World of Warcraft®

Hiya.

Recently I quit joining groups of any kind group, be it PUG, raid or whatever because of the amount of verbal abuse I've been getting. Yeah, I may not have the best kit, nor know every single detail about every mob in every dungeon there is. But I like to get stuck in and give it all I have.

I've always prefered DPS as tanking doesn't give me a chance to breathe (and there's always one person swearing because a magic user needs an MB). But the filth, obscenities and pure hate which has come out of other players mouths is horrific. If I caught my kid saying the sort of filth I've been subjected to they'd not be allowed to use a pocket calcultor, let alone go online!

Here's a few examples -

abuser - "Your Mom should be shot for giving birth to some as useless as you"
Me - "My Mum is dead" (that is true)
abuser "Good. hope you join her soon"

abuser - "what a f***ing retard why don't you die for rl!"

abuser - "gtfo"
Me - "Pardon?"
Abuser - "Pardon? stfu and gtfo"

What manner of crime had I commited for this? Had I stabbed someone? Punched an old lady? Shoplifted? Nope. I joined your everyday, run-of-the-mill party. Though the last example I gave resulted from my pally waiting for the zeppelin from Undercity to Org.

So what I want to know is...what pleasure do people get from abusing strangers, and do they have the guts to say what they say to peoples' faces? Are the parents of these foul-mouthed people proud of their little darlings behaviour? Do they insult and threated because they lack the upbringing or even basic intellect to say "Dude, your build is wrong. For great DPS on your class, check out this site..."? and most importantly, why the hell is the healer keeping an eye on everyone's DPS instead of doing their job: keeping an eye on eveyones health and healing?

On another forum, some people were hyper-obsessed with telling some poor dude in a similar situation that he ought to be playing properly (without explaining how). And one person even gave the worst analogy ever, along the lines of "If you turned up to work poorly prepared then you'd get fired." NEWS FLASH: this is a game. Yes, I understand I've just mentally unbalanced a lot of people by saying that WoW is a game, but it's true. And I get paid to work, I'm not paid to play. I pay my money for the privalige of playing. I'm not being paid to play, and I'm certainly not paying good money to be told "Retards like you should be put down in rl"...because my DPS is low.

If I wanted a gobful of abuse from people, I'd walk into the local chav nightclub and shout at the top of my voice "All chavs are crap!"

Like a lot of people, I work hard for a living and WoW is a source of escapism and fun. So the more sane of you players should appreciate it when I say that all I want to do is have fun.

This isn't about me having a QQ, it's about wanting to know why people think it's perfectly acceptable to be foul-mouthed and abusive and give yourself and your guild a bad rep. It's about wanting to know why people want to give Bloodfeather a bad rep (one RL friend said "That server has the worst reputation when it comes to people there being rude and hostile."). But mostly it's about trying to get people to show a bit more respect.

Let the (Blood)feathers fly! :o)

Normal person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Frickwad

The fact is that these people are probably never going to see you, in game or irl, ever again so they don't really care what you or anyone else thinks of them, as long as they get what they want (In this case, phattlewtz). Some people take this game rather seriously, just as you'll always have your token obnoxious pleb floating around RL pasttimes to spoil your day.

As for Bloodfeather itself, I don't really see much hostility, but that may just be because I tend to avoid talking to too many people. The worst offenders tend to be the people lurking in the LFG or Random Battlegrounds.

And

If I wanted a gobful of abuse from people, I'd walk into the local chav nightclub and shout at the top of my voice "All chavs are crap!"

I would heartily like to shake your hand if you did that.

01/05/2011 22:07Posted by Zakura

I'm not sure if you know this, but this is the internet; it's the law of the !*#*ing jungle in here. Look how !*#*ed up the world is, and you're sat on your ass #!#*#ing on a forum because people aren't extra nice to you when you are playing computer games. Get a grip man.

Yep, kinda what I'd have expected..."If in doubt, reply with hate." You seriously trying to tell us you think it's too much to ask people to NOT say things like "I hope you get @#*#d"?

01/05/2011 22:07Posted by Zakura

You're exactly what's wrong with the world. !*#* off and do some more recycling.

I am really really sorry that being brought up, wanting people to treat each other with a modicum of respect and manners, and not treating people like scum makes me, personally, what's wrong with the world. Forget the tinpot psychotic dictators around the world! I'M what is wrong with the world! Look out! Here goes the crazy evil man with his recycling! lol

01/05/2011 21:44Posted by Ferrydriver

I would heartily like to shake your hand if you did that.

So you know, I've pretty much done that already. I love messing with scumbags :o)

Trolldar is spiking high in this area.
We know, you know. Don't feed. End.

I don't mean to sound cold or cruel or vicious, but I am so that how it comes across.

But seriously all I'm saying is lighten up and have fun. You can't expect everyone to be courteous and humble on the internet since it's basically a place where people come to overcompensate for their shortcomings in real life.

I think what I'm pretty much trying to get across is this:

http://tinyurl.com/6xuzojp

welcome to the internet

I agree with the OP by 100%, communication, if it can be called so among WoW players has gone out of control and it ain't monitored enough, if at all!

Verbal harassment is definitely the Number 1 problem not only in WoW, but also in everything what involves Internet+a lot of people+a lot of children. Be it 1st person shooter multiplayer, any other MMO, any other computer game, social sites, forums, whatever.
On the Internet nobody sees your real face, nobody knows your real name and nobody can do anything to you.

