'What the heck is wrong with us?'The simple and easy answer which occurs to me is (pleasingly paradoxically) there is no simple and easy answer. It seems to me it's going to vary from person to person, from day to day. Here are some suggestions:
Sometimes a poster's just had a rather bad day.
Sometimes a poster doesn't add sufficient context to a post to make sure it's read the same way that he or she intended.
Sometimes a poster genuinely believes (in at least the moment of the posting) that the target of his/her wrath has sufficiently ruined at least some aspect of his/her life to justify any level of venting of fury is justified.
Sometimes a poster is just falling in line with a crowd of peers with whom he/she wants to be popular/respected.
Sometimes a poster is trying to show off.
Sometimes a poster just loves making mischief for the sake of it.
Sometimes a poster didn't proof-read a post enough and a typo/spelling error slips through which completely changes the context of a post.That's seven to be going on with... I'm sure there are many more.
You're forgetting the most important one of all:
SOMEONE [else] is WRONG on the internet!| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)
You're forgetting the most important one of all:
SOMEONE [else] is WRONG on the internet!
Dear Mr. (currently, as of my posting) Leafy-face,
Haven't you heard the expression 'so wrong it's right'?Hoping that you have found this post Helpful.
Yours,
Ask A Succubus.
Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.
In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
This is not how you hijack a thread. Everyone knows that you need some ma_d__s t_ _a__sh. And some knights as crunchy snacks.
This is not how you hijack a thread. Everyone knows that you need some ma_d__s t_ _a__sh. And some knights as crunchy snacks.
That was not what I wrote.
This is not how you hijack a thread. Everyone knows that you need some ma_d__s t_ _a__sh. And some knights as crunchy snacks.
That was not what I wrote.
Fixed it for you. ;)
Oh confound it and botheration. You're that succubus that dwarf thought up.
Well that's simplifying things considerably, but you could be considered approximately correct.
Harrumph. I shall have to have words with that barrister the next time that I see him.
<flounces off in a huff>
Harrumph. I shall have to have words with that barrister the next time that I see him.
<flounces off in a huff>
<removes unbelievably groan inducing pun>
<exits stage left (but without any bear)>
Nerds are no worse then fans of anything else at there.
But we're also no better.
In this community alone, all I have to do is say "4e" and in come the defenders ready to wage war. Real-life relationships with decades old friends of mine were even damaged by this mess.
I haven't had any difficulties with old relationships, but starting new ones has been the pits. Seems like everybody is always approaching each other cautiously, feeling each other out. You have to probe to see how dedicated the other guy is to his chosen system, and then gauge how much you can talk about your own without stepping on toes. Then there are those who seek to "convert" the other guy to what they play. That's the worst. I would never pull that on anybody myself, and have bad past experiences with people doing that with religion, politics, etc., so am more uncomfortable with it than I should, considering these are just games we're talking about.
Sigh.
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In this community alone, all I have to do is say "4e" and in come the defenders ready to wage war. Real-life relationships with decades old friends of mine were even damaged by this mess.I haven't had any difficulties with old relationships, but starting new ones has been the pits. Seems like everybody is always approaching each other cautiously, feeling each other out. You have to probe to see how dedicated the other guy is to his chosen system, and then gauge how much you can talk about your own without stepping on toes. Then there are those who seek to "convert" the other guy to what they play. That's the worst. I would never pull that on anybody myself, and have bad past experiences with people doing that with religion, politics, etc., so am more uncomfortable with it than I should, considering these are just games we're talking about.
Sigh.
Uh ya, call me crazy but that's no different than 1995 when I was playing both AD&D, Shadowrun, and Vampire. Try getting those crowds together. Why do people think rpg/edition wars are a new thing? They're not. There's just more people now and more ways of letting their elitism/dissatisfaction known. But nothing has inherently changed since back then.
That's why I don't get all bent out of shape over editions. In the grand scheme it's all just a phase, I'm perfectly capable of waiting out bad editions. See, I bet now you think I'm talking about 4E right? Nope, Vampire:Requiem. }: PAnyway people are inherently predisposed towards divisions. It's called factionalism. Look at Ford vs Chevy. Imports vs domestics. PCs vs Apple. Etc, etc. So indeed it's not a gamer thing, it's a human thing.
