Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board Every 10 Years Forum My "serious" campaign promises

I just wanted to take off my "Kid Prime" hat here for a second and talk as Jeff here for a sec. I was thinking about, seriously, what I would like to see happen here on the Mission Monitor Board if elected LMB Leader, and then I got to thinking, why make it contingent on being elected into a fictitious post with ficticious powers? That seems unfair to me, making other people vote for me so that I'll care more and interact more. So, regardless of the election results (and more on that later,) this is what I would like to see happen here in the next three months at Legion World.

I want us all to be entertained. I want us all to be able to come here and find threads that make us laugh, think, and interact. I want those of us who desire friendships with the people behind their LMB characters to be able to pursue that. And I want the people who just want their LMB characters to run merrily amok on the MMB to have ample opportunity to do that. I want to do my part in helping to entertain others and by so doing, stay happily entertained myself.

Another thing I would like to see happen here on the MMB in the next three months is for us to become less cliqueish. It really seems like, here in the last two or three months, this forum has become a place for 5-15 posters (and their Alt-ID's) to interact and be goofy, while 20 or so other people look on, posting intermittently every so often, and then as for the couple hundred or so other folks who post regularly on the board these days... zilcho. I think we can do better than that. There are a lot of people (including both our Founders) who spend a lot of time in other forums and who USED to spend a lot of time here on the MMB, but who... just don't come here anymore. While everyone has the right to spend their Legion World time however they wish, I can't help but wonder if this forum just seems indecipherable and, well, cliqueish to the people who used to post here a lot but haven't been here in quite some time.

Incidentally, of the 5-15 people who post here a lot, I consider many of those to be my very best friends here at Legion World, so I would sincerely hope that no one takes that as an indictment of anyone.

I see the Mission Monitor Board as fulfilling two purposes here on Legion World. One is to be the forum where we can have fun and run wild with our Legion World identities and alt-ID's, creating a "virtual community." And two, the place where newbies can find a place for themselves and make friends with those of us who have been here longer.

Finally, as for this election game we run every three months here on the MMB: maybe it would be nice to vote for the people to whom the vote would mean the most. If Portfolio Boy or ActorLad were elected LMB Leader, what would it mean to them? Would they feel more welcomed, more a part of this online community? Would our community grow because of that? Maybe voting for someone who doesn't participate as much here on the MMB as some of us others would make them feel more befriended.

I think we can all do more to reach out to new people here, and to reach out to people who have been here a while who maybe don't feel as welcome as they should. This isn't a campaign promise now anymore... it's just something I want to do better from now on.

Jeff

Jeff,

I suppose I'll take off my various masks also and answer as Chuck instead of Abin, Space Ranger, or Stoopid Cat.

The MMB has been (for me) the most fun part of this board ever since the first time I lurked here before registering and posting. BUT IT"S ALWAYS BEEN CLIQUISH. And I suppose it always will be...

Think about it.

The in joke used to be hijacking threads for gay flirting (done mostly by a small clique of posters) and everyone (including me) thought that was hilarious. Any thread at any time could suddenly become nothing but gay flirting.

Then came the infamous Icefire/Gossamer incident and while virtually the entire board supported Icy's right to flirt with everyone and anyone, the flirting content dropped and other things took precedence

The MMB then became primarily a forum to launch wild tag team stories over in Bits. Peoples on-line persona's changed and grew as a result of those collaborative efforts, people became more tolerant of other people's lifestyle choices (both ways!), and new poster's (and new altID's) jumped in adding to the zaniness on both forums.

NOW, Elections, election scandals, flirting, mock battles, stories about anything and everything, wild accusations, narcissistic threads, anything and everything can happen in this forum on any given day... And that's what makes it so great!

I remember being intimidated by the sheer volume of gay flirting going on in this forum when I first started posting. But! I came to enjoy reading it because it was inventive and clever. I never chose to participate in most of it but after getting to know (as much as we can know other people from what they choose to portray on-line) posters like Semi, Vee, Lash, Icy and several others, I became comfortable posting and interacting with them in any thread on this board. They became (to me) real people who I enjoyed being with on-line and that's all that really matters.

The only difference I see in the current conduct on the MMB is the volume of straight flirting. (And the fact that some of it has gone over the top!) I don't see the problems you see, except for the over the top part.

