#21 Elitism

[esperance]

One of the worst places, in my experience, is ROM hacking. Every year or so, there is a new group of "elite" hackers that make all these amazing things, and their opinions on certain matters become the opinion of the scene. To fit in, people start parroting these "elites" and all of a sudden people are following those few opinions left and right, and it shapes where ROM hackers as a whole will go for the rest of the year.

For example, around 2010 everyone hated on Emerald because a few elites declared it "unstable." And now, five years later, the reverse is happening and all of a sudden it's cool to hate Ruby. It's a cycle.

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

One of the worst places, in my experience, is ROM hacking. Every year or so, there is a new group of "elite" hackers that make all these amazing things, and their opinions on certain matters become the opinion of the scene. To fit in, people start parroting these "elites" and all of a sudden people are following those few opinions left and right, and it shapes where ROM hackers as a whole will go for the rest of the year.

For example, around 2010 everyone hated on Emerald because a few elites declared it "unstable." And now, five years later, the reverse is happening and all of a sudden it's cool to hate Ruby. It's a cycle.

As someone who is (or was, depending on how you look at it) part of that 'clique', I can safely say elitism, cliquiness, and other exclusionary social aspects of the PokéRH community are near-bookworthy as far as explanation goes.

Regardless of what exactly is what with specifics of the RH community (such as Emerald/FireRed/Ruby preferences, for instance), the important thing I've always kept in mind is the purpose of why we're here. I can't be certain about years ago as I wasn't there but even now a sense of elitism is present in things (albeit it's grassroots now more than anything), and the reality of things with that is that it's missing the point of what we're hacking for. I don't hack the ROMs or write applications so others can take a liking to my tool/hack based on some arbitrary (and apparendly dynamic) preferences or likes/dislikes. I made the hacks I did and wrote the apps I did to help the scene of ROM hacking itself - I contributed for the sake of the collective as opposed to the interests of a few select "elite". I can relate with how off-putting the mindset of others can be, and at points I've had to regroup and distance myself from development gathering points because of this irrational behaviour.

I think one of the largest reasons the elitism isn't as prevalent in our RH community now as it was before is because the demographic has globally shifted - the vast majority of hack players, a lot of hackers, and even a few developers and tool makers I've seen are all drastically younger in age and thus don't have the attention span to be as dedicated to the notions of things as someone in their twenties would be able to be.

Really, who cares about what base you use? Who gives a fuck? I've had people question me for using Ruby in seriousness, and to be honest it's a bit off-putting. I have my reasons for using the base I do, and I'm sure you have yours as well.

On top of things those who have made contributions to the collective also often gain this notion of notoriety about their place in things which leads to the downhill slope of USI for what they did. This is particularly true for hackers who make blockbusters, and tool makers who have really good shit (or really good ideas, even). They think they're better and they're not. Their product is better, not them! Always remember that.

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

I am just a random outsider who feels like she isn't a real part of this community, so all I can say are my observations about what I have experienced over the few months. Do not take them as 100% accurate. My mind sometimes overexaggerates the negative, and I'm trying to keep neutral and keep that out, but there might be some bias in there.

What I ask though is that if you disagree, to be as respectful as possible. I've noticed that people who disagree with me sometimes are not as respectful as they can be, particularly on a very touchy topic like this one. I want to be open and honest, without feeling as though someone will come down on me.

With that said, let us get to the point.

I feel this community definitely suffers from a type of elitism. It is more subtle, but that only makes it very unpleasant to me. There are a few places I have not felt it. (Such as the club and forum games sections.) But I get a sort of vibe of elitism from the roleplay section. It seems intimidating to me, and like there's this "in" group of roleplayers which I am not a part of who would reject me because I do not follow their ways.

There are also a good chunk of cliques around here. That's not so much a bad thing as I never really become a part of them anywhere, but they can feel alieniating. I do not feel quite like this place is as friendly and welcoming as intended. The heavy usage of CSS in posts also adds that tinge of elitism. That need for everything to be prettified.

Then there are all of the different types of supporters, username colors... when I first joined, my head was spinning from all of these colors. I couldn't tell who was a moderator and who was not, and I felt as though if I did not throw money at this site, I was not with the "in-crowd" due to seeing so many cliques composed of donators. It does not help for elitism either that donators get quite a few special perks, which is a practice that I have never believed in.

Basically, I find this place to be intimidating. Most of the time, people leave me alone and that's fine. I like it that way. I'd much rather be left alone then have negativity directed at me. But sometimes, there are those who seem as though they are being vaguely condescending towards me, quite pretentious because I am just some random person who is here and not a mainstay in the community.

