lol, don't you dare start bringing facts into another emotional tantrum.

I haven't been here that long and I am on here every day, but I certainly remember there being
a lot more funny shit in the past. I agree with the more troll and edgelord shit killing the place.

Not sure about GD, but it does seem the tech sections have gotten slower.

Yep, I miss the humor a lot.  This site used to have some of the best original written humor on the internet.  There were guys here who could tell stories that would have me in stitches.  They were masters of the craft.  Epically funny stories would get posted almost weekly.  

It’s rarely funny anymore.  Feds aren’t funny.  Leftists aren’t funny.  Chinese and Russian and Ukrainian instigators aren’t funny.  Those assholes weren’t here in numbers yet back in the early to mid 2000’s. They sure are now.

Then there were some seriously intelligent guys here who, due to their experience, could speak to relevant topics at a high level.  They would take the time to educate the rest of us and I was grateful for it.  I learned a lot.  I miss those guys.  There were good Americans here.  There are still.  Just not nearly as many.   The internet has changed.  I think it’s hard to argue that Arf lost part of its soul when it was sold.  The circumstances around the sale were extremely sad and the sale had to happen.  But it definitely changed the fabric of the site.

Not only has Arf changed, but the country has changed dramatically in just the last three years.  Biden happened and there is nothing funny about what this administration has done.  I think it’s harder to laugh these days in general.

Too many Karen moderators

Too many great posters booted

This was my last gold subscription

Yeah, it's slowing down.

Modern internet style arguing has done it as much as anything.  Everyone who disagrees with me is Literally Adolf Satan.  There's only so much of that goofy shit people want to listen to.

truth. social media is the devil, so I will hold out until the end

It's like GD was your girlfriend ßince the 7th grade, and you have been going steady for all of highschool and college.

You've only been with each other, and every depraved and nasty act was for the taking for the both of you with no judgement, no fear.

Now, she's gonna be someone's mom and she tossed out all the sexy clothes, the g-strings, and other doo-dads; and has started wearing only white grannies, sweater vests, and long pants.  Missionary only, and no other stuff.

I still want to give her a semen enema, but now, that will get your peepee smacked... and not in a good way.

Someone has forgotten their roots.

Shit, this post might get me banned.

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Yes

Yes, I have spent way less time here the past 2 years.

they banned some great members, and the pro authoritarian vibe (mods that are cops and are the main banners of said members) killed it for me.

I will never buy a membership again because of the 2020-2021 purge

plus 3 letter agencies monitor here. I don't post any photos of firearms here for anymore for that reason, if that makes me paranoid, I guess I will be that guy.

Site staff continually responding to genuine concerns with snarkiness and dismissal doesn't help things.

I know GB mentioned that changed were coming that would help things. Hopefully that is true and happens sooner than later.

Yes, but you'd have to seek them out. Type in names of your favorite brands or favorite guns and see what you see. Some are bland, some will remind you of this place because they are from this place, and some are quality over noise.

I recently returned after being gone for a few years, and GD is still GD for the most part. The tech forums don't seem to be the same though.

I'm not paying anymore, so I don't know what the Team forum is like.

There are Reddit pages, too, but most of that is either people just posting pics of their guns, or retardation that evokes the worst of GD.

@BuckeyeRifleman

I too have noticed that GD moves at a much slower pace these days than it used to. For many years it wasn't uncommon at all to have several pages of active new topics going at any given time. Not so anymore.

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons for this, but one of the big ones has to be the trend towards over moderation and inconsistent moderation compared to years ago. Just look at all of the high post count "legacy" members who have been run off or otherwise banned for minor transgressions over the past few years. Many of these members had been very active participants on the site for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, sometimes even longer. Personally, I don't believe it was so much their behavior that changed but rather an overall increase in heavy handed moderation on the site.

Arfcom has been my "internet home" since the early 2000's and I hate to see the direction that the site is going.

Moderated and Brownelled.

Those reddit pics are getting more hits in image searches too. It used to be arf or M4C that would come up the most when I would look for something in particular that interested me. Now it's mostly reddit and sometimes even Facebook of all places

I’ve got only been here a few years but it’s noticeable to me.  Sad because there really is no place out there like this.  Hope it gets better.

Yep.  Used to piss off my wife from my uncontrollable laughter in the wee hours.  That hasn’t happened in a LONG time.

This. It's mostly boring now. Most people entertaining, interesting or informative get banned. Plus a lot of these banned people were very prolific posters.

