Surviving Test Squadron

[NomadicHavoc]

I love Test Squadron as it's a shared community where we can discuss Star Citizen and other fun entertainment adjacent topics. But, there are some personalities out there that are in my view just 'ick'. The below 3 videos have some informative topics that you may find helpful. For me, I'm just going to stop reading posts from the narcissist in my life - or at least use a gray rock method discussed below. If you disagree, have at it...but you might want to at least watch the 3 videos so you know what to expect.

I don't want or need that sense of responsibility to call people out for abusive behavior, gaslighting, or just gross behavior. It does not help. Ultimately, I think it's the site moderators responsibility to mold this forum into an enjoyable place to be so more people don't jump into their personal escape pod and stop engaging on this site.

PS: Would be nice if this post is pinned as this has been an ongoing issue for much longer that I've been a member.

• 7 reasons why calling out the narcissist is so tempting
• 5 things that happen when you call out a narcissist
• 6 alternatives to calling out the narcissist

 

[Aramsolari]

TEST is a large Org but the reality is that participation can be spotty. We have often been accused of being a paper tiger with our lackluster activity. Due to various reasons these forums have unfortunately been hijacked by a select few obsessed with a select few topics. @Montoya is aware of the problem but honestly this is what happens when you have a game that's extremely slow in development. Folks lose interest and either head off to other gaming communities or in the case of a few, populate these forums with weird stuff. No point troubling the forum admin when it's so dead.

The TEST Discord Server is a much more vibrant community that actually has active moderation. My recommendation to any TEST member is to channel your energy there. These boards are dead. Perhaps things will get better with 4.0 or Live but until then....Discord is much much better. On that note gaming forums like these are actually a relic of another time. Most active gaming communities prefer to use Discord these days.

 

[Sintha]

There is only one solution to this, every reply adds to the problem no matter how well intentioned.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYh6gyeUfio

 

[NomadicHavoc]

Funny, my wife describes me as a “relic of another time”. I’m due, in fact, to have some barnacles scraped off from my hull. Don’t ask!

Leave it to @Aramsolari to put things into reasonable perspective. Where would I be to without the likes of you.

That being said, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never engaged on discord. I’m even a little intimidated by it. I’ve never played a day of SC yet so I wasn’t sure if I’d have much to contribute to any conversations to be had.

 

[Aramsolari]

Funny, my wife describes me as a “relic of another time”. I’m due, in fact, to have some barnacles scraped off from my hull. Don’t ask!

Leave it to @Aramsolari to put things into reasonable perspective. Where would I be to without the likes of you.

That being said, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never engaged on discord. I’m even a little intimidated by it. I’ve never played a day of SC yet so I wasn’t sure if I’d have much to contribute to any conversations to be had.

The Discord server isn't all about SC. In fact it seems like most folks are either just hanging out in there chatting or playing completely different games (Helldivers 2 was a favorite for awhile). There's also frequent online 'Bar hangouts', movie watch parties, and the like. @Chromeninja runs events regularly and is probably the one TEST member keeping it all together lol. Anyway don't be shy, check it out!

I also recommend SolCitizens which is a Star Citizen Twitch/Discord community run by @GriffinGamingRPG a TEST member who doesn't participate much here but is extremely active on Discord. Those guys run an excellent Star Citizen themed Twitch forum discussing all manner of SC related topics weekly.

 

[NomadicHavoc]

I’ll have to look into both. I think @GriffinGamingRPG and the rest of the SolCitizens crew are amazing. Griffin has a unique and balanced perspective every time! Enjoy their YouTube content.

 

[Han Burgundy]

There's only one way to fully avoid assholes on the internet, fellas:

 

[Montoya]

As Solari said, forums are a relic of the past. Not that they are useless, we have thousands of very important posts here with information, guides, tips and advice about Star Citizen which even shows up in searches for me!

I can't remember what it was I was searching, but a post from this forum was the top result in google for my random issue, which was cool!

Our main hub of activity is on Discord, and has been for several years already. We do recognize that many members still prefer using the forums, we do encourage these members to also use Discord as much as possible.

As for your issue with Shadow Reaper, yes you are right, it is the moderators responsibility to guide the direction, but I tend to spend most of my time in Discord, so my apologies for not staying on top of it.

I have asked him to ease off the constant daily posts about wokeness and he has agreed.

One last point to make is that most of us here have been around for almost 10yrs at this point. We have our busy times and our quiet times.

Personally I have taken a big break from Star Citizen while we wait for the next big patch. I find it impossible to remain engaged on any game for long periods like this without breaks and I know a lot of you feel the same.

We have made it through the toughest part of the development cycle which is the waiting (for a decade). When 4.0 drops we will have a lot of the features we have been waiting for, and with that will come the return of many veterans here, so hang in there! We are closer than ever!

 

[Chromeninja]

Join us on discord!!! We are much more active on there!!

 

[Aramsolari]

Join us on discord!!! We are much more active on there!!

We appreciate all you do Chrome!

 

[Ayeteeone]

We appreciate all you do Chrome!

