A rhetorical question I guess, but I will answer it anyways ( thereby negating it's status as a rhetorical question, eh omega? )

the social nature of the 'scene' has changed with the introduction of the events, a new hierarchy has developed. Before we were all just pretty much on the same field...same were better at drifting than others, but there was no real hierarchy...everybody was some kid sliding around illegally on somebody else's property.

Then with the events, new classes were automatically created, the event holders, sponsors, those invited to draw attention and coverage, etc. To make matters worse there's exhibition drifting and photo shoots thrown in ( at dday1 ). Suddenly, all the drifters are not equal...some are deemed more worthy than others and gain more track time than the rest in addition to invitations and special treatment. The spectators appear, who want to see D1, and thus start talking shit when they see the scenes that usually take place behind warehouses and on abandoned industrial roads late at night (aka people spinning and generally doing things uncool). Before the only audience to witness such events were your fellow drifters learning along-side you.

At the events, you are also throwing together several diverse groups...many of which have been driving together for years, some who are just trying out drifting for the first time. This hasn't really seemed to be a problem at the events though...from what I saw all the drifters were still largely trying to help each other out, riding along, giving ride alongs, swapping cars, etc (especially at the hialeah parking lot event).

One of the things that made street drifting so great was the informality of it....what is the greatest number of people you've ever seen at builders square? Compare that to the number of people that showed up to dday and the miami events.

I really miss the days of randomly driving by BS on a rainy night and finding people drifting there. One such time I was on my way to my parents' from UCF...had been driving though horrible rain for 2 and a half hours, finally getting to st. pete around midnight. I stopped by BS before heading to my parents' and there were several guys out drifting, so I hung around and drifted for another hour or so. It was easy for everybody to play nice (for the most part) when the community was small and largely consisted of friends who knew each other.

Now the egos seem to be getting bigger, the exposure is greater, and those who just want profit are trying to cash in.

...and internet message boards, it's much harder to be civil when everybody's trying to wave their 10" dick in your face.