Jimquisition: The Wacky Harassment Blame Parade

[Sticky]

Polite Snip

Okay, my mistake for mis-representing your argument, then. I was certain your argument was "This is a collective and like any collective, every member owes some to the whole". Which implied this 'community' Jim speaks of is what you were referring to while arguing against the concept of Individualism.

And yea...Hirule Warriors...exclusive...oh boy, words can't describe how much I don't care...

Onto that topic, I'm not sure how to feel about the Dynasty Warriors approach to Zelda. It feels like a self-defeating formula because it seems to me that the point of Zelda are the dungeons. The enemies are more like roadblocks keeping you from the puzzles in the dungeons, in which Link typically smashes these enemies right over with a token effort. Unless the game has no dungeons and is entirely about overworld fighting, which could be fun too if it tries to play around with the formula instead of hoping that overworld combat can stand as-is. I really need to see more gameplay before I make a decision regarding it.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

The problem with your solution is some people actually like not being banned on the Escapist. Telling people off in forums will generally lead to being banned. Or having one's privilege to post removed, even if temporarily.
While it might be nice to be able to tell people off freely, things would degenerate fast, I'd say.
And heaven help you if you're trying to represent something. If you're an employee, or a staff member, it generally gets worse.

Sure, you might be able to get away with crass language in less policed areas of the net, but what about places like The Escapist? What if the offensive person hasn't passed the line where they can be punished for being offensive?

Hardening up, and/or ignoring them just lets them know it's at least neutral that they can act like that, so they likely will again. It doesn't deliver a consequence to the asshole. Especially if the asshole is a bored asshole, or an angry asshole with not much better to do at the time than be one.

It can get kinda hard to ignore people that manage to phone you, and so forth, too. The harassed are lucky that harassers don't seem to actually visit them in person.

We're talking about 4chan and the internet in general, remember?

Halfway proper boards have guidelines and moderators, authorities you can report abusive behavior to. However, Chan boards and other unfriendly sites usually do not, and what I suggested works pretty well there. Believe me, I speak from experience.

So the solution is actually pretty simple:

- moderated sites and services: report them to the mods

- unmoderated sites and services: tell them to go fuck themselves

- IRL harrasment: tell them to go fuck themselves and/or call the cops

Ain't nice, but that's the world we're living in. And that's not going to change anytime soon.

You bring up fair points. It's a shame that more places aren't moderated, but then again every palace needs a sewer. The less than savory people in less savory forums need a place to go so they generally don't linger among the more civil people.
Still, problems arise when the hateful sorts decide they want to venture out and raise some hell. If not checked, they'll likely up the ante until they get what ever it is they want. And judging by what looks to me, quite a few new accounts made by people who want to be an asshole on the Escapist, there's not much that can be done to stop the assholes.

I guess I'm just a bit irritated by people who were offensive, but not enough to warrant moderation on the Escapist.

 

[Coreless]

You know... I used to remember when the gaming community was about enjoying games and not crusading against every injustice that flies out of the aether. I say to hell with both sides of this nonsense, to hell with Jim and his crusaders and to hell with the anonymous trolls on 4chan, I'm not going to be held responsible for any of it and I am definitely not going to play this "your either with us or against us" bullshit. You guys want to start drawing red lines and building trenches then I will fight against both sides adamantly and make sure none of you get what you want.

 

[Karadalis]

So Jim... whats your solution?

I see alot of fingerpointing from you but i dont see a solution.

Fact is the nature of the internet doesnt really allow any sort of counteraction kept for those who are in control of their little corner of it. It is steams business to get rid of harassment, not mine. You know why? BECAUSE I DONT HAVE ANY POWER TO CHANGE IT.

Seriously.. if i could i would stop it. But i neither have the power nor the tools NOR THE RIGHTS to do it.

Second.. yes that particular Dev was to blame for putting her PRIVATE DATA on the bloody fucking internet.

It is internet 101 to never put your public data onto it.. you get told this about a 100 times by all sorts of different people, from TV shows to internet learning courses.. everyone tells you not to do it.

Every private person has only themselves to blame when they still do it, but because shes a Dev and a woman she suddenly doesnt falls under this rule?

