The Toxic Syndrome

[arkanon]

Getting emotional is fine if you're not a bitch who would get physically violent.

.

I think the one getting upset over a simple question on a video game forum fits the bolded part better, to be honest. Why would you let someone asking a simple question cause you to get emotional? Dont you find that sort of.....pathetic?

[Jinpachi]

Because of this (and the implications of internet anonymity):

100% this shit right here ^^^^^

[munkeyinorbit]

No you fucking fool, that's the entire point of what I was trying to say. I don't mind that apes like you exist "hurr durr I can't deal with emotions and I think I should be able to physically assault someone if they run their mouth because they should f34r me (I always loved the parallel of this type of mentality to baptism btw)!" because I can save myself, but people shouldn't NEED to have that. They shouldn't ever fear for their physical safety because it should never be an option for a response.

Ergo, it's not 12yo stuff. I'm not the one who likes the "talk shit, get hit" mentality. You do. You wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. I'm just saying I'll talk all the shit I want to to someone like you and I wouldn't be scared because you wouldn't do anything anyways, so keep your ape-ness in your pants. It shouldn't be a thing.

12yo mentality is thinking you get to punch people for being mean or rude.

People should be allowed to be as verbally toxic as they want and suffer no physical punishment.

Woah dude. Calm down. Or are you going to attack me. IRL. This discussion was going fine until you started threatening people.

[BeepBoo]

Woah dude. Calm down. Or are you going to attack me. IRL. This discussion was going fine until you started threatening people.

Lol what threat? Also, same question to you: Do YOU think it's fine to punch people for talking shit?

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I think the one getting upset over a simple question on a video game forum fits the bolded part better, to be honest. Why would you let someone asking a simple question cause you to get emotional? Dont you find that sort of.....pathetic?

Nice deflection. Answer your own question like I asked you to at the very least. Answer both questions I asked you to if you actually want to discuss things instead of troll.

[BrintoSFJ]

Because of this (and the implications of internet anonymity):

Ohhh nice one!

[Gref]

Sometimes people are dealing with personal issues and accidentally take it out on other people. They often don't realize how they come off in this case.

Sometimes people are really passionate about a certain game or subject, which may lead to them having a standard that they expect other people to meet for their own playstyle. Often times, people don't realize how this can be self centered, and at times they don't realize that this comes off as elitist.

I agree with what you say and also completely aware of my own behavior but
ineptitude displayed by people, no matter how hard I try is mind blowing.
I recently played a few dungeons with my alt and holy crap... I just cannot be patient after 1-2 fails.

[Pohut]

Lol what threat? Also, same question to you: Do YOU think it's fine to punch people for talking shit?

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Nice deflection. Answer your own question like I asked you to at the very least. Answer both questions I asked you to if you actually want to discuss things instead of troll.

What are you even talking about? You literally said that you can talk smack to anyone you want, because if they don't like it they can't do anything since you're bigger than they are:

I don't mind. I'm big enough, strong enough, and have enough training to run my mouth and no one would think about attacking me anyways, but everyone deserves that right.

You literally admitted that you're toxic person and you don't care, because you're "bigger than they are".

[Nevrex]

Like others have said, anonymity allows people to show their true nature. Sadly, you get a lot of rude players this way.

It does look like these people lack social skills though. Treating others horribly because they underperform and stuff is something I don't understand.
It's ok to be angry or frustrated, but you are still dealing with other humans.

Personally I act in games just like in real life. I will be polite to strangers and more open with friends.

Anyway in my experience, the majority of players I meet are nice (in most games actually). I do however kind of "filter" the people I play with. I will avoid groups that have extremely high requirements, use lines such as "do x or get kicked" or even use memes.

Honestly, I didn't encounter toxic players this way for years. Only quality players since then.

[munkeyinorbit]

Lol what threat? Also, same question to you: Do YOU think it's fine to punch people for talking shit?

