Spiral Knights - It's not the years, it's the mileage.

It's not the years, it's the mileage.

11 replies [Last post]

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 00:09

Kilbride

Maybe this belongs in the suggestions section, but I am thinking this might be valuable for general consumption.

It is incredibly inappropriate to accuse, threaten or otherwise use anger and other displays of negative emotion to get what you want. Yes, yes, I know this is the internet, but we can still attempt to be civil. Sometimes we get upset over change or perceived change, but we ought to be able to respond like sensible adults (or teenagers 13 or older). Take notes! This might be helpful, if you find that verbal bullying and tantrums are not achieving the desired results in your personal, academic or professional life.

Or, I dunno, a video game.

We have seen some negative examples of how to respond to game devs and staff, so I thought I'd stick with some positive examples. Here's a couple of (strictly hypothetical) scenarios for you:

Kilbride: Hey, I have a question about this weapon that I just absolutely love. Since the latest patch, it seems to be functioning differently and I'm not happy about it.

Game Dev: The patch did not include any changes to weaponry in the game.

Kilbride: Oh. I'll try using it again. Are you sure nobody else has noticed something different? Thank you for responding.

For this next example, I am going to show you a super magical technique, called THE POSITIVE SANDWICH. It's great:

Eden: This latest update to the game includes some awesome-looking new armor and some challenging content. However, I'm very concerned that access to that new content is reserved strictly for players who are willing to engage in a very expensive sort of lottery. This sort of limited access is very frustrating to me, as a student on a budget. I enjoy the gameplay and want to experience all the content. This is one of my favorite games!

Game Dev: You may want to consider splitting the cost of the access with some of your friends and make sure that you are well prepared for the new content! Thank you for the feedback; we are looking at alternatives regarding the access to the new content.

Eden: Hm, okay. I guess I'll wait and see what happens. Thanks.

See how that works? Everybody needs a some criticism from time to time, it's how we become better. However, if you really want to move things along, start by letting the person know that you are in their corner! Nobody likes to feel bullied or have their personal character attacked, start with something encouraging. Then, offer your suggestion on what could be improved or communicate what specifically is bothering you. Follow up with another positive remark. If done with sincerity, you will be able to express your concerns but leave the other person feeling good about the exchange, even if they were initially feeling defensive.

Or, I guess you could set the forum on fire and start throwing bricks and swearing a bunch.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 00:25

Demonicsothe

This thread is in for a lot

This thread is in for a lot of fecal matter storm.

Or, be filled with extremely well thought out thoughts, essays, and harvard worthy arguments.

But more likely, become a thread for everyone to indulge in their satirical fancies and subtle, gentlemen-like finger pointing.

I suggest you take this to the graveyard to avoid unnecessaryly causing a flame war.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 01:07

Diamondshreddie

This is true

And i appreciate your ability to reason.

i for one love the radiant sun shards bomb for its incredible potency at close ranges, and extra damage to monsters within Firestrom citadel. but it has been reported that this bomb is being changed. i dont like it, but i cant help the fact that i could get used to it, and i may find new use for it as well! change isnt always happilly accepted, but it isnt always bad.

if only people could think like this before they freak out.
i know i myself have acted uncivil in certain circumstances at times.

thank you for postig this informative thread, it is in my hopes that people come to mind their actions after reading what you have to say

good day~

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 02:48

Blitzwingoo

It seems like you're

It seems like you're advocating the "You can catch more flies with Honey than Vinegar" approach. While I agree that discussion should be kept relatively civil, I disagree with telling people how they should express themselves. If people are raging about something and want to express rage, who are we to tell them to express themselves politely? That's almost as bad as those people trying to tell other people they're sick of seeing negative comments, and that people should not post any negative comments about the game.

I actually think you got things backwards. If people are posting things in rage or an offensive manner, there's most likely an underlining reason for it more than they're just ragers or offensive people. It takes effort and time to come onto the forums and make a post, so whatever is motivating them to do so rather than to just simply forget about it must be strong.

Your first example of the Stealth Patches to weapons....you may think people are quick to anger that their weapon is perceived to have changed to the be the problem. I think the more underlining problem is that people do not like the lack of transparency of Stealth Patches and the fact that it has happened before. They are raging because the players have a lack of trust in OOO because of such. Therefore is it really up to the players to change their tone to be more polite.....or should it be up to OOO to try to make themselves seen as more trustworthy?

Your second example with the Shadow Key "expensive lottery" system. I believe the underlining problem there is the player's perception of OOO's greed. So again, should it be the players who should be more polite in requesting OOO to lessen the expense or should it be OOO's responsibility to mitigate the player's perception that OOO may be being too greedy?

Whether the perception of OOO's lack of trustworthiness or greed is true or not, upset people have the right to express themselves in whatever manner they like. There's always going to be people upset about something, telling them how to express their grievances won't solve their grievances.....but I think OOO working on the underlining problems will mitigate the number of upset people.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 03:18

Guyinshinyarmour

Trololol.

Who the hell do you think you are? This is the internet; we're all poop flinging monkeys. How dare you try to tell us that being civil or not going straight to hyperbole is a good thing? I mean, we have to be civil and make sense when dealing with people we actually know all the time. We're entitled to crap all over some random stranger and be complete idiots. It balances, right? Right?

I'll also have you know that we of the internet work tirelessly to keep standards this low. Would you invalidate all this effort? How selfish!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 03:24

Psychodestroyer

....

I heard 'Sandwich.'

....

I'm hungry.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 03:32

Jaroche

Maturity and patience from an

Maturity and patience from an mmo community? that's exclusive for a closed beta community.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 04:16

Rubyeclipse

OP has great intent and good

OP has great intent and good suggestions.

The irony, as life goes, is that those who truly need to hear it are also those who refuse to listen. :)

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 06:25

Sir-Didymus

“The offspring of riches:

“The offspring of riches: Pride, vanity, ostentation, arrogance, tyranny”

-Mark Twain-

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 09:39

Xylka-Mkii

"Patience, cooperation,

"Patience, cooperation, compromises and understanding are the nicest and easy ways of getting things accomplished, but we've grown so used to insulting each other that compliments have become insults and vice versa."

~Xeirla (a.k.a Me)

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 09:54

#10

Tengu

@demonicsothe you were right

@demonicsothe

you were right on all aspects, and all within 8 posts :D I love the intarwebs.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 13:04

#11

Aylnine

I think in most cases it's

I think in most cases it's not so much the tone someone chooses to express themselves with, but the underlying message and intent. The people who fling blatant insults and throw temper tantrums are easy to see and ignore (for us, not necessarily the devs/GMs who have to put up with it and put out the fire), but the ones who choose sarcasm, passive-aggressive tactics, and general thread derailment in order to point out certain things are the ones who seem to really rile up players' tempers here. Unfortunately, there's no good way to help those people express themselves more politely or clearly, because their underlying message is not nice and is often personal rather than game-related. The only thing anyone can do to help is to look at their own prejudices, think for a moment if it's really worth getting angry at some guy or game over the internet, and then be the bigger knight and move on.

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It's not the years, it's the mileage.