Recent Rash of Rather Harsh Responses

[Parallo]

Pardon me, Parallo, Is that snide comment addressed to me?

What are you on about? I made no snide comments, I simply gave my opinion.

[Velh Krome]

I quite agree with Sen, and would like rip the following out of UtMs context:

I told someone something they needed to hear

Now and then it certainly may be required to remind people of behaving. I experienced reminders like that irl more than once, and for the sake of getting along together the best way possible, people got aware again of their decay of manners.

After all, I am not sure if a comparison between RL and forums like these are that valid. If I had an annoying neighbourhood I would have bad luck or needed to move. This could be trouble, like changing job in case of harrassment.
But seriously er.. this is internet, if you dont like it then just shut your browser, after all this is nothing but a frickin game - the question would be if Planeshift cares at all about providing a place for people to join gladly.

[Mathy Stockington]

I thought that object was to get new people to join PS. So if loosing just one player seems to mean nothing, and that is how it appears to me, I cannot help but wonder how this game is going to grow. Yes, even if this is the internet, we should be polite, or even kind. UTM, your comments totally shock me. If this game is supposed to be for adults, then I suggest we all act accordingly. If I was looking for a new game to play and read this thread, I would keep looking for something else.

The behavior I see here on these forums are embarrassing to say the least.

[Parallo]

We lose players all the time for a multitude of reasons far worse than rudeness. They just don't make dramatic threads about it. Everything UTM said is completely true. You may not like it but not liking it won't change it.

[Mathy Stockington]

* Mathy Stockington waits for this thread to be locked now because it no longer serves any purpose.

[neko kyouran]

It won't be locked unless there is a good reason to do so.  We don't lock threads just for lockings sake.  Please leave the moderation to the moderation staff.

[Wavan Levironk]

We lose players all the time for a multitude of reasons far worse than rudeness. They just don't make dramatic threads about it. Everything UTM said is completely true. You may not like it but not liking it won't change it.

If we loose players there's a reason behind and in my opinion, we should know the reason why they leave. When PS was growing in the first stages of the project, I bet one player leaving was like a burial, and I would have left the game too if I hadn't found some nice people I want to keep in touch with. I have seen the best and the worst, drama queens, jerks and on the other side really nice people. In my opinion, if someone that can be considered nice leaves, I would be interested in knowing why and try to do something about it.

[Kaityra]

If we loose players there's a reason behind and in my opinion, we should know the reason why they leave.

If you are interested in the reasons why people leave just read the "complaint"- and the "goodbye"-threads. I think that the major reasons for people leaving are well known by now. And while the "rudness" of some members maybe one factor I don't consider it a major one.

[zorbels]

Two things .....

[One]

We are all different people. Different ages, races, beliefs, up bringing, etc. Most of all there is that pesky thing called "perception". Not everyone sees the situations you encounter with them the way you do. Even worse, sometimes it is hard to remember that when caught up in your "emotion" or "debates" for lack of better words. The way I look at it is you have the people who are positive, negative, and neutral. It is fact that some positives won't get along with some neutrals but will get along with others. Some negatives will get along with some neutrals but will not get along with others. Positive and Negative will never get along. There you have it, human nature. I hope I didn't confuse you with my comparision to positive/negative/neutral and human nature.

I felt it important to remind the readers of this thread that these posts are in my opinion are thought out, well put and very honest. I agree with each of these people. I think this is very sound advice. Here are links to the comments I am speaking of. My hats off to all of you. I would hope people would consider that it is people like them and many others who actively try to make a difference with our forums. That in it's self should be proof of how this community likes to work out the issue's facing our forums and our players. If people would open their eyes and see that the positive is there just as much as the negative, maybe you wouldn't feel that the forums are a complete loss to harsh responses.

