Hi guys,
I spend a lot of time reading through the forums and one of the things that's really starting to concern me is the hostility to the community towards those who don't share the same points of view. That is, intolerance for other view points.
I would ask that you really try to restrain yourself from flaming other people. It's okay for someone to think something is unbalanced or what the game should be more like some other game. If that person has a valid point, it can come through intelligent discussion. Similarly, if a valid counter point can be made, intelligent discussion is the way there.
If you guys can just show respect to one another both in game and out of game, we can all have a much better time.
I love Demigod. I've poured my heart and soul into it. I know it's a great game. It doesn't bother me if someone feels differently or wants something changed as long as those who disagree are able to put together intelligent and thoughtful responses.
So please, don't call people names or insult people who don't agree with you. Thanks.
There's a reason people don't want to be on reality TV. Nonstop flamewars are boring and uninformative.
not one like dota!
I'd like to think this community will grow into being a great place filled with wonderfully coloured charactes whom I can look forward to facing in-game as well as chatting with in the forums and on IRC. I'd like to think that we can move past all of the fanboyism that takes place on other forums the internet over.
In my heart though, I know that this game is going to attract the Counter-Strike and Halo kids, the DotA elitests and eventually the 1337speaker elitests. The fact 100,000 people pirated your game before release shows that Demigod has struck a cord with people - and with the good players coming the whiney, annoying, immature Halo and Counter-Strike kids and elitests jerks tag along. It's happened to every Blizzard game, it's happened to every Valve game and it's happened to entire console generation. They are only a percentage of the community, but they drown out everyone else.
I just hope I'm being pessimistic, and am wrong... and hoping in-game Karma can be linked the forum
For what it is worth, I think the core community is sold. The conflict is likely a cause of the frustration and tension levels which are running high right now for some. Then there is the whole DOTA mentality filtering in on top of that to boot. I expect it will settle down in soon enough. It does seem to have done so already over the past two or three days.
I think the stereotypical demographic for this game is lightyears away from the one enjoyed by Elemental, Galactic Civilizations 2 or Sins of a Solar Empire. When I think of Demigod I think of a player more akin to those found on Bettle-net or in WoW. Demigod is more about the instant gratification and steamrolling and the pumped up attitudes that go with it.
I would very much prefer we maintain the same low key friendly atmosphere I've been seeing on these boards for the last few years, but I expect alot of bleed-over of bnet type players.
Unfortunately some people (like me) who would ordinarily try to maintain the peace and keep a little dignity in a forum like this might find themselves taking the bait from alot of the teenragers and acting out when they shouldn't. I'll do my best not to sink to their level.
I don't think we can soley blame DotA and B.Net for this one, although I'll admit, there are certainly relationships. It's up to everyone on the forums to act maturely, as Kerz said.
There's really only one solution to having a respectful community. Strict moderators who weed those people out.
Fortunately or unfortunately, that will also make the community smaller. And you also lose the people who're rah rah free speech (never mind the fact that even in the US, free speech isn't absolute)
Also, the formula someone gave about normal person + anonymity = troll isn't really correct. It's normal person + anonymity + an audience = troll. I've been in communities where people have their real pictures and names. They'll still act like assholes because let's face it, even if you know who they are, more than likely they are still effectively anonymous to you simply because you don't know them in real life.
they will never go away, they will keep posting and moderators will keep baining until noone wants to post because it will become a flame war.
Personally, the aggresive tone of the intertubes is what i desire ALL communities to be. Witty sarcasitc quips and flame wars are par for the course in my perfect community.
Frogboy, let these seeds grow. You might not like it now, but the community is still evolving. Once Demigod becomes a more competitive game, the elitists will show up, and enter the wit. The noobs will hate it, but its cool, science has proven that noobs aren't really people anyways.
Oh, Frogboy, if you don't want a overtly aggresive game community, then DON'T develop COMPETITIVE GAMES. I'm just being perfectly honest /b/rother
If there weren't all the connection issues people would likely be a little less grumpy.
You find Harmony in Chaos, the perfect philosophy for forums and frankly for the world. But you know trolls are not the problems per se, the problem is when people follow them.