Jeff, You and I have never interacted much, mainly (in my opinion) because our interests don't coincide. But I think (Key words there, I could be entirely wrong, and I'll state that up front) I have learned some things about you from reading your posts and the small amount of interaction that we have had. You seem to me like a great guy and a person who I would be proud to count among my friends. But! you seem to be as uncomfortable with the straight flirting as I once was with the gay flirting. (And if I've misread your post's meaning, please set me straight) Understanding and tolerance work both ways.

In my opinion the MMB will continue to grow and evolve, cycling back and forth between the wildly different subjects that posters bring up here. This week one thing, next week, who knows?

Chuck

P.S. Vote!

Straight flirting? There are actual chicks here on the boards...?

Weird

But seriously, I can see Jeff's point. Although I have a pretty high post count, and have been treated very well, I have not always felt "IN-cluded." I have mostly chalked that up to the fact that, it seems, the vast majority of posters knew each other well from boards that existed prior to the Legion World launch.

Still, when things get hectic in my real life, I do sometime find myself unable to "keep up" with the in-jokes, the running commentary, or even just the clever quips.

Being absolutly no redeeming social skills of any kind, it is sometimes hard to keep up with the others. So, I have faded out from time to time. But a love for all things Legion keeps bringing me back, trying to fit in with the cool kids.

But to answer the question, what would being elected leader mean to me? Well, all posters here have been treated as welcome, so far as I can tell. But being leader would, I guess, transcend welcome and verge on accepted.

Ah, but having said that, now I fear the pity vote.

And of course, I would be a terrible and vengeful leader. Yes, there is a reason that, growing up, none of the other geeks would ever let me be the Dungeon Master!

I disagree, and I disagree.

Having not really been involved in the BITS forum, I can't say whether or not this statement about the connection between the two forums is accurate. I do have to say that for the casual person posting (and maybe I am a far, far more casual poster than I thought) having to do research in the BITS forum in order to figure out what is going on over here... well, doesn't that strike you as insular, and, once again, cliqueish?

Where in the world did you get that from ANYTHING said in my above post?


I'm sorry? I didn't realize there even was a "both ways" element to this or any other discussion on LW, but maybe I'm just naive like that.

My relationship with the MMB has been up and down.

Yes, I was heavily involved in the gay flirting when this board launched, but that grew tired for me before too long, as it must have for others too, as it all pretty muched stopped.

Then there were periods that I didn't come to the MMB much at all, but that changed in recent times because the MMB is the primary place I'm going to get to interact with posters like Cobie, Loser Lad, Miss T and Icefyre (and everyone else, you know who you are!), as well as witness the antics of the alt IDs.

Could the MMB be more than it is? Probably, but... what would it be?

I kinda like that the MMB has this sort of fluid "this is what it's about THIS month" feel to it.

Wow Jeff! I'm impressed - well done. I think agree with you about a lot of stuff. Nice sentiments there anyway...

My only statement on the MMB is that I wholeheartedly wish more people would participate.

I love interacting with Abin, Cobie, Lou, Viv, Lash, EDE, rtvu2, Semi, Quis, Vee, B.!, Numfies, Actor, Kippers, OM, Creativity, and maybe a few others that I've overlooked.

[Edited to include the fabulous Crujectra and Frostfyre!!!]

But there's like a jillion other members of the LMB who don't post on MMB.

I welcome EVERY LMBer to join in at the MMB. Just as EDE always says that alt-IDs are a myth, well so are cliques on the MMB.

I worried that EDE, Lash, & Teeds were a clique I'd never have access to but I just had to try to get to know them. I admit sometimes I've done so too zealously but they've never refused to interact with me and, let's face it, that's all we really seek in a forum such as this anyway.

Personally, I don't think there's too much wrong with MMB as it is, but I think it's a very positive thing that we endeavor to make it better anyway.

You've just listed a load of posters who you like best - and then say that there aren't any cliques! What?!

I've been back and forth on the MMB myself. I've been posting here more lately, but I'd pretty much abandoned it for quite awhile.

I still consider "The Legion" forum to be my home base, so to speak, with Bits and now the Spaceopoly Forum right behind. There's still a lot of threads on the MMB that are very active, but which I never really read, and really don't imagine myself participating in.

