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 | 1 2 3 4  | | UER Forum > UE Main > Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer (Viewed 8687 times) |
Max Power @strangeplaces
Total Likes: 224 likes
I do it for the views *Specializes in stealing Nazi VHS tapes from Nazi monuments for the views*
 |  |  |  | Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer
< on 4/20/2020 11:46 PM >
| Reply with Quote
| | | Urban Exploration—Not a Culture, but an Instinct
By Maximilien Z. Power
In this article, I will be discussing the notion of people exploiting the “subculture” of urbex, and the reason for urban exploration even existing. Exploitation is an extremely common compliant. I would also like to dispel certain ideas about Youtube and Instagram urbexers, and why we are more similar than different. However, let me start off with a short personal story.
I remember the first time I wanted to explore an abandoned structure. I was around 6 or 7 (sometime between 2002 and 2004). I asked my parents if we could go into the control room of a giant abandoned draw bridge in Chicago. Of course my parents told me someone owned it, and I could get hurt if I tried to explore it. This was before YouTube existed, and before I knew what urbex was. The same goes for the entrance/exit of a giant underground tunnel I discovered, and would always walk near by a baseball field that I played games at throughout my childhood. I told myself that when I was older, I would venture into this tunnel to see what was in there. I accomplished this in 2014, and discovered the tunnel diverted a small creek under the entire suburban town. It ended just inside the city limits to the far west.
It wasn’t until October of 2015 that I filmed my first video. I did it purely to practice my filmmaking skills, and for fun. At the time, I didn’t know about any of the big urbex Youtubers. I hardly knew there was a community. I didn’t begin exploring because I saw someone else doing it, or because I saw people getting famous off of it. So then why, even as a child, did I want to climb an abandoned bridge? What drove me to walk through nearly two miles of underground storm tunnels, alone in the dark, during the brutal winter of 2014? And what REALLY drove you, the reader, to explore?
First, urban exploring isn’t really a subculture or community at all. Urban exploring is simply exploring, something that human beings have been doing for thousands of years; it’s an innate drive within our genetic code, buried deep within our brains. Why and how did a species manage to inhabit the entire world in a matter of a few hundred thousands years? It’s because of ancient prehistoric explorers, who’s curiosity and pursuit of greater lands undiscovered led them to far away continents. These explorers searched the world for areas with greater food reserves, more water, less competition: new worlds far more hospitable and beautiful.
It was a mix of curiosity and survival instincts that pushed us—traits that not only convinced us to risk it all, but commanded us to. We acted on the urge to sail in the most tumultuous waters, to march through the harshest deserts, climb over the highest frozen peaks, and to keep looking forward towards an unknown destination, and destiny, all while ignoring harm, danger, and death during these perilous expeditions. And we never looked back because the reward could well be worth the pain.
But now in the 21st century, there is no frontier. There are no lands unexplored. There is no adventure, no danger, no challenging escapades through the once wild, and untamable terrain.
Enter the urban frontier. What is around us? What is undiscovered? What is undocumented, unknown, and untouched: the abandoned buildings, the deep networks of tunnels underneath our metropolises, the ancient homes buried deep within the woods, still undetectable by our most sophisticated satellites, where the original inhabitants seemed to have vanished.
This new frontier is all we have left for the adventurous. The same people who sometimes risk death, serious injury, and arrest to simply satisfy their curiosity, and desire for dangerous challenges are the same people who would have moved across Asia, set sail to the Polynesian islands, crossed vast land bridges, circumnavigated the globe, pushed deep into the vast interior of North America, and sailed the temporary channels of pure ice at both poles.
A culture does not spawn the practice of urban exploration. Rather, it is our own drive as the current dominant species on Earth that created the culture. Urbex was created out of thousands of years of trial, error, death, and triumph instilled in, and permanently imprinted onto the structure of our brains.
New Vs. Old? Or Conquest Vs. Preservation?
The only difference in modern exploration, other than the current landscape of our new “frontier,” is a conflict between two rivaling groups of explorers with opposing viewpoints. Conquest (for lack of a better term) vs. preservation—that is where our riff lies. Conquest is more a trait that lies with traditional explorers: the practice of not only exploring, but also claiming the newfound territory as your own. These explorers publicly documented their exploits, their abysmal failures, their great successes, their brushes with death, and their inspiring stories of how they overcame. That is, if they lived to tell the story. These are the stories of how these explorers fought nature and won—the new lands and the story of how they arrived there. These tales were written about, turned into legend, and in the case of the moon landing, televised.