The internet IS full of hatefull people.. why the hell do you feel the need to invite them into your private live? DONT DO THAT.

Thats the same as if youre a black guy showing up to the yearly KKK meeting and wondering why everyone would really really like to kill you.

You... dont... do... that.

Or do you expect me to fight the KKK now too?

The internet is not a moraly "good" place.. the sooner people finaly realize the better. Going into it and expecting pink ponies and peaches will have you learn how ugly people can be in an instant.

And also would you finaly stop showing off "tropes vs. women" as some sort of great example of women getting harrased? She intentionaly stooked the fire and then used the absolutely not surprising fallout to promote her own career. She PROFITTED from poking at 4chan wich was flooded with advertisements for her video series. You dont go poking the wasp nest and then act shocked when you get stung. But in this case she didnt got stung... she was prepared.. and now shes raking in the big money.

Yes it is absolutely horrible that people get harrased out on the net, but neither is this a women only problem nor is it only males who do it. Most internet harrasement is done by both genders and it isnt an isolated problem of the games industry.

Heck, teenagers actually commit suicide because they get mobbed online by their peers. Its the job of the people in control of social media and and the persons emidiantly surrounding the issue to make sure it doesnt get this far. Not mine (unless i am infact one of the persons involved)

Other peoples problems arent mine just because they are involved in the same hobby as i.. as harsh as that sounds.

No call of "we have to change" is infact gonna change anything.

Haters gonna hate no matter how many goody two shoes white knights jump into action. Nothing and i mean nothing will change those bastards behavior.

You know why? Because they can ignore me without consequences. It is that lack of consequences that makes your whole propsition of "changing the community" or whatever totaly pointless. No matter how many petitions or campaigns or whatever have you people run.. it will not suddenly turn little satan into little jesus.. because little satan doesnt 'HAVE to change.. he can just ignore me and everyone else and keep going being the hatefull little sorry existance he is.

So for the love of got stop telling me what a horrible horrible person i am for not changing the things I CANNOT CHANGE.

Give me admin powers on facebook and ill do everything i can to kick the people who harass others off the service.. but as a mere user all i can do is raise a little stink that no one cares for.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

You know... I used to remember when the gaming community was about enjoying games and not crusading against every injustice that flies out of the aether. I say to hell with both sides of this nonsense, to hell with Jim and his crusaders and to hell with the anonymous trolls on 4chan, I'm not going to be held responsible for any of it and I am definitely not going to play this "your either with us or against us" bullshit. You guys want to start drawing red lines and building trenches then I will fight against both sides adamantly and make sure none of you get what you want.

I'd say the lines were drawn, and the trenches dug for a very long time.
As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want. Less opposition while they make people miserable. And if you fight both sides, you're just adding misery by fighting the people the trolls are making miserable which kinda offsets what you do against the trolls.

I'm not saying police the whole internet, or even really go out of your way, but doing nothing, saying it's not your problem, it's basically letting the trolls, and haters win. They don't want you against them. They want you with them, or at least working towards a similar goal which would likely be fighting the victims, and the people trying to defend the victims.

What, exactly, is wrong with trying to make a place more civil, anyhow?

People wouldn't have to "crusade" against injustices if they weren't so rampant, and shrugged off, and allowed to be. Doesn't matter how big, or little the injustices are, it's just more weight added to the camel's back.

 

[spartenX]

imagine your in high school. your walking down a hallway when you see a group of kids bullying another kid who just recently came out of the closet. they are bullying for being gay. it's mostly verbal bullying (insults, name calling and the like), but you do hear one or two threats of violence that you aren't sure whether the bullies are serious about.
Do you:
A) go tell a teacher or other staff member whats happening, or even try to bring them to where the bullying is happening so they can see for themselves
B) go stand up to the bullies, and maybe even try to get the victim away from them
C) walk by the whole thing because its not your problem, and never think about it again
D) walk by, and then when you overhear the victim talking to his friends about what happened, tell the victim "well what did you expect for being open about your sexuality"

Except that this is a really poor analogy, because among other things:

1. I did not witness this event.

so what? you must have witnessed some form of bullying in your life right? and if not, then imagine your coming across a case of bullying. you do know what imagine means right?