Also there was that Giants fan that got beat into a coma by a Dodgers fan. Talk about taking things too seriously. Gamers are nothing compared to rabid sports fans. Ask the Vancouver police. }; )
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In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Now I want someone to create a supervillain called the Jade Punster. And I want him to be played by that guy from Community and The Hangover, but he'll wear a long, Bartonesque wig and have jade fingernails.
I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.
Now I want someone to create a supervillain called the Jade Punster. And I want him to be played by that guy from Community and The Hangover, but he'll wear a long, Bartonesque wig and have jade fingernails.
You see Ken Jeong playing me? That could be fun.
Bartonesque wig... that's now on Google. Thanks for that. <G>
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Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!
Now I want someone to create a supervillain called the Jade Punster. And I want him to be played by that guy from Community and The Hangover, but he'll wear a long, Bartonesque wig and have jade fingernails.We could write an AP! Jade Robin!
My favorite birdsong?
Roc and Robin of course.
Tweedley deetley deet... tweedlely dee-
Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
You buy your gas at Chevron before you travel south, don'tcha?
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You buy your gas at Chevron before you travel south, don'tcha?Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
Sounds like we've got a stool Pigeon. You do know that a chevron isn't actually a bird? Your statement just doesn't flip the Bill.
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Sounds like we've got a stool Pigeon. You do know that a chevron isn't actually a bird? Your statement just doesn't flip the Bill.You buy your gas at Chevron before you travel south, don'tcha?Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
Shame on both of you. A whole page of bird puns and no mention of boobies, great t*ts, woodpeckers, imperial shags, nuthatches, etc.
For shame, I say.|
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Sounds like we've got a stool Pigeon. You do know that a chevron isn't actually a bird? Your statement just doesn't flip the Bill.You buy your gas at Chevron before you travel south, don'tcha?Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
Shame on both of you. A whole page of bird puns and no mention of boobies, great t*ts, woodpeckers, imperial shags, nuthatches, etc.
For shame, I say.
You just mentioned them before we got a chance! Now go Aves or I shall taunt you a second time!
Sounds like we've got a stool Pigeon. You do know that a chevron isn't actually a bird? Your statement just doesn't flip the Bill.You buy your gas at Chevron before you travel south, don'tcha?Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
One bird flying is a cool bird... the one that make up the chevron behind him? Followers.
I set pun rules! I drink cappucino while you swallow Capistrano!
You just mentioned them before we got a chance! Now go Aves or I shall taunt you a second time!Sounds like we've got a stool Pigeon. You do know that a chevron isn't actually a bird? Your statement just doesn't flip the Bill.You buy your gas at Chevron before you travel south, don'tcha?Quit your Raven! I heard your Crows for too long! Now lets stop this dissent and Dove-tail into a proper arrangement!Owl I want is for you to stop yer squawkin' for a few terns, and goose it down, you loon.I Egret to inform you that your jokes are Swift-ly making me think that you might be a Thickhead. I will forgive, and just let this be Shearwater under the bridge.In my oPINION, this is very foul humor indeed. Some might even call it birdy-minded. I guess this is what happens when people get puffed up, feather they have reason to think they are that funny or not.Aukward! (Waterfowl humor... nuthin' beats waterfowl humor)Puffin's Law?Good point... perhaps it's a more specialized application of Godwin's Law. Let's call it RPGodwin's Law.Monopoly: The game designed to ruin families.Hasbro strikes again!!!!
** spoiler omitted **
Oh beak whi'te. Emu'late a dodo and get extinct.
Roc on!
Shame on both of you. A whole page of bird puns and no mention of boobies, great t*ts, woodpeckers, imperial shags, nuthatches, etc.
For shame, I say.
Well if you wanna go blue, J...
(Walks off dismissively as if above resorting to such sauciness.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Without naming Canada or any other North Atlantic nations, I'd love to know the ones that are culturally more civil than the US.3. We Americans aren't generally that much of a civil culture to start with.
Betterthanuistan comes to mind.
