11-12-2003 21:33									#1
	How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

I'm curious about several aspects of being a member of an Internet community, especially Apolyton (of course!).

What do you all think about the following (I've just grouped the questions for expositional clarity, feel free to answer in any way you like)?

I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life

Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake

Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora?

Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself

Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

Well? The psychoanalyst's couch awaits you...

Carolus

	11-12-2003 21:36									#2
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Oh, and my own reflections will be shared another time. I'm off to a course in spanish...

Hasta luego!

Carolus

	11-12-2003 22:47									#3
	Re: How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

It's nice when it happens, but not imporant. And I don't feel any need to "prove" myself, here or IRL (when I was younger, yes, but not now).

quote: If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

Nope. Again, it's good to be liked, but if not, oh well. Again, like IRL.

quote: Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure?

Treasure? Not really. But I do feel the name is my own, if that makes sense.

quote: Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora?

As above. On occasion I will troll.

quote: Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life?

It's definitely me. It's pointless and IMO silly to be someone else on an online forum, unless the namesake in particular isn't meant to be taken seriously.

And at this point, I can say w/o hesitation you should be ashamed of yourself.

	11-12-2003 22:51									#4
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Well, I am Wittlich and Wittlich is me.

As far as craveing attention goes - Please, I do have a real life after all.

	11-12-2003 23:56									#5
	Re: How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by Carolus Rex I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"? If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

If I'm noticed, great. If not, then so be it. I prefer solidity and dependability over flashiness.

As for how I feel when praised or attacked by other posters — well, I'm human, so I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say, though, I make darn sure to keep firmly rooted in reality — IOW, I don't let what happens on the Internet affect me IRL. My job, family and friends are too important to me for that to happen.

quote: II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora? Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

Yes, I do treasure my reputation on Apolyton (and all the other forums I post at on the Internet) and wish to earn and keep the respect of others.

I don't think my posts strictly reflect a desire to be liked or a desire to sow discontent. I post what I find interesting, and what I feel my fellow 'Poly members might like to read and contribute to. Sometimes it works, and the thread takes off ... other times it sinks like a rock.

quote: III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

The only real difference between me IRL and my 'Poly ID is the fact that my name isn't Gatekeeper IRL. I try to post "as I am IRL" on all the forums I participate in, for the simple fact that it's common courtesy to do so, and the fact that it would get mighty hard over the years maintaining facades that truly didn't reflect my convictions IRL.

Hope that helps, Carolus!

Gatekeeper

	12-12-2003 00:25									#6
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q cubed is my name irl.

on the boards, it's something else.

	12-12-2003 00:28									#7
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

Gatekeeper, didn't you used to be CYBERAmazon?

	12-12-2003 00:38									#8
	Re: How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Carolus Rex I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

It's always nice to be thought of in high regard, to be noticed, to be appreciated. I recently took a break from Apolyton, and when I came back a few people asked me how I had been and where I was, and it felt very good.

quote: If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

Absolutely! There are a lot of posters who I regard highly, and if they feel the same about me it's uplifting. This is the same IRL, really.

quote: II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora?

I 'treasure' it for many reasons. It is my net identity, and Apolyton is the first message board I really visited frequently. I will always treasure my 'netname' because it is a part of who I am - whether you think that's sad or not.

quote: Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

My purpose is to support my points of view, whether that is celebrated or despised.

quote: III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

There's differences I'm sure. I'm not quite as outspoken, though I'm just as opinionated. I'm a little less controversial in real life, but still somewhat controversial. I enjoy a good debate. I like making people look dumb. I can admit that much.

	12-12-2003 01:50									#9
	Re: How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Inflate your Upload Space

quote: I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"? If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

I am one of several thousand members of this forum. Therefore I can't be sad if noone answers my threads or posts, but of course that feels better than not.

For me, being nice, making a good atmosphere on the forum, being myself as much as possible is important. Therefore, if I feel that someone misunderstand me, or if I realize I might have done something wrong, that can be in my mind also when I'm not at poly. But not too much.

quote: II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora? Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"? III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

See answer over.

quote: Well? The psychoanalyst's couch awaits you...

	12-12-2003 02:06									#10
	Remove this text

Apolyton make me feel special, yaaay!

+1












I could care less if anyone responds to my very few threads, but when someone does I get all warm inside. Generally, I don't really care about my own, real-life image, so I guess I could really care less about Japher's image. I only like to keep things, uh, decent so that I can continue to communicate with all you morons

	12-12-2003 02:09									#11
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

No sense to be someone different...so I act like myself online.

