Permaban

Web forums are one of those things that just quietly passed out of popular view without anybody really noticing, like politicians experiencing shame or Nissan Prairies. 25 years ago they were the chief discourse zone for videogames as a hobby: NeoGAF was the most regularly cited due to its collection of occasionally well-informed industry folk, but every games media brand had its own, notionally created as a place to foster community but invariably in a state of perpetual conflict as members squabbled with both each other and the writers of the work they were ostensibly there to appreciate.

They nevertheless reflected the editorial tone of their origins. I was once delighted to witness the stridently tabloid CVG forum be temporarily evicted for a server upgrade, only to set up in a corner of the more cerebral Eurogamer forum like the gobby kids from the ropey comprehensive temporarily assigned to the grammar school, to largely the same effect; forums that originated from Edge, PC Gamer or the sprawling Ziff Davis portfolio similarly had their own distinct house style. All of them eventually succumbed to schisms that begat rival forums, like cell division, with only the sturdiest lasting long-term.