Nerds are no worse then fans of anything else at there.
But we're also no better.
Unlike most cases (and in the spirit of the thread I suppose) I'd have to respectfully disagree.
We're a lot worse, because we are usually un-ironically self-aware enough to know better. This is exacerbated by our collective tendency towards acerbic attitudes, exaggerated by that quality applying doubly to our interests, and rising like the stereotypical Dwarf Fortress learning curve when the scope of our typified knowledge comes into play, resulting in the likelihood of having not only staked out a position on any and all things but invested an unhealthy portion of ourselves in said position; we become bunkers of one and lay siege to all other opinions as though all were predicated on the Highlander principle.
Sprinkle in a little relative anonymity and BAM! Nerdraging clusterfornicative excrementsunami.
Nerds are no worse then fans of anything else at there.
But we're also no better.
Unlike most cases (and in the spirit of the thread I suppose) I'd have to respectfully disagree.
We're a lot worse, because we are usually un-ironically self-aware enough to know better. This is exacerbated by our collective tendency towards acerbic attitudes, exaggerated by that quality applying doubly to our interests, and rising like the stereotypical Dwarf Fortress learning curve when the scope of our typified knowledge comes into play, resulting in the likelihood of having not only staked out a position on any and all things but invested an unhealthy portion of ourselves in said position; we become bunkers of one and lay siege to all other opinions as though all were predicated on the Highlander principle.
Sprinkle in a little relative anonymity and BAM! Nerdraging clusterfornicative excrementsunami.
This mirrors my own thoughts, but with more exciting portmanteaus.
Why, I've even seen dicks say, Don't be a dick.
Ditto. That isn't targeted at you, Evil Lincoln.
People. It. Is. A. Game. A fun and involving game, I grant. Hell, I have almost 20K posts talking about this very game. But, in the end, it is a game. Like Parcheesi.Is it worth losing sleep and friends over?
Person. That. Is. Totally. Wrong.
It isn't anything like Parcheesi. And I'm not talking about the rules differences or anything.
Anything that involves social contracts, regular schedules, people driving dozens of kilometres, and generally having to commit to each other like that is not just a game. It is a hobby and a social activity.
I've seen dicks being dicks and defending their behaviour with "it's just a game". If you commit to a certain time and place and then not bother to show up or tell anyone, ruining everyone's day (because the "game" won't take place and they have said no to other things they could have been doing, or hired a babysitter, or just driven quite a way with their cars), it's not just "a game" that hasn't been played.
Because of a combination of factors, including the very thing about WOTC's handling of the changeover I just mentioned, a lot of the "dedicated soldiers" in this fight see it as a personal mission to try to make sure people don't play "the other game." Ever. Under any circumstance. It affects players on both sides of the divide.
Does it?
Does it, really?
Nerds are no worse then fans of anything else at there.
But we're also no better.
Unlike most cases (and in the spirit of the thread I suppose) I'd have to respectfully disagree.
We're a lot worse, because we are usually un-ironically self-aware enough to know better. This is exacerbated by our collective tendency towards acerbic attitudes, exaggerated by that quality applying doubly to our interests, and rising like the stereotypical Dwarf Fortress learning curve when the scope of our typified knowledge comes into play, resulting in the likelihood of having not only staked out a position on any and all things but invested an unhealthy portion of ourselves in said position; we become bunkers of one and lay siege to all other opinions as though all were predicated on the Highlander principle.
Sprinkle in a little relative anonymity and BAM! Nerdraging clusterfornicative excrementsunami.
This mirrors my own thoughts, but with more exciting portmanteaus.
Exquisite.
*takes a bow* I think I mentioned a love of neologism at some point, and this brought the place known /tg/ to mind, so I figured it would be an apt descriptor.
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Is it worth losing sleep and friends over?I lose sleep over D&D all the time. Usually because I'm playing it.
But as far as losing friends goes, the only game worth losing friends over is Munchkin. Everyone knows that.
I thought that was what Diplomacy was for.
People. It. Is. A. Game. A fun and involving game, I grant. Hell, I have almost 20K posts talking about this very game. But, in the end, it is a game. Like Parcheesi.Is it worth losing sleep and friends over?