Of course there are going to be cliques in any group this size. Some people simply have more in common with one another. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just a matter of making sure that we're all open and friendly to others as well, rather than getting confined in our little cliques.

As much as I love it when Lash, Teeds, and I are in a full-force post-a-thon of silly Legion threads, it's even cooler when we've got posters like Cobie and Future and others joining in as well.

Do you ever get tired of claiming something that isn't true?

I listed a load of posters who I have interacted with in the MMB and said there are a bunch more who don't come to this forum.

I even like interacting with thickheaded noobs like yourself, Comet King. So put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!

gang, I love this board, and even after 10 months here, it does seem that those of you who've known each other years can come off a bit exclusive, cliquish.

But that's a part of any "scene," to one degree or another. Your first day on the job (for instance), where everyone's known each other and worked together for ages, you don't fit right in. it takes time - and effort. Part of why I'm looking forward to Dallas so much is that so many of us will be there.

I've said it before and will say it again, I think this board IS fairly good at welcoming new people, but new people (as I was last December) need to make an effort to be part of the family. Miss T, for instance, has done an wonderful job in this regard. Even so, it is intimidating in a way to wonder if one will ever fit in with the long-timers.

I would like to see a lot of the bonding that KP describes, too. But we can't force everyone to sing to our songs when we don't sing to theirs - we're all coming from different needs and expectations.

The common thread here, besides our common love of LSH, is fun and social interaction. Many of us are or were at one time branded as geeks, and shunned, excluded in some manner, hence the concern of cliques. Perhaps in trying to carve a home for ourselves, we've become what we once despised? A personal example: I grew up a lone DC fan among die-hard Marvel Zombies. I became very defensive and sarcastic about it. Years later, in college, I was perceived as the snob, ready to ridicule anything I didn't like, behavior I had evolved as self-defence (long since gone, I hope).

That's not to say the collective "We" are like that here and now, but maybe we need a public forum like this thread to air the laundry, to encourage the excluded to put in their two cents. There may be less public venues in place to do that now, but maybe a prominent, seperate section, without the clowning around is in order.

That's my two credits.

I hope that everyone is comfortable in coming to the MMB and posting here. I do the majority of my posting on the MMB at Legion World, although I probably venture into the other forums more than most others too. I usually try to interact with everyone that I can, especially here, since that's part of the fun for me posting. I certainly have long-lasting friendships with people here, which is something I enjoy after five years of posting online, but part of the fun is having these friendships begin and grow here.

When I first came to Legion World, I knew a good amount of posters previously, like Lash, Pov, Stu and Cru, but I was overwhelmed by people I hadn't met yet. Within one night, Semi, Vee, Icey and Abin (as Space Ranger) had me feeling totally welcome. I know others have had this experience here, and I hope it continues.

I think that's a good sentiment Jeff, especially since I know there are posters that have felt left out before. Overall, I think this is a pretty accepting community and the majority of people will readily welcome anyone who expresses an interest similar to another poster.

The MMB is my favorite forum by far--it has the craziness of the alt ID's, the ongoing LMB drama, threads about nothing and threads about people personally. Like Lash, I really like the 'this is what this place is about THIS month' feel to it as well. Even though I'm involved in all the stuff over here, that gives people a chance to jump in when they want.

No real point made in this post, just my feelings on the MMB in general . Jeff, I think that's a very good sentiment, and a lot of people will appreciate it. My advice to anyone ever feeling left out of a clique here: jump right in and post, and you won't be.

Kent/tneK is another poster whom I've loved interacting with - in this forum and others. Future & Cramey too!

Of course I've enjoyed speaking with people like Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Nightcrawler, He Who Wanders, Drake, Tellus, Deanlegion, and Invisible Brainiac, as well as others on the LMB. It's just usually in other forums.

I think if Teeds, Eryk and I seem cliquish at all, it's likely because we 3 share similar (though not always exact) tastes in silliness, and post a lot to the same silly threads on the LEGION board.

Cobalt, Fat Cramer and Future also seem to share our tastes for the goofy.

But not everyone appreciates the goofy, and that's cool too. Doesn't mean I don't like you but it might mean I interact a little less with you than I do them.

I just hate to seem "cliquey".

