Are We Jaded?

[Eclecta]

I'm posting this in general, even tho I know it can apply to anyone, but I'm asking the general community. Are we, those who've been around for a couple years minimum, jaded now? Have we seen so many come and go and so much drama, role play, and random other stuff that we ourselves have become jaded?

I think we are.

What do you think?

[RKCoon]

I think in my personal case, its rather blatant. Yus, im heavily jaded -- comes with the territory i suppose.

[Savion]

The majority of us are, indeed, jaded. I have been a member of the OVC on and off for six years. Experience with the OVC alone has caused me to be somewhat weary of the entire situation.

[Vicereine]

For my part, I never used to be jaded. I was always an optimist, or at least tried to be. But in one way or another I have been floating about the OVC for a couple of years now, and I have to say I feel tired. Im not quite there with jaded, but its close ;)

Seriously though, I hate that I have become so bitter in some instances. Its not in my nature to be so, and Im working hard to regain some trust in people generally.

That said, a small amount of jaded can help keep things in perspective. It takes something special for someone to 'ring true' when one speaks to them.

I do worry for those vampires new to the community though.

[stainless]

jaded how exactly?

[Lost]

With the community the way it is I feel it would be hard not to be jaded, so many issues need resolve and it is the same issues time and time again. Generally I find the situation frustrating and hold that little bit of optimism that perhaps there will be change.

[darklin]

I personally wouldnt say iam jaded allthough as i have seen many of us are but i refuse to given into it.

If i were tired of the community i wouldnt be here and i wouldnt waste my time in trying make this a place where people can come and feel connected to others and more so to feel accepted.

The only thing ive become jaded about is the amount of bickering thats seems to be going on just now. Theres a sence of uneasiness and its having an effect on all of us in one way or another.

As with all family units we bicker and have disagreements but are we not adult enough to work this out without all of this upheaval?
We cannot fight and win against change, we just have to learn to overcome and adapt to our situations together.

Some of us find that easy and some of us find it very hard, im one of those who finds change easy to deal with aslong as its going in the right direction. I mean that if we are all as intune as we like to think we are than why cant we all see that we can shake off the depuary of the flying shrapnal called negativity..

If we put the same amount of energy into working together to find the good within eachother as we do in finding the bad we would turn this situation on its head..
Im not say walk around with rosey coloured glasses on because thats would leave doors open for manipulation. We have to have our wits about us in all aspects of our lifes and even more so online.

I will remain to be as enthusiastic as i can about the place i call home, the place that brought me so much comfort at a time in my life when it was needed the most...

[darkangel5778]

jaded? Some may be and I have to admit it is hard not to be. However with being jaded comes the responsibility of reminding ourselves that an open mind is needed as well. Feelings are just a part of human nature, and one cannot help feeling what we do, but it is what we do with those feelings that matter the most. I think the main problem is not that we are starting to feel jaded but we are acting on it, and acting in the wrong manner, drving those away that do not feel the same as we do. As I said before, those that are jaded mearly need to remind ourselves that we MUST keep an open mind, or our feelings will take over us fully.............

[Eclecta]

jaded how exactly?

I mean are we less tolerant of other than we should be? Are we critical when we should be compassionate? Are we cold, indifferent, or uncaring? I don't think any of us started out that way. But it seems we are not as warm and fuzzy as we once were. Do we literally roll out eyes when we read something that we feel we've heard before? Thinking it will always be the same outcome? Are we burning out?

I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks. I think I am jaded now. It's the same old song and dance, it seems. I think we should really begin to think how what we say to others will affect them. Maybe before we say things or do things we should rethink and make sure that we are doing whatever for the good of someone else and not because we are in a pissy mood, or because we have heard it all before. Maybe we should try to be understanding and nice to those who seem to need someone to be nice to them. I guess what I'm saying is that in a community like ours we should try to be more tolerant of others, their ideas, etc.

