You misspelled Petra. Uldren is a very close second.

Uldren > Mara > Zavala > Petra

Can we agree that most of Destiny's characters are attractive?

I mean how could we leave out Amanda, Ikora, or Osiris with his salt and pepper beard?

If only this game wasn't rated [T]. lol

Isn't Shaxx empirically the sexiest of them all? I mean, he banged the Queen.

Also true story when Saladin was doing Iron banner by girlfriend was like "Why is that announcer's voice so sexy?"

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I am in no way knocking Mac’N’Cheese. I made and ate a whole box of it yesterday. Fuck that grown up ass macaroni. I want noodles and powdered cheese, damnit.

Velveeta Shells 'n Cheese > Uldren > Kraft Mac 'n Cheese

I said it.

I am in no way knocking Mac’N’Cheese. I made and ate a whole box of it yesterday. Fuck that grown up ass macaroni. I want noodles and powdered cheese, damnit.

And if you ever want to fulfill your lifelong childhood dream like I did...the internet has you covered.

On a similar note, powdered, liquid, Velveeta—I'll scarf 'em all down. But my hero Babish has a homemade method that has been permanently caking my pots for months!!

Heh. They wouldn't make me an admin. They fear I'd instantly ban Cody the next time he reminds us of how many days its been since he's played Destiny. (They're probably right.)

I haven't made ANYONE an admin since the site was launched. At that point, there were enough cooks, and still, at this point, enough of them are around that the things that are needed on the forum side are covered. It wasn't really about a fear that you'd ban someone you shouldn't, except in a general sense (that's actually the biggest complaint I've had about EXISTING admins; they've been too quick (imo) to ban people over the years).

This is something I've ALWAYS disagreed with others about; my tolerance for unpleasantness seems to be greater than most people's, in this particular aspect of internet community-building. The only reason I don't get completely overruled is because I'm okay playing king every once in a while.

It definitely has its downside - this is a pretty big one. Losing an important community member because they're finally tired of the bullshit is hard to do.

The About Page is an interesting point. By my count, between one and four of the twelve people listed can plausibly count as active and involved with the community here anymore. But, I haven't looked at that page for longer than I can remember. Me being on there or not being on there has never factored into anything I did. And... at this point, what would be the point? One extra person can't hold up a community.

You're not on the About page because I completely forgot to ask you for the content needed to update it. Nothing at all about you - this was 100% me falling down on the job. (Happy to update it now, in fact, even though you're pretty much done - you've contributed as much or more than others already there, and that should be recognized.)

At the end of the day, DBO is basically dead. And it's not any one person's fault. The internet has changed a lot, even since Destiny's launch. People prefer larger groups like Reddit... but you know what? This place hasn't even tried to be alive or welcoming in a long time. It takes dedication and effort and a special spark to remain relevant in this day of FaceTube groups and InstaTweets and TumblingRedditors... and we don't have it here. If we don't stand out in some way, if we aren't overwhelmingly welcoming, or don't show some special expertise or experience or aspect that's hard to find elsewhere... then why are we here other than inertia?

We're here because we're friends (at least in the internet sense). There's still a Marathon forum that has users here, fergoshsakes. You're right - we long ago stopped doing stuff that attracted outside people. At first I was pretty sad about that, since that had been a pretty big part of my life for almost 2 decades. I've come to terms with it, though - I made the decision a few years ago that I wouldn't update the front pages of ANY of the b.org sites on a regular basis any more; if community members weren't willing to step up and contribute, there wouldn't be anything there. I 100% understand how you feel concerning support (both from without and within)... but I'm pretty sure I was clear about what you could expect when you started. I'm grateful for the time we did get - I LIKE seeing the front page relevant. I completely understand you walking away, too - I have always said that if you (the generic you, not the Raga you) aren't having fun, you shouldn't do it.

As far as Korny is concerned, it was his glee back in April that there hadn't been any front page posts in well over a year despite him having the ability to make them that saw me ask Claude for access to post on the Front Page. Since then, I made 12 posts, several of which covered neat things people here in our community did. I'd have done more, but it was a bit discouraging to be the only news poster when twelve people total have accounts. And then Korny posts and links to his own cynicism! The first post not me in almost two years and it leads to one of the most discouraging aspects of our community... That's a great look for anybody who finds our community! That'll get them to stay and to contribute, for sure!

