i have been thinking a lot about how to say what i am feeling about this move with DSF. i know that things have gotten a little weird with the massive influx of people, to the point that some of the "community" vibe has been lost, but growing pains happen, and the music is great (the diversification is nothing but a good thing in my eyes).
i, however, do not find this move to be "zenlike" as grievous angel put it. in fact, far from it. i have much respect for dubway for starting the forum, and for all the mods who use their free time to keep things sorted. and at the end of the day, i realize that the forum is dubway's so he can do what he likes.
what i do find frustrating is to build a place where such a community has risen up, to mostly positive ends (despite some of the whinging and aggro-ness that pops up from time to time), only to shut it down without a word of warning, for reasons that we can only speculate about right now. were it a move to upgrade the board or something technical, one would think they would say so, so we have nothing to do other than speculate that the reasons go far deeper. and this is where it gets hinky.
i mean, whether it's to teach us a lesson about how valuable the forum is to the dubstep "scene" or to tell the whingers and jerks to fuck off, either way, even if the intention is good, the move still comes off as petulant and (dare i say it) elitist. there have been a lot of accusations thrown about pertaining to the elitism, and so i don't want to throw that word around flippantly, but if either of those reasons play into this, that's exactly how it feels. "you are not acting up to our standards or appreciating the forum, so *yoink*. now you don't get it."
it's the action of a 3rd grader who doesn't get what he wants, so he says "i will take my ball and go home."
to build up a place that people not only enjoy, but consider the cornerstone of the global dubstep community, and then shut it down without warning is essentially playing god with a community that is now made up of 20,000 people, and not just one (or a handful). and that's why i used the word elitist. if no one in the community has any say over how the community works, but has to stand by and watch as someone else dictates the method and mode of the community's existence? that's not zenlike, that's hoarding the power over our heads.
there is always a certain balance that has to be maintained when owning/modding a community that has grown, and that includes incorporating the will and the needs of the entire community into the decisionmaking (i know not everyone shares that opinion, but that's the way i see online communities). in this case, i don't feel like anyone outside of the owner and mods had ANY power in said decisionmaking, even though we were all affected.
i say all this knowing that i have several good friends who are mods there, and i hope they know that i harbor no ill will towards them, but i am frustrated and a little disappointed in this decision. i am not saying any of this to slag anyone, more stating my thoughts for the record so maybe they will see a little different perspective should something like this ever come up again.
sorry for the novel. LOL. feel free to point out that i am taking this all way too seriously and should probably get a life.