For example... If I am new to the community, newly awakened, and the person who assisted me thru my awakening, and/or who showed me the vampire community is someone I call my sire, and I speak of my awakening as a turning, and I've not been around long enough to know the right words to use, then am I going to be laughed at? Will someone tell me I'm a role player? You know someone will say it. But does that mean I am a role player? Does that mean I am less of a vampire than you are because I don't know where to find the right words to describe it?

Are we jaded? What can we do to make others who are new feel more welcome? Do we even care anymore? Are we in our own little cliques caring about no one but ourselves? Do we shut out those who we think are less than who we are?

[Stefan]

I believe the term you're looking for here is more, "Are we elitists?" rather than jaded, at least in the terminology that you're presenting.

At the risk of becoming "Coonish," I would say that we have become more than that; I think we have become overly-philosophical nay-sayers that do not agree with anyone who has a concept beyond our own, that we've been elitist, self-serving, self-seeking and self-gratifying; that we will flame each other openly without actually "flaming;" that we do not trust each other, we over examine, over-simplify or over-exaggerate everything we come in contact with.

In other words, in many respects (and this will REALLY piss some people off), we've become dirivitive of ourselves, internal, inbred shadow of what we could be; we throw stones and ask for solid proof, when we ourselves could be lying about all we are, from who we are, to where we live to, God help us, our actual age. Many here could simply be lurkers, or hunters, or from the press, or heaven only knows simply to feel we belong to something. Jaded? I'm not sure the term really applies anymore in reference to "us." In fact, who is "us" anyway? Only those that agree with the status quo? Or, only those that can present hard proof?

Never mind...everybody is going to jump on this like vultures anyway.

[Eclecta]

Even elitists can be jaded. But yeah, that works too. It's hard to live in a world of what ifs and not go crazy as a bessie bug. But as for who we are? We are just ppl who do things for reasons. Sometimes the reason is better than other times.

[kyuuketsuki_kurai]

Am I jaded?
Yes, I will admit flatly that I am. The things I have experienced in my real life (not so much in the OVC or the VC at all, really) have led me to not really trust people, and to generally keep to myself with a lot of things. I give everyone a chance, but once you lose that or get on my bad side, it is basically impossible to revive.
However, in a lot of ways, such a life has made me more open to give the less-than-likely happenings a look, rather than just dismissing them outright. This, I suppose, is not always such a good thing, but I've seen and experienced many strange things in my life, and I guess I look at it in the view of "I don't really know if I believe you, but I don't have anything to argue otherwise either".
This leads me to give people that are often written off as RPers a little bit more of a chance than most, I guess.
It all depends on how you look at it. I am jaded, and there is no arguing that. I have many issues, but very few of them have to do with the VC directly, since my only experience with the VC has been with Sanguinarius.org, Nox, and Bloodlines International.

[Alyushia]

I would say that we have become more than that; I think we have become overly-philosophical nay-sayers that do not agree with anyone who has a concept beyond our own, that we've been elitist, self-serving, self-seeking and self-gratifying; that we will flame each other openly without actually "flaming;" that we do not trust each other, we over examine, over-simplify or over-exaggerate everything we come in contact with.
I have not been here long, but I have not seen this as much on this board as I have some others I have been on (and this is one reason I left others).

I do think that this is a big issue facing the OVC in general, but I also think that this is a tendency in all human beings. I am not sure that we (vampires) are any worse about this than anyone else.

I think most human beings have fragile egos, and tend to gravitate to others who hold the same opinions in an effort to assure themselves that they are "right" and "better" than the next person. This, in my belief, is the reason for the cliques that crop up and the reason for attacking others who do not hold the same beliefs as our own. We find these beliefs threatening to our position as holders of the knowledge, as it were. If they are right, then we are not special.



we throw stones and ask for solid proof, when we ourselves could be lying about all we are, from who we are, to where we live to, God help us, our actual age. Many here could simply be lurkers, or hunters, or from the press, or heaven only knows simply to feel we belong to something. Jaded? I'm not sure the term really applies anymore in reference to "us." In fact, who is "us" anyway? Only those that agree with the status quo? Or, only those that can present hard proof?

