I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with me. Just be polite when doing so. After so many times of going back and forth with him and one other in there I unfortunately had enough and fed some back. That, admittedly, caused me to react the way I did in here. I read this whole thread the way you say you read mine. The way a few people treat others around here is more than just "dissenting opinions," and that may unfortunately be many people's first impressions of a forum. In my thread, I tried to end the argument and smooth things over a couple times with Zeta. It was never acknowledged.
I wonder sometimes if a society (like this forum) just gets so used to people acting rudely that they don't even notice or they just shrug it off. But, you have now had 2 new people in here, as well as others, having issue with how people have treated others in just the past few days. Maybe some things that have become cultural norms should change? Perhaps the ones with dissenting opinions about how people should be treated should be listened to as well?
If not... Maybe you are right. Maybe this is not where I should be. I don't need to develop a "thicker skin." I have a very strong opinion on how people should be treated. That opinion does not stop before myself, and I will fervently defend others as I would defend myself. Obviously, I am not ashamed to defend myself when I feel attacked. I admit that I have not been perfect. But I will always admit that I have been wrong and apologize if I have done something that is hurtful to another. If I have done so, please point it out and I will try my best to reconcile. But I won't break my back over it if the other party won't listen.
I may not completely agree with you, but I do appreciate your willingness to not attack me in the process of disagreeing with me. Thank you. I hope you feel that I have been respectful to you as well.
I understand all of what you're saying. Try to understand things from our end. This is not about you, it is about what we see around here week in and week out.
What you have to understand is that some of us have been part of the "scene" for a long time. When I got started with this hobby (in the late 90's), I didn't even know that "video game collecting" was a thing. I just figured that I could finally pick up all of the systems and games that I had wanted as a kid because everyone else was just throwing them out. I was just playing and enjoying "old video games" for a solid 5 years before I discovered that people actually collected this shit for the sake of collecting it, or for that matter even found an online community of other people who also enjoyed playing old games. I just did it on my own because I enjoyed it. Nowadays, people just seem to decide over coffee one day that they should "start collecting 'retrogames'", and they go on to embody everything that is wrong with this hobby. Many of these folks eventually find their way onto these forums because *of course* they want to collect for the TurboGrafx, because the shit is rarer and therefore makes them cooler to their collectard buddies. They show up here, and their very first post is "WTB: TurboDuo", because of course these shelf queens want to hoard Turbo games, but don't want to pay eBay prices, so they think we'll cut them a deal. So when you come in here talking about how you're gonna drop a grand on a Turbo and XRGB mini, but then just use a RetroFreak for everything else, it just sends up red flags for some of us.
Seriously, if you're cool with emulation (which you must be if you want a Retro Freak) then just get a Wii and mod it, or build an emulation box and buy some controller adapters. If I didn't already own all of this shit, there's no way I would start buying it now. I'd get a small form factor PC and a bunch of controller to USB adapters, and just have fun.
If you are dead-set on going the route you're planning, then that's your decision but you can't expect everyone here to kiss your ass about it. If politeness is really that important to you, then like I said you need to stick to online communities that prioritize that (i.e. heavy moderation). Places like this and the Neo-Geo forums don't coddle people. You either fit in, or you're going to have a rough time.