Why NeoGAF is no good

NeoGAF imploded recently, and is effectively dead. A lot of people cried, but many people rejoiced. I was one of those that rejoiced. Sure, NeoGAF had a lot of awesome people there. There were people that dedicated their lives to making beautifully detailed posts about single games, people with deep technical knowledge and experience, people with inside-information, and developers that could directly communicate with gamers. That's where the good things ended.

To even become a member of NeoGAF, you had to be "approved" and use an e-mail address that wasn't free. I understand not wanting massive amounts of people signing up, or multiple accounts by single individuals. Ironically, however, making NeoGAF an exclusive club made the appeal to join the forums far greater, and thus attracted massive amounts of people to them.

I am not an opponent of being "approved," but I am an opponent of the caustic moderation that happens there. Once you get approved, you are not free to speak your mind. If your opinion does not align with that of a moderator, you are banned; you don't get a warning or a second chance. It is the opposite of free speech. Thusly, the majority of the people there became sheep, afraid of speaking their minds, and more concerned with the "general consensus" than coming up with their own opinions.

Although Reddit also discourages minority-viewpoints, at least you don't get banned. NeoGAF is a relic of the past. Let it go. Let us embrace free speech, multiple opinions, and most importantly, independent thought.

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