Stop being cool, Cross.

I agree fully with this critique however it must be noted that this critique, with full potency and accuracy can be equally leveled at all part of the forms, and to be even more blunt at most posters at least once or twice.

Common abuse of language to apply a "subtlety" derogatory undercurrent is often done at only a pseudo conscious level I will grant, and sometimes done with a measure of humor (if satirical humor so still mocking).

"Derpship"
"Killer Bee"
"Bullet hose"
"n00b tube"
"wall hack"
"perma scan"

Or the even less masked

"EZ-mode-[weapon name]"
"Assault 514"
"Scout 514"
"Tank 514"

Most of these are evoked by a frustrating experience with whatever the object of derision is, and in that light may serve as an accurate indicator that something is out of balance (the rage over the TAR as an AV weapon for example certainly was rage but it did in fact come from a very valid concern over a game imbalance) however accurate or not the hyperbole simply serves no valid constructive purpose and in fact is detrimental to the very discussion of balance that is usually claimed as the intent of all parties involved.

If I consider the communications which I am personally privy to involving many parties in this current discussion I could easily call out more than one on doing this exact thing (I'm talking individuals here not groups) but I will only call out myself because to be blunt "naming and shaming" as a forum or discourse tactic is petty at best.

So to call out myself, during this month I referred to the use of stacked Myos as running a "tigger" fit. It was done off the cuff and at the time I considered myself to be acting for humors sake as much as anything but I recognized how the tone of such once off labeling smacked of bias and responded by posting a thread seeking community feedback on the issue.
Let me be very clear here, while that thread was posted with a "CPM" tag on it and will certainly be feedback I forward to CCP I would have posted it even were I not a CPM because I value correcting my own bias and the way to do that is to seek information with an open mind and calm heart especially in areas where personal investment is present.

Calling someone out for having bias is akin to calling someone out for having a nose, it is not the presence of any that matters or is relevant, rather it is the individuals ability and willingness to engage beyond the scope of their own interests, something that you can (and I believe should) challenge individuals to do but that you cannot force individuals to do.

I'll paraphrase for a moment


When communicating, regardless of the topic or the format, asking what you intend to achieve by your communications is fundamental and vital (though sadly not requisite). Choices made without knowing what result is sought, what goal is to be attained, are not actions but relegated to the preview of the reactionary.
Reaction is fine for burns, smothering, and other contexts of immediate peril, they keep us alive. Out side of that context they are a detriment to understanding, growth and development as they lack the facility to draw new information, behavior, or experience into the enacted trends, rather they merely replicate what is already present lending themselves to entrenchment and stagnation.

No one is perfect, be it group or individual. As that is a universal constant it is also no excuse for not seeking to improve upon ones own behavior, a responsibility incumbent upon each of us personally and best left to each individual rather than application of punitive social actions.

This is an "off topic" sub-forum of a video game forum. It is an internet medium and largely anonymous.
It grants access to people of many races, ages, nations, etc.
Keeping it light hearted isn't unreasonable, keeping the larger scope of our lives as a primary focus is likely healthy.
But none of that means the actors here are NPCs, that this social context is an implication free "mini-game" or that our choices hold no implications. Out of sight (behind a keyboard) may be out of mind, but it isn't fiction.
I would encourage everyone, as I do myself, to make the conscious effort to be considerate and rational in interactions.
This should in fact be easier on the internet because when we are overwrought we can turn on "push to talk", click "hide poster", take a break form the keys, etc.

/end serious post

back to more fun topics

Cheers,
Cross

CrossGǪ You are performing your role as CPM pretty much how I expected you wouldGǪ. Very well.

When it comes to Community interaction, there has never been a better CPM.

Before I start, I'm actually pretty irritated at the sudden influx of, ahem, 'tourists'. I'd intended to simply elaborate on the point of xenophobia in the barbershop before bringing up more provocative points that were tangentially related that I'd been feeling for a while. Having certain enthusiastic individuals *cough cat cough* reading the thread and deciding that what I had posted was 'glorious', suddenly it was linked everywhere, at which point a bunch of people come in to agree with me. This immediately turned the whole thing into an us vs them situation, something where nobody is honestly going to come any closer to understanding anyone else's concerns and everyone just gets angry.

