[Internetics]

Not asking for the damn rules, or what not-to-do. I got those PMs. But what's the history, how was this place created? Toups tells this weird yarn about communist robots and easy women with three breasts. But there has to be some measure of legacy and history to this place. So in this thread, persons other than Toups or his older brother, can you alls help educate me as to how this website came to be?

(Thank you)

[Broco]

Wow we actually have a member that isn't from the old boards! I guess this place isn't as inbred as I thought.

Anyway, long story short, this community was for 5 years or so associated with www.insertcredit.com , but owing to differences in topical emphasis and... other conflicts... we eventually set up shop on our own URL. Most members were initially attracted by insertcredit featured articles from such figures as now-occasional-SB-posters Eric-Jon Waugh and Tim Rogers. Others will explain in more detail I am sure.

[psiga]

Many of us used to be from insertcredit.com -- some of us have been around for a few lost forum generations, though the last generation is available to some degree here: http://www.selectbutton.net/archive/

As for why we're here now... Golly. It's been written down in other places, but I forget where they are now. I'm not going to be all like "lol use teh search button n00b!!" to you or anything, but I'm just not in the mood to dig stuff up.

Other people will give their impressions, I guess.
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[PianoMap]

It all began with the Great Insert Credit Forum Buttfuck Apocalypse of 2006...

the guidance of a loving e-father

and the financial assistance of a scroogelike american expat
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o-/< --- o-\< --- o-|-| --- o^-<

[Hot Stott Bot]

You forgot about the young greek adventurer whose heart slowly turned dark over the years until he was finally cast out of the village, only to return to the village, trick the masters, and in a matter of nigh under 24 hours rise as the great anti-christ and summon the apocalypse in a glorious night of death and bannings and rock n' roll.

(Rock opera version of the Select Button story.)

It is a pretty epic story in its entirety.

[Ebrey]

SelectButton isn't that bad. Sure, all cities, books, and automobiles were destroyed in the IC apocalypse, but somehow the giant robots survived. Those things are Armageddon proof, I tell you.

[psiga]

OKAY. In the mood now.

IC's forum was started by the headmaster of the site, exodus. It was a cool, small party for people who could blither on and on about obtuse game-related shit. No flaming. Could agree to disagree.

Over time, it grew larger. More posters, new posting styles. Tone of the forum changed, little by little. Established members were growing up, moving, doing career stuff. exodus practically never came by anymore, and a new pseudo-government grew in his wake.

We didn't have to ban many people. Only a few, and after considerable deliberation. One of the people that needed to be banned (a couple times, actually) was a guy going by the name of Pikachu. He took great pleasure in flagrantly and intentionally breaking every guideline, attracting a lot of attention from other posters, and trying to divide people into an 'us versus them' situation. Had to be removed.

More time passes. Things keep changing. The tone starts getting more and more crass. Packs form, and people are suddenly being picked on for things that wouldn't have been a problem in older generations of the forum. More 'us versus them' situations arise, more subtly this time.

Eventually some of the crass pack behavior goes too far, and one of exodus' friends is being totally debased and flamed for talking about a new Japanese arcade fighting game. exodus is pushed over the line, considering we'd talk for twenty pages about a mainstream game, yet couldn't go one page about a niche title without personal attacks. Some posters needed time-outs or bannings, but the ad-hoc government was too divided to do the deed.

Even exodus was really soft on the idea of bannings and time-outs. It was a bad situation. So he turned to his new buddy (?), Pikachu (!), and let him rule the forum (?!).

...this was... fucked up.

Basically consider placing the forum's worst enemy in its highest position, and stripping everybody else of what little power they had.

This post delves more deeply into how that came to pass:
http://selectbutton.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=86892&#86892
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[Gouki]

It was pretty crazy, and once people started to, uh, rebel, I suppose is the best word, against Pikachu bannings were handed out like nothing, even for small, meaningless things.

Eventually, some knob got 4Chan in on the act and child porn was involved. At least I think so, I had been IP banned at this point for questioning Pikachu's stance on freedom.
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... Maybe later.

[wpham]

[Aaron]

[Gouki]

[Touran]

This thread reminds me why I started reading these forums. The articles on Insert Credit reminded me why I played videogames - to have fun.
So I started reading the forums to get basically more, and I've been doing that on and off for around 4 or 5 years. When Insert Credit basically exploded was during a period when I had stopped reading. Selectbutton came up and I decided I would take a more active role in the community.

