The air has become cool and crisp and nights falls earlier. As October comes to a close, we enter the final portion of the year and the end of 2010 is within sight. This month, our Canadian members have given thanks and in November, our American members will follow suit.

This year has been excellent for us here at Lumine Hall. Overall, we have been doing excellent in both our educations and professions, and I pray this trend continues. We all have a lot to be thankful for. With two recent disastrous topics on our Stoic Club, the time has come for us to reflect and analyze on this culture that is uniquely our own.

Lumine Hall is the result of incredibly strict rules and censorship, and it was named for EarthBound's Lumine Hall, where Ness' thoughts appeared on a wall uncensored to his friends. I think we have done very well for ourselves here. We've developed strong, supportive, respectful friendships that span state, province, country, and demographic and these each continue to grow stronger. We span two continents! Hell yeah! Much love across the pond. The situation with the boards and forum have been pretty static since the redesign of the site and the introduction of the portal, so it is time for us to come together and have a conversation about what we want to change, add, or leave the same. It is always good to take a step back and look at our work every now and then.

One thing that I believe Ground had mentioned was a general Steam board, and this idea was more or less voted down in favor of putting non-TF2 games in the Other Video Games section. Removing the TF2 board has also come up, although now that trading has been introduced, I think we should keep it around for at least a bit longer, if not leave it there indefinitely. It isn't doing any harm, and it gets a fair amount of use, even now. The TF2 era on Lumine Hall isn't as full-on as it was, but it still has a following, and so my vote is that it stays. Feel free to discuss.

The Stoic Club, controversial in its conception and use, attracts more moderator action than any other board on here and removing it has been discussed as well. It isn't my favorite board, but it certainly does serve a purpose, so at least for now, I think it should stay. However, people need to use this board in a respectful nature. This is more Tret's department than mine and he so nicely made a sticky topic awhile back with some helpful guidelines, so maybe we all need to re-read his suggestions. It is also important to remember that the Stoic Club is for discussion and not a place to start flame wars. It is also important to know that not everything on Stoic Club needs to be an argument. It is for topics of a serious nature, all inclusive.

As for the title of this topic, maybe we can pull inspiration from EarthBound's other sanctuaries. Just a fun, creative activity to help us remember our roots. After all, the biggest journey started with a Giant Step.

What will we come up with? Who knows? New boards, events, topic ideas? We shall see. When I was throwing the portal together, I considered giving it a Magnet Hill theme, since magnets attract, and the portal sort of attracts all of the aspects of the site together...and hopefully doesn't repel anyone. And I've also been considering a "Pink Cloud Charity" for awhile for the holidays. What would this include? I dunno. I guess just to encourage everybody to give of themselves during this upcoming charitable season, and perhaps getting all of us talking about causes that are important to us, maybe to learn from others about things we do not know a lot about and adopt their concerns as our own as well.

So let's talk, Lumine Hall. What's up?

We could change the name of Other Video Games to Onett Arcade... that'd be cool. Also, we need to do something for EB, M3, or M1 soon. None of those boards get barely any attention, so I think maybe we should do another group play-through thingy? Maybe change the Life board name too, it's kinda average.

I think Stoic Club causes more harm than good. People are generally follow instincts to bitch.

1: Someone posts
2: three to ten decent posts
3a: Decent argument that's quite well written
4a: stfu u r fag kll urself
3b: Omg fck u (TC) ur Dmb
4b: STFU UR DUMBBERR!
5: Mod lock

I agree, change "other video games" to "Onett Arcade".

Change the other basic ones too, if possible.



Also, a new theme, perhaps? I've always hated this portal-like on we have.




Also, I got glasses, as stated in Life. Oh god, they make everything so clear!

If it's one thing I hate, it's the Stoic Club hate. I love the irony that several of the people responsible for many of the closings are the ones that complain about it the most, but that's just me.

I'm pissed that it's so demonized. The guidelines I posted? Largely ignored. Your opinion is as valid and considerable as the next guy's, so treat your fellow LH'er's opinion as valid and consider it, dammit. I'll be paying more attention to that board now. If I find your comment objectionable in regards to respect, I will delete it. I don't care how right or wrong you think it is, who it was that said it, or what the subject or subject matter was.

I love the irony that several of the people responsible for many of the closings are the ones that complain about it the most, but that's just me.

Duh. The reason we want it closed is because we know from personal experience that it just causes hate and the arguments have never/rarely turn into anything good. We aren't mindless drones that want to argue. Someone says something that goes against our morals, beliefs, or opinion and we find it important to post back. It's human nature. People have emotions.

I'm pissed that it's so demonized. The guidelines I posted? Largely ignored.

