Internet Interconectivity

Ok so I'm thinking outloud again.  Shit.  Anyways- I've been consuming content from this website since sometime around 2008 (I think), and it's been good.  I like it.  And of course- eventually I liked it enough to check out the forums and create an id an all that nonsense (something I rarely do).  And it's been good.  Of course, now I'm 26, gainfully employed, maybe a little bit wiser, but older and certainly more educated than I was when I first started paying attention to this place.
 
So then I'm observing more and more lately the following things:
 
a) I'm old.  I mean, I'm 26 so I'm still young dammit!  But, this place has hella 15-20 year olds, and I'm starting to notice more and more that my opinions, thoughts and feelings are specifically motivated by the things that happen when I'm this age as compared to the opinions, thoughts and feelings of a late-teenager.  And that's odd.
 
b) I'm smarter than I was.  People will believe what they read, not do their own research (fact-checking) and believe that opinions are fact.  And apparently that happens alot when you're in your teenage years.  It's weird seeing so many people ascribe to so many things that are ludicrous just because they can't seem to spend an ounce of intelligence outside the forum (or the internet).  Also odd- I never was one of my 'smarter' friends, but as I've grown older, I've become 'smarter.'
 
c) The internet connects people.  Seriously- when I was in my teens, i played video games.  I didn't have alot of friends who did, but I had one friend who all through my college years, we would get together during breaks and play little 1 on 1 Unreal Tournament matches.  I also played alot of that game and battlefield 1942 online during those years.  But I certainly didn't spend alot of time going onto forums and talking (or bitching) about it.  Which is weird.  Having internet validation about the other assholes out there seems to turn people into more 'complainy' versions of themselves.   Sure, I've played battlefield matches where it seemed someone was invincible (and not by skill).  Sure I've hit the report button on my xbox.  But usually I just quit the match and find another one to play.  But rarely (back in the day or now) have I been so motivated to go online and complain about all the other assholes playing game x or game y.  I just suck it up and move on.  Multiplayer storytelling, for me, is about talking about the crazy shit happening.  Like that time on wake island (BF 1942 version) when I joined this one server and there were no teams- they were having Jeep races from one end of the island to the other.  And I joined in the fun, and it was awesome.  And when we got bored, someone would grief the race (not to mention the randos joining and playing the game which resulted in them griefing us), and shortly the race would continue.  And the permutations were endless.  Racing jeep against tank (tank with firing capabilities), racing jeep against plane, tank against plane, against boat.  It was fun, and a few hours later I had already forgotten which server I found and actually never played there again.  That was both a fun and sad day- but a story that comes to mind first when I think of video game stories.  Not the time that I got my ass beat by some guy who was cheating.  Because (with one exception) I don't remember those stories. They're not the reason I devalue or value multiplayer in games.
 
 
However- the main reason I'm building a PC this summer (other than price levels being at a point where <2K gets me an upgradable machine that is pretty high end) is because of this.  Because battlefield 3 is coming out.  Because I'm excited to return to teamchat (although I bet people probably use headsets to communicate now more than typing on the PC), because I'm NOSTALGIC.   Plus with almost all major video game cards coming with mini-hdmi ports and ports for coax and digital optical, I can probably play my PC on the home theater system.  Which is awesome.
 
So anyways- my point is a) the face of the GB userbase seems to have changed, shifted (or stayed with) to a younger userbase.  At least, I've changed.  And that's alright- makes for fun reads, but sometimes, maybe sometimes, nostalgia is good.  And in this case, I feel like maybe Nostalgia has made me better.  So uh-uh-uh?