Chickens did a better job than I did. (Destiny)

by Claude Errera @, Monday, January 22, 2018, 16:45 (2257 days ago) @ Robot Chickens

Cruel, this isn't directed at you.

I hope I'm not overstepping here, but I'm going to imagine myself as Claude here. Many of you have decided the game isn't good and endlessly talk about that. I don't think he agrees. He suggested that the negativity is draining. Instead of looking at how you post, many of you are pivoting to the idea that D2 lacks a "je ne sais quoi" quality that brings about positive posts thus ignoring the constant stream of salt-infused posts. This misses the point. I think he still likes it and it's hard to come here when the prevailing vocalized mindset is that D2 sucks, and Bungie are bumbling fools. Over and over and OVER again. I don't even think he begrudges you for it. It's just hard to enjoy something and put effort into it when everyone around you is constantly saying it's terrible.

Took the day off to do some work, coming back to read stuff now.

Yeah, it seems like a bunch of people missed the point. I'm not trying to censor anyone (more on that further down), I'm just trying to make MY life a little better. I'm afraid of being infected by some of the more pervasive attitudes here (I noticed last night as I was reading this very thread that I was second-guessing the fun I'd just had playing the game because of some arguments I agreed with about Bungie's communication skills recently. And then I said "wait, what? I HAD FUN. I CAN HAVE FUN PLAYING THE GAME AND BE ANNOYED AT THE SAME TIME BY THE COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS. THEY'RE UNRELATED." The fact that I had to yell at myself to understand that says that I'm in a bad place right now. That should be OBVIOUS.)

The easiest solution is to walk away. Maybe just for a while, maybe longer - who knows? I love this community, in general, but right now, it's bringing me down, and I don't need that in my life.

I'm not saying you shouldn't be negative. I'm not saying you don't have a point if you think Bungie could do better. I'm saying that I don't want to be a part of that conversation any more.

Xenos, and Beorn, and Speed (and probably some other people) came up with the idea of a Criticism tag - and I think that it's a fine immediate solution to the current problem. I'm a little worried about it in the long run, because it's something we've NEVER done before, on any B.org forum - you've ALWAYS gotten the good with the bad, all mixed up. (That said, the good almost always far outweighed the bad, so we're facing a problem that's new, too.) I'm willing to let it have a trial run.

In answer to Korny's fears that it's going to quarantine the salty contingent - it's not. As Xenos pointed out, the majority of forumgoers probably won't even visit their settings, and the default is opt-in on all tags. In specific, it seems he might have misunderstood a basic policy in this post:

Xenos clearly explained that if he or another admin deems your post critical, they'll move it over. Now people will be like "I better make sure that I don't say anything too critical, or Xenos the Menace will strike, and my thought-out post will be hidden from members in the community whose input I'd enjoy reading."

Xenos clearly explained in several posts that the only way a thread (not a post, a THREAD) gets reclassified is if the majority of comments go negative. If you make a critical post in an otherwise neutral (ie not already tagged Criticism) thread, it'll stay there. This isn't about censorship. It's about making it possible to enjoy this forum without fear of being jumped on for saying positive things.

(This is a feeling I've actually discussed before; it's not the first time I've felt it here. When I log in to the forum, and there's a 15-post thread with a bunch of people all agreeing with each other about how terrible Bungie is for doing X or Y or not doing Z, even if I feel like they're not terrible for that, I won't wade in because I don't feel like being berated, and that's what it looks like is gonna happen. If you've participated in one of those threads, and you read this paragraph and say "well, he's just being a snowflake"... you're part of the problem. I'm not a fucking snowflake, and I can take criticism and scorn as well as the next guy, but THIS IS A FAN FORUM FOR A VIDEO GAME. Why would I subject myself to that sort of bullshit when my bandwidth for negative feelings is already saturated by politics, and social injustice, and climate change? I come here for the company, and to discuss a game (and a company) that I love. If I'm not going to enjoy that, I'm not coming.)

Bottom line: we made a forum out of love for Bungie, and over time, out of love for their game. It's grown to something else, right now, and I don't begrudge the changes - I just don't want to be part of them. So you're welcome to stay and say what you want - I'm not removing YOU, or the negative stuff... I'm removing ME.

I hope that's clearer.


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