The natives are getting restless (Destiny)

by kapowaz, Saturday, November 30, 2013, 02:30 (4013 days ago) @ Claude Errera

It's funny - I just saw an article about this two days ago - about how periods in text messages are now being interpreted as 'angry'. I laughed - I guess I shouldn't have.

I'm surprised. By now I assumed everyone who had used the internet for more than 4 or 5 years understood (and had read about one of the numerous studies about) how tone is consistently misread in the written word, particularly online. The best thing you can do is use explicit tone through exclamation marks (to show enthusiasm!) and judicious use of emphasis. All caps has meant shouting since the very first time I posted on Usenet, in 1997 (I remember a classmate at university being chided for it).

So, I guess what I mean to say is that when you only choose to respond to me to disagree, vehemently, usually by repeatedly emphasising the same word, it comes across as pointedly negative if not outright hostile. That's the persona you have painted for me. I'm afraid you have to take some responsibility for that, and just claiming that it's because you're old fashioned doesn't cut it.

The recurring theme I have when I post on DBO is that there is some usually pretty interesting debate, then 2-3 people come in and declare that not only is this opinion wrong, but (words to the effect of) why did you even post this? It seems to come about exclusively on topics where somebody who holds Bungie to be infallible might perceive the subject as being critical of Bungie's actions. And I'm afraid this is more or less exclusively the kind of response you write to my posts. It's an unhealthily absolutist perspective, one that I suspect others find unappealing too.

I think it's fair to say we all share a love of Bungie's work, their mindset and their approach. That much is probably never going to change. But the world of games development doesn't stand still, and what was brilliance at one stage will ultimately be considered a baseline later on. Bungie staff know full well they need to continually raise the bar, but I feel like this isn't as widely understood amongst fans here. Appreciating that the future path of games will mean trying out new and different things is something all fans will need to recognise, or else forever be bitter about the 'good old days'. So rather than dismiss, how about we encourage these different viewpoints: they enrich each and every one of us.