I first joined in '02 while still on active duty.  This place is a mere shadow of what it used to be.  IMO it is overly moderated, there are a ton of male Karens and way too many thin-skinned posters.

I am not sure how long I will stick around.  I stay now cause there are a few that I really enjoy interacting with.

GD isn’t what it used to be. Mods got that taste of power and between post brownells banning of certain subjects and anything being able to be perceived as “hate speech” or racism as the mods like to put a stamp on it there are just to many rules now.

- The first downturn was the big re-org that put General Firearm Discussion over into the Armory. Believe it or not there was a time when GFD was as active as GD.

- Second problem was the proliferation of a bunch or dumbass sub forums. Survival fiction, religion, shaving, and a bunch of other hobbies that have their own dedicated forum out there. The push to make Arf a lifestyle sight was a brilliant financial move for the Avilas but the site suffered.

- Third big problem was 2013. Im not sure why but it seems like everyone who joined in 2013 has an extra chromosome.

- Brownells. Need I say more?

I've been here every day since '03. For years I didn’t post much but was here a lot. The two times I've been in the hospital I had a laptop the first time and a tablet the second mainly to read here.

This place is being killed by it's moderation policies. The most interesting and entertaining posters almost all get banned, usually over fairly trivil things. A lot of these posters are also prolific posters. This content is what this place sells and is also what keeps people coming back. You're left with boring people like me.

Almost all of us could make a list of the now banned people that made this place a better, more fun to come to. Sylvan was one of the more egregious banning examples (yeah, I know he's just locked out of GD, it's the same thing) but the list is long and goes back years.

Stop permabanning over trivial and fairly trivial stuff. Yeah, I know they may have did whatever their particular crime was several times. Give them another time out and go on with life. Save the permabanning for major things like death threats, cockapocalypses, crimes, doxing like Arock did, that sort of thing.

I know I'm wasting my time typing this as things are getting worse not better, but it's been a big part of my like for so many years and I hate to see it go this way.

Covid, the war in Ukraine (I feel strongly about that one for at least two main reasons).  I can’t remember the name of my old account, I couldn’t get into it after an absence that began in late 2018 or 2019….I registered in 2006 though.  Someone said something about it being the end times…..that too.  

Is the creepy thread still going?  That always had entertaining stories….stories you shouldn’t read before bedtime.  I think swindle’s story about how he got rid of a female ghost was posted in that one, which probably was the best of them all.





Adolf Stalin Satan

I post less than I have in the past.

My sense of humor doesn't always "mesh" with the current Site Staff and Moderation viewpoints, and a lot of times it's just not worth the effort to try and guess what will and won't set someone off. There's WAY too many of them for that.

The days of Ed Sr. editing one of my posts with a message that, "Look, I know you're just joking, but if you're going to post stuff like that in the future, make sure you use an emote so that other people will know it too." are LONG gone.

Their business. Their rules. But some times you just get tired of having your "cheese moved."

The DERP to Signal ratio after 2016 and especially from the late joiners from 2020, 21 & 22ers has really hurt the board from it's "Golden Days".

"Back Then" We could have kid around a lot, talk about guns & stuff, some simple politics (Fuck You Obama!), and everybody got along & had fun. Epic Threads & Epic FUN!

Now too much Constant Toxic Politics & DERP about how everyone is "Deep State / RINO / Globalist" working for the Secret Cabal of Global Elites bringing in the New World Order from the Alex Jones / "Q" Crewe of "Conspiracy Enthusiasts" have sapped all the oxygen (& Fun) from the room.  

I had a member who I know IM me threats (hugely stupid to IM) when I pointed out his posts regarding the Uvalde School shooting were "crazy sounding" when he continually expressed his conviction that the Uvalde school shooting was all a secret conspiracy by the Secret Cabal of Global Elites to take our guns - instead of the fncked up action of a single nutter kid.  He raged that I was making him look 'stupid' ... by literally quoting exactly what he had posted. Hint - If someone posts Crazy / Stupid Stuff - Don't be surprised if other members say "Hey!  That's Crazy / Stupid Stuff!"  

Heaven forbid if anyone dares to speak about what any "Politician" has actually SAID or has DONE - especially when it comes to our Guns & 2nd Amendment Rights.  

ARFCOM is first & foremost a GUN BOARD for shooters & supporters of the 2nd Amendment.  I'd suspect that several of the most prolific "Political Posters" don't actually own any guns.  

