topic than by the SN one. So that little stereotype is not supported by facts and should be forgotten about.

[Cougar Draven]

I want to split off Delta's post and sticky it. Because that is the closest thing to a "like" that I can give that.

[megaswfan]

[DaLadybugMan]

[SolDL]

[dfw]

[Das Omega]

[SolDL]

You think that's good, you should hear my opinions on green eggs and ham.

[Lewa]

[qaqa]

I appreciate SolDL's spirited support and ridiculous free verse.

I am with Lewa, though - as I said before, when we're writing for nothing but each other it becomes a closed loop of just repeated feedback. I know what that's like because I've been there before and done that myself with something very similar. I just don't think that model works. At least, not if you're looking to expand an audience again and have others view and appreciate your work. If that's not a concern, then it isn't an issue.

[qaqa]

Also: Trend - set.

SolDL/Delta denies responsibility. And no, it was not me. Which means it was one of you delightful fuckers.

[Das Omega]