2. I don't even go to high school anymore.

yet more proof you don't understand what the word imagine means. Or were just not able to infer that when I said "imagine your in high school" i meant as a student

3. If I were to enter said high school, I would be ejected from the grounds for trespassing, and likely reported to the police as being a suspected pedophile for being an adult hanging around a high school I have no business being at.

....seriously, you actually thought I was saying that people should just walk into a high school they don't go to, at any age? please tell me your joking on this part.

4. I live in a completely different country than the incidents happened in, on the other side of the world.

which I'm sure is the case for many of the abuser on the internet. their still able to abuse people, so you have no point with this

5. There are no "teachers" or "staff members" to complain to.

mods and admins

6. Whatever "teachers" or "staff members" there are, can't do anything to fix the problem.

mods and admins banning the abusers. In fact some jerk in this thread got banned just a few posts ago

Your analogy paints us all as bystanders to an event that most of us were never in proximity to, and can do nothing about.

If this were to happen in a community that I was actually a part of, I would say something. But going into a community I have nothing to do with and complaining is not likely to be productive. And no, just because I play some games does not make me part of the "gaming community" in general, nor the Steam or 4chan communities in particular.

well as I said in the comment your responding to:

Jim is not telling you to go out and setup some sort of internet vigilante system, all he wants is for more people to act like you guys, and stand up against bullies when you see it happening in the community you are a part of.

and since you missed it the first time, let me make it clear. you should be doing this stuff when your around it, not jumping into other communities and going on some sort of anti-bullying crusade. the video, and the point of my analogy, was to try and get people to stop victim blaming, or just saying that it isn't their problem because they aren't directly involved, when the events are happening around them. something which you somehow completely missed the point on because you got to hung up on the analogy. oh and just to make sure no more confusion happens, let me spell out the analogy for you

high school=website
hall way=forum thread
bullies=shouldn't have to explain
victim=see previous
insults, and threats of violence=the insults and threats of violence in the forum posts
teachers and staff=admins and mods

there hopefully that cleared things up for you

 

[MPgmr]

As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want.

No. Just...no.

The one objective of a troll is get a rise out of others. Ignoring and reporting them is the ideal way to deprive them of that satisfaction. It's one of the basic rules of the internet: "DO NOT FEED THE TROLL".

People like you are the ones giving trolls exactly what they want: a reaction.

 

[Karadalis]

You know... I used to remember when the gaming community was about enjoying games and not crusading against every injustice that flies out of the aether. I say to hell with both sides of this nonsense, to hell with Jim and his crusaders and to hell with the anonymous trolls on 4chan, I'm not going to be held responsible for any of it and I am definitely not going to play this "your either with us or against us" bullshit. You guys want to start drawing red lines and building trenches then I will fight against both sides adamantly and make sure none of you get what you want.

I'd say the lines were drawn, and the trenches dug for a very long time.
As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want. Less opposition while they make people miserable. And if you fight both sides, you're just adding misery by fighting the people the trolls are making miserable which kinda offsets what you do against the trolls.

I'm not saying police the whole internet, or even really go out of your way, but doing nothing, saying it's not your problem, it's basically letting the trolls, and haters win. They don't want you against them. They want you with them, or at least working towards a similar goal which would likely be fighting the victims, and the people trying to defend the victims.

What, exactly, is wrong with trying to make a place more civil, anyhow?

People wouldn't have to "crusade" against injustices if they weren't so rampant, and shrugged off, and allowed to be. Doesn't matter how big, or little the injustices are, it's just more weight added to the camel's back.

Quite the contrary.. shrugging it off is exactly the way to go. Anything else just gives the trolls and haters a feel of accomplishment.. heck this video i promise you will have several of those low lifes giggle with glee.

As i said before.. he (or any other mere user) does neither have the tools, the rights or actual influence to change their behavior.. all he would do by oposing those trolls is adding more fuel to the fire.

Oposing trolls is what they want.. they want you to fight them..

Why do you think the phrase "Dont feed the trolls" has been created in the first place and has never lost its meaningfullness?

