You can find this in pinball I can promise you. But it’s going to be offline. Locally in my neighborhoods we have great communities of pinheads which you describe similar to your crypto group.

If people didn’t like drama Reddit would have died long ago.

I’m actually convinced that the majority of posts on pinside have been created by artificial intelligence…

Recently pinball has reached a different kind of person, it’s more mainstream. Unfortunately we are starting to see some of those mainstream problems like we see with Reddit and the like.

Traditionally I like to think pinball has been for those who aren’t so normal. It was somewhat of an escape for some. This describes me in both matters.

In another thread I know someone mentioned that online communities sometimes make up a small portion of what’s really out there. For example I’m not on Facebook and I’m sure there are plenty of Facebook groups for pinball.

It’s great that people are enjoying your machines. This was one of my goals with building my collection. You never know someone else might join in after visiting with you.

More artificial than intelligent

I dunno. I’ve been exposed to some pretty close minded communities online and pin side has nothing on those others. There might be some discussion of newbies in the hobby not getting it or whatever, but as someone new to the hobby, any question I ask gets a sincere answer.

It's a pinside thing - you simply don't see the negativity, bitching, bickering, name calling etc etc on ANY other pinball site ANYWHERE!

It’s really easy to ignore. I’ve had a great time here over the years. I just choose not to get involved in BS. You get out of this site what you put in. If you act like an ass people are gonna treat you like an ass. If you are cool, people will be cool to you. The people who have problems are usually the ones causing problems.

I have only good things to say about pinside. I've got a lot of useful help here and I also try to give back in form of useful information. Sure there are a few threads complaining about stuff but you will find that in any community.

I am a real human. I prove it every day to google's not robot tests.

Well I'm glad it's not one big love-in, with everyone hugging and kissing each other. It is a community with lots of help and support if you need it, but it also offers some entertainment with endless trivial debates about who's the best......whatever. Arguments, inflated opinions, bitching and moaning......it's all part of the fun.

Generally when males argue with each other, they can get over it quickly and become better friends after. It's a type of bonding. Females have a higher tendency to hold grudges and shy away from conflict. This is seen when the behavior of children and chimps is studied. <Obviously this doesn't apply to every single male and every single female so don't get down my fucking throat screaming about how I'm a sexist>. It would make sense then, that this hobby which is generally comprised of men, would have forums in which this behavior can be seen. It's also part and parcel of being on the internet. I don't find Pinside particularly toxic when compared to traditional social media sites (or the other forum I visit; KLOV).

You should read this post again before replying about technology for the tenth time in a thread.

It takes two to bicker.

I know I do my part to bicker a bit on pinside, and enjoy it if I am being honest… I suppose I have always been that way. Though at the end of the day, I view most of it sort of like arm wrestling or dogs rough-housing but not because they hate each other or are trying to off each other, but because they it scratches a primal itch of sorts.

There is not one of you miserable bastards I wouldn’t grab a beer and play pinball with at the end of the day. Life is too short for anything less than that.

If you block a very small handful of people, I find this place way more tolerable. Dont let a few assholes ruin your experience.

Did someone say, “ beer”?
I’m in!
Cheers!

Certain topics I ignore right off the bat because you know they are clickbait based on how the question is posed.

Certain people get the same treatment, nothing but drama follow them.

Much better experience since.

Did you say something? Lol

I see what you did there.

FB pinball groups are horrible too and also always try to say pinside is a bad place, and then the next post they are asking something like "my flipper doesn't work what do you think it could be?". Bozos.

Reddit has been cringe in general for several years now so I'm not shocked that the reddit pinball community is also terrible.

Pinside is no different than most other hobby sites.

In my experience, Pinside is overwhelmingly positive and informative. RGP back in the day was the wild west.

My kid belongs to a couple of Disney fan sites...those groups can be vicious.

Good and bad here, the ignore feature is key to a good time on pinside. If you guys think it's rough here or reddit, you should check out the exotic animal keeper forums, just brutal to the point of actual violence, calling CPS on other keepers to have their kids taken away, just cutthroat gnarly. At least a pinball machine can't kill you.....ok,ok, is not likely to kill you.
Some true gems here and some real dingleberries, just gotta sort through it.
B

I really think a large part of the problem has to do with inherent limitations of online forums + typical personality quirks of a pinhead.

