At the risk of being accused of dragging out the controversy and drama here(God knows I've been accused of a LOT of things lately!), I'd like to get a general discussion going about how YOU, the members of Joe Dios feel about this place. The reason I post this is recently it has been said that this a more of a "Clique" than a website. I know that isn't true. But , I ask the new members, does it SEEM that way to you?

Here's MY feelings on the subject. When I first came here, there were members that had been here a while and knew each other like OutRider, HellJester, HammerFel, Luke Ellison and a few others. Then there were guys who just occasionally contributed and rarely posted in the forums. As I posted and got to know these guys, asking their advice and commenting on their work, I began to call some of them "Friend" and get to know them quite well. As far as I know, no one here has ever been denied being my friend (or theirs) or getting my opinion or help from me or any of these gentlemen.

To me a "Clique" is an eliteist population denying membership to others and discriminating against anyone who doesn't meet their standards. If that exists here, I don't see it. If someone else sees that here, please, open my eyes and show me what I'm overlooking. My worry is because some of the people have accused me of being "In the Clique" I can't see what's going on.

Is this the case? Thoughts.....??

This frank is an excellent question,
I'd also like to know where this clique mentality comes from, i'd like to think that with all my contacts I can refer to them as friends.
I'd also expect that although we might not always agree on something, we all should be able to sort things out properly.

I'd talked to you, Lord Raven, I've spoken to ToneGuns and Stormer and some others on MSN, but in all honesty I make myself available to anyone that would want to talk dio creation or gi joe to me.. so I can't see where I would eliminate anyone from this discussion, if anything i consider myself and the members here to be the most open discussed community.. so I'm totally confused at the forum being branded 'clique' you'll also recall the last person to blame us of this wasn't a stranger to controversy themselves.

It will be interesting to see what materialises on this thread.

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I’ve been a member here for just under eleven months now. Briefly I felt that there was a slight separation between me and every one else; and that was because I was new and everyone else was established members (something, I think, all “new members” to any forum experience). That feeling was quickly dispelled were I felt like I was welcomed with “open arms.” Since then, I have never felt there were any cliques.

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I wouldn't say there are cliques, per say. But some of us have MSN MSGR and we speak on there quite a bit. One could say that myself, Frank, Shane, Luis and Carlos all chat frequently. At the same time, I got Urban Sabateur, GI Jock, Stormer, Zartan015, Dodger/Renegade/Blight on there too. They represent a WHOLE different group. I talked to Pru a few times. Mr. Bieri a few other times. Jay. Phu. Can't remember who else.

People tend to clump together. It's natural.

Don't worry about cliques. If you want to dispel 'em, get a msn msgr account, give us the id to find you under and party on. And you just MIGHT hear some stories of what gone on the JD.

Lehsreh makes a valid point about agent viper, if we were a ''clique'' then we wouldn't of accepted Matt for all his wrongdoings, he wouldnt of stood a chance.
This is probably the best example given, because he like most had more than enough warnings bout his behaviour. We still accept him now.

It's not just about who tried and who did wrong, in the end it's all about accepting we all have faults, mine for my sometimes less than tactile approach.. I'm too abrasive or not subtle enough.. but thats just me.. my reasons are always geniune.

I still stand by my earlier comments, I don't see there being a clique here at all, and more importantly both RDS13601 and General Scarlett haven't been banned or removed.. so they are still free to post here!

That's evidence enough that a clique doesnt exist..

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I've been here a long time now, and to my knowledge, there has never been any cliques or anything of the kind. Like G said, people get to know each other and become friends, and they will naturally seek each other out, but not to the exclusion of anyone else. I've been lucky enough to have made a lot of good friends on this site, but I'm more than happy to help anyone who asks me, whether I've known them for years or if they have just joined the site. And despite some of the crap that goes on occasionally, this is still a great place to hang out.

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If we are a clique, then all it takes is signing up on here to become a member. I have made a lot of good friends here, and I felt welcomed from day one: The day I took my first awful pic and posted it on here, I instantly felt like apart of the "group". Hell as far as the Matt/Agent Viper thing goes, I sent him a bunch of crap too. I even sent him my old digital camera so he could take better pics. On the same note I am so thankful for all the cool stuff and help from people on here as well. I think thats one of the things that makes this place so unique, the ability and willingness of everyone to help everyone else out. That doesn't sound elitist or like a clique to me, it sounds like a damn good place to congregate.

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Wait a second... Is THAT why Matt's pics have gotten better? He has a real camera???

SEriously tho... Yeah, we'll crap on poor shots but someone is ALWAYS willing to try and help to make them better. And imo, the 90% of the Bad Picture Brigade listen and learn. I can think of a FEW people who never improved and they disappeared.

But you know what, one of the guys who had to practice for almost a month was ToneGuns. He hacked on him so much cuz he was THE master of shooting the background better than the figure! It wasn't because we didn't like him. We wanted to see him improve.

Certainly, the How-To section had done wonders too.