Who Are The Goons?

[Wipfmetz]

Hey everyone, we made up a word. Don't try to figure out what we mean when we say it, though. It's rude.

Nobody made up a word. It came from Alice the Goon, which was the inofficial Mascot of the SA Forums during 2006-2007.

[Zamte]

Just as with all large communities, it's hard to stereotype them and do them justice at the same time. I don't know as much about SA, but even 4chan has decent members. (as much as it pains me and most of the internet to admit)

Jackard and Sabinata are both from there, and while they can both be rough around the edges they also strike me as fairly mature and responsible players. I'm sure there are many others, here and in other games, who fit the same description.

In short, stereotypes never fit the whole group, that's why they're stereotypes. Look at people as individuals, or as villages, but not based on where they come from.

[Sacros]

You see, SA is remarkably similar to Middle-Earth. Yes, that's right; Middle-Earth, the setting for the Lord of the Rings. Middle-Earth is just like SA, and when I explain it to you, you'll slap your forehead and go "Of course!"

First of all, Lowtax is almost exactly like Illuvitar. In the beginning, there was nothing. Then Lowtax/Illuvitar came forth from the dark voids of the Internet/chaos and forged their creation from the aether. They each have their own dominion, and they hover it like the creator-gods that they are. Both are legendary, and although they have an omnipresent persona, few people have directly interacted with them.
Now, in the world of Middle-Earth, Illuvitar is aided by an order of powerful holy spirits called the Valar. They are his first creations, and they help him maintain Middle-Earth. Here at SA, we have the admins to fill that role. They are second in the heirarchy, and together with Lowtax they keep SA working. Updates, changes, all are in their jurisdiction. Right below the Valar are the Maiar, which are less powerful, and act as intermediaries between the heavenly beings and the denizens of Middle-Earth. The mods of SA fill this role. They interact with the posters all the time, to a greater extent than the admins and Lowtax. The mods have lesser power, just as the Maiar have lesser power, but they have their own sort of authority that can be truly wrathful to behold!

Both Middle-Earth and Something Awful are populated with an array of beings. It is astounding to see just how closely they coincide with one another. At SA, posters can be ranked accordingly: Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, and Orcs. Elves are the oldest and wisest of all posters. These are the posters who have reg dates that go back to 2000 or early 2001, and perhaps 2002 as well. These posters are incredibly popular, and generally well-liked. Although they have no official authority, the Elves carry a lot of weight, and people listen to them, even the higher-ups. People marvel at them, because they are so beautiful and wonderful. Even if they somehow get banned (an incredibly rare occurance), the Elves seem to come back, good as new. Even their avatars are unaffected.
Below the Elves are the Men and Dwarves, who are of equal rank, but differ in their habits and mannerisms. Men are posters who have been around a good while, and know the ropes of SA pretty well. They fit in, they don't call attention to themselves too often. As far as anyone is concerned, they are normal people. Dwarves are crankier, grouchier, and may or may not be older than Men. They sometimes get in scuffles with Elves, and are a bit more inclined to flame others.

Newbies also come into two distinct types. But unlike the above example, the two types discussed here are drastically different. The first type are the Hobbits. Hobbits are newbies who are innocent and kind. They don't want any trouble from anyone, and are curious little things. They genuinely want to be a part of SA, but for the most part they are horrendously naive and clueless. Bless 'em. Now, the second type of newbie are the Orcs. Orcs are horrible creatures. These n00bs shit up every thread they appear in, and they vastly outnumber just about every other demographic. Lowtax and the others try to curb their numbers by banning, and the other posters flame and bash them at every opportunity, but the Orcs are relentless. More are created everyday, and they multiply like rabbits. Orcs usually wage large-scale assault on threads by using trolls and trolling tactics. Unlike Hobbits, not all Orcs are necessarily "new". In fact, some of them may have old reg dates. The vast majority of Orcs reside in Mordor, which is FYAD.

Finally, you have the Nazgul. There really isn't much to say about the Nazgul, except that these are the notorious posters who everyone has heard of, and HATES. They are few in number, and everyone knows who they are. They are old beings, and far more horrible than the Orcs. They shit up every thread they appear in, but for reasons unknown they have avoided being banned. Everytime a Nazgul appears, everyone covers their ears and screams because they don't want to here what the Nazgul has to say, because undoubtedly it will bring only madness.

[Escaleone]

Hey everyone, we made up a word. Don't try to figure out what we mean when we say it, though. It's rude.

Nobody made up a word. It came from Alice the Goon, which was the inofficial Mascot of the SA Forums during 2006-2007.

Somebody made up the mascot's name, then made it up again by applying it to the forum members, which is more what I meant (particularly since the word existed before that).

Anyway, let's all listen to Zamte now.

[Jackard]

Finally, you have the Nazgul. There really isn't much to say about the Nazgul, except that these are the notorious posters who everyone has heard of, and HATES. They are few in number, and everyone knows who they are. They are old beings, and far more horrible than the Orcs. They shit up every thread they appear in, but for reasons unknown they have avoided being banned. Everytime a Nazgul appears, everyone covers their ears and screams because they don't want to here what the Nazgul has to say, because undoubtedly it will bring only madness.

happyelf

[TrooPeRZz]

SA???
What That?

[Wisp]

SA???
What That?

Something awful

[Elirian]

goon -
1921, "stupid person," from gony "simpleton" (c.1580), of unknown origin, but applied by sailors to the albatross and similar big, clumsy birds (1839)

[DatOneGuy]

Stereotypes don't get you far (Except with russians).

There are griefers who reside on all boards, and in all kinds of places. Just because some goons may be griefers does not mean that all goons are.

Only way to find out if they're'enemies' or not is to deal with them (Via trade or what have you).

Even then,it doesn't define the group as a whole.

Hell, in my group most of us are from 4chan, not exclusively either, when I say most I mean about half. We don't define ourselves as '4channers', hell we even stopped advertising on 4chan once we found out who it was that was doing so, because most people there despite being from 4chan have a negative image of the place

Yet, somehow we've managed good relations with all neighbors, have no problems trading locally. I mean if you want to see us as bad for visiting a certain place and if you think that one thing someone does as a person defines them as a whole, then you do that, just makes you a bigot.


-Sits back as people make up excuses to why people from certain forums are bad-

[Elirian]

Stereotypes don't get you far (Except with goons).

There are griefers who reside in all countries, and on all kinds of boards. Just because some russians may be griefers does not mean that all russians are.

Only way to find out if they're'enemies' or not is to deal with them (Via trade or what have you).

Even then,it doesn't define the group as a whole.

...

I mean if you want to see them as bad for being born in a certain place and if you think that one thing someone does as a person defines them as a whole, then you do that, just makes you a bigot.


-Sits back as people make up excuses to why people from certain countries are bad-

Haha sorry that was just awesome. "You're a dirty bigot if you hate me, hate russians instead". Classy!

For the record I don't have an opinion one way or the other about goons. Or russians