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  1. #1

    The Toxic Syndrome

    So, this may be a devisive post, but I'm curious what the general wow community thinks about it. In the decade plus I have played wow, I have experienced good interactions...and some really really toxic ones. Here too. But I'm curious why you-you being the WoW player, or the forum goer- why do you think people are so toxic? I mean, it doesn't help. It doesn't add to the fun of others. Its not conducive to a healthy game or forum environment. So why then?? Why be toxic. Either on WoW or in forum.

  2. #2
    Because of this (and the implications of internet anonymity):


  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Bbrigham View Post
    So, this may be a devisive post, but I'm curious what the general wow community thinks about it. In the decade plus I have played wow, I have experienced good interactions...and some really really toxic ones. Here too. But I'm curious why you-you being the WoW player, or the forum goer- why do you think people are so toxic? I mean, it doesn't help. It doesn't add to the fun of others. Its not conducive to a healthy game or forum environment. So why then?? Why be toxic. Either on WoW or in forum.
    imagine having it so easy in life you are most concerned with asking a pointless question like this

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Zolaris192 View Post
    imagine having it so easy in life you are most concerned with asking a pointless question like this
    Imagine gatekeeping social critique.

    Imagine justifying the doing of harm with the suffering of harm.

  5. #5
    It's the worst it's ever been, mostly due to there really being no repercussions for being an asshole, combined with an ever increasing gap in skill between the low end & the high end. The last ten years of game design has taught players they can have pretty much anything without giving a shit about anyone else, & with it all being anonymous cross-realm content, so long as you're not scamming anyone/being overly offensive, you can get away with anything. So, shockingly, people play entirely for themselves, even if it's to the detriment of other people.

    Can avoid pretty much all of it by finding a good guild. Playing group content as a solo player pugging would have me throwing my PC out the window.
    Last edited by Toybox; 2020-09-18 at 05:11 PM.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Zolaris192 View Post
    imagine having it so easy in life you are most concerned with asking a pointless question like this
    I'm a disabled veteran with half my brain nearly useless and with autistic tendencies. Wth are u talking about

  7. #7
    The internet generally brings out the worst of people.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Toybox View Post
    It's the worst it's ever been, mostly due to there really being no repercussions for being an asshole, combined with an ever increasing gap in skill between the low end & the high end. The last ten years of game design has taught players they can have pretty much anything without giving a shit about anyone else, & with it all being anonymous cross-realm content, so long as you're not scamming anyone/being overly offensive, you can get away with anything. So, shockingly, people play entirely for themselves, even if it's to the detriment of other people.

    Can avoid pretty much all of it by finding a good guild. Playing group content as a solo player pugging would have me throwing my PC out the window.
    Agreed. My guild is magnificent. Not perfect but kind

  9. #9
    Moderator Aucald's Avatar
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    Generally speaking, you'll usually find this boils down to the intersection of human nature and the Greater Internet Theory. Anecdotally, whenever I've had friends or peers get called out on bad behavior online I invariably hear a variation of the old cliche: "it's just the internet, it's not as if any of this is real or anything." Which is a thing I think a lot of people online agree with subconsciously if not fully conciously.

    I always try keep in my mind the zeroth rule of performative behavior, which is true both online and off: you are what you pretend to be.
    "We're more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see." ― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Bbrigham View Post
    Why be toxic. Either on WoW or in forum.
    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.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Aucald View Post
    Generally speaking, you'll usually find this boils down to the intersection of human nature and the Greater Internet Theory. Anecdotally, whenever I've had friends or peers get called out on bad behavior online I invariably hear a variation of the old cliche: "it's just the internet, it's not as if any of this is real or anything." Which is a thing I think a lot of people online agree with subconsciously if not fully conciously.

    I always try keep in my mind the zeroth rule of performative behavior, which is true both online and off: you are what you pretend to be.
    Thank you. That's accurate to a T.

  12. #12
    Is everybody toxic, or are people today just so self absorbed, self important, and sheltered they can't believe strangers don't want to hold their hands and pretend they're special. The people you meet online don't owe you anything.