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Nice deflection. Answer your own question like I asked you to at the very least. Answer both questions I asked you to if you actually want to discuss things instead of troll.

Oh you would never say it but you wouldn't get attacked because of "the implication."

[Tesshin83]

After many years on these forums, I have come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is either have have interesting and cool talks with people. Which rarely happen, or ignore them.

Unless you are their favorite streamer, they are never going to change their mind no matter what you say.

You end up being frustraded and wasting time on things you could spend on something positive instead.

[JammEr21]

I just think that these kind of people are unhappy and they try to show others that they are so cool but it's not true

[Loveliest]

Because it makes people feel good.
Take these forums for example - when someone takes time to make a post and someone else just comes in to say "no" or to insult the poster. He feels good for doing it, for showing the OP wrong. Doesn't really help, doesn't elaborate, there's just the opposition. Forums were created to start helpful discussions but now some forums are used as an outlet for people whose entire mindset has changed to look into every post and find something to disagree with. You see it mostly when someone posts a lists of points and someone else has to go through each and every one of them and find flaws, even if some are extremely weak. They could just point out flaws for the points they have strong arguments about, but they don't, the purpose is to debunk everything (or rather try to, but in their mind they succeed).
And ingame you have the same thing - people who are toxic do it because it makes them feel better. About feeling superior or about making someone feel bad.
Have you ever heard of "bad manners" in Hearthstone? People enjoy negative things - seeing others humiliated, seeing others crushed, seeing others mocked. In general, people prefer to watch others who complain and even scream and insult. Not all people, obviously, but quite a few. I think it's some sort of form of sociopathy.

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Nobody will die or lose their job irl for getting called a noob for fucking up.

And you won't die either if you act more civil and say the same thing more polite.
People who think they don't act the same IRL are deluding themselves - when something bothers such a person, how does the person react? Most likely get angry that said thing bothers him / isn't done right. Find a culprit, blame someone. Yell that something isn't as you expected or whatever, instead of saying clearly what displeases you so something can be done to fix it.

And yeah, it's not your responsibility to solve someone else's problem (if you think it's not yours), but then why bother saying something insulting in the first place?
If you don't like the run, just leave, without the insults. If you want to tell the person they were doing something wrong or they need to look into mechanics or their class more, do that, without the insults. What you're doing is just "punishing" the person for being "incompetent around you", usually because you're getting angry they "wasted your time". And that's the core of it, you feel like the person wronged you and they need to be insulted for it.

Be a better man, you don't need to insult a stranger or anyone to feel better, you won't lose anything by being more civil. You'll probably encounter incompetent people all the time, but can you do something about it? If you can, do it. Tell them what they're doing wrong if you think it will help. If you can't or won't, walk away.

[CrawlFromThePit]

I am sorry that you're life so far been like that, but I can assure you that this is not normal. People in civilized society don't behave like that. Now I understand where your toxicity is coming from. I will let this go as this is not your fault. Once again, I am sorry.

People in civilized society? Like what? That place with the school shootings? Or the one with stabbings and no go zones where the police doesn't even see? Or maybe you mean the place with terrible economical decisions based on trying to not make people mad instead of doing what should be done regardless of meaningless feelings.

There's terrible people in all walks of life, criminals, manipulators, rapists, thieves, wife beaters, bullies, crazy bitches... you name it.

I don't need your fake pity which is nothing more than you trying to act superior. We all live in the same planet where no one except you or maybe some other people making it their life's goal to argue my posts really believe no on in real life ever said "lol you suck". I don't even know how to phrase this anymore to make you understand how this is SO FAR from flipping out. So fucking far. At this point I just think you're trolling or being disingenuous for the sake of trying to win an internet argument because your ego won't let you speak the truth.