The only way to win against trolls is to completly ignore them and remove any plattform they stand on to spread their bile from underneath them. And the only ones who can remove that plattform isnt you or me but the people in charge of the plattforms.

"Actively" fighting trolls only has the oposite effect. So ignoring them is the best course of action anyone can take.

Jims little video here does nothing to solve anything and only creates more conflict and reinforces the opinions and glee of those hatefull no livers.

So if youre fighting trolls "actively" youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem.

 

[JimB]

The whole idea of religion is to tell fictitious tales in order to bolster support and funding for the religious organization. Can you name any church that doesn't lie to its followers?

A lie differs from a mistake in the intent of the speaker. Most of the church members I have met believe the things they say (or, I suppose, are good enough liars to fool me, though I trust my instincts on that). The Westboro Baptists do not.

That is not what I said[...]

Ah, yes, you only said you don't care about their disapproval. I suppose it's unfair to exclude the possibility of you being interested in approval, then.

[...]and you clearly don't know what a sociopath is.

How convenient for you that it seems to be clear enough that you can simply make that declaration without offering any supporting evidence. If you want a clinical discussion, then by all means let us have one: "sociopathy" is an outdated diagnostic term used to describe a person whose behavior is characterized by violating social norms and/or a lack of conscience and empathy. I believe it has since been replaced in America by "antisocial personality disorder," but I find the antiquated term to have a certain charm to it, and I enjoy using it.

Calling a guy an idiot through Twitter is very different from killing a person, and honestly I'm kind of awed you can even try to make this comparison.

I'm pleased to impart a sense of awe into your life, I guess.

But I'll try and take it seriously: you can punish a murderer (in case the killing wasn't in self-defense or something similar)[...]

Like how a lie is differentiated from a mistake by the speaker's intent, murder is differentiated from killing by the killer's intent. It is not possible to murder someone in self-defense: Murder is the act of killing a person unlawfully, with no demonstrable cause to excuse the killing.

[...]because there is a particular crime that everyone (sane) agrees is very bad. Meanwhile, there is no possible consensus on what kind of insults/harassing should be punished or not: what I find offensive may be very different from what you do.

Your argument as stated seemed to be that trolling is impossible to prevent completely, and we therefore ought not to do anything about it. The same impossibility applies to murder, yet despite the impossibility of ever eliminating that behavior, you consider that fight worth having. To judge by your argument here, you make the exception because everyone everywhere agrees with you except for the people who don't, whom you dismiss as insane.

I really don't know what to make of that. First you say you don't care whether society disapproves of you, but then you act like you're only willing to take or support action taken by others if every sane person on the planet supports it. I do not know how to interpret this seeming contradiction.

 

[spartenX]

As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want.

No. Just...no.

The one objective of a troll is get a rise out of others. Ignoring and reporting them is the ideal way to deprive them of that satisfaction. It's one of the basic rules of the internet: "DO NOT FEED THE TROLL".

People like you are the ones giving trolls exactly what they want: a reaction.

how do you know that all of the ass holes on the internet are trolls, and just doing this for attention? How do you know none of these guys are saying this shit because they actually believe their right in saying that women are somehow not as good as men? How do you know none of these guys honestly think a person should be rapped or killed just for being a women in the gaming community?

 

[Erttheking]

All I'm going to say is this: nobody white-knighted like this for Phil Fish, and Phil Fish actually made something worth a fuck.

Is that why Jim when out of his way to make a video about the whole mess around him?
<youtube=gMVGHF0XLTA>

And why are you wording it as if whether or not a person should be defended from harassment online depends on the quality of the games they've made are?

 

[Luminos564]

Aw, but Jim "Nothing to do with me" is a pretty damn good way to stay clear of the volatile toxin of our community. In my experience, putting yourself into a situation where harassment of any kind went down is simply asking for yourself to be exposed and, as you said, "thrown to the wolves". Plus, when the eventual harassers and white knights have their showdown, I'd like to stay far away from either side since their views on the matter do not reflect mine.