You misunderstand. I don't find you all to be entirely reprehensible individuals who are to be avoided at all costs. In general, I find the banter here entertaining. However, I can't stand attempting to discuss most game balance here, because the atmosphere is honestly just so anti-everything else that it's really not worth the hassle.

I too apologise for turning things into a bit of a pissing contest. I am internally debating creating a 'vehicle' oriented thread that follows in the footsteps of the barbershop and the other 'role oriented focus group' threads that have started up, I can only imagine the neutron star levels of flamewar, tears and condensed hate that it might have - especially from 'tourists'.

I call bullshit on this.

...perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away...

You may think that's an unfair point. If you do, I invite you to address my initial points here:

1. This place is very hostile to outsiders. When someone who isn't a regular comes in and says something that the clannish group here doesn't agree with, there are immediate complaints about 'tourists'.

2. Derogatory labels are applied to other classes and weapons - it's not enough to just call rifles, 'rifles', they have to be called 'Fine Rifles'.

3. This is one of the few places on the forums where I genuinely see people trying grudgematches, where people drag up months old posts and attack others over it - particularly when said 'others' are filthy gaijin daring to speak in the sacred land. I joke about 'The Dossier', but the inspiration for recording posts (albeit, I hope, in a much more civil manner) came from the bickering here.

To those who may be interested: I am currently typing up a post in GD that will have some pretty numbers in it. It will include the stats for Amarr, Gallente, and Caldari suits, all Anti Shield and Anti Armour weapons and their stats and will compare each.

Healthy criticism would be appreciated, thank you for your time.

This would be the thread Ark just pulled a Combo Breaker onGǪ

Now. I have further quibbles. Firstly, going back to the love of grouping the evil outsiders, I would like to address your continuous insistence that I must be one of the 'Team Gallente All-Stars' and therefore hideously biased in favour of all Gallente gear. I strive to avoid bias, and though I post very pro-Gallente in FW and RP debates, I challenge you to find a single post within the past month in which I have proposed a distinctly pro-Gallente balance change that you feel is due to bias. For each post you find, I will either prove you wrong or link ten pro-scout posts in which posters in the barbershop have made suggestions coloured by their own bias.

As one with the forum-fu, plebeian attempts at megathreads displease me.

Write your threads first.

Secondly, and I suppose my defence of Kirk here is hardly likely to convince you I'm not just here because my friends are, since you insist on repeatedly bringing it up that quote of Kirk's is taken wildly, wildly out of context. The actual post in question is defending flux grenades. Why are you bashing on someone for defending the breach assault rifle and quoting posts completely unrelated to it? Kirk didn't help himself when he made what would otherwise be an entirely reasonable defence of himself when he explained his viewpoint on the breach AR (which, notably, was not in defence of the old breach AR and even advocated specific nerfs) rather than pointing out how absurdly out of context that post was, I suppose, but given you didn't even bother quoting the actual post but instead quoted someone else taking that post in dubious context you can hardly blame people for misunderstanding.



So this is, in fact, a completely unfair and factually incorrect summary of a situation, misquoting a misquote.
It does aggravate me to see such a zealous put-down of someone for reasons that are entirely unjustified, and in part yes, that is one of the reasons I felt the need to vent my disgust with some aspects of this thread.

Your forum-fu is goodGǪ Not only write it firstGǪ but remember to not post that you will post it before letting people know about it.
Otherwise you may be in the middle of building it and someone will come along and like your postGǪ and you will curse them in anticipation of them breaking your posts upGǪ Right.

Did you ever "compete" in Dust?

Today I learned that the USA has the highest rates of Lawnmower deaths in the world.

Da **** are you doing with them?

Today I learned that the USA has the highest rates of Lawnmower deaths in the world.

Da **** are you doing with them?

Today I learned that the USA has the highest rates of Lawnmower deaths in the world.

Da **** are you doing with them?

If "him" happens to be me, the best way to get me off your back is to have a convincing argument. If I think you're right, or I think you might be right, I'll either give you a wide berth or give you my support. If I think you're wrong or off-point, I'll tell you why. If I think you're willfully trying to do harm or are intentionally being dishonest, calling in backup won't help you; only Frame's hammer will get me off your back.

Today I learned that the USA has the highest rates of Lawnmower deaths in the world.

Da **** are you doing with them?

Today I learned that the USA has the highest rates of Lawnmower deaths in the world.

Da **** are you doing with them?