Also, I can tell you it's been fascinating watching an internet forum change, decay, and then be reincarnated. There are some really dedicated people in this community. I'm counting trolls here, too.

Shit, I would play the jRPG of this.

Er, that's not really helping much with what you're asking, but my story is very similar to how the others got here. Just change the time they found the forums and their degree of involvement.

EDIT: This would be a good time to ask Toups about the metadata for this site (again). I am interested to know how large the forum really is.
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Man, I'm sorry.

[psiga]

[dessgeega]

the finished ethnography is well worth reading too.
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[dark steve]

dess, I'm sorry about your leadership potential

[dessgeega]

i think we all are.
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[psiga]

You were, in fact, the first person to come to mind, dess. Since we'd never really liked eachother enough to hang out, I definitely didn't say anything directly to you.

EDITO: Toups-san, this is kind-of off-topic, but what are we gonna do with the locked God Hand Week thing? Would it be okay to create a Select Button Holiday Memories sub-category below Powerful Secrets, where all of the locked sub-forums can go?
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[slipstream]

I remember being banned for saying I didn't like the Lord of the Rings. Man that was great leadership by the moderators of Insert Credit.
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[psiga]

I don't remember that. Was it temporary?
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[slipstream]

It was a temporary ban that happened the night before the insert credit implosion. Might as well have been permanent.
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[dessgeega]

[DJ]

My big resounding memory of this is Rudie telling me it was going to happen a couple weeks before it did, me calling him insane (can you blame me?), and then, once it happened, moving to the IRC channel to watch the show while all the people who had been slagging my administrative efforts were like "Holy shit Deus I am sorry I said mean things about you" and I was like "Yeah, we could have that guy doing it, nice to know I wasn't as bad as him." I'd been taking bets at the time, like "IC will last, like, 2 weeks tops with Icy as head."

I was waaaaaaaay off. What was it, like six hours? And destroyed so thoroughly that we were sifting through the google cache ashes for weeks afterwards trying to salvage any of it?

That was kind of awesome.

I also post a lot more here than I did on IC while I was adminning it. This isn't really a conscious choice on my part, just kinda how it happened. I guess that says a lot about the final days of IC.
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[shrugtheironteacup]

My biggest resounding memory of this is images of little boys and penii seared panifully into my brain.

I didn't come back after that.
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[psiga]

[DJ]

[psiga]

Not a tantrum, no. I don't recall it being only three sentences, no. When I mentioned to you a few hours later that there were interesting posts going down, you weren't interested in going back to see any of it. A while after that, you logged on to IRC and curiosity took hold since everyone was passing links of the various OMG threads going down. So, yeah.
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[DJ]

[Shapermc]

Guys I miss IC ;_;
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The bad sleep well at The Gamer's Quarter

[108]

fuck, psiga's twenty-four? i thought you were like 40 and just really immature :(
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[DJ]

[Pijaibros]

[Kappuru]

I missed the entire goddamn thing. I had a bender of a weekend, and when I came back, IC had ceased to exist. It was like a hole was torn in my online life.
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[108]

[Lestrade]

I would love to draw a comic based on this whole debacle.* I remember telling my wife what was going on and how fucked it all was.

*actually, if you're a certain someone, you know I already kinda did!
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Illustration Portfolio | The Gamer's Quarter

[Toups]

[Lestrade]

Yeah, I'll take "Mary McMoePanties" to my grave!
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Illustration Portfolio | The Gamer's Quarter

[boojiboy7]

Yeah this whole thread pretty much covered what happened. Refugees of the whole thing ended up at TGQ and LPN. A few went to DPS as well.

Over at TGQ (I think) we debated about starting a new site, and the new name of it. While the debate raged, Tim decided to grab selectbutton.net, and Toups said alright and set this bad boy up. And here we are.

[Kappuru]

Toups, I dont have a custom title yet. And I've been around since the "STFU TOUPS" days. I think I deserve one.

And yeah, I'd imagine that admin'ng could change your perspective quite a bit. But putting icy in charge was a terrible decision, and personally, I happen to like the guy!
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[Krazii Bakon Lypes]

[SplashBeats]

toups i want to set your car on fire

[Toups]