Let me start off by saying taht the Escapist seems to be the most polite forum as far as respect for other peoples ideas. I know that this is not saying too much.
But to be honest, I am appaled at other forums and the way that people treat each other. It is incredible to go to a forum about videogames on say, Amazon or IGN and see the bile fly.

The level of fanboyish immaturity is incredible. For example, take a look at this thread on Amazon, a discussion about Team Ninja's statement about XBOX 360's disc capacity,a nd see what it has cahnged into: http://www.amazon.com/tag/video%20games/forum/ref=cm_cd_dp_rt_tft_tp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1T1DM93QU4XL1&cdThread=TxQ93U2T122WL7

Lets look at some evidence.
I'm talking to you. Everything you post is tired and pathetic. Don't you get sick of slurping MS's balls in every post you make?
And another...
Wrong answer Kr155. It would cost more to release a game on Blu-Ray than on two DVD's....perhaps three DVD's is a different story. I quarantee MS would wave the fee for Rage.
You really need to stop spouting off at the mouth, because you're are ill informed.
Any ideas why people are like this?
Would you ever insult a stranger to this degree if you were talking face to face? I think not.
Thoughts?

Captain Planet...how big of a loser are you? j/k

I know what you mean bro. I joined a couple months back and have been pleased, for the most part, with the forums here. Hopefully, you'll have an experience as good as mine has been :)

Welcome to Escapist. We have manners and dictionaries.

Indeed. I think what helps here is that we have active moderation that encourages civil discourse. I'm surprised by the difference every time i visit another forum.

God I love this forum.

It's so civilized, and everyone has proper spelling. It's like internet heaven!

Even the escapist is not immune to flame wars, strife, and trolling, things often get rather heated, especially if it comes to anything remotely religious(always dissolves into flame wars, always). But for the most part we are relatively polite and curtious.
EDIT: people are like that because they think they are always right, no matter how demonstrateably (sp?) wrong they may be.

i love the fact that everyone has manners here and that they don't troll ppl

its nice to feel welcome :P

Labyrinth:
Welcome to Escapist. We have manners and dictionaries.

I think the having dictionaries is why escapist is by far, in my humble opinion at least, the best gaming forum out there.

On topic: Yes people on the internet think they are awesome because they can start pointless fights. Also I read the "M.E." fellows posts on amazon, the fact that he thought the insult "Ballwasher" was an amazingly witty and intelligent insult gave me a giggle.

Since when has religious discourse ever been anything but heated? ;)

I think what really helps the Escapist, apart from the reasonably effective moderating, is the sheer emphasis on correct English language usage. Here you have to be proper and polite even when trolling.

I like the forums here too, but you still run across trolls. They get banned quickly, so the rest of us can go on enjoying life. Plus there are several smart and funny people here I like to follow and read their posts, like labyrinth and nilcypher.

the fact that he thought the insult "Ballwasher" was an amazingly witty and intelligent insult gave me a giggle.

That one caught my attention too.
It degenerated so quickly into some sort of discussion about insults that are neither poignant nor topical, and the level of immautrity reached an all time high.

crimsondynamics:
Since when has religious discourse ever been anything but heated? ;)

I think what really helps the Escapist, apart from the reasonably effective moderating, is the sheer emphasis on correct English language usage. Here you have to be proper and polite even when trolling.

That seems paradoxical, a well behaved Troll. It's like a Chimp wearing a tuxedo, sort of cute at first, but then a little awkward.

It's always handy to remember that quoting someone who is announcing that they don't want anything more to do with the argument and mocking them for leaving might generate a negative reaction.

There is one word that sums up the majority of internet forums: Anonymity.

People start shit 'cause they can.

It is rare that you'll find a place that is as well maintained as this one. I'm lucky to be a part of a couple of pleasant forums.

You're new to the whole "forums" thing aren't you?

The Escapist is a passive aggressive forum, all out assaults are not planned and shouts of dickhead are not had, instead people quietly wait to attack their opponent in a debate to make them look stupid and lose credibility as a poster. It's a hard to spot art, but I'm doing it in this post.

I like the fact that you're actually allowed to have an opinion here... most other internet forums seem to frown upon it.