I used to visit (lurk) in 98/99 and finally got around to registering. Then I was away from the site during the discussions of suggestions for Civ 3 and started visiting the site again well after Civ 3 was released. I actually wished I had stayed with it since I remember some of the folks from '99 and 2000, but since I didn't post that often, doubtful that they remember me.

It's pretty enjoyable at 'Poly and I'm never offended by someone not responding. It is nice to be recognized/acknowledged, but it would never ruin my day if something unpleasant happened online.

	12-12-2003 02:10									#12
	Inflate your Upload Space

Hey Shogun, haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?

	12-12-2003 02:27									#13
	Inflate your Upload Space

Hey Japher, I'm offended Now my whole year is ruined....

	12-12-2003 02:39									#14
	Full PM-box? Change here!

At least there's only 20 days left in the year

	12-12-2003 02:50									#15
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

quote: Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

not much. like others said, if people replies to my posts, fine, otherwise fine too. damn, i'm so middle-of-the-road.

quote: If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life?

nope.

quote: Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure?

not really. it's just a name. incidentally, it is my name in Real Life (TM) too.

quote: Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life?

it's my real name, so no dark sides here. except for the fact that i'm secretly vying to destroy the world, and i'll start doing it through Poly.

	12-12-2003 02:57									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

I don’t particularly care if anyone responds to my posts (people rarely do), it’s still a nice place to hang around, but for the most part it is a one-sided supplier of information – a free strategy guide if you will – and I read far more than I post. It is only once in awhile that I wander from the game specific areas to somewhere like here.

As far as my Apolyton and real identity, this would be the very narrow one dimensional game-specific aspect of it, but not too far from the real deal.

	12-12-2003 03:06									#17
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quote: I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

Of course. What would be the point of posting otherwise if nobody paid any attention. All it would be doing is taking up valuable space. Not necessarily for my own ego but just to uphold the principle of posting something.

quote: If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

Naturally, it would affect you as a poster and the way you approach things on Apolyton, but to be honest, anyone who believes that what somebody you have never seen or heard writes about you should affect your real-life personality needs to wake up and realise that there is more to life than what somebody has said about you in the form of data in the guise of people, virtually all of which you will never meet.

quote: II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora?

I want to be respected by people, yes. I view my Apolyton alias as a portal to what my beliefs and views are. If people disagree with this, big whoop. All I request is that people respect these.

quote: Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

I care not a jot if my name is flashed in size 72 on the main page or whether I am a mere footnote in the history books. So long as I have done something for the community, whether it be participating in discussions, or bringing things to the attention of people, then I have achieved my goal to do something. And I believe everyone who regularly posts, regardless of their actions on the forums has achieved such a goal.

quote: III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

I believe the nature of the forums disallows myself to display all of my personal attributes. For instance, I am very shy around people and what I say, but on Apolyton it's more a case of "These people will never meet me in real life so it doesn't matter what I say". Going back to Q2, I believe my handle is a portal to my beliefs and views. Only my... how to explain it... things I would actually say if I was speaking to a blank piece of paper would I say on Apolyton.

In conclusion, my Apolyton alias is a second place to my real-life attributes, but it's fun to talk to people on the internet because when there are 1000 active people there's always going to be at least one person who will respect your personality. And that's what keeps me coming back.

	12-12-2003 04:18									#18
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Carolus:

quote: I'm curious about several aspects of being a member of an Internet community, especially Apolyton (of

I am curious as to why you should be curious.

	12-12-2003 04:53									#19
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"? If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

Somewhat yes. The whole point of the experience is to actually discuss things with other people, not to shoot my ideas off into the void.

quote: II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora? Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

Yes, the first, yes, yes

quote: III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

It reflects who I really am. I'm REALLY bad at acting like something I'm not.

	12-12-2003 05:30									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Hercules Carolus: I am curious as to why you should be curious.

A little bit paranoid Hercules?

	12-12-2003 06:22									#21
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

Not important, but I try to make quality posts and it just so happens that they attract attention.

quote: If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life?

No. Never feel neglected.

quote: For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care?

I expect people to attack my posts in the OT, simply because they are so different from what they are used to. I'm much more surprised to hear when people say they appreciate my posts.

quote: Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

Yes, I'd be lying if I said otherwise

II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake

quote: Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora?

Yep, reputation does matter because I feel that I am not just responsible to myself but to others.

quote: Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

A very real purpose. On Topic, it's a hobby, I liked civ and stayed for the demogames. Off Topic, I try to be a good Christian, and to encourage those who are Christian, and to hopefully open up a few other people's hearts.

III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself

quote: Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life?

