What happened to being a good person?

[Constraint]

If you haven't noticed morals dropping faster than the force of gravity in this day and age, you've been shutting your eyes pretty tightly. Sad? Yes. Unexpected? No.

[Metallikiddd]

The answer to your question:
Internet Anonymity. No presence = no threat of repercussion.

Until your identity is compromised. Then people can take real life actions...lol

[OneSent]

Anonymity happened.

[Mirishka]

The other day, a player was asking in trade for an Ulduar 25 man carry for transmog gear. He particularly needed the tier shoulders off Yogg-Saron. He offered to pay upwards of 10k; 5k for the Yogg kill, 5k if the shoulders dropped. It was starting at Iron Council. I got two of my friends, took about an 60-90 minutes to do. Yogg dies, he takes his shoulders, drops group and is never to be heard from again. Douchebag thing to do in my opinion.

You do realize you could have A: reported him for scamming, which is exactly what he did, or B: master looted last boss and said "Pay up time!" before giving him anything, right?

When it comes to people online, I expect the worst as a rule. People are assholes in general - add anonymity (therefore taking away most real accountability) and it gets exponentially worse.

[Alphamage]

I once offered to help a Rogue kill the Boss for the "A change of command" quest, the one for the legendary questline. He didnt ask me to help, I just happened to be there farming rep and I just told him I can help. He gave me 5K gold after the kill saying he gives it because my action was kind and kindness must be rewarded. I always help others in game. Taunting mobs with my Tank, killing to help with my Mage or Healing players in need on my Priest.
Helping people makes you a better person. It is easy to be an ass and screw people but in my opinion, helping people makes you a better person.

[slime]

My guess, OP, is because they can be dicks. There might be some rules ingame about botting and cursing/threatening others, but there is absolutely zero downside to being a dick, especially if it makes you richer. And they say video games don't reflect real life, I've never heard of a better comparison to how real life is.

[yetgdhfgh]

Welcome to the Human race

The world has made me a untrusting, uncaring bastard but i still have a slither of a human soul left to still treat people with a little respect.

[kamuimac]

welcome to internet -_-

[madmanx]

Do you want the ABSOLUTE TRUTH on this topic?

The reason people are so much ruder, meaner and less caring is because....you perceive it that way. We have documentation on how much worse "today's youth" is from every century since the old Greeks (it was Plato who complained there if I remember it right). If this was correct we and we had degenerated for 3000+ years we would all be mass murderers, child molesters and terrorists today.

We tend to remember yesterdays with several layers of rose tinted glasses on but in reality people are no worse in general now than they have ever been. If anything they are better at the moment due to better education and understanding of their fellow man.

[rjparker1]

Personally, when I play WoW, I'm the type of player who helps out others. I find satisfaction in doing my part of making someone else's WoW experience more enjoyable. For example, if I'm not busy, and I see someone asking in public channels for a ride somewhere on a flying mount, I generally do it, because I know it's a huge help to someone for almost zero effort of my own.

But what drives people to screw others over? Such as ganking, taking payment for things they actually have no intention of doing (ie, paying for a quick queue and takes the gold and run), not paying for services (such as running through instances), or just acting like a know-it-all egotistical jerk because you know more about a game than another person.

.

There is nothing wrong with WoW. There is nothing wrong with humanity, there is nothing wrong with goodness. You let your perceptions dictate what you see.

One or two bad people is NOT the general population, it's NOT. Goodness is everywhere, WoW players are good. We all have moods. What is bad is we live in a society that glorifies and exaggerates behavior, because that's what sells.

Go on youtube look at what is trending right now, you see Snowden and NSA spying, and killing.. where is the good stuff? Like the girl that is due to die in the next 30 days due to cancer, and she got her last wish (most likely) for Christmas carolers.. all 10,000 of them (not a joke). The goodness stuff is boring, hum drum.. and sadly no one cares! that's the problem.. people LIKE to see train wrecks, bombing, murders, etc.. goodness doesn't make you rich.

You don't see good stuff on the news, or twitter so why do we expect to see it in WoW? Goodness abounds, LOTS of good people on WoW, even the so called "trolls" have their days, maybe they are going through some stuff and choose a moment JUST when you see their chat to vent.. doesn't MEAN they are bad.. you ASSUME all this behavior is bad when it isn't.

You want to believe it's bad.. so it's bad. Change your attitude.. if you believe its NOT bad guess what.. it's NOT bad!

I have been on Wow since vanilla (sounds cliche, but I have my credit card statement history to prove it).. and I can tell you that balance of good people on this game is WAY higher than you give credit. I have seen it over the years, and it hasn't changed... the Trolls WILL get tired of being trolls.. you never get tired of being good (if that is your core being).

Did you ever stop to think.. good people don't feel the need to make a mockery of themselves or voice an opinion, also notice that MOST people are quiet don't make comments. You see 20 people making remarks, and there are at least 5 to 10 thousand people playing at any given instant (even on "dead" servers).. so you are going to let 20 people represent the others?

That makes you ignorant and naive. Don't assume.. you do NOT know everyone on WoW you are generalizing and it's completely wrong. The overall balance of WoW is good. If you believe otherwise its because you WANT to see the bad and succumb to the hype. People are people, but mostly good. It only takes 1 bomber to ruin hundreds of lives in an instant, so all of a sudden we have a "bad" society for the foul acts of one person????!?! PLEASE! Get real.

You like to help people keep doing it, but don't let it cloud your judgement.