Artists and Conquerors
In today’s urbex world, the people who follow in the footsteps of exploring with the intention to conquer are the Instagrammers, and the Youtubers. Their documented explores may in some cases be there to say: I was here, I overcame, I risked it, I succeeded. The 2nd reason explorers publicly exhibit their photos/videos is because they are explorers, but also artists, and they indulge in the art of photographing the abandoned. Even they are conquerors. They take abandoned places, and make into art, which belongs to them. The 3rd reason for publically documented explores is so people can show what they have discovered, the history behind the location, and how and why it became abandoned. Many do it for all three.
Now, I am not suggesting that every Instagrammers and/or Youtuber is in it for the adventure, the spot, or the art. There are plenty of fame/clout chasers out there exploring only for attention. In my circle, this is not the case. We enjoy making videos about our adventures, and about the treasures we find. Furthermore, we actually like when things go wrong sometimes, as it challenges us to overcome poor circumstances or mistakes. These instances not only challenge us, but they make our stories, and videos that much more interesting.
My Reasons For Creating Videos, as Youtuber/Explorer
Personally, I would refer to myself as a filmmaker first, but as an explorer in a close second. While I don’t make videos on every location I go to (yes, I explore purely for fun sometimes), I enjoy going to some spots to create videos about the unknown, about the history of a location, about the artifacts that are left behind, and the adventure that comes along with it. I try to make my videos into a kind of short film, with a plot and a story to every video. Everyone in the “film” (my videos) including myself is like an actor. Except, of course, everything is real. There’s real danger, real reactions, and real surprises. Urbex adventures therefore allow others, and I to make some of the most entertaining low budget short films. Working with the people in my crew, or whoever is exploring with us is like filming with Oscar award winning actors, because only the best actors could act as real as the people in my videos do. Editing these videos is a lot of fun considering the drama is all real, and the way people look into my camera and react to certain situations makes for great cinema.
Many people question why I make it known that my crew and I make mistakes, get stranded on a casino boat (someone accidently popped the raft we needed to get back to shore), or attract the attention of security. It makes for sensational titles, which is one benefit for us. But what we are proud of is not that we made a foolish mistake, but we came out on top, and were able to overcome it. We are proud that we were able to keep calm and figured out how to succeed despite a wrong turn. Not to mention that it makes our videos into much more interesting stories rather than simply a video that shows and documents an abandonment.
Exhibition of Our Exploits
We search for views, we make videos for monetary gain, and we attempt to gain more an audience: whether it be YouTube subscribers, or Instagram followers. However, this has been the norm in the past. The explorers of the past publicly documented their journeys in books, or newspaper articles. We use the most up-to-date medium to tell our stories. In terms of the cinema, or the art of urbex photos and videos, it should be noted that every well known artist and content creator in history has sought an audience. Perhaps it was a brilliant painter displaying his or her works in an exhibition, or placing paintings in a museum. Or a musician who filled up concert halls so that hundreds, or even thousands of people could hear the musician’s works. Maybe the creator wasn’t an artist. An example would be Howard Hughes who sought to break speed records with his carefully perfected aircraft, and he and his planes were filmed and written about.
There are plenty of people who sought to exhibit their works throughout history. This new generation, is following tradition, but it happens to use different mediums to tell stories, to document findings, and to show artistic works.
To conclude my description the “new generation” of explorers, I would like to say that while many accuse new explorers, and myself of exploring purely for “online validation,” this is not the case. The most dangerous things I have done aren’t even on my YouTube channel, for example. Everyone in my circle loves exploring, and we try to make money at it so we can actually get paid to do what we love, and so we can finance our road and overseas trips.
Many see the new generation as a threat to the practice of urban exploration itself, and they think the social media explorers are causing great harm to abandonments from online traffic. However, there is actually a benefit to this attention. Millions of people have learned to respect abandoned places and have been educated on the amazing history of some of these locations. Educating people through the millions of views from social media explorers has made people (outside the urbex community) greater appreciate these spots, and perhaps in some cases led to the renovation, or preservation of a historic structure. While there are obvious cons to people knowing about spots, there are also pros that I think should be considered. People outside the community should be able to see these amazing spots before they are gone for good.* And the people who carefully censor location clues in their videos should be commended for balancing the need to educate people with the need to protect locations from vandals.
