[Goldman]

Warning, the below text mass wanders before finding its point and is a bit of a rant.

It's funny, at this point I find myself siding with arguments I was once vehemently against 5-6 years ago. I think it’s a combination of A) The forum, and B) players outlook on games.

When the forums were, well not new but perhaps younger the site really seemed to only be used for three things. Organizing games, the B/S/T and general discussion on the game (Think of the Options Paper days with KD). I think at that point there may not even have been an off topic section, but in any case the community was centered on the game and how to improve it.

If you wanted to socialize with someone, you generally met them at a game, hit it off and became friends from there. With this generation of the community we find many more people who connect through online persona rather than who they really are. As such they carry this behaviour over to the field (be it intentional to “fit in” or they view their forum-self as the character they play when they dress up to shoot people with plastic in the woods). This results in players behaving in the much more selfish, stand-offish, or even asshole way they do on the forums.

Don’t get me wrong, there certainly used to be rivalries and hatred spewed back and forth (Remember the old Wolfpack vs. ASC days?) However those differences were based between people who for the most part, knew each other in real life. As much as there was disagreement, there was also respect for the person as a player and as a person. It’s kind of hard to generally act like a douche to someone you play with or see once a month.

In addition to that Poncho and Scarecrow’s old adage of “toleration is a form of consent”. Hosts vary so much now, and players aren’t as bound to a specific field as they once were. (There used to always be a consistent Deadlands crew, FR crew, Splatters crew, etc. that you could count on showing up for a game at a given field, or any game hosted by a certain host.) This variance prevents hosts or even players who frequent specific fields and games from taking action against the offending parties. As people realize there is no real punishment for unsportsmanlike behaviour their own selfish need to feed their ego takes over.

I always suspected this is what a game organizer’s forum would be there for. As organizers or hosts receive complaints about a player, they would dump them in that section of the forum. If the concerns seem valid, that player no longer finds themselves welcome at games until they shape up. I distinctly remember this is how ASC used to operate, but somewhere the concept seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

The solution? Organizers/hosts may have to take a further step to pay attention to these kinds of complaints and bar people from attending their games. Players need to step up if this person shows up, and refuse to participate until they leave the field. Generally the community at large needs to put on its “big boy pants” and stop tolerating the assholes and game spoilers. Do you see a person in particular cheating? Even a whole team? Document it, speak to the hosts and DO SOMETHING.

/rant