Never mind...everybody is going to jump on this like vultures anyway.
One never knows with whom one is actually speaking on the internet. Never. Anything they say could be lies.

As far as "hard proof"...what hard proof is there? Nothing that has anything to do with us, be it vampires or therians has hard proof that can be quoted. Therefore it seems to me a bit of tolerance is in order for others' opinions. They may be just as right as we think we are.

*prepares to dodge rocks*

[Vicereine]

Stefan - I cant see why it would be jumped on. From what I've read a large percentage agree with you. Elitest is always a problem when definitions are called for in order to ascertain guinine and false, and online as you say its even harder. Being that people can, and do, lie frequently its human nature to bring the boundaries in even tighter in an effort to wheedle out the falsehood. So what happens is two fold. People up the lies or leave, and we as a society become more ramrod in our ideas of acceptibility in an effort to twart the minefield that is the virtual world.

phew......... early morning posting

[ChadSang]

Alyushia, so how do you like it here now, since you joined?

[stainless]

I think she's gone ya know... on myspace tho dude.

[ChadSang]

Even elitists can be jaded. But yeah, that works too. It's hard to live in a world of what ifs and not go crazy as a bessie bug. But as for who we are? We are just ppl who do things for reasons. Sometimes the reason is better than other times.

I don't know if you know anything about me, Electa,, but I always like your posts.

[Eclecta]

Thanks Chad. I appreciate that.

[StolenGlance]

Electra..I really like this question too..

I don't know if we're jaded, I think a big part our emotion is frustration:

The rules are laid out..
There are articles, and such that people can read..and yet they still come in and ask us to tell them what exactly they are..

We don't have that power...

That plus the surplus of younger members that have access to the internet and are causing more influx of frustration..

I think that's simply what it is..Frustration-

Frustration that we can't just BE a community, frustration that so much must be done over the OVC because of how serious the subject matter really is..

Maybe it's just me..maybe i'm just frustrated with everything..

but I think that a lot of us wish that we could show more, more emotion, the ability to lay a hand on a shoulder when one of our own is in pain, the ability to know beyond a shadow of a doubt the the person we are talking with is who they say they are..

Now that I think about it..all of the frustration and pain and the endless questioning that we must do of ourselves..

yeah..I feel pretty jaded

[incubus]

I personally have waited a bit before replying to this, even had it typed out the other day and deleted before posted.

Such a touchy subject with so many angles it could be looked at from.

From a community stand point I think many are jaded, mainly due to the fact of fear, cautiousnesses and not being able to trust online. The community feels it needs to hide and to be safe. Due to I am not really community orientated I no longer fit in there.

From a personal standpoint in the years I have been running Nox , I have had my jaded times, mainly due to those who think they have reason to be above another, or to believe they have more rights then another. So my jaded times came from a different standpoint and reason then most.

Due to the fact I am not vampire, I have no reason to be jaded about RPG'ers and fakes no more. I know some may think well I thought you was vamp inky. I thought I was too, it was the best term at the time to describe me, and I have some characteristics of being vampiric but I have evolved, at least from the definition of what a vampire is, I have no need to feed from another, nor do I require an outside source.

I feel there will always be those who are jaded, especially when they spend enough time in the VC.

[ChadSang]

This is a safe haven for anyone. You don't have to be a vampire, but that quality in a person is great. I would hate like hell if Nox changed from the way it is now.

[Eclecta]

Incy, is pranist a better word then?

[incubus]

Better word for?

[gypsy mouse]

cant belive this was even a question....

*raises hand* Bitter and Jaded here.
but i was a crank before i came here. now i just got more to be cranky about.
still worth it....