I admit, there are times where I might come across as hostile toward someone because of something they've said. Sometimes we just have bad days and the internet is just an easy place to vent.
Thank you Frogboy for posting this, as it is a definite reminder to all in the community to keep it cool. I for one, will keep my temper in check as well as do a better job of being more tolerant. Sometimes just even just a little bit of politeness and genuine integrity can go a long way.
I read a couple of responses to this that went along the lines of "that will never happen because of..."anonymity" or its a place to "bitch and complain", etc. You're missing the point, in my opinion.
Many online gaming communities are very hospitable despite complete anonymity, etc.
I think the problem lies in the fact that Demigod, on its face value is an easy game to get into, and so you will find many more younger players than you would in, say, the sins forums. I'm not saying that younger means more immature all the time. I'm sure we have some very young, very mature young kids out there, perhaps reading this right now. However, over all, more youth=more school yard mentality.
In general, the more complex a game is, the more mature its forum users.......Eve Online not withstanding
I wish I could promise I won't lash out, however if I see another thread about "This Game is teh Brok3n, Devs r drinking out tears!!!11!" I shall not be held responsible for the words of my reply.
Cheers froggy, I hope you get your wish, friendly forums are a great place to be.
I find it hard to generalize the Dota community seeing as it's so fucking huge. Any community that large of course will have alot of pricks running around.
yeah but people generalize because priks and jerks always do more noise then everybody else even if the community is 60% good and 40% jerks, the jerks will always yell louder.
Funny, but I only said the other day to someone how people here were allowed to get away with personal abuse for which at WinCustomize they would have been banned.
Having a more open forum on a game site is to be expected, however, there is no excuse for personal abuse, no matter where you are.
Anyone who resorts to personal abuse does not have an opinion worth listening to. If you want to be heard, put forward a calm and rational argument.
One thing I do see missing here is community leaders. People who lead by example are largely non-existent and so the tone is set by others.
People often say things because a forum gives the impression of distance and an ability to say what you like. Try to imagine you are speaking to someone face to face and behave accordingly.
Oh i see alot more here than (what would be as accetable as WC) over on GC2 as well. SINS, Elemental, GC2 and WC all have their moments but most are populated with many Stardock supporters that have lived around the various SD sites for many years. The banner would have been equally accepted for many posts here had they been on GC2.
The influx of noobs to SD that DG has brough has undoubtably mixed things up.
I would hope that as the newer folks see how Frogboy and Co. run things all will settle down.
People who play galciv are a different lot from people who play rts (or similar).
Go to the civ4 forums and you will see more intelligent posts too.
Its just how rts players are. Go to any mmo forums and they are bad too. Most tbs game forums are pretty decent.
To requote a quote from civ4...
You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word (Al capone)
aka unless you're prepared to start banning people I dont think just asking nicely is going to make much difference.
GalCiv isn't a PvP game. What do they have to argue about?
The SupCom community on GPGnet and forums were actually very nice. Yes there were annoying people there aswell, but it was better than any other gameforum i've been on...
Let the banhammer fly. Example of a well-moderated community: Penny Arcade. There people can get into heated discussions on whatever but thanks to some no-nonsense moderators, the community remains mature. If you don't, you will get the endless ascii art face palms and thread hijacks of the WoW forums.
The key is, you have to nip it in the bud or else the entire demigod forums will turn into this: http://forums.demigodthegame.com/350149
/b/ is regarded as the cesspool of the internet by most communities for a reason.
I've definately noticed the change in tone on the forums that has steadily progressed since the game was released. A large influx of new posters arrived and things rapidly went from a small community of people with a common interest in Demigod to a large cage of howling monkeys with a common interest in flinging poop.
The price of having a successful game that just hit the market?
All I know for sure is I spend less time reading and posting here and that makes me a sad panda.
Totally agree with Silphius. In beta phases the forum is really cool and fun to read. But i guess it can't be help when a lot more ppl join the community. More ppl = more oppinions = more conflicts. And yeah not all ppl like to be polite.
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