The Subcontinental Issue!

[jkartik]

the subcontinent/non-subcontinent issue is really getting uglier especially after a few good members leaving the forums purely on racial terms.

i know its a bit of an exaggeration but indians / pakis here have become like nazis where you just hate them on general principle regardless of what a particular individual might have to offer.

Not trying to play "Jinnah" here, but might i suggest a separate subcontinental forum where they can discuss anything from movies to sports to politics to lifestyle to food etc....and even post in hindi/any other native language and be more comfortable ??

Main reasons being :

- English is not their first language

- Internet is reaching to small towns and settlements where the general
population has a very poor grasp of english and since its a new phenomenon, they have absolutely no idea on how to go about posting on forums.

- due to the huge cultural difference, majority of the indians / pakis dont
post in the "general" forums as they simply dont have anything to contribute to.

the above reasons are enough to make the new user insecure due to which majority of them stick to the C07 / downloads section or better yet, just move to ICF.

obviously the sub-forum has to be moderated with rules like no porn, no racism and most importantly no txt speak.

i know the non-subcontinental guys will be like "WTF!! why do they deserve a separate forum?" or "the admins are being biased towards the indians" etc.
but we need to find some sort of a peace treaty...some middle-ground where we dont rapidly lose good members and benefit the site in the long run as this will not make members turn towards other websites like Cricketweb, ICF etc...

but having said all that, some of the non-subcontinental members are just not ready to adapt and nit-pick for the slightest grammatical errors and immediately resort to racial abuse and generalization.

the sub-forum can definitely make the new users feel more comfortable which means they'll WANT to be here and want to keep coming back.
besides, we always have the Respected members and Staff from whom they can take inspiration.

another point i would like to make is, Bring back the REPUTATION system.
the hunger for greens will definitely make them want to post with more maturity and sensibility. i know i was really eager on getting as much reps as possible when i registered here and hence it drove me into better quality downloads and posting.
the outcome of this was definitely rewarding. i was made staff / moderator in 6 months of joining the forums.

So Please take this post constructively and think about it in the long run.

this may make the forum a more enjoyable experience but can also be a huge mistake. all said and done, i think its definitely worth a shot.

just my Two Cents..

oh and the Vote is private. so, your name will NOT appear.

Cheers

Kartik.

 

[Cricketman]

I agree that I think we should bring back the Rep system. When I was a pretty young member on these forums (was around 12 when I joined) just as you put it 'the hunger for greens' helped in putting me on the right track. Although there is a negative side to this with 'o who neg repped me' and 'reps plz' etc type of posts...

Didn't read the whole post so...yeah.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

There's a Subcontinental Issue?

Haven't noticed it TBH.

 

[jkartik]

There's a Subcontinental Issue?

Haven't noticed it TBH.

its being going around for quite sometime. but off late, its affecting the forums big time!

Just check out the last few pages of "I am Leaving/Back Thread" and
"Kaun Banega Crorepati 4" and you'll know what i mean.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Was being sarcastic BTW.

 

[Ollie_H]

The counter arguement to that though is, why do the sub-continental members get their on forum? Maybe the western members want one as well. The two cultures can be here in harmony, it's just how the demographic of the forum has changed over the years.

 

[Highlander999]

How about if you can post in the sub-continent forum you can't post in the Rest of the World forum and vice versa?

 

[jkartik]

Was being sarcastic BTW.

oh lol....didnt get it though.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Why do we need separate forums?


If you don't understand the thread then don't follow it's discussion. No point randomly popping in and posting up your annoyances just to start a flame war (Yes Ollie, I'm referring to you). If there was an Inbetweener's thread or a British Politics thread (which I'm pretty sure there is), then you wouldn't see random Indian teenagers posting in there. And if they did post in their sounding like an idiot, you can report them and/or tear them apart.


It's just that too many people here take some sort of pleasure out of arguing and causing fights for seemingly no reason. Venting your anger and frustration out on random people over the net.

 

[Ollie_H]

Yes, you may very well be right Zorax and it wasn't appropriate of me, but that is just a small keyhole of the problem. It spreads too much wider areas through the forum where the post quality is incoherent.

 

[Highlander999]

On the flip side of course, at least Indians aren't as hard to understand as the locals here and up in the Isles. Some of them still speak fecking Gallic to ya and won't speak English!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I hardly ever see Indian members bring up the topic of someone like Tendulkar or Yuvraj unless it's actually part of the discussion. It's always others just trying to bait the Asian guys.

I know a lot of Asian members spout a load of ████ and are cringeworthy, but why bother replying to it? There are ignore features.

 

[shravi]

Yes, you may very well be right Zorax and it wasn't appropriate of me, but that is just a small keyhole of the problem. It spreads too much wider areas through the forum where the post quality is incoherent.

Maybe, but what's the point in berating them for it? It is not their fault that their English isn't as good as yours. It's not their first language. Just because they don't have a firm grasp of English doesn't mean we just ban them, tell them to leave, not to post or tell them what idiots they are. Idiotic posts are idiotic posts, no matter how good or bad the grammar is. I could say something completely outrageous in perfect English. What you can perhaps ask them to tone down on is the text speak and the excessive smilies but it's just nonsensical to tear them apart for not being able to type in perfect English when they've tried.

TBH, this site isn't turning into ilovesachin.com or whatever you wrote in the other thread. I haven't seen too many posts about Sachin lately, just the normal amount. It's not as if it's without reason, he's just scored 14000 runs, won the ICC Player of the year, is closing in on 100 centuries, is in sublime form and has had one of his best seasons to date. Nobody is stopping you from doing the same for say, AB De Villiers who has had an equally superb season or starting a thread on how Hashim Amla's transformation into a world class batsman from one who could hardly hold his spot a few years ago.

 

[Themer]

What you can perhaps ask them to tone down on is the text speak and the excessive smilies but it's just nonsensical to tear them apart for not being able to type in perfect English when they've tried.

The problem in my eyes is nothing to do with the quality of their grammar. Its just the complete bullshit that some people post. AngryPixel is a notoriously terrible poster who's posting quality resembles the Royal Mail. (Ie Awful) Yet nowadays he is the norm rather than the exception to the rule. I don't see it as non-subcontinental posters having a pop at subcontinental either. If you're a decent poster things like this don't pop up; there are numerous people from the aforementioned regions whose posting quality is exemplary (King Cricket, Sohum, yourself Shravi, Zorax, User(Insert various numbers here), Varun), but the numbers of poor posters is staggering nowadays.

To say that there isn't a widespread problem with the posting quality of members at the moment (specifically Sub Continent although by no means completely tied to said region) is putting your head in the sand. The numbers of quality members who have specifically said that the quality of posting was a problem is staggering.

 

[Ollie_H]

It's not just the grammar issue, and it being their first lanuage, it's also the rubbish they sprout. Some not even vaguely on topic and just post a load of rubbish. To me the 'series' threads are a prime example of the differences. In the Indian ones you get posts that literally just state 'Vijay out crying:crying' where as in the Australia or England thread there is a lot more substance to it, such as 'Bell gone to another cracker from Ajmal, really was working him over.'

It's not so much the grammer, but as Themer said it's the rubbish they come up with. Yes they may only be 12/13 but that's why they should be taught.

Throughout all of this, I refuse to say that the WHOLE of the sub-continental members are rubbish, there is infact some very good members who are very knowledgeable. There also some like Angry Pixel and Binnu, that although they are at University, still post like Bevab.