No. I like these forums because it gives me an opportunity to be as I ought to be. Hopefully, some of this 'roleplaying' spills over to the rest of my life.

	12-12-2003 06:38									#22
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"? If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

Sometimes I feel ignored when nobody replies to whatever I say.
If I´m attacked, it doesn´t affect me much, I just ignore them.

quote: II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora? Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

Yes, of course I want to be respected, just like anyone else, I think. Purpose? No idea, I just like this place.

quote: III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

I´m a different person here sometimes, IRL I´m a bit shy and sometimes I get very depressed, something that rarely reflects here, Apolyton is like an alternate place where I can read what other posters have to say and have fun regardless of what´s happening IRL.

By the way, suerte en tu curso de español
Puedo preguntar por qué estás aprendiendo español?

	12-12-2003 07:11									#23
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quote: Originally posted by Unspeakable Horror By the way, suerte en tu curso de español Puedo preguntar por qué estás aprendiendo español?

Por que quieres saber?

Credo que el quiere aprenderlo.

Sorry, no spanish punctuation...

	12-12-2003 07:12									#24
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quote: Originally posted by Hercules I am curious as to why you should be curious.

I'm sure it's nothing.

	12-12-2003 07:16									#25
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Originally posted by Theben Por que quieres saber? Credo que el quiere aprenderlo. Sorry, no spanish punctuation...

No reason, just curious

	12-12-2003 11:17									#26
	Re: How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Support Apolyton

I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life

quote: Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

It's nice to be noted, but I won't lose my appetite if my thread gets zero replies.

quote: If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

If I'm attacked by a fellow poster, or if someone feels that I've insulted or hurted him/her in here, it makes me a bit sad IRL. Because that is not my intention. I sometimes may get carried away when discussing about hot topics, but I tend to be able to restrain myself.


II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake

quote: Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora? Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

I'm not here to cause disease and dismemberment


III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself

quote: Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

I don't understand the question? In real life? I am aaglo, and aaglo is me.

	12-12-2003 12:10									#27
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Theben Gatekeeper, didn't you used to be CYBERAmazon?

Yep. I had and still have a fascination with legends and mythology, and the Amazon Nation figures prominently into that, hence I chose the handle to reflect it. I later came to the conclusion that "gatekeeper," which is a title given to folks involved in journalism, fit me better overall and switched to that with Ming's assistance.

Gatekeeper

	12-12-2003 12:23									#28
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I. Your Apolyton alter ego and your real life

Is it important to you to be noticed at the forums? That someone replies to your posts, read your threads? In short, to be "somebody"?

Yes, more so now than when I first started here. In fact I really wasn't noticed until I was here a couple of years. It was years before anyone even mentioned my screen name when discussing something.

If you feel neglected at Apolyton, does this influence your real life? For example, if you feel attacked by another poster, does this make you sad in real life or you don't care? Similarly, if you feel that someone (who you've never met!) likes you, does it make you feel good IRL?

I've only been attacked maybe once or twice. And yes it did anger me. Not sure why. But I tend to anger easily.

II. Apolyton for Apolyton's sake

Is your Apolyton alias something you treasure? Do you want to be respected by other Apolytoners or are you just out to wreak havoc in the fora?

respect would be nice, but I rarely get any respect in life- so I'm used to it

Do your posts reflect a desire to be liked or do you want to drive people nuts? In short, do you have a purpose with your Apolyton identity, are you creating a "brand name"?

my identity is essentually myself. Sometimes I do bad things for attention though - like trolling. I try not to troll though. Doesn't always work.

III. Your Apolyton identity and yourself

Does it reflect who you really are or are you just living out dark sides of your personality that you'd never show in real life? For example, extremely timid and nice boy named Sean uses MalevolantLight to get those scary EyesofNight...

It is essentually myself except for the occasional troll.

	12-12-2003 15:10									#29
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Well, I may be a sad git, but for me 'poly is one of the most important things in my life. I really miss it if I can't post for a few days. I don't have an alter-ego, well maybe in real-life I pretend to be someone that doesn't frequent forums

If somone doesn't reply to my posts I feel neglected and ignored, but I'm used to that.

Go 'poly

-Jam

	12-12-2003 15:38									#30
	Re: How important is your Apolyton identity to you? Got spare money?

1. It's nice to have your posts and threads be spurs to debate or discussion. For me this is mostly the case.

As for attacks, I am usually glad as they are a sign that the poster cannot win the debate with me so needs to resort to a baser response.

2. Most people would like others to enjoy their posts I think. I certainly do.

3. 'Poly me is me.