Preservationists
Now we turn to the explorers more focused on preservation. These are explorers who have the same traits as traditional explorers. They possess the need to satisfy curiosity, the need to challenge themselves, the need to defy the odds, and to experience risk, and success. The difference with these explorers is they see no need for “conquest.” They document places for themselves and small circles within the community. They do not make their stories public, nor do they publicize their findings. Preservation, not story or content creation is their number one priority, and they seek no monetary gain. This is admirable, and very selfless. Everything is about the spot, their personal adventure and experience. Its never about the person exploring the spot. There is one con to this approach. That is that very few people will ever get to learn about a location. The abandonment’s history, its artifacts, and the structure itself will be essentially lost forever some day. While its clear that the true preservationists have good intentions, and care about the spots, they may sometimes work against their very mission without realizing it.
We are all Explorers
There are pros and cons to either approach to exploring. There are good, and bad people in each camp, there are hypocrites in each camp. What I hoped to accomplish this post is to demonstrate that urban exploring is not a culture, or even a community. The new generation of explorers is just as legitimate, and has more in common with the old generation of urban explorers than they have differences. There is no right and wrong in this schism.* No one from either side is exploiting a subculture. All of us are acting on the instincts we inherited from our ancestors. We are all explorers. We may have differing opinions, but we should remain civil to one another, despite our differences. We should work together to accomplish the goals we have in common. We have the same drive, and the same voice within us: the voice that keeps our eyes aimed squarely forward, into the depths of the unknown, even as we take into account that everything could turn south in an instant. We are all madmen. We all bury our fears, and ignore the hazards of what we do, and for what? So that we can uncover whatever mystery still lurks in dark shadows of our modern world. And that’s it.
Some personal/footnotes
*In my earliest videos I listed the latitude and longitude coordinates (I haven’t done this since August 2017) of locations because I wanted people to get out and see these locations before they were destroyed. I saw the urbex community, not as preservationists, but self-centered elitists. My views changed due to legal troubles, fencing being installed in one location, and most of all, a series of arsons to abandoned buildings across Chicago (2017-2018). None of the arsons were due to my videos, but they made me understand why the urbex community was so secretive about spots.
*Excluding obvious issues such as purposefully not censoring locations, publically posting locations, trashing locations, and vandalism.
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Take nothing but Nazi VHS tapes, leave nothing but footprints, drink nothing but Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends. |
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Max Power @strangeplaces
Total Likes: 224 likes
I do it for the views *Specializes in stealing Nazi VHS tapes from Nazi monuments for the views*
| | | | Re: Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer
< Reply # 3 on 4/21/2020 12:56 AM >
| Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by uLiveAndYouBurn
Lol, cheap behavior detection software and wifi enabled encrypted cameras are a threat to the future of urbex, you famechasers are just an inconvenient annoyance.
This is a gross oversimplification. The biggest rift in Urbex lies between middle class tourists with nice jobs and too many toys and working class or poorer folks who live and breathe transgression of traditional property rights. The targets they pick and the methods they use are night and day.
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You're describing a class struggle. Not that I agree with your statement, but that would be a larger economic issue that just happens to effect the urbex community, and is therefore purely political. Discussing the solution to such a difference would also turn political. There is nothing the community can do about that, nor is there an active beef between those two types of urbexers. We all know where the conflict lies, your first statement proved my point. Its between what you call, "fame chasers" vs "traditional explorers" The post was about why people explore, and issues that originated in the community.
[last edit 4/21/2020 12:57 AM by Max Power @strangeplaces - edited 1 times]
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Take nothing but Nazi VHS tapes, leave nothing but footprints, drink nothing but Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends. |
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Aran
   
Location: Kansas City
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 1844 likes
Huh. I guess covid made me a trendsetter.
| | | Re: Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer
< Reply # 11 on 4/21/2020 3:24 AM >
| Reply with Quote
| | | I think that one place I disagree with you is your statement that "urbex is not a subculture." It absolutely is. There exists a "core" community that had been doing this for decades, during which time they have created their own countercultural movement. Many explorers know each other or at least have mutual acquaintances in a network that spans the globe. Furthermore, many aspects of urbex subculture run directly counter to what most of mainstream culture would find acceptable. These ideas, whether their origin are easily identifiable or not, originate with the "old guard" explorers from the 90's. Urban explorers have our own ethics, our own lingo, our own traditions and way of doing things. I think that marks us as a subculture.