Anumesa's comments

Neko's comments

Under the moon's comments

Eliseth's comments

Lolitra's comments

Zan's comments

Mathy's comments


[Two]

 

I hate it when people blame the forums for their reason for leaving. There will always be drama and hurt feelings. Players don't have to throw in the towel and quit the froums just because they don't like what they hear/read in a post. If your emotions rule you enough that a harsh comment will run you off .... then perhaps the internet is NOT for you. For the most part the forums are pretty relaxed. I mean all I hear is how bad the PlaneShift forums are and how people are leaving because of it. Please! Sure there were times when there were things said that I am sure we all felt could have been handled differently. When I first joined the forums (I had been in game for three months with out joining) I grew curious and decided to check out different forums, with different themes just to see if it was just the PS forums with "harsh posts". I was pleased with the results of my findings and came to appreciate how mild the people were with what they posted in the forums compared to some of the communities. Basically, I think some players have overly exaggerated the forums as being a bad place to partake in and in doing so this seems to have given the forums a bad reputation. Some of these players are also the reasons for the tension that can appear in the forums from time to time. Which leads me to this .....

Sometimes I wonder if all these "Stop being mean to me" threads are started by the same person just for a laugh. Probably not, I guess.

Yep it is definitely possible that people start stupid threads for the heck of it. What shocked me most is coming across a community member from PlaneShift, who is a veteran on the forums as well as in game. The "community member" has been here a long time. I used to have respect for this "community member" until I read his comments on another gaming forum. He laughed and thought it was funny because he would test the limits with the forums rules and the people of the community it's self. He would make up fake threads of different types. Sometimes it would be a fake guild posting, or a topic that you know would attract those who like to argue just for the sake of arguing. He bragged about it and asked others in this gaming forums to contact him and join in on the fun. 


I hope that those of you who think that people out there can't possibly be heartless or mean. Indeed ... sadly enough, Prolix's wonder hit the nail on the head. Sometimes these threads aren't even real, and people are making them up. Not every time but I think more than we are willing to believe.

Thanks for reading, and remember think before your post. 

[Prolix]

Well before you start losing respect for people remember that it is also possible that the person on the other forum was an impostor, using someone else's nick to disguise themselves. Then again they may never have deserved your respect in the first place. It is hard to say, but even if you talked enough about in game past events to think you knew who you were talking to it is possible that it was really someone else who was always around and had third party knowledge. Of course if it was my alter ego's former nemesis... that would not surprise me.

[Mythryndel]

I am sure that not all of my comments are as "nice" as possible. I am also sure that I am not intentionally "mean" to anyone. It is also "human nature" that some people are going to be offended if I say "The sky is blue". If you can be offended by a complete stranger making a comment to or about you, without knowing you at all... the internet is DEFINITELY not a place for you.

Does this excuse people making PERSONAL attacks on the forums, no. However, not every statement that offends you is a PERSONAL attack.

Some people just really need to gain some perspective.

[neko kyouran]

just to let you know since I'm unable to PM you kjnelan, I got your PM and forwarded it to the admins.

[Parallo]

How can anything said by someone that doesn't know you be construed as a personal attack?

[Dajoji]

Most personal attacks spawn from someone's opinion, not necessarily having met the person whose post one is replying to. For instance, things like "Are you an idiot? Read my first post before you reply!" don't require any personal contact between forum users to be regarded as a personal attack. In fact, the notion that personal attacks cannot exist if the interlocutors are not acquainted serves to shield the aggression that nonetheless takes place, not so much because the poster doesn't know the person they are insulting but because that person doesn't know who the angry poster is and therefore dissociation between one's "RL" actions and one's internet persona is easier.

[Parallo]

It appears that, like most questions, this one comes down to what we mean when we ask the question. That I wouldn't see as a personal attack. It would be a general attack (which I'm not saying is okay) but I wouldn't be any more offended by that than the next person but if someone said something directly related to me or a sensitive aspect of my life I would consider it personal. It is my opinion that if you cannot take such general attacks without being "shattered to pieces" then the internet is no place to be. At the same time I am under no circumstances saying that they should be accepted as the norm here, but it is the norm pretty much anywhere else on the internet and therefore one should be hoping for sun but preparing for rain, so to speak. I know places where threads like this would instantly be met with pictures of dismembered babies so we should be thankful that we have the moderation that we do rather than complaining.