Nathan Caroland Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 ... and what you get when Nathan is awake and at work entirely too early and has a few minutes to kill. AKA, the rant, because everyone is on vacation and I can't holler at anyone right now. What is it about the internet that just makes a very large majority of people trolling assholes who act and speak out because they have the comfort of anonymity and the safety of being behind a computer screen, that just turns them into complete and utter assholes? Yup, I just said assholes. Large - assholes. Keyboard bravery I call it, and man does that irritate the hell out of me. Someone being an asshole, I can 100% handle and accept, hell, I can be one right back to you without a problem and likely do a better job of it at the end of the day. That being said, I completely despise folks that love to talk crap, act big, and just plain rude, and not be able to backup a single step of it in public or in person because they are afraid of the reaction they would get, verbal confrontation, or just flat out being put on their ass for their trouble. Own it, or suck it up and be a decent human being with some manners and a touch of common sense. Not even a lot, just a touch, enough so that you aren't a mouth breathing moron. I can't tell you how many times someone has ranted and raved, or called even myself and family out in some rather .. interesting ways, only to show up at a public convention and come over and smile at me and play nice and try and talk about this or that. It's rather entertaining the few times I've known who said individual was, and what they said behind the safety of a computer screen, only to call them on it face to face and see their reactions. Suffice it to say, they tucked and turned and I've never seen them since. Satisfying to say the least. Only once, has a person come up to me and actually owned up to what was said, and was as much of an ass in person as they were behind the screen - and you know what - I appreciate that. I know that what you see is what you get, and while I might not like it, I can certainly respect it for being true to your nature. Don't like something, have a strong opinion about another thing, or just plain frustrated and can't figure out the situation - take a deep breath, give someone a touch of respect and politeness until shown a reason otherwise, and sort your shit. And, now stepping off the soapbox and putting away the crazy eyes. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 TV Tropes: GIFT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolution Black Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Can relate to that totally Nathan. I try to only put on the internet what i am willing to say in person to someone. But I will always try and be civil first and foremost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Can relate to that totally Nathan. I try to only put on the internet what i am willing to say in person to someone. But I will always try and be civil first and foremost. Agreed with this. There's a difference between being a little more extroverted on the internet and being a completely different person. Always find it baffling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDisaster Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 "General annoyance of the day .." Does that mean we get one of these every day of the week? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucidicide Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 This is why I can't go on vacation. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patzer Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 So this is Nathan's way of saying "Come back Aaron (almost) all is forgiven"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papa smurf Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 *nod* *nod* yes I see. Confrontation is an anathema to some people. But typing and word vomit is fine. But I will be seeing you at gen con. Will poke you. Might be with a stick. Prolly a finger. Will also point you out to people who have no idea who you are sitting on a stool watching the masses give you money. (well deserved money) (◕‿◕✿) Maybe I will win the raffle this year. That jug you guard so cautiously. I want all of the shinys. Yes I stalk you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinweasel Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 "Anonymous" trolls and griefers are why it's so hard to keep nice things on the Internet. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunarSol Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 I'm finding the general negativity of the internet and nerd culture in particular harder to deal with these days. It's become a place where excitement and passion is quickly consumed by nitpicking and elitism. In part, this is because without a difference in opinion there's little to actually do on the internet, but there's also this trend towards proving who has the most discerning tastes (aka worst X ever). What's really upsetting to me is how much this bleeds into the rest of the world. I can't remember the last time I went to a movie with a group of people that didn't end with everyone quietly walking out, unwilling to communicate joy in fear that it will only prompt another to spend the rest of the evening tearing that joy apart. I don't know exactly what I want different, but it'd be nice to see fewer comment sections derailed by negativity at the very least. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valcurdra Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 I don't think the internet is completely to blame. There are so many people who will say one thing to your face and another behind your back. Honesty and forthright communication are totally out of fashion at the minute. Confrontation is frowned upon so heavily in society that the internet is one of the few outlets where you can get away with frustration spilling over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowopal Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Dig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Always amazes me how people on ye olde interwebbe seem to stop being able to tell the difference between opinion and fact, or between disagreeing with someone and being needlessly insulting. It's especially sickening when you meet them in person and they're all nervous and almost apologetic because they have this terrible online reputation, but go right back to being jackasses the moment they're keyboarded up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy in Suit Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Without a name and shame I remain unimpressed by this rant! (See what I did there??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgraz Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Totally agree. I am actually a bigger asshole in person because there is no threat of being banned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpectreEliteGaming Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 ... and internet trolls everywhere rejoice at the rage. I had to look at a string of my old posts and make sure this wasn't about me ... only to realize I've never met Nathan before. I do enjoy myself a little schadenfreude here and there, not going to lie, but I reserve that for people who are also dickheads. I don't like being a jerk to people who are nice but I'll enjoy being a jerk to people who are jerks and a ragequit really makes for a great day depending on the person. I'm pretty sure there are probably 3 types of trolls - ones who are bored and like to create conflict in their lives to make things more interesting, ones who use anonymity to gain an ego boost (as Nathan focuses on in his post - most unimpressive people irl) and then there are those who are stuck as a product of their culture, genuinely resentful towards or disappointed in pretty much most people or modt things or the state of society in general, really, and do it purely for the schadenfreude (Hi). I don't like the ego-boosting type trolls either but on the flipside, however, my counter-rant would be that I don't like people who are too touchy either though and I get annoyed by people who are easy to offend more than I get annoyed by annoying "mouthbreathers" - who I would rather just troll instead. If I am forced to check everything I say and somehow still upset you, I'll get pissed off and dismissive pretty quickly. I can be a pretty offensive person sometimes because of my opinionated nature, so I'm usually at least 50% at fault for any argument I get into. I am awfully surprised by your open honesty on your own company forums, though. Sounds like you had a bad day, wanna talk about it? I charge 1 LE model per hour. I can't think of anything witty to say that I would repeat in person at gencon... get back to you on that. EDIT: [Reserved for something witty and possibly a little offensive?] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rathnard Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I refuse to believe it's a large majority of people who act like total knobs on the internet. But it can seem like it. After all, they're the ones most likely to shout and rave and grab everyone's attention. Case in point - what proportion of members on this forum are or have behaved like trolls here? There have certainly been a few. But as a moderator I don't see us regularly warning/banning members every day (well, aside from the Russian spambots). So I can only assume that most people here don't succumb to the lure of internet anonymity and turn into trolls. Sure, it's not always so anonymous here (gaming groups and all) and I'm not going to say that the Wyrd Forums are a microcosm of the entire internet as a whole. But I still think it's easy to see trolls hogging the limelight and erroneously assume that the silent majority are the same. In any case, I totally think we should be teaching internet etiquette (along side internet safety, avoiding scammers/viruses, etc) at school. Especially given how often we see reports about peoples online behaviour coming back to bite them in the ass in real life. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpectreEliteGaming Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Also, I don't feel that having poor social skills or a lack of confidence is a legitimate excuse to act in a stereotypically geeky fashion in order to ultimately appease the in-group. I also resent things that reinforce the geek-stereotype (ugh - big bang theory) into some lame subculture in an equally lame attempt to promote the lifestyle in a "popular" light. You don't need to act like a geek just because you like geek shit. This is the rant thread, right? EDIT: Stuffs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunarSol Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I refuse to believe it's a large majority of people who act like total knobs on the internet. I actually suspect its very much a 1% that generates 90% sort of deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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