 

[MPgmr]

how do you know that all of the ass holes on the internet are trolls, and just doing this for attention? How do you know none of these guys are saying this shit because they actually believe their right in saying that women are somehow not as good as men? How do you know none of these guys honestly think a person should be rapped or killed just for being a women in the gaming community?

I don't, but I know better than to give them an audience.

 

[Coreless]

"As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved"

Why should I help any of you? Give me a good reason why I should get involved at all? So every random person who gets insulted can feel better about jumping into a den of lions? If you can't handle the heat then stay off the freaking internet. By not doing anything I am staying neutral, of course its not neutral to you because you have a hand in the game and quite frankly I don't give a damn about either so neither you or they will gain any benefit but nice try. Trolls need attention and you seem to be providing them with every reason to continue so please don't start passing the buck off to everyone else thank you, if you want to continue fanning the flames don't get mad when the fire never dies out.

"I'm not saying police the whole internet, or even really go out of your way, but doing nothing, saying it's not your problem, it's basically letting the trolls, and haters win"

But that is precisely what you are saying, stop trying to beat around the bush and just come out and say it, "you're either with us... or you're with them". You're trying to force these issues upon everyone and I am not going to be told what I should be doing, who I should be doing it for and why I should be doing it.

People wouldn't have to "crusade" against injustices if they weren't so rampant, and shrugged off, and allowed to be. Doesn't matter how big, or little the injustices are, it's just more weight added to the camel's back.

If they weren't so rampant...lol yea ok, look how quickly Jim and the whole internet came to her rescue and your claiming there is so much injustice lol...what tosh. These trolls have about the same power as an ant does on the earth's gravity and by that I mean absolutely none, zip, zilch, nada.

 

[Karadalis]

As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want.

No. Just...no.

The one objective of a troll is get a rise out of others. Ignoring and reporting them is the ideal way to deprive them of that satisfaction. It's one of the basic rules of the internet: "DO NOT FEED THE TROLL".

People like you are the ones giving trolls exactly what they want: a reaction.

how do you know that all of the ass holes on the internet are trolls, and just doing this for attention? How do you know none of these guys are saying this shit because they actually believe their right in saying that women are somehow not as good as men? How do you know none of these guys honestly think a person should be rapped or killed just for being a women in the gaming community?

Because if they believe that then they are not a problem for the gaming community and prolly a case for the local police force.

"Troll" is just a name we gave these people.

The thing is, all these people are looking for trouble. By arguing against them or giving them a plattform (wich you do when you engage them in an argument) you give them exactly what they want.

You give them opposition, an enemy, a target.

Ignore them and simply remove their "contributions". Do you know how frustrating that is? If i simply remove their mysoginistic diarhea without even aknowledging their existance how do you think that makes these people feel? That is exactly the course to take.

However if i actively engage in an argument with them it will just keep going and going and going till im burned out.

Blaming everyone else for the actions of these people is really counter productive. Raising a stink is counterproductive. Giving them ANY FORM of attention is counter productive.

These people exist.. we cant change that... we cant change their personalities nor their backwards views of the world. What we can do however is not aknowledge them.

People like jim who bring these problems to the attention of the net are not doing the persons getting harassed a service. The only people who can actually help people who get harrased are the owners of the websites where it happened. Steam, facebook, twitter etc.

And they should be the only ones to deal with these issues because they can deal with it without raising attention. Youre taking away the only thing that keeps the trolls going, conflict, and they will go away by themselves because its no fun for them anymore.

In the end these hatefull people are only as powerfull as you make them yourselfe. In truth they are just as powerless as any other user.

If RL gets involved then its the job of the police and law enforcement to sort things out and not the job of the common gamer to "somehow" get involved. Cause you know... just because people murder people doesnt mean i have to become some sort of batman. It means that if i see suspicious behavior i call onto the people who actually have the power to put an end to it. Thats exactly what everyone should do. But blaming me because i didnt throw myselfe infront of the bullet? That goes way to far.

 

[truckspond]

Am I the only one who is wondering what that LoZ game was at the start?

 

[Rebel_Raven]

As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want.

No. Just...no.

