Not really, but to the untrained eye it certainly can look that way. Consider this: New user makes a post about a subject that gets beating into the ground on a daily bases around here, or posts something that already has a strong running topic currently active and they get flamed for it. Or how about the young new comer all excited about his birthday money and wanting to spend it on something magical, asks for an opinion and gets a 4 page dissertation on why DVD magic sucks, and why he should learn from books. Stop me if you've seen this one before; A somewhat new guy makes a post with a video to them doing a pretty shoddy card performance with the webcam aimed at their crotch, Kesha blaring in the back ground, and a brand new deck of Jerry's being used for the trick all the while them claiming they invented some new card move that in actuality can be found somewhere between page 5 of Tarbell and the last few pages of Card College. What happens to him you ask? He gets pages of people telling him his video sucks, his music is poor, and his technique spits in the face of all that is amateur. Does this sound familiar yet?
Folks I was starting to lose a bit of faith in the Theory11 community thinking that we've turned cynical. Other boards are more friendly, helpful, and outgoing to new magicians... or so it would outwardly seem. However that's when it occurred to me; We're not cynical we just seem to have a significantly less tolerance for BS than other communities. Most of our active members are guys who've done this magic thing more than twice, and for a larger audience than a web cam. I suppose you can only say the same thing so many times before it begins to feel like a broken record. There's still a good amount of desire in this community to help others, the only difference is the burden of proof: Proof that you want to learn and possess the ability to take constructive criticism well is set a lot higher than in other places. Sure if you want someone to coddle you, and hold your hand you may find that on other more gentle forums... but if you come here expect to grow and evolve beyond your current limitations. Expect to be challenged. Expect to better yourself. The advice you get may not always be kind, but it's usually honest and for that I tip my hat to you the community.
Folks I was starting to lose a bit of faith in the Theory11 community thinking that we've turned cynical. Other boards are more friendly, helpful, and outgoing to new magicians... or so it would outwardly seem. However that's when it occurred to me; We're not cynical we just seem to have a significantly less tolerance for BS than other communities. Most of our active members are guys who've done this magic thing more than twice, and for a larger audience than a web cam. I suppose you can only say the same thing so many times before it begins to feel like a broken record. There's still a good amount of desire in this community to help others, the only difference is the burden of proof: Proof that you want to learn and possess the ability to take constructive criticism well is set a lot higher than in other places. Sure if you want someone to coddle you, and hold your hand you may find that on other more gentle forums... but if you come here expect to grow and evolve beyond your current limitations. Expect to be challenged. Expect to better yourself. The advice you get may not always be kind, but it's usually honest and for that I tip my hat to you the community.