The DoTA community is one that I quite despise. It came to be like that partly as self defense against leavers and other poor etiquette players. However, elitism was also a very strong factor. Because of this, I kept my distance from it when I could.
I see the pattern repeat all the time. Members of the community who are more active, or post long guides that later become sticked often become self-appointed kings of the forums and behave as though their words bear more weight than others. Mob mentality often also appears, with groups chastizing those individuals who would dare think differently or criticise the status quo.
These actions do not lead to an open community but one that has effectively cordoned itself off from outsiders or even outside thought. The result is intellectual inbreeding. The truth is, you need both fanboys and dissenters. You need followers and contrarions. But above all, you need to have respect for each other's viewpoints even when different from yours. It's fine to debate, but attempting to make people look foolish for having different opinions is not.
And unfortunately, I'm seeing this trend creep over to these forums. Slowly, subtetly, but it's there.
My big hope with this forum is that it doesn't degenerate into one that is like DoTA. I believe most people would agree with this.
To make sure I'm clear, I'm not trying to criticize anyone with this. Just let it be a forewarning, since one of the objectives of Demigod was to have an open and respectful community.
