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[Oskuro]

I've been noticing this a lot lately, and in my case it has driven me to post less regularly.

What's with all the hate and vitriol?

There are plenty of threads that quickly, with little provocation, devolve into hateful tirades against whatever has provoked the posters' ire.

There are even posters whose whole persona and contributions seem to be built around mocking others relentlessly.

And passive-agressive snark counts as hate. Just because insults aren't being hurled doesn't mean that the post won't be read as an attack unto others.


My original impression on joining this board was that it offered a friendly community for people interested in independent game development to share ideas and/or showcase their work, yet more often than not I find discussions devolve into pointless ego clashes.

Right now I don't feel this is a very welcoming community, to be honest, and I worry that such a thing could scare away new members and eventually stagnate the community. If seen this happen on other forums.


I know this is, as usual, the case of a few vocal members making it seem worse than it truly is. But it does look bad.



I'm not calling for a witch hunt, or for a blame-game. I know I myself get carried away sometimes and let my anger flare up. I can just hope for some self-reflection, and for people, myself included, to think twice if the anger-filled post about to be submitted is really contributing to anything.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

it's usually limited to only a few threads in 'games' and 'general'. the vast majority of this forum (the devlogs section, playtesting section, technical section, and others) don't have much if any of that. most people come here for those, and don't participate in discussions of controversial issues. but those that do participate in discussions of controversial issues tend to have a lot invested in those issues

this is part of why i think we should have a separate section just for those issues (controversy/politics/religion/philosophy), and make that section require like a level 1 account, so as not to scare off new members too early

[Superb Joe]

it's mostly my fault. but i can't shoulder that responsibility myself, steroids are my co-conspirators.

[Leon Fook]

Some do it for clarification of their point, some do it for their view point. As long as there's no insult throwing at each other just because their view differ, it's fine by me. After all, it's a discussion thread.
Also, new comer rarely come here for General and Game thread, except for spammer of course.

Love and hate should co-exist.

[Liza]

Love and hate should co-exist.

Disagreement should be respectful and certainly doesn't have to equal hate. I can see plenty of room for disagreement on a forum such as this, but can't think of a situation in which condoning the existence of "hate" would be useful or a good idea.

[Pineapple]

And passive-agressive snark counts as hate. Just because insults aren't being hurled doesn't mean that the post won't be read as an attack unto others.

You know what really busts my balls? Hypersensitive people who read into every little comment until they managed to find some hint of condescension in it. And it's great when they go and blame it on everyone else, I really enjoy that. You know what this forum really needs? More of those people, and for them to post threads about how mean the community is to them because they don't know how to deal with constructive criticism.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

yeah there are definitely cases where people think i'm attacking them personally when that's the furthest thing from my mind or intent and they're just being hypersensitive. it'd say there's at least as many hypersensitive people (most of the people who quit the forum because they see it as too mean) as people who go out of their way to offend (like bobo and the monster king do in feminist threads)

[ThemsAllTook]

You know what really busts my balls? Hypersensitive people who read into every little comment until they managed to find some hint of condescension in it. And it's great when they go and blame it on everyone else, I really enjoy that. You know what this forum really needs? More of those people, and for them to post threads about how mean the community is to them because they don't know how to deal with constructive criticism.

There's certainly some of this, but it goes both ways - I've seen posters claim hypersensitivity as way to justify their own hate-filled posts rather than consider that they might have been able to express themselves more constructively. Instead of playing the blame game, I wish both sides would try to find ways to change their own behavior to better encourage productive discussion.

As Paul mentioned, subforums other than General and Games don't have much of this, but it does still pop up from time to time. I've started a thread in Technical trying to establish some guidelines to keep this kind of thing from happening there.

[TheLastBanana]

Discussions (or even arguments) can be informative and interesting. But yeah, there is a tendency in the General/Games section for it to just turn into a fight, complete with personal insults and excessive sarcasm. Interesting points are still brought up, but you have to wade through a lot of unpleasantness to get there. It doesn't make me want to actually talk about anything, because if I'm on the "wrong" side I get lambasted, and if I'm on the "right" side, what I'm trying to say gets lost amidst the vitriol of somebody else's post. I imagine there are others who feel the same way.

[AuntEggma]

Every forum I've ever been a member of has seemed to have its argumentative and provocative members.  I don't like it, but the best anyone can do is ignore the hate.

[ThemsAllTook]

the best anyone can do is ignore the hate.

One step better is to check their post against the forum rules and report to moderator if there are any violations in it. Since haters are often a small minority, encouraging them change their behavior (or banning them if they refuse after being asked by a mod) can make a significant positive impact on the forum.

[Blademasterbobo]

what's with having these whiny threads once a week

[Dragonmaw]

You're right, we need to have a polite discussion about the extermination of Palestinians, or how rape isn't such a big deal, instead of getting luridly furious at people making such claims.

When people make such inane, insane statements, there is no obligation for politeness.

[SirNiko]

It's okay because the other side is bad people.

[gggfhfdh]

You're right, we need to have a polite discussion about the extermination of Palestinians, or how rape isn't such a big deal, instead of getting luridly furious at people making such claims.

When people make such inane, insane statements, there is no obligation for politeness.

*white man with explorer hat and big mustache wheeze* the palestinians *continues wheezing* *falls onto floor* *starts spinning in circles*

[Dragonmaw]

[feminazi]

quit subtweeting!!!!!!!

[feminazi]

someone named penis 69 followed me thats the first thing i learned when i log in my computer

[ink.inc]

penis manly guy 69

[Impmaster]

It's great how people attack others and assume they are totally retarded because they have different opinions, instead of simply arguing.

Didn't anyone learn how to have an argument in school?