This is part of what makes me saddest. You're not the first b.org admin to walk away because of differences with community members, and the only solution I can see that would have kept all the folks who are in that boat is an unacceptable one, to me - I can't justify choosing one form of self-expression over another. Yes, Korny's snark can be wearing. I tell him that regularly. I'd love it if everyone thought (or cared) about how they made others feel when they spoke - this isn't a b.org thing, it's a world thing.

But (and this is a conversation we've had on admin threads for years, I'm usually alone on this) I do not believe that removing people who contribute, but also offend other people, is a useful or productive way to maintain a community. I would MUCH rather convince those people to modulate their interactions in a way that continued the contributions without so much of the offending. I work at that all the time. I fail a lot. The level of failure is not enough to make me change my opinion that it's the right way to interact with people.

The end result of this failure is the loss, occasionally, of people like you. And that makes me sad.

At the end of the day, DBO is basically dead. And it's not any one person's fault. The internet has changed a lot, even since Destiny's launch. People prefer larger groups like Reddit... but you know what? This place hasn't even tried to be alive or welcoming in a long time. It takes dedication and effort and a special spark to remain relevant in this day of FaceTube groups and InstaTweets and TumblingRedditors... and we don't have it here. If we don't stand out in some way, if we aren't overwhelmingly welcoming, or don't show some special expertise or experience or aspect that's hard to find elsewhere... then why are we here other than inertia?

I am about to speak of some most-subtle shades. Hopefully I can do it justice this evening.

I think you have made a mistake in the same way as Cody often does. Where-in, the truth you speak (as there must be some) fights the change before ones self. This is neither good nor bad, but is often (in my observation) a source of strife. A self considering the changes around it that can not be controlled. The mistake comes when that rigidity blinds a person from concepts they can't consider under such a mindset. A prison of each individuals own making, as if thar be dragons upon that edge!

This becomes particularly interesting when as I mention, in reading your full post, I can't help but over all agree. Shoot, I've made plenty of posts through the years here and there with concerns of this community and site. How many times did I talk about the Front Page becoming totally dormant? Or how the style of posts and language had changed? Of the things we spoke about?

In retrospect, many of the posts here have come due to the many MANY ups and downs we've (I'd say for most of us) experienced through Destiny in all its forms. For many of us, who've never played a WoW or Everquest, we found ourselves grappling with the concept of a "Live Game". A living changing digital space. A not so much never ending story, that at times came out half baked, but an experience. That's the biggest mistkae we made, that we were forced to make. Bungie made Stories, than put them into game form. That's how they got fans in the first place. Destiny The Game isn't that. It's an experience, with stories to guide that experience. Built from not of one cohesive collective mind, but of many individual ones... pushing and pulling it like salt water taffy. The Devs have their say, and... at times, the fans have a say as well.

And we all chip in.

And we all put it out there.

At times what we write is joy, of fun had, but often its been of the pains. The things we find off-putting. Because we can, and at one point, because we hoped Bungie would see it and make that change. Or better yet, in a few cases, had a conversation with a Dev. We were very spoiled at one point, having folks who work at Bungie make posts here. Can't recall the last time that has happened. When it felt like Bungie was part of the community. A small town, around the world. Fans and creators at the same table.

Yet, in this now, so many of those sacred spaces are gone. The little groups, the internet fan clubs of yester-year have but faded away. Changed, as things will. The chorus has grown so large now that it can be only through hope or inertia that we sing, hoping it can be heard. Hoping it really is making a difference in the sound of the song.

Which of course brings us back to here, where at times it has seemed to me that the peeling paint was a warning no one with the power to change it cared about. A strong, perhaps at times lazy philosophy of "leave it as it lle" and "do it yourself if you care to". I can read about Beorns idea of API initrgration, and know(?) it didn't happen because... why? We do well enough without it. Why add light.gg integration, when we can just link to the site? Why give the underline function a button, or give users the ability to highlight subjects and turn them into >quote formatting without having to do it line by line manually? If they care enough, they will do it themselves.

It just can feel like no one cares. But...

What this site has, that no where else can really give in the same, is Truth. Nothing so pure... let's not get carried away, but despite criticisms, this place is special. Both beautiful, and ugly. I expect it shall be as long as Wu can keep it special. Not from calculation, but by what to him feels right. And hey! By and large it has worked. For many many years. But some folks just can't deal with that. Some folks just want the roses with out the thorns. Maybe that's you, I do not know.

I would like to conclude with... I can't recall the last time I played with you in Destiny? You speak of "one man can not carry a community" but... where ARE YOU? You are more than welcome to join. Our little slice of the community is here, it has just... changed.