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RIP Sonic CulT

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Overlord, Apr 22, 2018.

  1. Techokami

    Techokami

    For use only on NTSC Genesis systems Researcher
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    Wow, RIP in pieces CulT. That was probably the first actual Sonic research community I joined, back in... I think 2003? I got a letter of recommendation from a friend of mine and joined the shenanigans of CulT.

    At least the IRC is still around!
     
  2. Qjimbo

    Qjimbo

    Your friendly neighbourhood lemming. Oldbie
    You can find out by checking the SSRG wiki page, Andy was the maintainer of SSRG to put that in context.

    That is surprising that the grudge is still that strong. I do feel like Andy was essentially a victim of cyberbullying, before the word cyberbullying existed, and maybe he never got closure from that, which is just very depressing. However, while Pachuka may have orchestrated things at that time, Andy certainly handled it all in the worst possible way by being easily triggered. Pachuka also clearly has a lot of his own personal demons that I've learned from watching his Youtube channel, and in that context, the way he acted becomes more understandable. I've had bullies of my own and when I learn about their lives and backgrounds, as well as possible personality disorders, I have come to understand and forgive them. It would be nice if everyone could take a more mature approach.

    As for Sonic Cult, while the site had some interesting research, the forums always seemed like kind of a breeding ground for toxic-masculinity (I think at the time it was called being an "internet tough guy"), not really something I've ever been interested in being a part of online or off.
     
  3. LukyHRE

    LukyHRE

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    Just to be clear: I joined this community waaaay later than everyone here, but Sonic Cult was the first window I found that led me here. I don't quite remember how I found it, nor when I actually found SR and its forums (it was before 2006 as I remember all the fuzz from day one with the Nick Arcade proto release, such a good time), I was really a kid, but that advisory before entering didn't intimidate me :P and I'm glad it didn't because I mostly consider this community to be the principal kickstart for my current programming career. Somehow I became quite interested at that age in the story of the whole hacking scene, so I more or less know about that stuff (I still don't understand why the grudge between SSRG and Retro still holds true today with the new administrators, but that's another story).

    With that out the way, considering Andy wrote things like this, what you say makes sense. I've been bullied for many years, and while I felt like shit because sometimes it included physical pain, I came to understand that one must ignore every remark made by the bully. The worst thing to do is to believe him. And it seems like Andy took the bullying really serious, I mean, he went out of the way to answer every little thing that Pachuka wrote against him. That says a lot not only about him, but also about how he tried to handle things internally, in his head. It is indeed very depressing.

    While I'm still surprised that after all these years he still holds a grudge against Cult, I don't blame him. Back then, as you said, bullying wasn't a known problem, and sadly handling it very wrong leaves permanent psychological scars for life. I'm almost 24 and and sometimes I still discuss with my psychologist these things of my past, and how it indirectly affected many aspects of my current personality.

    Anyway, yeah, RIP Cult. Thank you for leading me into all of this... crazy stuff (?.
     
  4. Woosh that was a massive wave of nostalgia for names that rang bells for me. Really sad to hear about Cryo's gf though. ooft.

    on a lighter note, holy fuck does this bring me back to being 15.
     
  5. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    That fucking thing! I totally forgot about that until I saw it. That brings me back.
     
  6. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    I always hated bunchies.
     
  7. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
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    What grudge? As far as I'm aware we don't have any beef with the current SSRG. We host the Hacking Contest with them for crying out loud! =P
     
  8. LukyHRE

    LukyHRE

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    Bitching and complaining about my country -.-'
    Omg... clearly the current "unmentionable Sonic site" wasn't SSRG, then :P sorry, I lurked a bit moar and realized that the grudge was with TSSZ. Couldn't find why, though.
     
  9. 360

    360

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    Somewhat hesitant to respond since I think it's one of those things we're not supposed to talk about - but the short of it was that Tristan/TSSZ wrote several slanderous tabloid style articles attacking Retro several years back that painted us very lovely people in an unwarranted negative light for not much reason outside of seeking attention and clicks - so the staff here responded accordingly.

    I wasn't a member here at the time but I did see all the shit happen and Tristan was the one entirely at fault so always felt Retro's response was justified. As has been stated we're cool with SSRG.
     
