Treating people with decency

[Rig]

Wooh! Arkan isn't Dha'vol filth! He's Dhai'mon greatness!

Langois sucks and smells like wet dog. He's such a good pupper!

Curtis is not a Warder! He's amazing!

Taul is a snowflake! He's special and unique!

[Benito]

Every online game these days will ban users for typing harrassment or insults etc. Why should you get away with it in wotmud? It should be even more important imo since text is what the game literally is and with the small playerbase communication is a key component of the game.

I usually think of mud raging being an inverse problem from most other online games. In other games, ragers rage because they'll never encounter the other players again. On wotmud, ragers rage because they've put up with the same dung from the same players for a decade. Or just because they've found out over 15 years that they can get away with it.

Arkan's post is helpful. In the moment, it also just works better to give specific advice rather than an insult: "engage and buff" rather than "firetrucking rogues."

[Arkan]

Pretty sure that happened on LS narrates yesterday.

The nice pukes put a blocker (who I hadn't seen in pk for like 10 tics) at the one route to get home without running 8 zones. I did not feel like repeatedly hitting blocker at crit. I did run within a few rooms of 4 horse loads. That pk from beginning to end cost me 3 vials.

[Firimei Lang]

I respect your play style Arkan, plus you use near underused PK zones like Kandor and so forth. Always seemed a decent player [person], not that I know you well enough. First impressions and so on.

People can be more constructive, myself included. When those rogues are about, engage..notice and spam.

[Ryak]

Every online game these days will ban users for typing harrassment or insults etc. Why should you get away with it in wotmud? It should be even more important imo since text is what the game literally is and with the small playerbase communication is a key component of the game.

I usually think of mud raging being an inverse problem from most other online games. In other games, ragers rage because they'll never encounter the other players again. On wotmud, ragers rage because they've put up with the same dung from the same players for a decade. Or just because they've found out over 15 years that they can get away with it.

Arkan's post is helpful. In the moment, it also just works better to give specific advice rather than an insult: "engage and buff" rather than "firetrucking rogues."

And also the old adage of "we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behaviour". People get angry at the other side for not hitting / running away / being lame when often there's a reasonable explanation (someone had to afk / someone accidentally got low on some mobs / someone needs a new horse etc.). Of course there are some people on this mud who are just big ol' douchebags a lot of the time. Not too many though. Everyone is an asshole sometimes.

[Shzrei]

Harrassment or bullying should not be condoned or tolerated - the times I have seen people called out for swearing or cursing have seem ridiculously handheld to me, and my first reaction was to go and kill the people bitching about it.

Actually harrassing someone or not reigning in your behavior when asked to, for anything significant (ranting or harrassing or being abusive on globals, or any type of communication, including spitting) I would be ok with being enforced on something other than a player level.

Having an issue with me saying firetruck regularly - You aren't a child, Its an expletive. I could understand people having issues with calling people cunts, retards, niggers etc. all of which has happened and which I will call in. But unless someone is being abusive towards a person I'm happy for them to use expletives (mostly firetruck, and in all honesty this post is entirely because I come out with that on Global's a lot).

Me saying firetruck I'm getting screwed my mob agro, is not abusive IMO.

... I'd say I take the same approach to shouting at someone all in caps, or successively calling them an idiot and any kind of derogatory names.

I've assumed that this post isn't aimed at me but have responded as if it were - purely because it feels more genuine.

This game is my escape from reality - and I don't want to have to have filters for my normal behaviour in it.

[Shzrei]

If we are going to get into the specifics of peoples behaviours and if there are reasons/if they are just douchebags - I should probably clarify now that I will not intentionally lie or kill people LD or AFK and try to return when I do - but I consider almost everything else in the game (ambush in doors, mob agro and lead, horse targetting and bash, channeler targetting, HoA, steal, charging variations, missed bash stab etc.) free game and features.

Out of respect for players I may choose not to use these tactics - but I won't judge people for using them on me in a standard environment, or hesitate to use them if I think they are reasonable.

[Firimei Lang]

Harrassment or bullying should not be condoned or tolerated - the times I have seen people called out for swearing or cursing have seem ridiculously handheld to me, and my first reaction was to go and kill the people bitching about it.

Actually harrassing someone or not reigning in your behavior when asked to, for anything significant (ranting or harrassing or being abusive on globals, or any type of communication, including spitting) I would be ok with being enforced on something other than a player level.