I actually have been on many different forums, and the spelling+trolling+general feces-tossing has been incredible.
I am glad that whatever hopes for the internet-using community there are, they are all settled in here.

I have joined several other forums and this is by far the best forum out there. Other forums are filled with inconsiderate people who cannot spell and throw F bombs around all day long. This forum is filled with insightful topics and civilized people who have respect for other human beings.

Limos:
That seems paradoxical, a well behaved Troll. It's like a Chimp wearing a tuxedo, sort of cute at first, but then a little awkward.

Well, in this day and age, having a well-behaved forum is kinda paradoxical in itself! :)

I've found the best way to talk on forums is to think "What if I said this to someone in person. Would I come off as a complete ass and/or get punched in the face?" If the answer is yes, then don't post. I think it's a major problem that people seem to think that a conversation on the internet is just a real as a person to person conversation, and don't think about consequences. Also, people get lazy when they type, so they tend to go "omgg lo1 roflzbbq 1!!1111!!" Whenever I see a sentence like that, my brain cries out in pain.

I've been pleasantly surprised that these forums seem to be the exception to this problem. I've seen very few stupid/troll posts, and those who make them swiftly feel moderator wrath. Of all the forums that I have frequented, this is probably one of the few that I'll actually keep coming to in a few years time.

Edit:

Limos:
That seems paradoxical, a well behaved Troll. It's like a Chimp wearing a tuxedo, sort of cute at first, but then a little awkward.

Also, this is probably the funniest thing I've read all day.

The fact that people post obnoxious and abusive messages on forums doesn't necessary make them bad people in real life. Most people that post these kind of messages, I think, either don't fully think through what they actually are saying to the other person (or in some cases persons), or are under the delusion that the anonymity they often enjoy on the internet means that they are free as much a douche as they please (a fact that is often observed i the "freedom of speech" argument).

The fact that the escapist forums feature both civilized demeanor and proper grammar is some of the main reasone why I joined.

Hunde Des Krieg:
especially if it comes to anything remotely religious(always dissolves into flame wars, always).

Hunde Des Kreig I give you, the one, the only, the religious thread that didn't devolve into an all out flame war!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.74351?page=3

Now it is admittedly short on substance, but I think it will remain as the only religious thread that didn't light on fire (well until people get wind of a non-tarnished thread).

we like it here too. the main thing is even if you violently disagree with someone there's a good chance that you can talk it out rationally and sanely without it degenerating into a flamewar. there are exceptions, but not many.

not to mention the fact that we've seen what wilson and Nic will ban for, and live in fear of their mighty hammer of justice

I've only been here for a little bit but I think that it is definitely a very "clean" forum. I only go on one other which is very much like here, but every once in a while you get the idiot who goes bad mouthing everyone, mostly the admins and mods.

The internet is full of stupid people become the world is full of stupid people...

I find threads like the example to be about as boring as two 7 year-olds calling each other names on the playground. Really, you could sum up a lot of arguments on bulletin boards like this:

Poster #1: You're a stupid dummy-head!
Poster #2: No, you're a stupid dummy-head!
Poster #1: No, you are!
Poster #2: No, you are!
Poster #3: You are both stupid dummy-heads!
Poster #1 and Poster #2, in unison to Poster #3: Well, you are a stinky butt-face!

...ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

This would be an example of Teh Dumb. Moderators here, I know for a fact, hate Teh Dumb with a fiery passion. People think a thread gets locked for controversy, people think a thread gets locked for flamimg, but really, what gets posts locked around here is Teh Dumb.

That's also what gets banned around here. If you are a carrier of Teh Dumb, you will get probation as a warning to wise up, and if you continue with Teh Dumb, you will get banned.

But the thing is, the posters here, especially the ones who've been around for a while, hate Teh Dumb just as much as the mods do. Despite the periodic squeaking about "fascist mods," the reasons why the mods are successful in this are pretty simple.

They do a very good job of maintaining a consistent Dumb Threshold, and if you cross it, here they come with their padlocks and hammers. If you are around here for a while, you will figure out where that threshold is, and then it really is your choice to cross it or not.