Quite frankly, a lot of us pinheads are smartasses with irreverent senses of humor, and we tend to derive entertainment and pleasure endlessly taking the piss out of each other, with lots of good-natured ribbing and shit-talking along the way. This is all great fun and good for a lot of laughs, and engenders friendship and comradery when the interactions occur IN-PERSON in normal settings (parties, arcades, expos, bowling alleys, pubs, etc.).

Online, all bets are off though, because none of the non-verbal stuff that normally serves during face-to-face interactions to provide "context clues" that the ribbing is good-natured and intended to be fun and light-hearted translates well in mostly text online interactions (judicious use of emojis can help a little, but is woefully inadequate to fully compensate). Therefore, things can get misinterpreted and incorrect conclusions are drawn, and hurt feelings, anger, and resentment can be the result, leading to some of the malignant posting and sniping that is sometimes seen here. Also, it's easier to suspend whatever form of "bad mood" we happen to be experiencing in a social/party/pinball setting than it is sitting alone in isolation with a tablet or computer, which no doubt contributes to a more positive vibe and less risk of being offended.

I don't know what the solution is other than to individually try to extend grace and liberally give each other the "benefit of the doubt", while also learning to retrain our brains to be a little less quick to jump into "defensive" and "counter-attack" mode (IOW, develop thicker skin).

Pretty much what PismoArcade said. It's everywhere to varying degrees. The current state of the world doesn't help either. Everyone is on edge, defensive, combative, and unwilling to compromise. People are just flat out mean. The old adage that the majority of humanity is good really has come into question these days. You try to get people to think of the bigger picture beyond themselves and they just laugh it off. People have stopped caring.

That being said, I don't find pinside to be as bad as people make it out to be. Even though people disagree, everyone is willing to help each other out when needed. You should see my wife's quilting forums. It's cutthroat over there.

A large part of the problem is the indirect nature of the communication. People are much more likely to be confrontational when not face-to-face with the other person. It's not inherent in the remoteness, but it's evolved in it. The "ancient" Compuserve chat rooms were not that unlike this forum, but were much more polite. I was in several on a variety of topics, and while there were issues, the frequency of hostile replies was far lower than today. Then, people were so happy to find others sharing their interest beyond the handful who lived near them (if any) that arguments were quickly dropped. I see too much "my way or the highway" now. Sad.

Other pinball forums have had issues, too. Tiltforums has had threads locked when they got too testy. And as others have mentioned, a small number of loud voices are a disproportionate part of the problem.

I've dropped out of many threads of interest when I saw them get out of hand. While I have more Covid data than most, the discussion was out of control there early on and I saw no point in getting into the crossfire between sides. Too much "defending MY position" and too little "what's the real scoop?"

I've largely dropped out of "Game X good or bad?" discussions, too. Yes, I have opinions, and I've played almost all pre-Stern games more than most other people here. But what games I like and why are only relevant to people who play games for the same reasons I do. Some people focus more on art, sound, theme, etc., and will never agree with me on which games they like best. That's fine, and I have no need to convince them that I'm somehow "right". That's part of the key to calming things down - - recognizing that more than one position can be "right," for different reasons. Maybe more people here should read the "favorite lesser-known movies" thread and see that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I had to look that up, that's a new one to me.

*edit* Hey Bob! Sad that I missed you when you were in town last. If I had known, I definitely would've gone to that tournament at Free Play! See ya when I see ya.

More people seem to be dicks today.

Don't be a dick.

Very true! I know a lot of people who no longer use Pinside because of keyboard Warriors on here. Arguing about pinball is hilarious to me haha. So silly.

Don’t take life so seriously, it’s a forum. Many think I’m negative/argumentative here but that’s because I enjoy talking about things that I disagree with rather than participating in a circle jerk. Pinside is honestly one of the coolest sites on the internet.

That is part of the problem around here is that people seem to want to surround themselves with echo chambers and get pissy when anyone comes along with a differing opinion. Their bubbles are very thin and afraid they will pop.

