8 replies to this topic

[Damien Tokala]

Long ago we were a community. We were small enough for everyone to know who is who. We were a collection of fans, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, in arms or not, we were a community that once cared.

When one of our own was struck with the news of his daughters health, we pitched in and created something beautiful. As a community you worked together to make something special come true for a little girl.

You gave her the Jenner she so dearly dreamed of.

And that was so long ago.

Now we quarrel over petty issues. Cry because we lose, and fail to recognize anyone's skill except for the imaginary ones you've bestowed upon yourselves.

We cry for nerfs and beg for buffs to a point where our favorite chassis no longer matters, only the damage done and kills collected.

We moan about balance, when many of us fail to realize that nothing is meant to be perfect. We fail to realize that mechs are more than killing machines, they were designed with a role in mind.

And we sneer... And ridicule... We jeer at people who use LRM builds, we mock people who use dual gauss or laser vomit, and we effectively DESTROY the enjoyment that battletech used to bring.

As a community, we have become toxic. We have strayed far away from donating to a worthy cause, and building a mech for a dying child.

As a community we have lost the focus of this game.

To unite... To come together as a team, to work as a team, and to do something that we can only dream of.

Piloting giant stompy battlemechs with lazorz and ****.

Please, be polite to your fellow pilots. We are here to have fun.

Is this the kind of environment you would want for Sarah? Or even your own child?

Is this the kind of environment that people thrive in?

No. It is not.

[Bud Crue]

Damien Tokala, on 22 May 2016 - 04:03 AM, said:

Please, be polite to your fellow pilots. We are here to have fun.

I quoted only the single line from your post as I believe that is indeed a timeless concept that we can all appreciate. I also appreciate the message and tone of your overall post, but I think you are also misrepresenting the past. While I was not playing the game back in 2013 ( era of Sarah's Jenner) a quick google of "MWO 2013 Balance" (I chose the last search term at random), shows similar diversity of threads and topics back then as we have now.

Looking at a few June 2013 threads there are posts asserting that one should "L2P bro", that one needs to worship at the church of skill of a particular poster, that anyone planning on buying a Dragon Slayer is an idiot. Spiders are a waste of a mech. etc. And yes, there are some wonderful posts and threads about Sarah and Sarah's Jenner.

In re Sarah's Jenner and posts regarding it: Yes, some folks got together and made something nice happen for a good cause. PGI also listened to the community on this and interacted with them to make it happen. Wonderful stuff. Wish I could have been a part of it. But don't kid yourself. At that same time that Sarah's Jenner was being proposed and made, a lot of folks were most certainly quarreling over petty issues, crying because they lost, crying for nerfs and begging for buffs, etc. All the things that you suggest are part of the "toxic" community of the present, appear to have been around as much in 2013 as they are today. Its all there in the archives to peruse.

Still, I think your overall message is a good one, which for me is just follow the golden rule. Alas, online that is a challenge for many.

[Tangelis]

Oh the community was quite toxic and passionate(hostile) well before Sara. Sara's Jenner just happened to be something we all agreed on. Mostly because it was very real....sad and unfortunate. Far removed from the petty squabbles of a video game.


Most of the hostility on these forums derives from opinions and perspectives. It escalates simply because most don't actually "listen" to what another has to say, but merely wait their turn to "speak"

Sure MWO has it's bad seeds and because of the history of B-tech in general we have a very passionate group of players, but in truth I would put the MWO forums/community in the middle. There are better out there yes...... but there are far worse that make MWO look tame.

[adamts01]

Damien Tokala, on 22 May 2016 - 04:03 AM, said:

To unite... To come together as a team, to work as a team, and to do something that we can only dream of.

Most of us bitter vets tried that. And look where the game is. It takes more than players working together to come up with something great. It takes a company to take things to the next level. And they haven't. Everything here is pointless.

[Damien Tokala]

I was around too, but maybe I was blind to the true nature of this communities toxicity. (see Cobalt husky for IS account.)

But even so... While some veterans feel scorned, please remember that this entire game is subject to change. Just because you didn't get your way doesn't mean you can become a jerk.

[adamts01]

I'm normally only a jerk when people deserve it. As for me not getting my way..... Are you happy with CW? I don't think I'm in the minority with that one. It's supposed to be the main attraction, and it just sucks. And the game isn't changing, there's no CW4, this is it. So yeah, I'll be bitter.

[Pinscher]

Human nature is like that. Humans a wired for working in small social groups. The bigger the group gets, the more it becomes chaotic.Early humans were in small tribes. As society grew, the local cluster turned from tribes to family. By nature people are more apt to small town living versus big city living. They can adapt mind you, but its counter instinctual.

As a rural driver I often get stuck behind agricultural equipment for a few minutes and cannot pass. No big deal.
Take a urban driver in the same situation. They honk, flash headlights, and scream and the slow mover in front.

[C E Dwyer]

It's not just here.

The interwebs can be a great medium, and should be, families can keep in contact while hundreds of miles away much faster and cheaper than writing a letter.

It's negatives far outweigh the positives though , because it sucks people in makes them insular and selfish, in a room full of people rather than engage in conversation half the room will be reading news on phones, or sending messages, being ignorant and rude, in their own little world.

Marketing has made a practical tool, into a must have fashion item, that rules so many people lives, 2013 was no different, just a group of people got together and in a rare instance for a few days a community acted as one.

Sarah's jenner, was a hickcup, admittedly a very good one in society's slow decline into social chaos, we need more hickups

[Johnny Z]

Oh the drama.

These exact same comments were pobly made about people reading books and writing soon after the printing press was made available and the guys doing it before that were like monks and hermits Theres nothing wrong with hobbies at all. Some see an opportunity for drama or worse though.

There was a time not to long ago hobbies were considered a good thing.... kept people out of trouble. But then some make a living off that..... or worse.

Edited by Johnny Z, 22 May 2016 - 10:43 AM.