Tell me about Something Awful

[hilarity n. suze]

The messageboard, I mean.

I have lurked there for years. I registered once, then was afraid to post. But you didn't have to register in order to read it.

Then they started this thing where certain words were turned into other words, which was mildly annoying until I figured out these people were not really saying "poo poo."

And then, I don't know whether it caught me or not, but sometimes I would get the message that I was not allowed to see that or any other thread until I paid. Also, it occurred to me that it would be nice to be able to search for things.

So I went through a process of remembering my old username, emailing saying I had lost the password (and boy, did they give me a doozy replacement password), and...

I STILL can't search! Which is kind of important when you have thousand-page threads.

It's like, you pay. And then, if you want the search function, you pay again. You want to see old posts? Pay again. You want to turn off smileys? Pay again. What's up with that?

Also. I have no idea why people get banned there, but some of them do, over and over again. Some of them even get Permabanned...over and over again. You can supposedly see what people get banned or put on probation for--but I can't make any sense out of that, either. "Banned for starting a delightful thread." What?

And what the hell is that fartyboys thing?

(Just kidding about the smileys BTW)

[Nonacetone]

I don't know anything about it, other than my daughter is a member over there, and has been for quite a long time. I haven't lurked there at all, so I really shouldn't even be posting to this thread, honestly.
If my daughter finds anything that she deems as something that would interest me, she'll show it to me.
I've heard her talk about the place, though. She seems to enjoy it.

[Auntbeast]

If you are lurking (not logged in) they use filtering software to remove profanity, when you log in it goes away.

One thing I respect about SA, in regards to money specifically, is that they are honest about wanting it. They don't tell you one thing and do another. Some of the ways they raise money can be pretty funny.

Mostly, I'm guessing that it has pretty tight moderation, a huge community and not enough hours in the day to deal with all the fuckwittery.

[mswas]

It's kind of a hacker/script kiddie hangout. They are crude and rude. They built an alliance in Eve Online and actually carved out one of the biggest empires in the game.

[Giraffe]

I read Something Awful a lot more than I post there. It's a really heterogeneous community -- some of their subject forums (computers, finance, etc.) are some of the smartest that I've seen, while some of their casual, dingbat forums appear to be mostly subliterate tards. There's definitely some mean, antisocial people on the site, but there's quite a lot of people who simply have razor sharp wits and senses of humor and who don't suffer fools gladly. It can make for some hilarious threads.

I actually like their pay structure far more than the SDMB's -- each fee is a one-time fee, rather than an annual fee, and they don't care at all about multiple accounts. If anything, it's rolled into their punishment structure -- getting banned is basically a $10 fine.

[hilarity n. suze]

Yeah, I have read some hilarious threads. The kind of thing you start reading and just...can't...stop.

Like I really needed another way to waste time.

[hatesfreedom]

SA is the tits, and probably my favorite forum. I genuinely hope that none of you ever sign up there.

Goonfleet was the EVE Online organization, and at one point had like 4k members or something? It was fun, but it had some of the worst goons and EVE Online is so boring you can't even believe.

rape is "surprise sex" on the non registered filters

[BeeAre]

It is also my favorite forum and has been for years. I too have no idea about FYAD (The Farty Boyz thing you asked about). SA Mart is awesome and there are some really great deals to be had there.

[hilarity n. suze]

Okay, sometimes peoples' posts are grayed out until you mouse over them. What's up with that? (Not spoiler tags--those show up black.)

[Giraffe]

Originally Posted by hilarity n. suze

Okay, sometimes peoples' posts are grayed out until you mouse over them. What's up with that? (Not spoiler tags--those show up black.)

That's the most awesome thing ever, actually. All posters of a few subforums that the powers that be deemed to be toxic were given forums cancer.

Originally Posted by SA mod

People who post in the forums in the Retarded Forum for Assholes (Laissez's Faire, Your Console Sucks, and BYOB) are now infected with forums cancer. Symptoms of forums cancer include:

-A disturbing avatar that informs the user that they are infected
-Light text that darkens when you put the cursor over the post
-Redirection to a Ponyta flash video if you try and post outside of RFA

Someone infected with forums cancer can buy chemo for $6.95. This does not give immunity from future infections; the only way to stay cancer-free is to post outside of RFA.

Brilliant money-making scheme coupled with public mockery of posters they feel are bad for the board. Genius.

[Euryphaessa]

Originally Posted by Giraffe

That's the most awesome thing ever, actually. All posters of a few subforums that the powers that be deemed to be toxic were given forums cancer.

Brilliant money-making scheme coupled with public mockery of posters they feel are bad for the board. Genius.

Why can't we have nice things like this?

[The Futility of Nihilism]

Originally Posted by Euryphaessa

Why can't we have nice things like this?

Because we don't have any posters anyone feels are bad for the board.

[Euryphaessa]

You make a good point.