We are arguing about pinball, that is nerdy and embarrassing. I love pinball but that is ridiculous. It’s an amusement game. I was simply providing justification to why people leave sites like this.

Request granted, and you're welcome!

Yeah I guess it's been the standard interval for these types of threads, have at it.

Hint: nothing has changed since the last one.

See you next go around.

What I have noticed is some people can't accept someone might have a different opinion in regards to something they like.

Lots of flavors of ice cream, not everyone has to eat the same flavor nor do you have to treat another individual with scorn for liking something different than you.

Do you think it has something to do with the cost associated? I feel like many people in expensive hobbies feel they need to be justified in their spending, or they question themselves. At least that is how it seems around here. There is so little reason to be a fanboy of any pinball manufacturer. More games is good right? Competition good right? They all have their pros and cons, yet...here we are. Tell something that you think their game sucks, they take offense because they just spent 10k on it. It's something primal/subliminal.

From what I've observed, game hype threads seem to generate the highest amount of drama and arguments by far. This usually comes down to people having different opinions about something and not being able to accept that other people have a different opinion than their own. Unlike a lot of other hobbies, there is a really wide range of people coming from all sorts of different professions and backgrounds, and that can sometimes cause some disparity.

As a result of some of the discord in hype threads, that tends to generate the most amount of criticism about the forums, even though those hype threads are only a small piece of the forum as a whole. There are many other areas the forums beyond just that one corner where many conversations and discussions take place pretty much drama-free.

When participating on a discussion forum, you generally get out what you put into it. I like to think that pinball is about bringing people together who share a common interest/hobby. So, I usually try to approach discussions in that way. So, my forum experience generally tends to be positive.

Luckily, there are a couple tools here to help tailor your forum experience to your own personal preferences. You can put other members on ignore to you never have to see what they post. You can drain a topic and never have to see it again. You can hide sub-forums from the front page. You can use the grid view on the main forum page to help highlight the forum sections that you want to see, and hide the areas that you don't want to see. You can hide downvotes from view.

Wait….are you telling me cars are worse than pinball ?!

There is a lot of great people here and great information. On the other hand there is something weird with time. I enjoy talking shit and riling some one up probably more than the next guy. Here I have to be conscious of it and understand that people really take it seriously, it's not just a laugh to a lot of people on here. You can make a wise crack here and people will stalk you and downvote everything you say for years. I had a guy freak out that I was trolling a thread and I hadn't posted in it in three years. Three years later and he was still pissed, over a comment on the internet. Also the fanboyism around here is off the charts. There is a lot of subjects that people just choose a side and nothing will ever change their stance. I have never seen the level of fanboy devotion you see here, shit Ford/Chevy/Dodge doesn't run as deep as Stern/JJP/BW or Incandescent/LED.

I mean, I think given prices, we can quit saying cars are not a good comparison

What do you feed your dog?

Same thing happened on RGP from it's early days to when the hobby grew.

Just growing pains. Learn to ignore what you don't like. If you get in an argument, have your say once and then let it go.

LTG : )

Welcome to the interwebs

I do get it. People here spend 10 thousand dollars on something, only to have some guy say how much it sucks right after they hang the phone up. Then you'll have a war over a mostly inanimate object for 3 days between two people that have never met one another.

It all boils down to defending your whimsically priced toy's honor... which, now that I say it out loud, is fucking insane.

See that's why it's smart to wait till the initial frenzy is over to buy something.

By the time I picked up my Zep, I already knew everybody hated it, so the goal posts where already where I was comfortable with.

Most people haven't even gotten their terrible Halloween games yet, but still have a $9000 hole in their bank accounts, so the reports of it being awful are bound to make them defensive.

To me it does have a lot to do with our average age and demographics. Basically pinside has way more than our share of curmudgeons. Cranky old "get off my lawn" bellyachers who love to piss in other people's corn flakes. Curmudgeon-side?

oPINionside

Fine.

I've met some of my closest friends through this hobby. People that care about me irl, nd people I care about irl. And as someone else said, yes, there are a few "winners" here. But there are also a lot of really good people. People that will help when you have a question. It's all about who you hang out with. The loudmouths act like you should be forced to listen to, and respect their opinion, even when they are being assholes. They are just plain wrong.