The trend by some folks to "block" other users who presented facts & reality that they don't like?  Laughable! I've never "blocked" anyone in my lifetime.  but I guess some users can't exist outside a bubble of "same think" - the funniest thing is those who "block" others may not know - that it doesn't block those posters from continuing to replying to their threads and to post for EVERYONE Else to read.  It just screams "I'm a snowflake who can't handle the truth and I'm going to stuff my fingers in my ears while shouting LA LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA LA LA.... Meanwhile the adults in the room continue their conversations.  Such "Tough Guys"  I've always enjoyed the diversity of opinion and experience from ARFCOM.  I've learned some interesting things from people that I don't agree with - because I respect their right to their opinion and the freedom we have to discuss differences in a responsible & respectful way. Sadly that recent lack of ability to discuss things in a responsible & respectful way may be much of what has driven many folks away from ARFCOM in the past years.

And Sadly, since I joined nearly 20 years ago, we have lost some great members.  Some who "flew to close to the sun" over the years and "Fo'ed", & others who we've lost because time takes it's toll and they passed on.  

Many times someone from ARFCOM knew something obscure to solve a problem & shared that, or even several folks who stepped up & lent a hand when really needed. To you each & all - THANKS!!

I do appreciate all the many friends I've made on ARFCOM.  Both virtual all across the country & especially those I.R.L. - great times at shoots & cook outs & group meetings.  Sitting around a fire, drink in hand, shooting the breeze on guns & life with both strangers & old friends.  I really thank ARFCOM for that most of all.

Bigger_Hammer

It's the million sub-forums killing traffic in GD.

This is the main issue.  Back when this place was started, they were far fewer.  Social media has ruined social media.

I thought it was due to my ignore list full of clowns.

They should buy the url doomporn.com and have it redirect to gd.

Yep.  Just add less information and antics and you got it

Any forum is dependent on having good content creators. And a lot of the best ones here have been banned. Really tough to keep a balance, but I don’t think we’re doing enough to ban the low quality edgelord trolls. A upvote rating system might have been helpful with that.

Forums are dying no doubt. I prefer it over other types of social media though. I helped start one up back around 10 years ago and it died on the vine. Nothing we could do to increase traffic. Quite frankly we ought to be glad this place even still exists and thats probably a lot of the reason we have a few old guys, a few young guys and a pile of morons. Most aren't using forums anymore.

- Overly sensitive and "muh authoritah" moderation style has waaaay overused the ban hammer.

- 87million subforums.

- Glowies and DU assholes regularly attempt to thread slide with edgelord flair but let someone make a  negative comment about LE and you might bet banned depending on the mod.

- Arf has banned so many people that made it what it was.

"Fundamental Transformation"

Back in the day peps just used to get in arguments, some hilarious, and end up in the bear pit.  Everyone survived, mostly.  Ban casualties were few.

Now for every point of view that might come to the front especially in GD there is a counter point of view &,in the extreme cases, they don't just disagree, they hate.  Enemy of the sole type sh!+.  F you and people like you for 100 generations. And they are proud if it.

There are still a lot of great subforums with great folks sharing great information but this part of the forum that used to be so much fun now is just toxic.  It's a reflection of current society in general and it is what it is but lots of folks just aren't going to get involved, post less, etc.

A while back there was a thread listing all the recently banned people, I looked at each profile and and created a spreadsheet with the number of daily post for each poster. It was over 1,200 posts per day.

Over moderation with a warning system that never resets is killing the forum. The same thing happened with f150 online, it was once the most active ford truck forum, and now they are lucky to have 10 posts a day. Two mods brought that site down.

It's been turning into just another social media fixture loaded with anonymous adolescent insults and slights.

Some people try to be funny.  The peanut gallery and those that shall not be named don't want it.

There are selective memories on display here. Remember the financial collapse of 08? There was enough doom to go around. Thank God SHerrik kept his head. Trolls? My first introduction to them was here in the form of D_A the original underscore. There has always been argument, hurt feelings and disagreement BUT in the past the vast majority were on the same side. The arguments were all based on the foundation of conservatism. Three things have changed. 1) there are fricken commies everywhere 2) mods have lost their tolerance 3) due to lack of tolerance tons and tons of OG posters are gone...posters that would have assisted in countering the leftist surge.

My take.

Wokeness.

It's been 2 or 3 years since they said they were going to change the account strike system. Still hasn't happened.

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Mods handing out warnings like Oreo cookies in an office will do that to a forum.