You know, I haven't really been replying to many posts in this thread because I just wanted to say my bit, and people are welcome to disagree with parts or all. But your post I can't do that, because that is probably the absolutely rudest post I have seen in years and I feel obligated to respond. [quote]Many, if not all, private groups before the darkness and early on in the darkness were there to compensate for restrictions that the public forums had.[/quote]And many of those groups died with Bnext. Including many that were NOT there to compensate for restrictions the public forum had. Making it irrelevant. [quote]Your private group was just that, a private group, not a true community that that served enough of a purpose to evolve out of the group system and in to something better. [/quote]How DARE you say that groups I was a part of were not true communities. Groups shouldn't HAVE to leave Bungie.net to be able to thrive. I have had groups on here for years that have become a huge part of my life both in Bnet and outside it. I have seen legacy children join groups, witnessed births, stopped suicides, and gotten through some parts of my life that were incredibly difficult for me personally BECAUSE I had these groups to rely on and the people in them had us to rely on too. Many of these groups were and are still today hugely important to me and who I am as a person. And you have the NERVE to say they aren't true communities or that they failed the 'test of time' because of drastic changes that stopped activity in nearly every group? Get the -blam!- out of here. You have absolutely no right to say anything of the sort and that is horrible of you to even try and assert. Private Groups have had effects on people Bungie most definitely didn't intend at first- and that includes effects on how people live their everyday lives. And most of these groups I have seen such things in did NOT leave Bungie.net. Why? Because there was no need to- everything we had we could access here. Saying we should leave and if we don't we aren't a 'true enough community' or some other bullshit like that? How horrible. And you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. Do I sound angry? If so, I'm probably understating exactly how outraged I am at that. How horrible of you to say. [quote]Groups are no longer going to serve the purpose they once did. Anyone remember what they were originally for? Organizing LAN parties. [/quote]You could always do that if you wanted. Now groups serve NO real purpose. Because of this update, killing off communities- some of which are new and some of which have survived for years. It is a dreadful thing when smaller communities Bungie provided us the opportunity to create are absolutely destroyed and hardly given a second thought. Especially when some forum-goers have the nerve to go around saying they just were too pointless in the first place. [quote]But instead of whining about your shitty private group that died because it wasn't relevant enough to your members stick around, why not take off your rose glasses and get to work improving a platform where you have more of a voice than you realize?[/quote]Go -blam!- yourself.

First off, I should have specified that the use of "your group" wasn't directed to you specifically. It was generally speaking. But I said it in my first post (that you so graciously ignored half of) and I'll say it again, it's a truth for a lot of groups that's going to suck for people, especially those who put effort in to it. Hearing this sucks. People aren't going to like it. That's the point. Communities come and go, but the fact that people have stayed says something about the many unstable or fickle groups that basically washed out for, like I said, irrelevance, no real community, or the group's purpose/time has passed. You're mad, I get it. But trust me, I of all people understand the impact that private groups have on people. The interactions within groups have changed lives. That post was meant to be harsh. It's supposed to ruffle feathers and hopefully get some people thinking. I have every right to post it. I grew up here. I help run a community of over 5000 active members and over 40k registered member. Over the years, I've come to understand that there are truths regarding maintaining and sustaining online communities that really suck to hear, let alone accept. There were groups that survived in some form or another. There are reasons why some survived and some didn't. If the bonds between group members and that group's sense of community mattered to said member was so strong and true, why are these groups dead entirely? But those bonds that you created with those individuals in groups? Did those get destroyed? Let's go back to the Cave Girls. They shut it down because the community's time had passed, but I still talk to the vast majority of the women who were involved. The group was no longer relevant, but people always are. The sugar-coated point: Sometimes groups die and go to group heaven. Sometimes they die of cancer or get hit by a car. Sometimes it's of old age and everyone's left for greener pastures. Sometimes groups live longer than others because they haven't lost relevance. PS: I'm going to bed where I'll wake up in the morning and legitimately not care about this thread anymore.

[quote] But I said it in my first post (that you so graciously ignored half of) and I'll say it again, it's a truth for a lot of groups that's going to suck for people, especially those who put effort in to it.[/quote]Not responding to something because it is flat out wrong is not the same as ignoring it. Saying 'oh it is a truth you do not want to hear' does not mean it is actually a truth and I just don't want to hear it. It's a load of nonsense that completely ignores everything that was said. [quote]I of all people understand the impact that private groups have on people. The interactions within groups have changed lives. [/quote]Apparently not if you're continuing to insist that groups that did not move off of Bungie.net were not 'real communities.' You should be ashamed. [quote]I help run a community of over 5000 active members and over 40k registered member. Over the years, I've come to understand that there are truths regarding maintaining and sustaining online communities that really suck to hear, let alone accept. [/quote]And thus it comes out. 'My community is better and real because we are somewhere else.' Well take the high horse attitude and shove off. No, you DON'T have any right to come here and say that groups that influenced MY life and the lives of people I genuinely care about are somehow 'less' just because we stayed here and did not expect to be completely destroyed by our hosts. [quote]There were groups that survived in some form or another.[/quote]Most, the VAST majority of them, didn't. Hence the thread. [quote] If the bonds between group members and that group's sense of community mattered to said member was so strong and true, why are these groups dead entirely? [/quote]Why don't you actually read the thread and read through replies and find out? [quote]Anyways, you had enough lack of courtesy to not actually address the rest of my original post, [/quote]Which I did. Get off you high horse. It isn't a 'truth we don't want to hear.' It's bullshit spoken from somebody that wasn't involved in communities here in such a meaningful way, and therefore thinks she has the right to say those meaningful communities didn't exist. A community here should not have had to move off of this site to thrive, and a community here should not have to move off site to be considered a meaningful community. Some of the people here in my groups are people I genuinely care about, and others that have gone through real difficulties in their lives with us to help them through it. And you have the NERVE to sit in your safe little chair and tell me that because private groups were killed, the groups themselves were not important or meaningful or real communities? Again: That is the most rude pile of horse shit I have ever seen spewed on these forums. How DARE you tell me that groups and people I have spent years with aren't are meaningless. There is a difference between disagreeing with a thread and going so far as to insult everybody that agrees with it. Am I crossing a line? You bet your ass I am. But at least the line I passed isn't trailed with lies spoken from my tip toes on the tallest horse I could find.

You're mad, I'm going to let you cool off for a bit. This means a lot to you, I can tell. Maybe I'll come back and articulate myself in a way that doesn't seem so harsh and perhaps specify what I mean by moving off b.net. Because there are points that I attempted to present that I still hold strongly to, and maybe posting after my bedtime wasn't the best idea, but I don't feel like backing down from my general point because someone's feelings are hurt or I didn't articulate well enough the first time. And I'm sitting on top of a pile of fluffy pillows on my bed. With some chocolate. I'm insulted.

I don't understand why you keep going back to the "you're mad" There's really no reason to say that. It sort of brings everything you've stated to a shitty summary of "You're mad bro, deal with it, i know better than you and am more intelligent on this subject" I understand that's not what you're going for, but there is a general feeling of disrespect and down talking. <3

I see what you mean, but the point of the original content was prefaced with the understanding that nerves would be touched. After being told to go -blam!- myself multiple times I said that I understood the emotional state of the author of those responses and would return later with a revised statement of my original response to this thread.

Be the bigger member. (giggity)