must we act like trolls?

[secret]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

mystiksuicide -- YOU may certainly do whatever you want.

To the overall point, though, for some reason calling the other format DUD has always bugged me. That said, I frequently call the other forum (from which I came) AVM$, so I don't claim to be guilt-free on this either. I also am all for freedom of speech, and don't want to tell other people what to do... but this is my take.

Calling the other format HD DUD is nothing more than a childish slam. It seems more than a little silly to be name-calling a competing round silver disc. Now, certainly fans of the other format often behave the same way, but that's nothing more than an excuse for us to act childishly ourselves.

Every day, new people come by this forum looking for information. Many are potential consumers trying to decide which format to buy. Others already own an HD DVD player but see the writing on the wall and are either considering getting a Blu-ray player or already have. I think that many of those new visitors see the way we behave and are turned off from digging deeper into the site... or possibly from going Blu-ray altogether. That certainly sholdn't be the goal of any of us.

And with sales continuing to increase, and awareness and interest in the format skyrocketing, I think we should do a better job of maintaining a certain level of professionalism here. This really is more than just a "fansite," as many have claimed. It is the primary resource for Blu-ray on the internet. Neither www.Blu-raydisc.com or www.hollywoodinhighdef.com likely gets anywhere near as many hits as this site does.

The mods here do a very good job of trying to keep most of the forums clean by moving much of the DUD-type dialog to the off-topic forum, but it would be nice if everyone did their part to keep the main discussions a bit more professional, and either start a new space for "format bashing" or keep it relegated to the existing off-topic forum.

I'm all for freedom of speech, and I think anyone should be able to say what they want -- but keeping all things in there appropriate place would go a long way to making this a more appealing forum for the massive influx of new members the site could potentially be getting as this "format war" winds to a close.

Anyway... just my $02.

I like your tone in writing...