It's strange to feel my perception of people shift after having read most of that bit, still an entertaining read nonetheless. However, on to my first post in this here thread:

I just wanted to speak on the metal community here. Although I may not agree with all of them all the time, the core group of Unknown Soldier, Howard, Batlord, Hip Hop Bunny, Mondo Bungle, LOLPOCALYPSE, and Bastard of Young and the consistency they provide in their posting makes for a fraternal environment that I quite enjoy...that is unless one of them is female. Also, the occasional visits from Jackhammer, Janszoon, and Alfred also tend to spark up interesting conversation as well. Keep up the good work people!

If you compare this to other music forums like RYM and muzicforums. This one is clearly the best.

Agreed.

I'm on at least one forum where its assumed you're an absolute moron until proven otherwise. The internet is a lot more cut-throat than MB would suggest.

I wanna agree. I like that we have a mix of people who are into all different kinds of metal. We've got old school heads, new school heads, avant garde metalheads, and even a trve kvlt dude.

And Unknown Soldier is one of my fav posters on here. He has been the architect of the New Metal Fraternityhttp://www.jecarchitect.com/hlife/im...ightSymbol.png here on Musicbanter and deserves all the credit in the world for truly giving a **** about the community on here. And he loves Manowar, so he rules.

Shut up!

This is the only forum I've ever stuck with. I've had prolonged periods off but every other forum I've been a part of I've gotten bored and lost patience with it, usually down to the sheer volume of unmoderated abuse, pointless arguments and general douchebaggery. I may have been here since 2008 but believe me, I am NOT a forum person!

This place is alright. We do have dickheads but its all manageable. It's also moderated well (we'll all take a month off if you dont believe us) and so 99% of the crap gets deleted and cleared away so people can still try to enjoy it here.

Plus who wants every single person, whether it be here or in real life, to be super nice? Being nice to people is important and its a lot easier than many people will tell you it is, but there is such a thing as being too nice. If everyone breaks their back to be nice to me and everyone around them, it just makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

Frankly, some of our "nicest" members are people I find the most irritating. :laughing:

For me, good forum environment is not so much about being super nice, but more about treating each other with respect. Disagreeing with people and engaging in passionate discussion is one of the most enjoyable things I do on MB after all and I'm not super nice when I go about it at all.

It's more about being mature and keeping things civilized, like constructing proper arguments instead of trolling, name-calling, spreading rumours and the like.

That depends. Vegan is nice, but at least she engages you in intelligent conversation. Wilting violets, who wilt out of niceness, make my cringe.

Maybe you're one of those people who rather becomes friends with pople who are douchebaggy but have a more interesting and eccentric personality rather than with the people who always stay patient and nice.

Having said that, welcome to the club!(?)

I miss Erica actually. The first time I saw her username, I must admit I had her down as a sort of naive teenage wannabe-treehugger .. Like a vegan angel, showcasing her diet choice and how angelic she was or being a vegan made her. Even if I don't agree with her on all topics regarding diet and morality, I was surprised to find out she was a lot more mature than I initially thought and there was plenty of depth to her convictions.

I also thought her niceness was actually quite nice. We already have a lot of cynics so I found her positive do-good attitude different and somewhat refreshing. I hope she comes back and starts posting more again.