Hi everybody.
Poking my head in for the first time since i wandered off after getting de-Modded. I did end up going to Penny Arcade (by Khuutra's recommendation), and to GAF eventually, though i only really started getting deep in there after the 2016 US elections.
Haven't seen a community that better-reflected my views on things. The reason it collapsed so quickly with the revelations is because the leadership was very invested in creating a better class of environment than too much of the gaming community (not that VGC was ever that bad, thanks to the mods, but the amount of people in this thread using SJW as a pejorative is a huge fucking red flag). I basically lived out of their politics thread, and their views on Nazi-punching were delightful. Spent relatively little time on Gaming-side, not because the interest isn't there anymore (playing as much or more than i ever have been, Switch is awesome), but because the cool discussion was really on the other side. They had a large black community of users and a good-sized cohort of women, and i learned a lot there about respect for marginalized groups and about the experiences of others who aren't me (a young, white, straight, cis-male).
I hope some of the old admins build a new community, but what's gone is gone since forums like there (or here), are a relic in the social media age where discussion is people using places like Nazi-friendly twitter and facebook or just going to Discord. Replacing it might not be a question, because so much of its power was in inertia, though some of the top people clearly had industry connections (through their method of having the mod team verify industry insiders who would carefully leak information) and could be an asset in other places.
It really hurts to see that gone. Shame on EvilLore for taking down such a beautiful thing with him, but good on the mods and admins who were willing to take sexual assault seriously.