  13. #13
    Over 9000! Kithelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bbrigham View Post
    So, this may be a devisive post, but I'm curious what the general wow community thinks about it. In the decade plus I have played wow, I have experienced good interactions...and some really really toxic ones. Here too. But I'm curious why you-you being the WoW player, or the forum goer- why do you think people are so toxic? I mean, it doesn't help. It doesn't add to the fun of others. Its not conducive to a healthy game or forum environment. So why then?? Why be toxic. Either on WoW or in forum.
    Internet is more toxic in general...some people can't even handle others having a different opinion than them and go on the attack over the silliest things.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by iperson View Post
    Is everybody toxic, or are people today just so self absorbed, self important, and sheltered they can't believe strangers don't want to hold their hands and pretend they're special. The people you meet online don't owe you anything.
    holding hands=/= decent behavior

  15. #15
    I'd put onto the fact that society as a whole has become a lot more polarized, which simply reflects in some fashion into the virtual world as well.

  16. #16
    Old God Mirishka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bbrigham View Post
    So, this may be a devisive post, but I'm curious what the general wow community thinks about it. In the decade plus I have played wow, I have experienced good interactions...and some really really toxic ones. Here too. But I'm curious why you-you being the WoW player, or the forum goer- why do you think people are so toxic? I mean, it doesn't help. It doesn't add to the fun of others. Its not conducive to a healthy game or forum environment. So why then?? Why be toxic. Either on WoW or in forum.
    That's easy. A lot of people are assholes, but most hide it in public/face-to-face situations. Online, we're mostly anonymous, so the assholes don't have to worry about someone punching them in the mouth - so they have less reason to hide their ugliness.

    I treat people with kindness in WoW unless they give me a reason not to. I may not have much patience on these forums (all the negativity and whining and 'WAHHH REMOVE LFR IT HURTS MY BUTT' nonsense gets to me sometimes) but in game, I generally try my hardest to have a positive effect on people's playtime.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by iperson View Post
    Is everybody toxic, or are people today just so self absorbed, self important, and sheltered they can't believe strangers don't want to hold their hands and pretend they're special. The people you meet online don't owe you anything.
    I didn't realize that expecting people to not act like angry racist man-babies means that you want them to hold your hand and pretend you're special.
    Appreciate your time with friends and family while they're here. Don't wait until they're gone to tell them what they mean to you.

  17. #17
    Warchief taishar68's Avatar
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    Just some dime-store psychology here, but the anonymity of the internet is, in my opinion, as uninhibiting as alcohol, and the result is the same; you see the true nature of people when it is applied. Know a happy drunk? That's who they really are. Know a mean, nasty one? You get the idea. I have never interacted with someone on the internet who is toxic and thought "Oh, they're really cool this is just the internet", rather, I see that as their true personality.

    The nature of WoW lends itself to elitism as well; there is gear, and titles, and in game wealth that is not obtained by everyone, and some people relish that fact, the same way elitists do in reality. That elitism can easily become toxic, and often does.

    When I encounter it, I try not to let it bother me too much; I've had a few interactions here that really rankled me, but you don't want to let someone know they got to you, and besides, it really is pointless to fight with someone on line.

    I try to present myself online in the same manner I do in the real world, we're human and we aren't perfect, but we can try, dammit.
    "Can't you see this is the last act of a desperate man?"
    "We don't care if it's the first act of Henry the Fifth, we're leaving!"

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by celestion View Post
    Imagine gatekeeping social critique.

    Imagine justifying the doing of harm with the suffering of harm.
    what i said also applies to you lmao

    his original post has absolutely no substance

    it is "this is a thing"

    no example, nothing

    it's the same type of argument used by leftists

    trump 2020 btw get mad about it
    Last edited by Zolaris192; 2020-09-18 at 05:36 PM.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Mirishka View Post
    I didn't realize that expecting people to not act like angry racist man-babies means that you want them to hold your hand and pretend you're special.
    Nothing like a little sexism to prove you're not toxic...

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Mirishka View Post
    That's easy. A lot of people are assholes, but most hide it in public/face-to-face situations. Online, we're mostly anonymous, so the assholes don't have to worry about someone punching them in the mouth - so they have less reason to hide their ugliness.

    I treat people with kindness in WoW unless they give me a reason not to. I may not have much patience on these forums (all the negativity and whining and 'WAHHH REMOVE LFR IT HURTS MY BUTT' nonsense gets to me sometimes) but in game, I generally try my hardest to have a positive effect on people's playtime.

    - - - Updated - - -



    I didn't realize that expecting people to not act like angry racist man-babies means that you want them to hold your hand and pretend you're special.
    This made me laugh, not because I disagree-this is almost exactly how I hope I behave, in reality and wow- but because I DO have a hurt butt, not from LFR, but from riding a horse up a black basalt mountain. But thank you, for confirming my thoughts.

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