Wall of Shame: Premier Post

I fail to understand how it's fun to act like a complete and total ass in a video game. Does it make you feel cool? Superior? Somehow better than everyone else?

Enter a new "series": The Wall of Shame.  When someone acts like a jerk to me (or around me) in the game, I'm gonna screen cap it and post it here.

And, I've been literally sitting here staring at my screen for the last three hours wondering whether or not to protect this individual's identity. And I've come to the conclusion: Screw it. It's my blog, and I'll post what I want.

Allow me to set the stage... I'm in Stormwind checking on how auctions have fared, and I catch this in tradechat:

First mistake? Asking a question in /tradechat

How do you get valor points?

There was a time when I didn't know the answer to this question. So, I'm figuring "Iwillwinat" is a newer character and perhaps doesn't understand about valor points. And rather than respond in trade and running the risk of feeding the trolls, I shoot a whisper to the person briefly answering their question.

I'm greeted with this little gem of evilness:

umm... WTF?

So I'm"helping" by answering a question and I'm assaulted with this bullshit?  I love /ignore.  I just wish I didn't have to use it all the time.

There's a whole other element to this snapshot. How in the hell have we come to a place in our culture where it is acceptable to threaten anyone verbally? I have never in my life experienced as much abuse as I have in WoW. In the real world, it helps that I'm 6' 5". Most bullies started to leave me alone after I began looking down on them in junior high school. So physically, in the real world, you had better be Jackie Chan or Hulk Hogan before you talk smack to me. But in the virtual world? There's no consequence. All I can do is 'report' this dipshit and pray Blizzard does something about it.

But is that truly doing anything? They might get banned for a bit... But knowing them, they'd brag to their friends and make fun of me for being a do-gooder for reporting them.

I simply don't understand it.

I'm not trying to offer a solution, or anything prophetic about this issue -- I'm just expressing my personal exasperation and frustration that gamers can be stereotyped as masochistic closet freaks only because some of them act like one.  Please -- Don't perpetuate the stereotype.

I'm gonna crawl back into my middle-aged man cave now.  Football games are on!