A big reason I kept returning, THE biggest reason at first, was that ALL big events (and most smaller ones) ALWAYS hit the CMB long before any national or international news source noticed them. I regularly saw "breaking stories" on the evening news or my favorite political sites and thought Yeah, already heard about this last week--including every POSSIBLE perspective on it--in far more depth than this thumbnail sketch. It got to the point I just linked the wotmania thread when seeing stuff finally posted on other sites, because I had already debated it beyond death and retained no desire to try RECALLING, much less reposting all my own arguments plus every valid one anyone else had raised. ANYTHING that happpened had a CMB thread almost immediately; EVERYTHING that did not had not happened.

Now I sit here TWO DAYS after the highest court of the worlds third most populous country legalized gay marriage in perpetuity, wondering if anyone will ever post a thread about it. I would do it myself, but heaven knows I post far too much as it is. I never had the CHANCE to post wotmania threads about major news until at least four years after joining, and the Oldbie consensus is even that was well after the sites prime. I actually have to LOOK for news now, or else miss MAJOR developments.

How I miss the newbs who provided contraception to the wotmaniac familiarity that increasingly bred contempt without them. That is another thing I miss: Remember when all but a handful of people were genuinely friendly or at least CIVIL to strangers and practicaly everyone else? As opposed to everyone dividing into two armed groups who never posted at all except to call each others SOBs? But once the newbs stopped providing a buffer, vigor and variety threads devolved into rehashing old disputes and increasingly negative personal history. That is an awful recruiting slogan, so began a negative feedback loop ending in,.. this. My wife got there near the end (and thank God for that, since it is where we met) and said that, although she is naturally disinclined to post, she found wotmanias MBs intimidating and tense: Because that is how it was the last few years.

Kudoes to Legolas, you and a few others for "keeping it real;" I was and am as guilty as anyone, and unwittingly did my part to kill wotmania. Small wonder most of the few who remained above the back-biting that replaced wotmanias general amity "moved on" to something more mature than a junior high school cheerleading squad. Too bad. If you see any newb RAFOlk (and, despite looking, I am unsure I EVER have) be sure to welcome them heartily; they are more sorely needed than ever, so I will try to tone down my own belligerence.