I've been feeling really burned out in the MMO I play lately. City of Heroes/Villains has been a big part of my life for the last three years: It's a hobby, an escape from the rigors of Real Life, a pastime, a way to connect to people of like-minded interests that I can't find locally. However, in throwing myself headlong into the community - Forums, online socializing, offline messaging - I've begun to realize that many of the same racist, right-wing fascist, gun-toting, anti-homosexual, Yay! Patriotism and boo everyone else people are just as prevalent here as they were in the Counter-Strike Community. Those selfsame people turned me off to Counter-Strike for similar reasons. Now, when I turn on CS for a little gameplay in the name of memory...I rarely last more than one round. All those asshats and their sh*t come flooding back at me.
Even before Bri got me that new sweetness of a monitor, I was losing interest. Getting that new monitor helped reinvigorate me to play and I enjoyed it. For awhile.
Recently, I've been repeatedly Mod-Smacked on the Official Forums for things I've said and should know better than to say in an online community with a PG-13 Rating. Brian reminded me that these Moderators are paid to monitor the forums 9-5 daily for posts or threads that may violate the Rules of Conduct. Me being mod-smacked is just them doing their jobs. But, sometimes, I can't help but feel that certain Mods are out to get me. Or, perhaps I feel as if they could be a little more...Human in their Moderating capacity and a little less "Here I am, doing my job."
Like, yesterday, I posted in a 9/11 Memorial thread. Now, previously, I had posted my own 9/11 Memorial thread in my home server Section and posted a simple, three line memorial. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out the best, most diplomatic way of saying how I felt. And, 10 minutes spent thinking about how to word a simple post on an online forum is about eight minutes too long, in my opinion. But, I wanted to show that, even though I'm Canadian, I can appreciate something as important as 9/11 to the Americans. Anyways, then I jumped over to the CoHGuru forums and posted in their 9/11 Memorial thread. I didn't repost what I'd already said on the Official forums, but a I posted a "where I was when it happened" response.
Fast forward to the afternoon and a Moderator posts an "Official" post about 9/11 for any members of the community who wish to respond. Since I'd already posted twice on the subject I tried to be original. I talked about how many people post-9/11 believed that perhaps the WTC Tragedy wasn't a tragedy at all; Perhaps it was a conspiracy, or a not-so coincidence related to Bush's election. I went on to talk about how it went over so well, according to some veteran's I had talked to, as a military coop. I concluded by pointing out that, although it went over well, it didn't cause the disparity that the terrorists had hoped. Instead, it unified not only the Americans, but the world. It's too bad all those people had to die, but the final result has been most favourable.
I thought I was being tasteful and very objective.
I guess people didn't see it that way. A few members of the community responded harshly to my post. While I was writing a response, after I had changed my post because the intent was lost on most people apparently, a Moderator PM-ed me and thanked me for changing my post. So, instead of starting sh*t in the thread, I posted my response to the Moderator. I never got a response. I would have settled for a simple, "Well, I can see your view but it may have been to controversial for a memorial thread" or something to that affect.
Instead, silence. If the Mod can take time to thank me for my edit, you would think they could take time to acknowledge my original intent! Things like this frustrate me to no end. And depress me beyond how it should affect me. I was utterly depressed last night; Thank god Bri was there!
Perhaps a week break, or a month...or a permanent break is necessary? Or maybe I should stop posting in forums and just play the game? At this point, I'm so frustrated and pissed off to decide what to do. For now, I cancelled my account which expires September 29th.
Even before Bri got me that new sweetness of a monitor, I was losing interest. Getting that new monitor helped reinvigorate me to play and I enjoyed it. For awhile.
Recently, I've been repeatedly Mod-Smacked on the Official Forums for things I've said and should know better than to say in an online community with a PG-13 Rating. Brian reminded me that these Moderators are paid to monitor the forums 9-5 daily for posts or threads that may violate the Rules of Conduct. Me being mod-smacked is just them doing their jobs. But, sometimes, I can't help but feel that certain Mods are out to get me. Or, perhaps I feel as if they could be a little more...Human in their Moderating capacity and a little less "Here I am, doing my job."
Like, yesterday, I posted in a 9/11 Memorial thread. Now, previously, I had posted my own 9/11 Memorial thread in my home server Section and posted a simple, three line memorial. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out the best, most diplomatic way of saying how I felt. And, 10 minutes spent thinking about how to word a simple post on an online forum is about eight minutes too long, in my opinion. But, I wanted to show that, even though I'm Canadian, I can appreciate something as important as 9/11 to the Americans. Anyways, then I jumped over to the CoHGuru forums and posted in their 9/11 Memorial thread. I didn't repost what I'd already said on the Official forums, but a I posted a "where I was when it happened" response.
Fast forward to the afternoon and a Moderator posts an "Official" post about 9/11 for any members of the community who wish to respond. Since I'd already posted twice on the subject I tried to be original. I talked about how many people post-9/11 believed that perhaps the WTC Tragedy wasn't a tragedy at all; Perhaps it was a conspiracy, or a not-so coincidence related to Bush's election. I went on to talk about how it went over so well, according to some veteran's I had talked to, as a military coop. I concluded by pointing out that, although it went over well, it didn't cause the disparity that the terrorists had hoped. Instead, it unified not only the Americans, but the world. It's too bad all those people had to die, but the final result has been most favourable.
I thought I was being tasteful and very objective.
I guess people didn't see it that way. A few members of the community responded harshly to my post. While I was writing a response, after I had changed my post because the intent was lost on most people apparently, a Moderator PM-ed me and thanked me for changing my post. So, instead of starting sh*t in the thread, I posted my response to the Moderator. I never got a response. I would have settled for a simple, "Well, I can see your view but it may have been to controversial for a memorial thread" or something to that affect.
Instead, silence. If the Mod can take time to thank me for my edit, you would think they could take time to acknowledge my original intent! Things like this frustrate me to no end. And depress me beyond how it should affect me. I was utterly depressed last night; Thank god Bri was there!
Perhaps a week break, or a month...or a permanent break is necessary? Or maybe I should stop posting in forums and just play the game? At this point, I'm so frustrated and pissed off to decide what to do. For now, I cancelled my account which expires September 29th.
1 comments:
You know, you shouldn't take things so seriously man. The forumites over at coh.com are ver, very testy and they are a tight-knit group of elitists. (And If anyone from there reads this and has a problem I don't give a fuck.)
IMO, stay away from the forums. I've seen you over at guru. Great. Stick to guru. Though guru has its fair share of drama as well, they resolve it quickly and get over it. For guru, I usually post in the fun threads like costume ideas and screen shots. It's great that you have an opinion (we all do) but sometimes it's best to talk about it with people you know rather than complete strangers who may or may not understand you.
Don't quit the game over a forum incident. Continue to play, and create awesome characters and work on their back stories.
Just my 2 cents.
~RH
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