Often debated, never resolved. Pittsburgh has to be one of the strangest places for the hobby compared to most other markets.
Sound off. Both sides explain your approach. Providers and their screening methods and deposit requests and hobbyists approach to sorting through your options.
(Mods already have their finger on the end discussion button Im sure.)
I'm curious to see if there's any amount of clarity from anyone.
Originally Posted by PGH15
Most hobby-people, providers and hobbyists, "do their own thing" in regards to the hobby and don't consider themselves part of a specific, broad "online hobby community"....
Rather, there was a (more or less) very "organized" hobby online sub-culture in the 2003/2004 ASPD era when ASPD and BigDoggie and even TER were national and PGH players and then especially (especially) after March 2005 after Indys got their individual "forums" and vouch-system. Very quickly (within a few months) there was an Exodus of PGH hobbyists and also advertising providers from ASPD PGH to Indys....
At the time many PGH hobbyists noted the "over-reach" of the ASPD Texas mods all during 2004 and into 2005. For every Totally....Reasonable local (local) PGH admin like Laserface (eminently reasonable and patient always) there were a handful of "national" (usually Texas) mods who issued "points" and bannings to PGH posters with impunity. Again, all this 2004-era PGH online activity Increased the Exodus from ASPD to Indys starting in spring 2005. But also all along in the ASPD and Indys era's most (most) PGH hobby-people "did their own thing" when it came to the hobby, without any self-understanding they were part of a hobby "online community"....
In the Indys hey-day of 2005 through (say) 2012 or so there were usually a minimum of half dozen or so GTG's each year and numerous regular HH's in PGH. I went to about 20 PGH GTG's from summer 2006 through summer of 2008, and one in Columbus, OH. The Indys-organized GTG's from 2005 through (say) 2012 or so really fostered a sense of "community" in the PGH and also OH hobby-communities. There are no organized GTG's and HH's in PGH in 2021, so that contributes to even more hobby-people (providers and hobbyists) "doing their own thing" in relation to the hobby...
Providers regularly posted on ASPD and Indys: "Most of my clients don't ever post-on or even read the boards." There were always a certain number of popular UTR providers in PGH who always "did their own thing", had a certain number of clients, and had nothing to do with ASPD and Indys. All this, historically and currently, is part of the large percentage of hobby-people who "do their own thing" and don't really have much to do with any online hobby-board....
SA started "drawing clients" from Indys a couple years before Indys folded. A lot of "press" developed about the new SA sub-culture a couple years before Indys ended. SA too contributed to hobby-people "doing their own thing" in relation to the hobby. For some reason, part of it is that PGH hobbyists are busy with SA and UTR girls, most of the Legions of PGH hobbyists who posted on ASPD and Indys never made it to Eccie. There always has been a vast "doing their own thing" motif with hobby people (hobbyists and providers) en masse since the ASPD and then Indys days and now that Eccie is the only hobby "forums" site on the internet, and specifically in PGH....
The "quality" of providers in PGH has not really changed, it's just a different varied "market" now. There are Damn....Good orthodox providers and also new UTR girls operating on SA and (as always) off of SA. Smart local consumers are always going to find good local "quality" for any service. And smart-solid providers are always going to find their own new and regular clients....
There is no really "organized" online hobby sub-culture, at least not in PGH, like there was in the ASPD and Indys-era's. No organized ad-posting sections for providers, specifically post-FOSTA. Scores of hobbyists "doing their own thing" with SA and any still-existing "public" ad-posting site. The whole "doing their own thing" theme really increased after FOSTA passed. Providers have to be more "cautious" with guys they see for a first time. Guys have to "separate the wheat from the chafe" of good-providers on SA and the scammers and OnlyFans hustlers. The "quality" of providers is still there, it's just not as "public" and "organized" as it was in the ASPD and Indys era's. More and more hobby-people "doing their own thing" in relation to the hobby, and specifically post-FOSTA....