As for your "conquest" vs "preservation" comparison, I think that's fairly accurate. I think the main friction comes from the fact that the preservationists got here first, and only once there was something to "conquer" (utilize for acclaim) did the conquerors arrive. This is further compounded by the preservationists seeing the conquerors as "selling out" just like early punks criticized mainstream punk artists, amplified by the very real, physical, and visceral harm overexposure can do to a location, and the possessive feelings many explorers have of locations they discovered. Seeing something that is "their" location get sealed or destroyed due to publicity can be a very negative experience. Many "old guard" explorers no longer post at all on public forums because the internet is simply more pervasive today than it once was. Back in the early 2000s the only people likely to find their sites were fellow explorers and enthusiasts. Nowadays its far too easy to go viral, which often brings unwanted attention nowadays. As one member of Action Squad put it, "it was a different time."
[last edit 4/21/2020 3:32 AM by Aran - edited 3 times]
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"Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there.
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Urban Downfall
     
Location: Montréal - Qc
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 538 likes
| | | Re: Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer
< Reply # 14 on 4/21/2020 5:36 AM >
| Reply with Quote
| | | You make many valid points.
You are right, and you are wrong.
Because... there is no real "truth" in our hobby and community, because yes there is a community.
The comunity is just a bunch of people that came together and are sharing their pictures or story about places because they share the same interest for them or the feelings of accomplishment/adrenalyn/art they have.
There is a base line, an unwritten code of "condutct" that anyone with judgment can understand and follow.
Even the newest of fish, even the youtuber, or the instagrammer.
The difference is how each person will view the importance of each location and how they will interpret the code of conduct.
One can say it's okay to publicise one place, the other one would be outraged, because both have their different views about it, sometime based on experience or their own logic.
I understand on how "preservationists" can be pissed about exposure and Aran explain it very well in his text.
The problem with youtube and instagram is really self promotion using those places.
No, those people are not explorers, they are tourists and people that need approval from the most people possible.
Urbex is now a trend bigger than ever and that sadly make the majority of users of those platform.
They seen someone online get attention from doing that hobby and they do the same, follow the trend.
Then they do the most known location for 1 or 2 year after and they stop. This continue over and over, it's a constant flow of opportunist. They are not real explorers. They are empty.
I dont say they all are the same. Like you explained, you grew your videos from a real interest. Most ig'ers or youtubers with cringy catchy title have no real "deep inside" interest nor care about the fait of those places.
The reason because most people on here seems to not like you is because your videos tend to be too much about "look at me" and milking it with titles to get more views than the actual explore/location itself... even if you say you have a real passion, the way you do it kill you in the process.
And this is without not forgetting the fact that you have a large public audience wich is almost never good for those places.
Finding the balance between conservation, publication, attention an validation is something hard because everyone seek to be the best in their art, want to leave their trace in history, want to be at the top of their game. That's how the human is.
It's not BAD wanting to be remebered or to leave your trace in history, it just have to be for the real reasons, with passion, while taking care of not ruining the places.
Ive started in urbex 10 years ago fueled by wanting to climb the highest i could, see the most untouched place, enter the hardest places, live an avdenture, se beautiful things, go the deepest, surpass my fear and limit, recreate myself in my art.
I became an explorer, i found other explorers and seeing other people work that inspired me and thrilled me, pushed me to do better, for me.
Everyone explore for different reasons, pictures or not, as long as it's for you a passion and an interest.
Like you said, it should be for you first, as a passion first. Then you realise you can leave your trace in this world as an artist or documentarian and leave something for the future generation to see and to read about those place and your adventures.
At the end of the day, we all do what we think is ok to do, but there will always be someone who don't agree, we just need to use our judgment the best we can to respect the others and the places we like.
The people i have a problem with in the "preservationist" spectrum is the one who want the spot only for them.
The one who are over the top extreme about secrecy without using their brain. The ones that want and seek only the entire exclusivity.
Even if you share pictures of those place in tight community forum or closed group they will be pissed because they want to be the only one. That too, cause friction.