[Xeraxis]

He wouldn't give me leader. Which should've been a red light. However, I really don't need the gold. I have 476k. I just did it for the fragments (one dropped of yogg and he didn't even dish that out.) I literally just did it to see what would happen. I like to believe that people are naturally good, and wanted to see if he was going to be true to his words.

Yet here you are bitching about it. If you truly didn't need it you wouldn't be upset about it. If you were truly as nice of person who helps out players like you say you do, you would have offered to kill Yogg for him at no charge. I in no way agree with what the other player did but sometimes you're just as much to blame as they are. In this case being ignorant as to what could happen.

[slime]

Yet here you are bitching about it. If you truly didn't need it you wouldn't be upset about it. If you were truly as nice of person who helps out players like you say you do, you would have offered to kill Yogg for him at no charge. I in no way agree with what the other player did but sometimes you're just as much to blame as they are. In this case being ignorant as to what could happen.

Looks like this entire thread was a big pat on the back for himself and his good deeds, while the poor guy who had to offers thousands of gold just to get OP's attention at all is the bad guy when he runs off without paying, barely able to feed his virtual starving kids.

[Stonecloak]

Its just like when there is a war with two sides. Side A is doing the right thing and believes side B are the "bad" guys. Side B believes they are doing the "right" thing and believes side A is wrong. Do you see how perception is. There is a contrast and polarity to it. This of course describing a moral war which are the worst kind and end up being the most bloody. So "good" depends on "bad" to even have the idea that it exists. Hopefully when people realize this they don't have to wipe the other out, and this is an internal issue too. Hopefully we will allow ourselves to feel sad, because our insecurities with it are not allowing it, and it manifests to become something worse. Its the same idea.

[Itisamuh]

How does ganking fall in line with those other jerk moves you listed? Ganking is just killing your enemies, nothing wrong with it at all.

[rjparker1]

Its just like when there is a war with two sides. Side A is doing the right thing and believes side B are the "bad" guys. Side B believes they are doing the "right" thing and believes side A is wrong. Do you see how perception is. There is a contrast and polarity to it. This of course describing a moral war which are the worst kind and end up being the most bloody. So "good" depends on "bad" to even have the idea that it exists. Hopefully when people realize this they don't have to wipe the other out, and this is an internal issue too. Hopefully we will allow ourselves to feel sad, because our insecurities with it are not allowing it, and it manifests to become something worse. Its the same idea.

You mean like Alliance are the "good" guys and Horde are the "bad" guys? Like that? The other side always assume it's the other side that needs help.. what is interesting I see more "good" people pointing and labeling the "bad" guys.. when good people are SUPPOSED to be accepting.. now there is irony

[spinner981]

Well, only the good die young and the game has been out for 10 years. Put 2 and 2 together and you've got math! So do it.

This. It is in our nature to sin and do wrong after all. Nothing will ever change that.

[rjparker1]

How does ganking fall in line with those other jerk moves you listed? Ganking is just killing your enemies, nothing wrong with it at all.

I think he means lowbies.. it's accepted that ganking anyone like 10 more levels below you as "bad"... it's part of the game if you ask me.. nothing bad about it.. is it unfair.. only if you let it bother you.

What I don't get is, if we have so many guilds why don't people simply ask for help from the guildies.. seems to me, those incidents would be less if people knew you had help. They do it to keep pestering people.. which is where the "bad" behavior comes in...

[Treno]

I'm not sure how much it's changed, but it's always good to keep in mind that bad deeds are often remembered more than good ones.

[rjparker1]

This. It is in our nature to sin and do wrong after all. Nothing will ever change that.

Maybe on your planet. It's not in ANY nature to be good or bad, it's just behavior. What you perceive as bad is only in reference to what exactly?

I steal, therefore to YOU I am bad. I steal FOOD because I am hungry, am I still bad? What if I told you I steal FOOD from a garbage bin.. ok NOW I am not bad, but there are companies that throw food away, but their intention is to destroy it, since a hungry person gets that food they are "stealing".. now who is bad?

Certainly not the hungry person.. he just wants to eat, survival instincts win out over moral standards.. but he isn't bad OR good.. it's just behavior. YOU believe he is bad, so he is bad.. I choose to believe he is surviving.. he isn't being bad

So who is right? Yeah good luck with that answer.

[Ebonheart]

The other day, a player was asking in trade for an Ulduar 25 man carry for transmog gear. He particularly needed the tier shoulders off Yogg-Saron. He offered to pay upwards of 10k; 5k for the Yogg kill, 5k if the shoulders dropped. It was starting at Iron Council. I got two of my friends, took about an 60-90 minutes to do. Yogg dies, he takes his shoulders, drops group and is never to be heard from again. Douchebag thing to do in my opinion.

It sucks that you had to deal with that, but if years on the internet hadn't taught you anything I really don't feel sorry for you.

Please don't take this as me being a jerk, but it amazes me how naive people are. There is a reason people always say, " Never, EVER EVER EVER mix money with friendship". Its something that I've always tried to follow in my personal life. You honestly think I'll take some random dude's wprd on the internet?

I think you should have honestly been a bit smarter than that. I'd personally ask for half upfront or worked out a deal where you were not getting screwed over. I mean this isn't something new. Especially WoW which has attracted a lot of different players from different genres, its never been any truer. You don't have your typical "MMO" fan(boy) that follows a set of unwritten rules and code. I've had numerous douches pull such moves in raid runs, etc.

The sad thing is I'll often get people that actually think everyone behind a female dwarf/draenei avatar is a female. They literally throw gold at you. I've played the AH as a female draenei and on a male character. OMG you would never believe the deals I've managed to pull of on my female draenei. I've got massive discounts from sellers, sometimes even free stuff.