The second reason that they are successful at this is because we want them to be. There are hundreds of people active on the forums at any given time. If we all wanted to be Dumb, there is no way in all the internets for them to stop us. It's a synergy. Law-abiding citizens make it easier for cops to catch bad guys. Good cops make it safe for a person to be a law-abiding citizen.

We used to be the sort of small town that left their doors unlocked at night because everybody knew everybody else. Now we are a city, a growing city, and that makes it even more imperative that we abide by the law and help the cops do their jobs.

The mods do a good job of setting boundaries, we do a good job of respecting them. If we keep that up on our end, they'll keep it up on theirs, and the stupid dummy-heads and the stinky butt-faces will go fight somewhere else.

This sums us right up

I don't want to get in trouble for this post... I put the link to the pic in a spoiler box, so I think I'm okay

but serously, there are some majorly immature forums out there. Ever been to RvB's forum?

Good, don't ever go there, it's not a good place

Trolling?

In my forums?

It's more likely than you think.

SargentToughie:
This sums us right up

picture link inside... just so you know

I don't want to get in trouble for this post... I put the link to the pic in a spoiler box, so I think I'm okay

but serously, there are some majorly immature forums out there. Ever been to RvB's forum?

Good, don't ever go there, it's not a good place

Man...that reminds me of this obnoxious encounter with their fanbase I had. I write this huge article interviewing two up and coming machinma directors that mostly use Half-Life 2 as their source. So RvB didn't really come up. I post it and the one f***ing thing anyone has to say to me is "I can't believe you didn't mention RvB once!!!11!"

I ended up posting some battery acid comment about it but honestly, they're just one group of guys. It's a medium, not a specific show.

As is often said, this is the last bastion of sanity on the internet, and there's one reason for that-Mods.

Here's an example: I was on a GameFaqs forum about Mass Effect, and one guy thought it would be a good idea to have certain things in ME2 that would never work, like swords, and he seemed convinced that because people wear robes in Star wars, they must wear them in every space opera from then on. Naturally, this started a heated debate, which I'm ashamed to admit I was a part of. It started as a civil disagreement, but then predictably devolved into a flame war. And the Mods let it go on for pages and pages, before the topic reached 500 posts and auto--locked.

EDIT:

SargentToughie:
This sums us right up

picture link inside... just so you know

I don't want to get in trouble for this post... I put the link to the pic in a spoiler box, so I think I'm okay

but serously, there are some majorly immature forums out there. Ever been to RvB's forum?

Good, don't ever go there, it's not a good place

QFT

And about the last part, its too bad, because I really like the show RvB, just not the forum.

And about the last part, its too bad, because I really like the show RvB, just not the forum.

I think that this is always going to be an issue with a larger forum. Eventually, when you have a user base of thousands, like the PlayStation forums or the RvB forums, moderators are unable to stop the abundance of spam and insults taht fly about forums.
A forum like the Escapist seems focused enough that it doesnt attract too many of those types. Heres hoping.

Captain_Planet:
A forum like the Escapist seems focused enough that it doesnt attract too many of those types. Heres hoping.

Check the comments on ZP some time. It's like moderator whack-a-mole and they don't even need their eyes open.

What forums are you all browsing that are so bad? O_o
I've mainly only browsed guild/clan forums, webcomic forums or informational ones like some tech support thing even things like thottbot/wowhead/tkasomething (though not for a year or so). I rarely see a proper trolling so I have missed a lot of what OP is talking about.

The Escapist isn't perfect either (*sigh* ban incomming), you see people undermining eachother in civil ways but it's still flaming it's just in a more polite way.

However The Escapist does have a lot to it which is why I keep comming back regularly.
Even if they do spell their name with no capitals at times...and that ban thing was a joke, please.

I guess it shows just how egotistical I've become that I saw the title and thought the thread might be about me...

Oh well.

Welcome to the escapist.
It's safer here.

Labyrinth:

Captain_Planet:
A forum like the Escapist seems focused enough that it doesnt attract too many of those types. Heres hoping.

Check the comments on ZP some time. It's like moderator whack-a-mole and they don't even need their eyes open.

I bet it's fun to be a moderator on Wednesday, so many permanent bans.