Person. That. Is. Totally. Wrong.
It isn't anything like Parcheesi. And I'm not talking about the rules differences or anything.
Anything that involves social contracts, regular schedules, people driving dozens of kilometres, and generally having to commit to each other like that is not just a game. It is a hobby and a social activity.
I've seen dicks being dicks and defending their behaviour with "it's just a game". If you commit to a certain time and place and then not bother to show up or tell anyone, ruining everyone's day (because the "game" won't take place and they have said no to other things they could have been doing, or hired a babysitter, or just driven quite a way with their cars), it's not just "a game" that hasn't been played.
So soccer or football or baseball aren't games? They involve pretty much everything you said. And I'm sure some people get babysitters and drive klicks to their friends' houses to play boardgames. Any game, or anyTHING between humans usually requires a 'social contract.' Some people just have to take it up to 11 and be dicks about it.
My point is: This thing we play isn't that important. Losing friends over a hobby activity is just plain stupid. IMO, YMMV, yadda yadda yadda.
PS: Don't get on yer high horse and tell me I'm wrong dude, just because you don't agree with me. That doesn't make me wrong, that makes my opinion different from yours. You wanna make this hobby somehow more epic and important to justify whatever douchery you are contemplating, feel free.
Well, the 3e -> 4e edition war IS different from past ones in a number of ways. However, none of it come down to "How WotC handled it," because let me tell you, I've seen plenty of vitrol in other games when they change edition, and saw just as much in the 2e->3e changes. The difference is not how angry it is but how long it lasts.
Overall many of the complaints I see about 4e - dumbed down, too complex (at the same time no less), too much of a video game, they took out x, they added y, it's worse at simulation/being a game/being a narrative/telling a story/playing my character/anything under the sun - are the same complaints leveled at 3e.
3e is too much like Diablo, BAB is too complex (YES THAT WAS A THING), putting everything into the d20 is dumbed down, monster rules make no sense, it can't simulate a world, they took out kits, they added monks, humans are too weak compared to demihumans, monks are overpowered...the list goes on.
There are, however, three big differences.
First, when 2e changed to 3e, 2e was DEAD. It was [u]DEAD[/u]. In fact, there were fears that D&D itself was going to die. It wasn't a fast death either, but a slow, torturous one. So even people who hated 3e ended up playing it because there more or less was no 2e.
Second, no internet. The internet that was around in the 2e days was a strange, crude thing, and conversation between fans online was sharply limited. There wasn't two or three forums for every game, there was just one Usenet and an assortment of chatrooms. The internet allows for bad feelings to spread very rapidly. It is far, far easier to spread negative feelings then it is positive ones - that's why the edition war exists in the first place. If people were simply positive and played what they enjoyed, maybe trying out different systems to give them a whirl, that would be that. But instead the negativity spreads, and it spreads fast and hard.
Thirdly, WotC isn't evil. Does that sound strange? Probably. See, D&D's holdings until WotC was a long string of hilarious corruption and horrible. Gygax disenfranchised Arneson. Gygax lost the game to the Blumes, who threw it through a wringer and enjoyed some laughably obvious money laundering through it. They lost it to Lorraine Williams who, and lets not beat around the bush here, is very widely hated for then kicking out Gygax. However, what is not mentioned is that she saved D&D. Mostly because a decade later she killed D&D.
That's three generations of backstabbing, politicking, and corruption, and three generations of the game nearly going bankrupt time and time again.
So when 4e came around, there was no supervillain to hate on. Even if you hated 3e, nobody liked TSR. And before that, at least Lorraine Williams wasn't the Blumes. But WotC couldn't go "at least we aren't, uh, ourselves?" Nerds hate change, and when we find something we hate, we need a target to hate AT. Unfortunately, with no supervillain to hate, it all defaulted onto WotC.
*takes a bow* I think I mentioned a love of neologism at some point, and this brought the place known /tg/ to mind, so I figured it would be an apt descriptor.
Yeah, I've lurked there a couple times. Makes this board look like a Pollyanna tea party O.o