Warning: Long Post. Subject matter not appropriate for fanboys. Reader Discretion is advised

We've all been there. We've all seen them. We've all posted meaningful thoughts about topics that we think should be discussed. Some people however think it best to go on to internet forums to post their opinions while being completely oblivious to the opinions of others and tell anyone who disagrees with their opinion to STFU or GTFO.

I know it has been said many times before. I know it has been discussed for as long as internet forums first appeared. But today I want to talk about Internet Forum Posters. Both the good and the bad.

First I will talk about the good Internet forum posters. These are the posters who come on to internet forums to share their opinions and see what others think about a subject and acknowledge when another poster makes a valid point arguing said subject. They are generally polite and use good grammar, punctuation and a real vocabulary consisting of real words, not WTF, LOL, ROFL, GTFO, STFU and the ever popular OMG. Now I'm not saying anyone who uses this language is a bad poster but if trying to convey a point on a forum people tend to be more swayed by a poster with a good knowledge of the English language.

The second type of poster I'm going to talk about is the jack@$$ who goes on the forums to yell and "Flame" anyone with a decent opinion that rivals their own. These Posters are more commonly referred to as TROLLS. I don't know where this term came from or who made it up, but if you have ever encountered a Troll you'll find it sums most of them up pretty well. Generally because they just troll the forums looking for things to argue with people about for no reason other than they like seeing the chaos ensue, or it makes them feel smarter and better than others.

There are many types of trolls but the main type encountered on forums is the FANBOY. Fanboys are defined as people who blindly and devotedly follow one system or game against any complaint or argument. The most common Fanboys of late are the PS3 and Xbox 360 fanboys. If you go on to the System Wars forum right after a multi-console game release It's hard to explain the feeling but I will try. Record yourself screaming into your microphone for three minutes then listen to it on full volume while your screen saver on your computer flashes the phrases STFU, GTFO, STFU, OMG, ROFL during the screaming. That should prepare you for the feeling of System Wars. Sure I may have exaggerated, but the funny thing is I only had to exaggerate a little bit.

No one quite knows the cause of fanboyism, but I might be onto something. We have all had our fanboy moments. Don't deny it. Don't cover it up. It's happened to everyone. It may not be related to video games or even entertainment altogether but trust me, it happened. The thing is though most people do it without realizing it and it is not a big deal but that does not apply to most internet fanboys on System Wars.

Before I get into greater detail about the System Wars fanboys, I think I should let you know a little about myself. I own an Xbox 360, not out of fanboyism but because it was the first next-gen system out and since I already have a high-end gaming PC, I pretty much have all fronts covered. Some people tell me that I miss out on all the PS3 exclusives but all I can simply say is "So" (I'm a man of many words)

"So, I miss a few exclusives, that's fine. I miss PS3 exclusives and others miss Xbox 360 exclusives and lots of people miss PC exclusives but that is a part of life." I find it is better to make a choice on what you think is better now, not what was better before, but that is the most important fact of most PS3 and Xbox 360 fanboys. I'm going to call them PS360 fanboys from now on to save time so remember that! If a fanboy only owned one of the previous consoles last-gen, most feel a certain obligation to buy that company's next-gen console. I had an Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube last-gen and I chose to go with the Xbox 360 not only because of it being out first but because of a few things.

- The Xbox and Xbox 360 controller was pretty much the same and I felt most comfortable with the Xbox controller.

- The Wii just didn't interest mii (Sorry for the joke)

- The PS3 controller made my hands sore

I find this is what should form your opinion from, find out which has a good controller design, what games are coming out for it, and even if you want to follow a series exclusive. Don't go with the company you feel obligated to go with because you were with them last-gen.

Now back to the System Wars fanboys. I have no problem with people going on system wars conveying their opinions to others, about why their system is better as long as they do it in a polite and somewhat civilized manner. But I can't stand the PS360 fanboys who go on to the other systems Boards and Shout "OMG 1!!11! We r teh 133t cuz Xbox 360 gotz all teh exclus1v3z cuz PS3 is teh suxxorz 11!!1!111" or "OMG GTFO we totaly pwn you xbox 360 nubs cuz we gotz all that powerz in the PS3 and teh xbox 360 is only for halo noobs!!11!!!1!!. Listen fanboys, we don't care about how great the system you chose is, or how you know everything we don't.

There is also the PC elitist who puts down console gaming because it can't stand up to the power of PC gaming, and they talk about how the PC is the future of gaming. I will say this again not every PC gamer is a fanboy and not every poster on system wars is a fanboy, it just seems that is where the fanboy in people really comes out.

I'll leave you with my final thoughts. Basically if you encounter a troll just ignore him and don't answer his posts. Sure it's tempting to baffle him with good grammar and long words that can't be shortened into three letter acronyms like WTF or OMG, but you have to resist that urge and just reply to other posts. If he gets out of hand just leave and let him troll all by himself.

- Just one Gamers opinion...