Exactly. You guys have done your job and slapped our hands away, but it obviously hasn't worked and nobody's listened in the long run.

Your opinion is as valid and considerable as the next guy's, so treat your fellow LH'er's opinion as valid and consider it, dammit. I'll be paying more attention to that board now. If I find your comment objectionable in regards to respect, I will delete it. I don't care how right or wrong you think it is, who it was that said it, or what the subject or subject matter was.

Speaking of irony...

You see, Stoic Club is like a priest joining the army, it just doesn't work, and goes against the big picture of things. 

Lumine Hall is supposed to be a group of friends. Stoic Club sounds good on paper, oh how mature we'd feel debating politics, religion, and what not! But it goes against almost everything else, and tears people away from each other. We've all seen it. We've all tried to stop it. It doesn't work. It's a textbook case of insanity: Trying the same thing over and over expecting different results.

So at the end of the day, do you know what I find the most ironic? The stupid idea of "civil debate" which I believe only exists when dealing with an argument involving hobbies or non-important things... which some users on Lumine Hall have proved they can't do, so how do you expect them to debate about important things? 

And there's a major problem with your guidelines, anyways. It's laughable:

1. THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY. What's one half of Stoic Club? That's right, "Club!" But more importantly, "Stoic." What are the people in the Stoic Club of Earthbound doing? They are discussing. They aren't using that rock on the stage to beat up people who disagree with them, they aren't calling other people names, and more importantly, they aren't waging open war upon each other. They are STOIC, in every sense of the word. You should be, too. Don't take sides to belittle somebody you disagree with, and certainly don't make childish jabs at somebody about something that has little to do with the topic. "Respect" should be the watchword here.

Except we aren't robots or 16-bit videogame characters programmed to say certain things, even if you'd like to think otherwise. We have emotions. People take things to heart. And if we all were stoic, why the hell would we need a debate board anyways?

Stoic guy 1: I THINK BLAH BLAH
Stoic guy 2: I THINK BLAH, NOT BLAH BLAH!
Stoic Club 1: WELL I STILL THINK BLAH BLAH

It's the freaking Internet. Most people in real life are too close-minded to change their opinion during an argument. Nobody's going to have a miracle-hallelujah-I saw Jesus through this topic-esque because some person posted on the Internet. It just doesn't work.

Like how fire struggles without oxygen, debate struggles without emotion. Or you know, basic humanity.

People care about things. 

Nah, I think people should just follow the guidelines, probably me included

^ Did you read my post?

Oh, and it draws a comparison to politics, and we all know how mature their mud slinging commercials are!

Well what I was trying to get at was that people think that a topic on Stoic Club automatically means it has to be a debate/argument. A serious topic could be something like "I need some advice, X is happening." Ya know, topics where lol isn't appropriate. (ib4 lol in this topic)

But while Rasen seems focused on the moral fiber, Tret wants to gave a heartless pure-facts debate, and maybe we have two focuses on one board, and that is causing the problem. The name of the board is Stoic Club, and emotions are the opposite of stoicism, so maybe we should keep Stoic Club for conversations about cold hard facts and politics and create a new, separate board for issues involving emotions and morals. We can be creative in our solutions. This kind of discussion is exactly why this topic exists.

Sure, but what to name the other one? Club Titiboo (or however it's spelled)? I could easily see two guys getting into a fight to DMCM's music over whether the King P's good or not.

Yes, I did. You were basically speaking about how "humans have emotions we're not programs in some 16-bit game don't expect us to not take things personally". I get that. I think you can take it personally and not have to yell back, though.

And you're implying I think political debates are mature in this day and age.

You just backed up my post. In no way was I yelling, I was debating. You see? We automatically bring our emotions into arguments. It simply doesn't work.

And Sparky, we could always leave the serious emotional stuff to Life.

And I think it'll be quite hard for people to try the cold-hard facts thing. People will eventually still start fighting. But if you want to try it, try it.

You guys are usually just doing what would probably be yelling in a real argument, I figured that'd be a good word for it rather than debating.


And I'd be willing to try.

That's a good one, Ground! That didn't occur to me. The two clubs! Okay, see? This is why I love Lumine Hall, because we can work out problems so that everybody is happy.

If this idea seems popular, we will put it up for vote and take it from there. Keep talkin', people!

@Rasen

I guess that stuff kinda filters into Life now, yes, but I always figured Life was for more spontaneous day-to-day things. I guess the new board would be for inter-personal/moral things while the other would be for political/legal/scientific discussion, to put things in general terms.

I figure that users will stronger like one over the other, and for this, they'll essentially keep to their own.

Yeah, I guess we can try it.