Do players lack Sympathy? Has Apathy increased?

[Deleted]

TL;DR I just want to know if the increase in apathy and toxicity is because of the way the game has been developed over the years or is there a stronger underlying issue?

I feel sorry for new players to this game...

Whenever i see a noob question in Trade im happy to /w them and give them the answer. But its embarressing to witness the nasty replies they get in Trade. The common insult "Google it" is bad enough, but most replies are even more toxic.

Its no surprise that new players dont last long in Wow.

[cFortyfive]

First of all, the people who use the word toxic have often been the most toxic people I have ever met. League of Legends: "You're dying a lot, can you please sit your turret?" "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO YOU TOXIC PIECE OF CRAP" /all chat "REPORT HIM HE IS BEING TOXIC TO ME to which the other team often says ok just because people want to see people get banned. Please stop using the word toxic. It's a garbage phrase used by the real people who fit the definition.

But I thought riot lyte had taught all the lol players to be better human beings

And how is an attitude of "it's just a game, fuck off with your elitism" more noble than saying "maybe you should get better at the game?"

Because wasting everyone's time being a retard seemingly is acceptable.

[Deleted]

Your poll is by definition biased because it has 2 negative answers, 1 very negative answer, and 1 neutral answer. There is no positive answer. It is mathematically impossible to not get the answer you want therefore the poll is flawed and rigged to your favor.

[Erudean]

The less involved other people are in your success, the less inclined you will be to go out of your way for other people. This is not a rule, but a generalization. The more "single player/anonymous" you make WoW, the more apathy you breed. I remember playing Everquest in its heyday. Killing one mob your level was an epic feat, then you had to wait to heal up before attempting another. Teamwork was required for EVERYTHING. The community was amazing, seemed like a utopia by today's standards.

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Your poll is by definition biased because it has 2 negative answers, 1 very negative answer, and 1 neutral answer. There is no positive answer. It is mathematically impossible to not get the answer you want therefore the poll is flawed and rigged to your favor.

A poll about negativity has mostly negative options? Go figure.

[MoanaLisa]

But isn't' "every time they think they can get away with it" where the game design comes in? When one has a reputation in a small enough community (realm-based) and the barrier to creating new characters is higher than it is today (through slower and more difficult levelling and no max. level catch-up mechanics for example) there would likely be less (not 'no') room to "get away with it".

Given the number of times I saw players blacklisted for reasons that were suspect I don't believe personally that realm-based justice on the part of players is any answer at all. Did the player really ninja an item or was he entitled to roll on it and someone got pissed off that they lost and managed to get their guild to paste the poor guy's reputation in Trade? It happens. I agree that it would be great if there were some higher justice to appeal to but black-listing people from a realm is nearly worse than the original crime. If there even was an original crime.

Given the community we have, seriously suggesting that players are capable of applying informal justice is remarkably blind to the abuses that can come from that.

[Deleted]

Given the community we have, seriously suggesting that players are capable of applying informal justice is remarkably blind to the abuses that can come from that.

might be a bit off from what you meant, But we have seen how some player justice given out in form of kicking people from pugs. I know some of the reason hav been less then honest and so. If we took those numbers and applied the same logical idea to a new system it's going to hurt more people then help i'd reckon.

people want drama and we're going to make it, but at want expense and reason it may or well happen. We can only hope it's in good standing and with a little humor.
But can we have humor now a days without someone feeling a little bit offended?

[ComputerNerd]

WoW was never really underground, but it's got a much more developed online community than ten years ago. Players no longer need to explain things to people. It's been "found", and people have made livings off reporting on it. With the huge number of websites dedicated to it (in particular WoWhead, MMO Champion, Curse, etc), it's easier to tell someone where to look something up rather than spend time explaining things to them.

That being said, the tolerance for failure seems to be low right now, but it's always that way towards the end of a tier/expansion. People might not have kicked you for bodypulling Gragga on HFC's release, but they do now.

It has always been easier to tell people to go look up something up.
That is just an excuse now.

It isn't just an end of tier issue, but a persistent trend for years now.

[Magistrate]

The anonymity and facelessness makes it more difficult to be empathetic. This has been studied in things like road rage and other indirect social situations.

[Avaddon]

Your poll is by definition biased because it has 2 negative answers, 1 very negative answer, and 1 neutral answer. There is no positive answer. It is mathematically impossible to not get the answer you want therefore the poll is flawed and rigged to your favor.

Not on purpose. And there are no positive outcomes from this well known-issue so I'm not sure what you're asking for. I'm not looking for answers I'm looking for opinions, and if my poll does not reflect your opinion everyone is more than welcome to use the comment tool to type out their opinion which I will read. I have no favour in the matter.

[Volibear]

Dear diary,
mood; apathetic.

[Avaddon]

But I thought riot lyte had taught all the lol players to be better human beings

Because wasting everyone's time being a retard seemingly is acceptable.

Toxicity doesn't arise just from people who use the word toxicity. It comes from new players and old players alike. A portion of new players refuse to take advice and get better and a portion of veterans or good players treat new players pretty badly too.

[JaceDraccus]

It doesn't help that there are people who troll by pretending to need help with basic things. There was a guy on one server who would constantly ask where to mine steel.

[Osmeric]

Q: How will we deal with the increasing problems of ignorance and apathy?

A: I don't know and I don't care.