  10. Plorpus

    Plorpus

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    I don't know anything about community drama past the Cult days, but I'd assume it's because TSSZ/Tristan has historically been a massive joke.
     
  11. 360

    360

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    I once had a voice call with him in the SFGHQ days (over AIM I think?) and told him he sounded like Michael Jackson. He wasn't happy. :v:
     
  12. Plorpus

    Plorpus

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    Really? I always imagined him as a whinier Geraldo Rivera when reading his work.
     
  13. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    This is what I remember from Sonic-Cult
     
  14. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    >Omega
    >badass
    >badass trash can

    Ah yes, good times.
     
  15. Nova

    Nova

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    See, I don't know how to take Pach - on one hand, at some point several years ago he was all over Pride and wearing shirts that said 'ally', wearing rainbows and shit, and really getting into that. Then on the other you have his more recent videos and opinions, and this shit from the old days.

    Don't mind me, just random thoughts. Been a long time since I spoke to the dude so I couldn't ask him myself and I really turned off his YouTube channel. Do still like the mockumentaries.

    Also realised I haven't posted in this thread yet despite being there since like, 2004/2005 and being Family more recently. Poured a couple out for the CulT down the pub when it happened. I still talk to a bunch of the old regulars - Overlord, Nik and Cryomancer to name a few. Even Saz on occasion, if he pops up on IRC. Thanks for all the memories, and in many ways, getting me where I am now. Here's to you, CulT.

    + - gimme the scarz skin marc  
     
  16. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Yea I didn't touch on that point but some of the "humor" on that site is very reminiscent of today's alt-right assholes. But maybe pach grew up a bit? Because ya being gay or trans isn't a bad thing at all.

    I mean it's also the same site that had the sonic hentai section so I have no idea. The early 2000s were strange for sure.

    A SCARZ skin actually would be really cool and would be a nice way for CulT's legacy to live on. Particularly because a lot of us older members started off on CulT. I think CulT was actually my first Sonic fan website. Seeing as how I was like 12 at the time I probably should have started off at a less shock humor edge website but hey, what happened happened. Talk about edge, just look at my Coldsteel esq username. The choices you make at like 14 (I think my original name was ShadowKnux56, which became Dark Sonic after someone got mad at me for "stealing" their original character. I know I had a fan character called Flame the Hedgehog first that was a red Super Sonic but I don't think I ever used that as a username, but I might have).

    I just realized I've been here now for 12 years. Jesus.
     
  17. LordOfSquad

    LordOfSquad

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    pretty sure that characters page is how i learned what a wet dream is lmao

    I'd like to think it comes from a place of "edginess = humour" and not a place of outright 110% assholery, but obviously I can't speak for anyone else and it's indistinguishable to any outsiders who would stumble upon it nowadays. It's a relic of the past either way, most of us are above shock humour by now.
     
  18. doc eggfan

    doc eggfan

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    I think the biggest thing to remember about Cult was the stand that was taken in regards to collecting all of the research and discoveries and putting it in one place regardless of where it came from. The mentality back then was that people "owned" discoveries and research, and Cult was "stealing" content without giving credit, which caused a lot of the friction. The way people and big companies would watermark images and videos was kind of obnoxious and unnecessarily blemishes these images for historical preservation. Even now, a lot of prototype screenshots and videos from the era can only be found with giant and distracting IGN watermarks.

    Cult was ahead of the curve, enforcing a Creative Commons license with an iron fist (which is not how Creative Commons works, but you know what I mean).
     
  19. Billy

    Billy

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    Ah yes Sonic CulT. I always admired it from afar, but was too damn nervous to actively participate on the forums. Doesn't help that I tried to act edgy, and it backfired in my face spectacularly. It wasn't my first entry into this community (that was SSRG when it was being run by the guys at Shadowsoft Games), but I deeply admire the impact that it had.
     
  20. SANiK

    SANiK

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    I don't think we should judge the past based on modern viewpoint.
    Yeah the entirety of humanity was collectively stupid like that,
    and that's what made it alright - we were collectively stupid.
    We had no other reference point.

    I was watching old anime, jokingly pretending to judge it from a modern viewpoint, and the end result is that almost every character was a rapist.
    Workplace sexual harassment, you name it, all there.