Having an issue with me saying firetruck regularly - You aren't a child, Its an expletive. I could understand people having issues with calling people cunts, retards, niggers etc. all of which has happened and which I will call in. But unless someone is being abusive towards a person I'm happy for them to use expletives (mostly firetruck, and in all honesty this post is entirely because I come out with that on Global's a lot).

Me saying firetruck I'm getting screwed my mob agro, is not abusive IMO.

... I'd say I take the same approach to shouting at someone all in caps, or successively calling them an idiot and any kind of derogatory names.

I've assumed that this post isn't aimed at me but have responded as if it were - purely because it feels more genuine.

This game is my escape from reality - and I don't want to have to have filters for my normal behaviour in it.

Reigns back to Manglers foul Vs abusive language. People know where the line is, but stupidly cross it.

[Alaina]

You already know how I feel about this topic. I think Shzrei and Mangler have done a fine job of summing up the problem here. The problem isn't the use of explicit language--it's not like the word c*nt just burns my ears and makes it impossible for me to function as a human--no, the case in point is that directly calling someone a c*nt and feeling that directed hate/passion is the problem.

Saying "These c*nt mobs keep aggroing me!" is far different than saying "stop being a stupid c*nt, you very fine person, gender being but a construct of society..."

Now, I have had my fair share of the second example happen quite often, and those are the behaviors I have pointed out.

But the elephant in the room is the simple truth that many of these hateful players have important leaders in prostigious clans, or they themselves have Immortal characters. The latter being the most severe of cases. How can one have an Immortal character and be allowed to turn on their very own playerbase with abusive and demeaning words? Words intended to hurt, words intended to belittle and demean the people we share a community with, a common interest. How can this kind of thing slide?

We are eating eachother alive if we continue down this road. We cannot afford to chase people out of here because we feel better than them, smarter than them, or more elite than them.

I am glad to see more and more of you stepping forward to call out the abuse.

We are a text game, and unfortunatley words are damaging. Words can be permanent. When you verbally say something mean to someone the word dissappears, it can go away, but when it's written down in text form, and blasted in your face, it's there and it doesn't go away.

Words are very powerful tools, and I know you all agree or you wouldn't be so damn passionate about a game entirely in text word.

[Firimei Lang]

You already know how I feel about this topic. I think Shzrei and Mangler have done a fine job of summing up the problem here. The problem isn't the use of explicit language--it's not like the word c*nt just burns my ears and makes it impossible for me to function as a human--no, the case in point is that directly calling someone a c*nt and feeling that directed hate/passion is the problem.

Saying "These c*nt mobs keep aggroing me!" is far different than saying "stop being a stupid c*nt, you very fine person, gender being but a construct of society..."

Now, I have had my fair share of the second example happen quite often, and those are the behaviors I have pointed out.

But the overarching, elephant in the room, is the fact that many of these hateful players have important leaders in prostigious clans, or they themselves have Immortal characters. The latter being the most severe of cases, as how can one have an Immortal character and turn on their own playerbase with derrogatory and demeaning words that are used maliciously to hurt people's feelings.. How can STAFF members get away with this behavior?

We are eating eachother alive if we continue down this road. We cannot afford to chase people out of here because we feel better than them, smarter than them, or more elite than them.

I am glad to see more and more of you stepping forward to call out the abuse.

We are a text game, and unfortunatley words are damaging. Words can be permanent. When you verbally say something mean to someone the word dissappears, it can go away, but when it's written down in text form, and blasted in your face, it's there and it doesn't go away.

Words are very powerful tools, and I know you all agree or you wouldn't be so damn passionate about a game entirely in text word.

So glad you posted this, it may disappear . As those people in question won't want their behaviour being public knowledge. The fact that it is brushed aside by their peers doesn't help at all. One for them and another for us.

Although most of the Imms are doing great work , especially the Tower ones..

We all get irritable and meh, sometimes we bring it to the game. I know I have a lot, but I do try and take a look at it and distract with other hobbies. Although angry painting doesn't always work..not for my furniture..[Never really get that messy.]

Some people have become jaded and changed their behaviour due to it. I can see how it could get to that point, due to a few players being real jerks, nothing but jerks. So that even their own side take offence.
So what if some are so elite at this game and some of us aren't. Yes it can be annoying in PK etc, but its just a game with text. So what if you can spam this and kill that with a few taps of the keyboard. We learn as we play and sometimes make mistakes..sometimes a lot of them..