The answer to the question "Would they dare to say the same in face-to-face real-life conversation?'' is definitely "No''. Most of people would have no guts to do anything like that.

Some people cause such havoc just to amuse themselves, in the same way like children are fooling with the telephone dialing a random number and then telling whatever they want.

But mostly the root of verbal harassment on the Internet lies in the misery of the aggressor.
People who harass someone random for no reason usually suffer in the real life, so they charge out on the Internet to somebody whatever negative emotions accumulated within them.

Also the OP made super-correct point that WoW is a game we pay for entertainment, not for conflicts and fulfilling expectations of other players - be it dungeon, raid, whatever. Most of us have seen people freaking out, that someone didn't know every detail about every mob or boss, completely forgetting that WoW is a game and games shouldn't be taken seriously.

However, such extremely pathological behaviour seems to be accepted among players, even encouraged.

I'm not an angel of course, sometimes I also have made rants and charged out at others, but if you are constantly being put down and blamed for everything, no other action could be taken at the moment.

I advise to turn off some of chat channels in-game to filter the content what appears on your screen. It can be simply done and saves a great deal of nerves. Best ''candidates'' for disabling are Trade channel, Party chat, Yell, Battleground chat.

I'm sure if there wouldn't be such options to filter the chat I couldn't take it for too long and perhaps would have quit WoW already.
WoW ain't bad game, but a lot of the people who play it are.

Isn't that just the most chilling Orwellian thing you've ever heard? A person's right to freedom of speech is so much more important than your right not to be offended.

I do agree that flaming is a sign of the times, but I think that it is a product of the increasingly broad definition of what is deemed taboo and thus, impolite to bring up it everyday conversation.

The reason the internet is such a good medium for freedom of expression is because of anonymity; there will be few (if any) repurcussions for saying something that the majority of people attatch a stigma to. I don't really understand what depth the "they wouldn't have the guts to do it in real life" point brings to the argument. In fact, that is a point in favour of being able to say whatever you want in my opinion - points are judged by their own merit rather than the influence / power of the person proposing them. (Eg. it's the minority view that should be defended / represented).

The freedoms that we in the West enjoy have been hard fought for (against religious and political doctrine mainly), and I think they should be maintained even if it is to the detriment of the more sensitive people in our society.

I would just like to add that whilst many of the internet heroes will be losers in real life, you should be aware of what is often described as wish thinking. That is, you should be extra cautious of believing something that you HOPE is true, because you are more likely to believe it on less evidence (and be less likely to change your mind when faced with condradictory evidence).

I really think you should stop being so sheltered and just develop a tougher skin. The fact that you're even bringing this up shows that the main complaint you have is having very little to complain about.

Peace!

A person's right to freedom of speech is so much more important than your right not to be offended.

I pay my money for this game, and thus my rights not to be offended are more important. Verbal Harassment also is explained in Terms of Service. If that would turn otherwise, I simply would not play.

I don't really understand what depth the "they wouldn't have the guts to do it in real life" point brings to the argument.

It's simple - it means that flaming on the Internet behind the veil of anonymousness is cowardice. In the real life the offender would be far less protected, if at all, thus would face whatever consequences would be triggered by his actions.

The freedoms that we in the West enjoy have been hard fought for (against religious and political doctrine mainly), and I think they should be maintained even if it is to the detriment of the more sensitive people in our society.

The freedom of speech is one of the most misinterpreted concepts nowdays. Yes, the freedom of speech is okay, as long as it's not offensive, spam, hate fueling, or whatever else nobody wants to be in contact with.
As I mentioned before, your opinion is evidence that WoW players accept and sometimes even encourage this kind of pathological behaviour.

I don't really understand what depth the "they wouldn't have the guts to do it in real life" point brings to the argument.



It's simple - it means that flaming on the Internet behind the veil of anonymousness is cowardice. In the real life the offender would be far less protected, if at all, thus would face whatever consequences would be triggered by his actions.

So if i called you an ass and then gave you my irl name it would have any more/less impact. I get you. No wait... (im not calling you an ass but its an example)

-"Offensive" is subjective
-Speech can be offensive, it just can't incite hatred / violence
-> "I dislike x" = fine. "we should kill people who believe x" = not fine / illegal
- FoS has made the West what it is today.
- Censorship has made Iran / China what they are today
- You don't have a right not to be offended

It's actually too frustrating to labour this point any more.

Blackura, would you enjoy if somebody would constantly call you (just an example) like: "*!#%er, noob, idiot, !**%#, stupid, *!#%er, ninja-puller, moron" etc. etc. and would spam you non-stop?
According to what you've said it's no problem - you just need thicker skin, people are acting just fine, it's the Western freedom of speech we preserve!

Sorry but I just can't see any logic in such way of thinking, not one bit! What I see there is plain cynicism.

- They don't
- If they did, I would think of it as an incentive to improve / a disincentive not to be a retard

Real Life threat = account suspended btw ;)

Just contact me dude, ill help you

Dat necro.

Dem Shamans and their stupid Ankh.

Tell them that their dad is a dinner lady.

That is normally enough to shut them up - But I do have some very very nasty insults that i'm not willing to put on the forums to receive a ban.


When people threaten me, i just give them my address.