No, no we don't! Have you MET the man, the myth, the legend whose ball/gown got swished by none other than Disco Lando himself? Who is so deep into gaming he actually gets PAID for it? Who is the only TESTie I've seen drink more than O'Lefty? (well, recently )

It's worth getting into Discord just for the entertainment value alone!

EDIT: Lest anyone take this the wrong way, it is entirely in jest. @Chromeninja puts his energy out there, often, for the benefit of others, and i've had the fun of experiencing it in person.

 

[LurchLord]

Forums feel quiet, dignified, a nice place to catch up on what has happened since you decided to take a timeout from SC and everything surrounding it.

Discord feels hectic, disorganised and unpleasant. Single stream of chat means you never find anything you are looking for ever again.

 

[Montoya]

Forums feel quiet, dignified, a nice place to catch up on what has happened since you decided to take a timeout from SC and everything surrounding it.

Discord feels hectic, disorganised and unpleasant. Single stream of chat means you never find anything you are looking for ever again.

I agree, forums have their place, they always will.

 

[Chromeninja]

No, no we don't! Have you MET the man, the myth, the legend whose ball/gown got swished by none other than Disco Lando himself? Who is so deep into gaming he actually gets PAID for it? Who is the only TESTie I've seen drink more than O'Lefty? (well, recently )

It's worth getting into Discord just for the entertainment value alone!

EDIT: Lest anyone take this the wrong way, it is entirely in jest. @Chromeninja puts his energy out there, often, for the benefit of others, and i've had the fun of experiencing it in person.

Awe shucks, you are too kind

 

[BUTUZ]

I too much prefer forums where everything is nicely organised into sub forums threads on specific topics which you can click if you are interested and ignore if not. It's a gentlemen's way to communicate.

Discord is like a scruffy youth shouting and screaming in your face just random words about any subject. It is however handy for playing games with your mates on voice comms but as an information store it is rubbish.

Plz keep the forums going boss.

 

[LurchLord]

Discord to me is nothing more and nothing less than the Voice Chat the majority of our Org has chosen.
Here today, will be enshittified soon, then the next voice chat program will come along that will be chosen because it offers better quality or less bandwidth usage or less tacked on shit for a while.
Enshittification has already started with Discord Nitro. Everyone who has ever followed any service through its lifecycle knows that pretty soon, because not enough people are willing to pay a sub
for fucking emojis, the paid membership will "offer" things like an "ad free experience" and the "permission to join up to 5 servers", while free users will see core functions available today
being taken away one by one. Always the way, always the same.

Looking forward to installing Brabbel or Laber or Schwafel this time next year ;)

For reference, see:
-Xfire
-Ventrilo
-Skype
-Roger Wilco
-Mumble
-Teamspeak
-Hangouts
-Teams

 

[mromutt]

I too much prefer forums where everything is nicely organised into sub forums threads on specific topics which you can click if you are interested and ignore if not. It's a gentlemen's way to communicate.

Discord is like a scruffy youth shouting and screaming in your face just random words about any subject. It is however handy for playing games with your mates on voice comms but as an information store it is rubbish.

Plz keep the forums going boss.

You should come into discord more then and make other use the discord forums ;) teach the kids! (and chrome XD)

 

[Montoya]

Discord to me is nothing more and nothing less than the Voice Chat the majority of our Org has chosen.
Here today, will be enshittified soon, then the next voice chat program will come along that will be chosen because it offers better quality or less bandwidth usage or less tacked on shit for a while.
Enshittification has already started with Discord Nitro. Everyone who has ever followed any service through its lifecycle knows that pretty soon, because not enough people are willing to pay a sub
for fucking emojis, the paid membership will "offer" things like an "ad free experience" and the "permission to join up to 5 servers", while free users will see core functions available today
being taken away one by one. Always the way, always the same.

Looking forward to installing Brabbel or Laber or Schwafel this time next year ;)

For reference, see:
-Xfire
-Ventrilo
-Skype
-Roger Wilco
-Mumble
-Teamspeak
-Hangouts
-Teams

Shwafel has some nice features and the audio quality is great!

 

[Bambooza]

I too much prefer forums where everything is nicely organised into sub forums threads on specific topics which you can click if you are interested and ignore if not. It's a gentlemen's way to communicate.

Discord is like a scruffy youth shouting and screaming in your face just random words about any subject. It is however handy for playing games with your mates on voice comms but as an information store it is rubbish.

Plz keep the forums going boss.

Same. Discord is great for real time conversations, but is not as useful for casual and drawn out conversations over days and weeks.

As for the op, it's ok to not agree with another members point of view on all subjects. And it's ok to not read their post and ignore them or ignore topics in general. After all this is the internet full of diversity, and we are drawn together not because of a unity in ideology or common beliefs, but a shared love of space games and dream of what sc can be. So there is no need to call people out because of differences in opinion , engage if you feel like ignore the topics that are bothersome. After all we have far more in common that we can engage in positively then what separates us.

 

[Reload]

Wait. These forums still exist?