Those are not better, there is no such thing as better or elite. You are only an elite in the eyes of people that love what you do and respect you for your passion and work but no one should never call themselve or think they are an elite of some sort.
They are not better because they were there before, time don't matter, the second guy still found and visited the same place as them and enjoyed it.
I have the same respect for someone who started in the hobby that i can feel his passion, that the guy who have 15 year under his belt.
Time mean nothing if youve been using those place for 15 years to be someone and boast about it.
Yes, we are all explorers at some point, but where we cut the line is when some people harm those places with too much exposure.
It should not be like "ho wow this place was nice, i want the whole world to see it"
It should be; ho shit that place was nice, i should not try to use it for self promotion but share it in a way that it will not harm the place, wich some place mean not share them at all to preserve them in their actual state for others in the sub culture to see them.
Again, those are only my views. I don't have the truth since no one has it.
We should just all respect eachother and accept our differences, that's the bottom line.
We do how we do, how we feel. If you don't like someone doings, try to be nice about it and explain your view and if it does not work just leave it alone.
We can teach the non written rules to the rookies but at the end of the day we can't control anyone who visit those places as we don't belong there more than them.
If i can help someone be better i will but i'll mostly avoid the drama when there is, so i hope this thread will not derail!
P.s sorry for my non structurated text, it got out how it got out lol
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Il y a toujours un moyen. |
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randomesquephoto
Total Likes: 1672 likes
Don't be a Maxx
| | | Re: Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer
< Reply # 15 on 4/21/2020 6:49 AM >
| Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by ClementRSedona
You make many valid points.
You are right, and you are wrong.
Because... there is no real "truth" in our hobby and community, because yes there is a community.
The comunity is just a bunch of people that came together and are sharing their pictures or story about places because they share the same interest for them or the feelings of accomplishment/adrenalyn/art they have.
There is a base line, an unwritten code of "condutct" that anyone with judgment can understand and follow.
Even the newest of fish, even the youtuber, or the instagrammer.
The difference is how each person will view the importance of each location and how they will interpret the code of conduct.
One can say it's okay to publicise one place, the other one would be outraged, because both have their different views about it, sometime based on experience or their own logic.
I understand on how "preservationists" can be pissed about exposure and Aran explain it very well in his text.
The problem with youtube and instagram is really self promotion using those places.
No, those people are not explorers, they are tourists and people that need approval from the most people possible.
Urbex is now a trend bigger than ever and that sadly make the majority of users of those platform.
They seen someone online get attention from doing that hobby and they do the same, follow the trend.
Then they do the most known location for 1 or 2 year after and they stop. This continue over and over, it's a constant flow of opportunist. They are not real explorers. They are empty.
I dont say they all are the same. Like you explained, you grew your videos from a real interest. Most ig'ers or youtubers with cringy catchy title have no real "deep inside" interest nor care about the fait of those places.
The reason because most people on here seems to not like you is because your videos tend to be too much about "look at me" and milking it with titles to get more views than the actual explore/location itself... even if you say you have a real passion, the way you do it kill you in the process.
And this is without not forgetting the fact that you have a large public audience wich is almost never good for those places.
Finding the balance between conservation, publication, attention an validation is something hard because everyone seek to be the best in their art, want to leave their trace in history, want to be at the top of their game. That's how the human is.
It's not BAD wanting to be remebered or to leave your trace in history, it just have to be for the real reasons, with passion, while taking care of not ruining the places.
Ive started in urbex 10 years ago fueled by wanting to climb the highest i could, see the most untouched place, enter the hardest places, live an avdenture, se beautiful things, go the deepest, surpass my fear and limit, recreate myself in my art.
I became an explorer, i found other explorers and seeing other people work that inspired me and thrilled me, pushed me to do better, for me.
Everyone explore for different reasons, pictures or not, as long as it's for you a passion and an interest.
Like you said, it should be for you first, as a passion first. Then you realise you can leave your trace in this world as an artist or documentarian and leave something for the future generation to see and to read about those place and your adventures.
At the end of the day, we all do what we think is ok to do, but there will always be someone who don't agree, we just need to use our judgment the best we can to respect the others and the places we like.
The people i have a problem with in the "preservationist" spectrum is the one who want the spot only for them.
The one who are over the top extreme about secrecy without using their brain. The ones that want and seek only the entire exclusivity.