To answer the rest of the question posed by this thread, I believe that one of the ways to reduce elitism would be the removal of heavy donation perks, only leaving a few that are more insignificant. That isn't going to happen though, and I quite understand why. You have to motivate people somehow to get your money because of the way this world works. (Which I have a problem with, but that is not for this thread.) Speaking moreso in terms of peoples' attitudes, I definitely think that perhaps things should... mellow out a bit, I suppose. Others need to take it easy, and not give off that feeling of being high and mighty. In a rank-based system, it isn't really an easy task because of human nature. It's inevitable, but I believe it can be reduced significantly with the right attitude and the right people. But I don't think it could happen in a place like this, if I'm honest. You would need everyone's involvement and help, and in an already established community, that's pretty difficult to obtain.

Once again, do not take my opinion as being 100% accurate. As a person who just kind of does her own thing without any concern, there is only so much that I can know.

 

[Her]

anyone who has a sense of superiority because they donated money to a pokemon forum is quite simply a loser

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

anyone who has a sense of superiority because they donated money to a pokemon forum is quite simply a loser

You know, my initial thought when I saw this post was "Gee, I dunno what this says. It seems really regular and plain, it reads as far too in-line with others words," but then I had the epiphany to think a bit more and try to read into things with what you said. What exactly is a sense of superiority? What is that? What defines that, what criterion does it possess? Is it that you think you're just plain old above someone for it, in any/every way? I don't think hardly anyone really believes that at all, even to themselves. If it's not just a blanket term to describe someone's off-putting ego, then could it be something more complex, like maybe there's some sort of connectivity going on between the properties of donorship and otherwise normal social interaction that doesn't stem from someone's raw ego? An example being someone's sense of justification towards the exchanges of money for perks. That's a bit more in-depth. What exactly are you getting at here?

 

[Her]

i was referring to the post above me

 

[Timbjerr]

I wouldn't say the modern PC is particularly "elitist", though it does feel somewhat clique-ish and hard to break into the "cool club".

Admittedly, I sometimes feel that I get a lot less recognition and popularity than I probably deserve given just how long I've been around and my status as an S-mod some ten years ago...but then I remind myself that it's just a Pokémon fansite that I frequent when I'm bored and nothing that happens here has any bearing on my life in the real world. XD

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

i was referring to the post above me

Oh, sorry about that. I'd just thought given you didn't quote anyone it was just a general thought on the OP, my bad.

I wouldn't say the modern PC is particularly "elitist", though it does feel somewhat clique-ish and hard to break into the "cool club".

Admittedly, I sometimes feel that I get a lot less recognition and popularity than I probably deserve given just how long I've been around and my status as an S-mod some ten years ago...but then I remind myself that it's just a Pokémon fansite that I frequent when I'm bored and nothing that happens here has any bearing on my life in the real world. XD

Have a cookie, my friend. You are now officially on my list of pretty cool guys.

 

[Pendraflare]

The only places here that I really get senses of elitism are in Discussion and Debates, and the Staff Feedback thread. (Since I don't go to the ROM Hacking...) It's when we see heated debates and the like where I think people start acting superior, because they're thinking that their opinions are right. Some people, whom I won't name, have been suggested that they've gotten to their head but I don't want to go too into specifics.

 

[antemortem]

jesus FUCK d&d is terrible about elitism. I won't be the first to say that some people should climb off their high horses there. I mean, debating is a kind of art form but-

i typed up a huge rant so i'll delete that for now

people aren't very "elitist" here, unless they have been here for ten+ years and only return for a day out of every month to inspect the changes that have transpired in the years they've been irrelevant. those people also have developed a sense of entitlement so that doesn't help.

specific examples of these people? i have none on my mind but they exist i promise. pc is 12 years old. there's plenty.

 

[Her]

the high horse is more present throughout pc than you would think

 

[moon]

Mine's got to be a pony though. I couldn't climb a high horse to save my life, ask Went.

 

[Tek]

Some people think they're better than others, and some people get offended at such a mindset. That's life. Though it is nice when the elitists think about other people's feelings, and when elitist-haters realize it's okay to want to be better than others.

I for one, want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

 

[Nah]

Some people think they're better than others, and some people get offended at such a mindset. That's life. Though it is nice when the elitists think about other people's feelings, and when elitist-haters realize it's okay to want to be better than others.

I for one, want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be something great, but usually when people talk about elitists, they're talking about arrogant people who feel superior to others for no good reason and/or get incredibly self-righteous.