Sometimes saying nothing and just reading here is the best choice you can make. That’s why there is so little from me here.
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Here is my guess: some consider their own views more than opinions.
To some, their views are a reflection of their “expertise”. Not agreeing with them is dismissing their expertise. Since their “expertise” covers a wide range of topics, from hardware, software, marketing, sale, product develepment, the running of the company (this is only a partial list), disagreeing with almost anything they say on any topic is personally attacking them.
To some others, their choices, even on something like 3D printing, are a reflection of their value, their life choices, all important parts of the foundation of their identify and self-worth. Not agreeing with their choices are therefore an personal attack on them.
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The difference of opinion thing is a tuff one, for instance “I think water is wet” but other people don’t think it is, it is hard for me to comprehend how someone can think water isn’t wet.
Everyone thinks they are right, other wise why would they think it.?
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Thank you for bringing this up @DMeader. I was hosting several threads once, and several regulars in the community started attacking me for doing so. They even mocked my 3D printing experience… such nonsense.
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It is less about knowledge and more about etiquette.
Some people choose to go down the path to start an argument instead of trying to help. Sharing knowledge is a good thing, but sometimes it comes through as condescending, rude, fill in other adjective.
We just need to listen to each other a little more and be understanding about how people might take a comment. If you don’t have anything useful to say, don’t say it at all.
And on either side of the argument, take what someone says with a grain of salt. I remember a topic from last year where someone opened a topic and referred to a part as a “big edy”, we made some jokes about description thinking it was funny, but it really seemed to annoy the person that started the thread although there was no mal intention.
And for the love of God, people need to stop bringing politics into this forum. We are here for 3d printing, not for political discussion. That topic is dangerous by nature. Sometimes it needs to come up, but then a topic can be easily ruined.
Best thing that you can do right now is set people on ignore. If someone is being a ■■■■■, set them on ignore for a week.
Call people out on their BS then. Personally, I think quotes like that are part of the problem.
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The level of gaslighting by the regulars in this thread….is thick.. Glad you guys came out of the woodworks, but some of you are part of the problem.
In response to @CincinnatiDesigns
You aren’t supposed to call people out by name. Instead, I just post what I see, and let them expose themselves.
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I personally dont mind sending someone over a dm calling them out directly.
Or better yet, flagging the post and letting the system run its course.
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Would you guys be in support of + help me make a page for those who are new to the forum? A beginners learning space so to speak?
Thats a really good idea. I like it. A judgment free zone to let people figure this hobby out. Maybe it could be heavily moderated with the real forum rules.
Thanks, @MeshMaster I just created that thread. Feel free to drop by!
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That sounds like a good idea, though I feel like some of those pinned posts are already doing that, and even on them the newbies are talking about how they are trying to do so many posts so they can start a topic and stuff like that, and it’s not working, when all they have to do is read some posts for 5 minutes. Though that could work. 
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Just a heads up, there’s a thread called future printer speculation(or something like that) in the other section. It has some really good folks that post there. It tends to never be on topic and be more of a “share what you found” topic. Stop on by. Its getting thinner these days, but theres rarely rude comments.
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My amount of time I can spend here ebb’s and flows based upon when I get super busy working on various projects. Every once in a while I get my “regular” title back 
. I do lurk on here almost every day though, just so I hopefully don’t fall behind on what’s going on.
I will say there is a point in time where the volume has definitely turned down for me. Right around the whole slicer lockdown shenanigans. That was a pretty sad time on this forum where so much was said, but nothing was heard. From that point on I pretty much try to only engage in helping new users, new products, testing features, and try to stay away from topics like this since they tend to devolve into … stuff like above.
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Might be better to see if you can get a category assigned to beginners. One thread can get very messy with people trying to have conversations over eachother.
To add, you would be suprised how the simplest of topics can devolve into extensive conversation. For example, the topic about the magnets switching polarization “allegedly”. That was solved in a few comments, but led to about 80 comments in the thread.
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Compared to now the level of trolling in the very early days of the forum was through the roof. When the ratcheted forum rules were put into effect, they were very effective and made a huge improvement.
There’s always been trolling on forums since probably the very beginning of forums, but I suspect the most abusive kind first became normalized on the gaming forums. When those people came here, they carried it with them, maybe out of habit. Who knows? Just a hunch.
In truth, a lot of the beginner type questions could probably be handled just fine by asking one of the tier 1 AI’s, precisely because the same issues come up again and again and therefore the AI’s have fully ingested the forum info on those topics. I’m not saying that to discourage anyone, but merely saying that would be my own go-to if I were a new beginner, with the forum as a fall-back if that didn’t work.
And these days there’s also the issue of bots, which often materialize as new users, often asking somewhat weird questions and, in 99% of the cases, never having anything worthwhile to contribute. Just a constant drag on the system. Unfortunately, that may be contributing to the stigma that some legitimate new users are sensing when they get lumped into the same bucket. The bots usually get weeded out, though, as they eventually give themselves away, so my advice to new users would be to stick with it, and once you’ve cleared enough posts, you’ll likely get a better reception.
How exactly would you get a category designed for that? Is that something higher trust levels can manage?
I agree that there has been a shift in the energy level on these forums. I don’t get the same excited energy when reviewing the new topics. I appreciate conversation that motivates me to design something new, and I haven’t been feeling that here lately. I tried chatting with a few people from here on apps like discord, but even that fizzled out. If someone has figured out how to self motivate well, please share. I’m always open to chatting about 3d design. Message me.
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Try to find something you like and then design around it. That’s what i do for my things. I don’t follow trends at all and i always find it more fun, and motivating, when i try and solve a problem that does not exist but that can be perfected in any way.
Or try and look around for other people designs and think to yourself “what could i do to make it mine or more useful?”. There is always place for improvements and maybe you even come up with a new idea for a project.
Other than that, motivation is something that is not always present. There are ups and downs, like everything in life. It happens to me a lot. Sometimes i design without an end and other times i open my cad software and close it again because the motivation is not there.
Happy Easter
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That is a good question, I am not sure.