damo[23] wrote:Actually the hate for the Magic fans started well before you joined this board maginno.
It started around 2005 / 2006 [especially, where it became really wide spread], and was namely during the offseasons, its also where the Toronto vs Orlando board rivalry was born [with alot, and I mean daily, threads about Bosh vs Howard].
I honestly think the board rivalry started basically when T-Mac joined the Magic, actually. That was really what lit a fire under some Raps fans. I can still remember al the hateful messages Raps fans would post whenever they played the Magic, and the Magic fans obviously replying to that. When the Magic drafted comparisons to Bosh immediately were formed because of it though.
There was a couple of fans on the general board, 1 banned and I believe 1 just doesnt post now, that basically were abrassive to anyone that spoke about the Magic. From then on the general board, and in part other RealGM'ers have treated the Magic posters with a large ammount of disrespect, not because of what they post, but because of who they support.
It was a large brush that tarnished us all.
Recently we have had a couple of posters demanding respect on the general boards, and it did get out of hand, but on the flip side, any other Magic poster that posted on the issue was brought instantly down to their level just because of the zip code of their basketball team.
As for trolling, we actually dont have any real "high watch" troll posters, where as a couple of other fan bases do, infact I am sure if I name a team you could tell me 1 poster that I've warned.
As an organisation we are hated by alot of people, but its not our fans, its the actions of 3 or 4 posters over the past years that have effectivily spoiled it for the lot of us.
This is a pretty defensive board, dont get me wrong, but generally people who are quite negative [myself and blitz] keep it to ourselves, where as super negative posters [the ones that we ONLY see posting on negative issues, never on the "good times"] generally get a bad showing. We have very few fair weather fans, but we have alot of "theres a storm coming" posters.
I very much agree. Most of our opinions on fanbases is built on experiences we've collected in the years from reading eachothers posts. The ones that stand out the most stick with you, which unfortunately often are the posts that irritate the living crap out of you.
If that comes from 1 poster, people will usually look at him as an individual. If there's two, it will start to reflect on the rest of the fanbase. The more posters do this, the more negative a fanbase will be viewed. If it's the actions of 3-4 posters, in a lot of cases people will just generalize (be it a little bit too quick) to the entire fanbase, and say 'Magic fan's are homers' and such.
There's nothing you can do about it, really, except for handling yourself with some class to set a good example. Panic posts will spread more panic/stress to those who are easily affected by it, and it could spread like a wildfire. One panic post in a sea of mellower ones doesn't do much, but the other way around either.