Even if you share pictures of those place in tight community forum or closed group they will be pissed because they want to be the only one. That too, cause friction.
Those are not better, there is no such thing as better or elite. You are only an elite in the eyes of people that love what you do and respect you for your passion and work but no one should never call themselve or think they are an elite of some sort.
They are not better because they were there before, time don't matter, the second guy still found and visited the same place as them and enjoyed it.
I have the same respect for someone who started in the hobby that i can feel his passion, that the guy who have 15 year under his belt.
Time mean nothing if youve been using those place for 15 years to be someone and boast about it.
Yes, we are all explorers at some point, but where we cut the line is when some people harm those places with too much exposure.
It should not be like "ho wow this place was nice, i want the whole world to see it"
It should be; ho shit that place was nice, i should not try to use it for self promotion but share it in a way that it will not harm the place, wich some place mean not share them at all to preserve them in their actual state for others in the sub culture to see them.
Again, those are only my views. I don't have the truth since no one has it.
We should just all respect eachother and accept our differences, that's the bottom line.
We do how we do, how we feel. If you don't like someone doings, try to be nice about it and explain your view and if it does not work just leave it alone.
We can teach the non written rules to the rookies but at the end of the day we can't control anyone who visit those places as we don't belong there more than them.
If i can help someone be better i will but i'll mostly avoid the drama when there is, so i hope this thread will not derail!
P.s sorry for my non structurated text, it got out how it got out lol
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Thoughtful response. I respect your views on the hobby.
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RIP Blackhawk |
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xNat
Location: Toronto
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 40 likes
With Night, Freedom
| | | Re: Urban Exploration Doesn't Exist, and Never Has--Thoughts from A Controversial Explorer
< Reply # 18 on 4/21/2020 7:56 AM >
| Reply with Quote
| | | I hardly knew there was a community. I didn’t begin exploring because I saw someone else doing it, or because I saw people getting famous off of it. So then why, even as a child, did I want to climb an abandoned bridge?
[...]
First, urban exploring isn’t really a subculture or community at all. Urban exploring is simply exploring, something that human beings have been doing for thousands of years;
I think I disagree with this point a fair amount. While curiosity and wanting to seek knowledge is a human trait, it's kind of ridiculous to say that there's no subculture or community that's been formed around urbex. Is it something one can get into without interacting with the community at all? Of course. Plenty of us started exploring without knowing that there was even a name for it, let alone a whole community. But to deny the existence of shared identity between explorers, and a connection that is shared through members of this subculture, is a disservice to the community at large.
When I started out exploring I wasn't at all aware that there was a whole subculture around it. When I found the community for it, and especially during meetups, I instantly felt a connection and comradery with people I had never met before, just from this shared identity, which, at least in my experience of the word, really is what defines a subculture.
They possess the need to satisfy curiosity, the need to challenge themselves, the need to defy the odds, and to experience risk, and success. [...] They document places for themselves and small circles within the community. They do not make their stories public, nor do they publicize their findings. Preservation, not story or content creation is their number one priority, and they seek no monetary gain. [...] very few people will ever get to learn about a location.
I feel the need to speak to this as someone that would probably be categorized under this. "Preservation", for the vast majority of us, is not the top priority, per se. It is a byproduct of not wanting to see locations destroyed or the security tightened--a fellow explorer once explained it to me as not "ruining it for everyone", though more in context of the latter (but applying to both), as someone who had seen places have cameras installed or access restricted after things were made known to the property owners. And I think this is a thing that many of us know well. Seeing time and time again places being flooded with graffiti, or seeing things smashed and destroyed, or finding a favourite place being impossible to get to anymore, can be incredibly frustrating and upsetting.
As far as very few people getting to learn about a location, I do agree that it limits this, but it also limits the accessibility of the place to bad actors and people with bad intentions. I mean, this is the basis of the FM system on here, imperfect as it is--to establish some level of trust before many locations are shared. Outside of the site, this takes the form of explorers often taking newbies to a 'test location' to explore before showing them the cooler spots. My point here is a lot of the old-school values among us revolves around trust and only sharing information with trusted people, and a lot of people feel that showing a location to hundreds, if not millions, or random, unvetted people, is a violation of that trust.
[last edit 4/21/2020 11:41 AM by xNat - edited 1 times]
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"That sounds like a horrible idea! Let's do it!" |
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