[Garymorilix]

Because it makes people feel good.
Take these forums for example - when someone takes time to make a post and someone else just comes in to say "no" or to insult the poster. He feels good for doing it, for showing the OP wrong. Doesn't really help, doesn't elaborate, there's just the opposition. Forums were created to start helpful discussions but now some forums are used as an outlet for people whose entire mindset has changed to look into every post and find something to disagree with. You see it mostly when someone posts a lists of points and someone else has to go through each and every one of them and find flaws, even if some are extremely weak. They could just point out flaws for the points they have strong arguments about, but they don't, the purpose is to debunk everything (or rather try to, but in their mind they succeed).
And ingame you have the same thing - people who are toxic do it because it makes them feel better. About feeling superior or about making someone feel bad.
Have you ever heard of "bad manners" in Hearthstone? People enjoy negative things - seeing others humiliated, seeing others crushed, seeing others mocked. In general, people prefer to watch others who complain and even scream and insult. Not all people, obviously, but quite a few. I think it's some sort of form of sociopathy.

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And you won't die either if you act more civil and say the same thing more polite.
People who think they don't act the same IRL are deluding themselves - when something bothers such a person, how does the person react? Most likely get angry that said thing bothers him / isn't done right. Find a culprit, blame someone. Yell that something isn't as you expected or whatever, instead of saying clearly what displeases you so something can be done to fix it.

And yeah, it's not your responsibility to solve someone else's problem (if you think it's not yours), but then why bother saying something insulting in the first place?
If you don't like the run, just leave, without the insults. If you want to tell the person they were doing something wrong or they need to look into mechanics or their class more, do that, without the insults. What you're doing is just "punishing" the person for being "incompetent around you", usually because you're getting angry they "wasted your time". And that's the core of it, you feel like the person wronged you and they need to be insulted for it.

Be a better man, you don't need to insult a stranger or anyone to feel better, you won't lose anything by being more civil. You'll probably encounter incompetent people all the time, but can you do something about it? If you can, do it. Tell them what they're doing wrong if you think it will help. If you can't or won't, walk away.

This is not how this works. There is context to everything.

When I'm doing 20+ dungeons I fully expect otehrs to not die to basic sh*t. Simple as that.
That is the skill level required to even enter such an environment.
So if you dare f*ck it up prepared to be called out for it.

For low level keys? Not so much.
I just did 5 15-16 keys yesterday with less skilled players who died here and there. I didn't care. The keys were easy +2, one even +3.
At that skill level it doesn't matter so there is no real reason to call them out.

Doing challenging content is not your safe-space.
If you do sports at a competitive level in real life you will also be called names by your coach for fucking up. Not because he hates you but because it is necessary for you to realize you fucked up and to improve.

The fact that people are over-sensitive soy-boys who cannot take this is another issue entirely.
These people refuse to even acknowledge that they fucked up and whats worse is they refuse to improve. This causes players who actually care to hate them even more. It's not the fault of those who try to improve, it's of those who don't.

I am the better man. That is why I am able to call out people who are worse than me.
It won't help me or anyone else to have people think they are good when they are not. This person might end up ruining another key right after if he's not called out.
The goal here is to time keys, not to be friendly. This is a competition. If someone can't handle the pressure then they should not queue up for it.

[Sansnom]

People should be allowed to be as verbally toxic as they want and suffer no physical punishment.

Oh wow, really? Do you practice what you preach? Not here since physical punishment is impossible but in real life? I would love to know.

[kaintk]

Because the internet is an anarchy state. There is no central authority, there is no law, no police.

Remove those from real life and you will get the same results.

yeah, imagine an internet police who would have the autority to let say ban any internet connection you have for 6 month, years if you do toxic /bad thing on internet, peoples would stop being jerk lol

[Flower Milk]

I don't play this game anymore because of the awful community. I have a million other games to play with other people online, and WoW isn't even that good anymore, so if the game is lackluster and the community sucks, I'll play something else. The community has always been pretty bad but you could at least join a decent guild with friendly people and it would be fine, that doesn't exist at all anymore, especially if you don't raid. There's either mega guilds where hardly anyone talks to each other, or tight knit raiding guilds, there is pretty much no such thing as "social, friendly" guilds left in this game anymore and I feel like that's a pretty big indicator of how bad the community is now.