The one objective of a troll is get a rise out of others. Ignoring and reporting them is the ideal way to deprive them of that satisfaction. It's one of the basic rules of the internet: "DO NOT FEED THE TROLL".

People like you are the ones giving trolls exactly what they want: a reaction.

You can't ignore -and- report them. You acknowledge their existence when you report them, you see. They get their reaction when you report them. Considering all the new accounts I see soon after someone gets banned expertly making hot topics to get a badge back, it doesn't really help, so much as tests them if they can be arsed to make a new account, and they generally can be.

If you ignore them, well, the old adage comes to mind, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing" pretty much for the exact reasons I laid out. They don't want you against them. They want to harass people freely without repercussion.

You know... I used to remember when the gaming community was about enjoying games and not crusading against every injustice that flies out of the aether. I say to hell with both sides of this nonsense, to hell with Jim and his crusaders and to hell with the anonymous trolls on 4chan, I'm not going to be held responsible for any of it and I am definitely not going to play this "your either with us or against us" bullshit. You guys want to start drawing red lines and building trenches then I will fight against both sides adamantly and make sure none of you get what you want.

I'd say the lines were drawn, and the trenches dug for a very long time.
As much as I hate to say it, you're not being neutral in this matter saying "the hell with both sides" because one side definitely benefits from having a person decide to not get involved, and that's the trolls, and haters. You're not doing anything about them, are you? You're letting them run free without repercussion even right under your nose. That's pretty much exactly what they want. Less opposition while they make people miserable. And if you fight both sides, you're just adding misery by fighting the people the trolls are making miserable which kinda offsets what you do against the trolls.

I'm not saying police the whole internet, or even really go out of your way, but doing nothing, saying it's not your problem, it's basically letting the trolls, and haters win. They don't want you against them. They want you with them, or at least working towards a similar goal which would likely be fighting the victims, and the people trying to defend the victims.

What, exactly, is wrong with trying to make a place more civil, anyhow?

People wouldn't have to "crusade" against injustices if they weren't so rampant, and shrugged off, and allowed to be. Doesn't matter how big, or little the injustices are, it's just more weight added to the camel's back.

Quite the contrary.. shrugging it off is exactly the way to go. Anything else just gives the trolls and haters a feel of accomplishment.. heck this video i promise you will have several of those low lifes giggle with glee.

As i said before.. he (or any other mere user) does neither have the tools, the rights or actual influence to change their behavior.. all he would do by oposing those trolls is adding more fuel to the fire.

Oposing trolls is what they want.. they want you to fight them..

Why do you think the phrase "Dont feed the trolls" has been created in the first place and has never lost its meaningfullness?

The only way to win against trolls is to completly ignore them and remove any plattform they stand on to spread their bile from underneath them. And the only ones who can remove that plattform isnt you or me but the people in charge of the plattforms.

"Actively" fighting trolls only has the oposite effect. So ignoring them is the best course of action anyone can take.

Jims little video here does nothing to solve anything and only creates more conflict and reinforces the opinions and glee of those hatefull no livers.

So if youre fighting trolls "actively" youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem.

And not fighting trolls means they work harder to get a reaction. They don't know where the lines are drawn until they cross them, and they're eager to find those lines. They'll get more and more obnoxious until they get the reaction they want, and even then that might not stop them from getting worse. Due to that it's generally impossible to ignore them because part of their joy is figuring out what, exactly, is the ***** in your armor.

"Don't feed the trolls" is a failure, you see. For as long as it's existed, for all the sense it might make, it's failed as it hasn't stopped trolling, and likely never will. All it did was let trolling get more and more obnoxious by not giving repercussions to trolling.
Being "banned" or suspended, or whatever doesn't stop trolls. It doesn't hurt them. When they're driven to make people miserable, nothing's really going to stop them. They'll just make new accounts.

 

[nondescript]

I agree, though not on the same terms.

I think its not so much that people act like bungholes because of games or because "their not real gamers" but because we live in an internet age, and it's so much easier to find all the hateful soapbox-standers when they can locate forums to platform on. Plus the internet gives them that vague anonymity that makes us all feel we can speak as freely as we wish.

Perhaps more freely than our brain-to-mouth filter would allow, were we using it.