NeoGaf was… is a gaming forum.
Yeah, so what, right?

Well, this one was (is) kind of like the granddaddy of all gaming forums.  It was pre-Reddit.  Pre Twitter.   Pre-just about everything.  NeoGaf was  place for people ‘in the know’ to seek harbor when there was no where else to go.   It was a place to meet intellectual people away from a society that thought anyone who had experience with a computer was a shut-in, pimple-faced, pizza eater.

Over the ten plus years of existence, the community became strong, proud, and, a I dare say it, somewhat smug.  I guess that’s to be expected when everyday professionals, game developers, and designers post under an assumed name that no one could trace back.  I even read somewhere that IGN wanted to pay a million plus dollars to take the forum.  Tyler, the owner, didn’t sell – obviously, but it is a significant testament to the gaming community.  Although Tyler owns it in name, the community – the loyal content builders who work for free, are NeoGaf’s soul.

Well, something happened involving Tyler.  I won’t go into it here.  There’s plenty of flamage to Google if you feel the need.   In less than 48h, this decade old gamer community crumbled.

Although I was never accepted, only people who are approved can post, I’ve been a lurker on and off for about a year- give or take.  I just happened to be lurking when the Fallout bomb crashed.   It was really interesting to see the behavior of the people and things.

A descent majority demanded to be banned or committed acts against the User Agreement that would caused their account to be banned.  Others raged against the actions of Tyler, screeching words lead to lengthy and harsh judgement.  Rather this was justified is unknown.  At this time, Tyler has not been convicted or cleared of his embarrassment.
—  Although these people claim that they committed account suicide because they refuse to support Tyler, I think the main reason they wanted to leave was because of the knee jerk reactions of shame and disbelief.  Not disbelief because of Tyler’s actions, but disbelief that something like this could happen to their home-away-from-home community.  A place where they became to feel safe and actually know others of whom they never seen.
—  Immediately, even before the corpse was cold, other forums were scooping in to take NeoGaf’s underappreciated gold mine.  A new home, which came online earlier this week, has been built and are taking in the huddled masses, no matter which gaming platform they prefer.

Another group are the die-hard NeoGafers who stayed.  With rallying cries of “We only want to talk about game!”  “Innocent until proven guilty!” and “I’m too lazy to go anywhere else,” these loyalists are attempting to rebuild.  Missing friends and comrades weakens them, but they still try to persevere.   And, so far, they’re doing well from what I can see – the outsider still looking in.

Although, of course, there are NeoGafers who accessing the nuclear fallout and feel that they should move on.  Their community changed.  It’s not what it was and they seek secure companionship elsewhere.  Thee are also those who hastily self-banned that want to come back – rather they admit it or not.  It’s the old ‘you don’t miss it until it’s gone’ syndrome.    NeoGaf, the old NeoGaf, was special to a lot of people, some of which were residents for a very long time.   The slicing of the umbilical cord is difficult to comprehend.

What I think the real loss of NeoGaf was the Off Topic forum.  Yeah, sure, the heart of the community was gaming, without a doubt, but the off topic created a different type of community.  Gafers was (is?) a global phenomenon.  News from just about every place on the globe appeared there.   Without this, I would never have known about Catalan’s struggles, Carry Fisher being buried in a Prozac coffin, or kept up with the riots of Charleston, South Carolina.

But, even more important where the comments, thoughts, and opinions of the gamers.  Yes, okay so it’s well know that NeoGaf supported Hilary, preferred Sanders, and hate the Orange (Trump).  It felt that they where so far left that their right was left.  There was an ongoing debate if pineapple should be legal on a pizza.

That’s okay.  It didn’t offend me.  Rather, it was amusing.  It became a character study of what topics where posted, why, and the strength of the personal reaction.  People in other nations pitied Americans, as they where kept informed – just like I was – on the never-ending political news parade.  Americans would send sympathy and understanding to others, like those in Catalan.   I learned more, objectively, by how people react and what was said even though they are hidden behind fake names and lived thousands of miles apart.  Groupthink exists, even if there isn’t  real threat of physical retribution.  Sure, the hive mind isn’t all that great, but it isn’t that bad either.  After all, the Borg kick butt.

Now, posting anything that could be remotely political is a bannable offense.  Yes, the die-hard loyalists are having their freedom of speech squashed by a once famed forum that strove to bring together the shut-ins, loners, and misunderstood.

Although my personal thought is still out on this, it seems to be that Tyler’s retribution against people speaking out against him – those who used their freedom of speech and choice – is silence.

Order is needed, yes, I know.  Everyone should play nice with each other, sure.   But the world isn’t that way.   It’ll never be that way unless a global AI comes to fruition, which it may very well might – but that’s another story.   Arguing.  Expressing differing opinions. Even agreements.   These are all communications and, if done in a respectful environment, which I think NeoGaf had to an extent, it’s good.  This communication is good.  It was out – vented – instead of boiling under the skin and burrowing in the back of the mind.

Well, that’s over and done with.  It’s an end of an era and possible the beginning of a reset-era.