[BeepBoo]

Oh wow, really? Do you practice what you preach? Not here since physical punishment is impossible but in real life? I would love to know.

As in do I never feel the need to physically attack someone regardless of what they say to me IRL? Yes. Do I go around venting every little frustration directly to the people who cause them (the slow ass grandma driving 10 under the speed limit, the fat ass family clogging up the entire walkway in the supermarket, the asshole walking around with a confederate flag shirt)? No. Know why? Because society can't handle it. Either they get upset at you simply for being upset at them for what is a perfectly valid reason that shouldn't NEED to be handled with decorum (because.. come on.. how the fuck is it not obvious you're the problem if you're going 10 under the speed limit... get the fuck off the road if you can't function properly for _any_ reason) or they would engage in physical altercations and it's really just not worth it to play that game, regardless of if I could whip their ass or not.

I absolutely talk like that to my friends. We're all the same type who can take all the shit we give out without feeling butthurt or getting permanently upset at one another.

"Bro, learn to fucking drive you pansy"
"Holy shit you fucked that up"
"You're getting kinda fat and should chill on the tacos hombre"
etc.

Real. Down to earth. Very fast communication. Exactly what needs to be heard to draw attention to the issue. No hurt feelings and we move on two seconds later.

We also have some of the most vitriolic debates about stuff and still love each other, go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of our way for each other, etc. It's actually the opposite of toxic, because we can be so real without any concern of damage to the relationship, because we all know what each of us is REALLY about, and the things we're actually concerned with that we deem make people good or bad (things like being a racist fuck) we KNOW none of us have.

I want to be like that with everyone and I want everyone to respond to it the way my real friends do. I feel like so many people never get to have that type of deep actual relationship with anyone specifically because they're constantly walking around being fake nice, never expressing their actual concerns in the manner they feel them.

[Thenadrys]

I've played WoW for 15 years. I was 24 when I started. 39 now. Let me also preface this by saying that I am Norwegian and center-left. A socialist liberal technocrat.

There have always been toxic players. I think the main difference between 2005 and 2020 is the increased culture war rhetoric and diminishing tolerance. When I went to elementary and high-school, we were still taught that we had to not necessarily respect, but at least accept, each other's differing opinions. Nowadays, the left preaches tolerance of everything - except different opinions. Populist politics on both sides don't help. We are abandoning the basic principles of Western philosophy for authoritarianism on both sides. As a liberal, I feel lost in the politics of today. A man without a party or country. And I notice it extends into the online sphere. And not just WoW. It's more fundamental than "WoW players are toxic". It's more like we've become polarized and we're all more toxic than we used to be.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Too many people consider themselves to be the center of the universe. Add anonymity to that, and you've got yourself a fine cesspool.


There's nothing "new" about it though. Some of the worst behaviour ever recorded in WoW for example, happened in Vanilla... Where "server identity mattered" and all that BS.

People gon' people. It's a madhouse, as my daddeh would say.

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I don't play this game anymore because of the awful community. I have a million other games to play with other people online, and WoW isn't even that good anymore, so if the game is lackluster and the community sucks, I'll play something else. The community has always been pretty bad but you could at least join a decent guild with friendly people and it would be fine, that doesn't exist at all anymore, especially if you don't raid. There's either mega guilds where hardly anyone talks to each other, or tight knit raiding guilds, there is pretty much no such thing as "social, friendly" guilds left in this game anymore and I feel like that's a pretty big indicator of how bad the community is now.

That's weird, it "not existing" yet I literally have such a guild... On 2 factions. One I got in contact with via the official forums, the other was advertising in trade chat.