I've always been rather proud of the fact that the LMB actively interacts with any who choose to participate.

I've always been proud of that fact too. And that's the way I see it--it's people who have to choose to participate.

I think Lash, Teeds and EDE have the exact same sense of humor and are on a lot of the same nights, which is why they might seem cliquish to some. But I've never seen them that way, especially since myself and others have jumped right in before. Also, Lash and EDE post a large portion of their posts in other forums, and Teeds has always talked serious about the Legion in addition to her whimsical topics.

And the first few days of the Titans crossover showed me beyond anything that the Legion or MMB can involve everyone being both silly and serious at the same time which is even more fun, *if* people are willing to jump in head first. I konw there were about fifteen of us the first day of the crossover making funny comments, and I laughed all day b/c of a bunch of people.

I know lots of posters don't like the 'roll-playing' aspect of the MMB, the silly threads on the MMB or Legion forum, or even any of the game threads. But they usually found the ones they do like and post on those, while trying to venture out some more and talk to new people. I hope this continues.

I don't understand, however, why everyone in the world is not posting on the "Legendary Statue of the poster known as Cobalt Kid" thread. Maybe it should be headlined again...?

I think I said it clearly before but, if not and just to make sure I do now, I feared that Lash, EDE, and Teeds were a clique that I couldn't interact with. The reality has proven different.

By the same token, myself, Abin, Lou, and Viv could have been viewed as cliquish but, of course, we aren't. There was just a time where we were the only ones posting together at the same times.

I do, however, support any cliques that include me and shower me with positive attention.

Hmm...I do realize that we were considered a clique, and I never say anything wrong with that, because we were so vocal with everything we did, it wasn't like we ignored anyone.

I remember first coming here, it was like no matter what I posted nobody would care, I would just talk to IB and once in while Cobalt, now things have blossomed and I find myself being able to 'click' with everyone.

of course Ibby talked to you! he's a Zoe fanatic!

Glad you hung in there, Viv. ((((((hug))))))

Thanks, *kiss*

I wish IB was able to be around more. I miss that kid!

I had it pretty easy in fitting in I suppose because I had been lurking for so many years. I came in right after Legion World opened and recognized many names instantly...but was kind of afraid to talk to people. They knew so much more about the Legion than me, after all...though I'm catching up. I remember posting once or twice alongside Vee and Icey who were also fairly new at the time. By the time I went on my little hiatus, I had broken the ice and was posting alongside old and new posters alike...but hardly chatting on the side.

Now? Well, as you can tell, you guys can't get rid of me! I'd like to think I've made some great friends here and it's been great getting to know people both on and off the public forum. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to more of you in the days that come. I don't know if I fall into any clique...though I do like to bounce around between groups and just post wherever. There are definitely certain threads I'm more prone to be in, of course.

My thoughts to everyone? Don't be afraid of groups or breaking the ice. Just post. Be your own group. Make your own mark. Have fun and mesh slowly with everyone. It's what I did with high school and I positively loved the experience...knowing that I could hang out with the cheerleaders for an hour and then stop by some of the more 'goth'/quiet kid's houses too and be comfortable with everyone in-between. It's the same here...there may be 'newer' posters and 'veterans', but they're all great people.

I'd personally thank everyone for making this place great, but then I really WOULD be thanking everyone. You guys all know who you are. Anyone who has ever PMed me, responded to threads, gotten off-topic with me, and most importantly to anyone who just read the insanity and came along for the ride (either in posting or lurking). You're all F'n'A in my book.

Cheers,
Future

I'm glad you're here, Viv.

IB is always on really, really late at night, and he mostly checks out the voting polls and games.

Oh, thanks KP, *kiss*

Yeah, I'm glad you stuck with us too, Terry

Future and Kent--you guys have been welcome additions too! I remember noticing Future was becoming more than a lurker and occasionnal poster a few months ago...now he's one of my partners in crime! The same goes for lots of other folks that I never really talked to and gradually have: I've become friendly with Kent, Matlock, Miss T and others over the summer that I never really interacted with before. It's all part of the fun.

And I loudly protest that I miss IB too, and hope he gets more posting time. His posts on the tag threads used to bring out big smiles in me, and I know the feeling was mutual among all those who were reading them.