Disrespect...

[Owy Kiox]

Lately it seems I can't go one day without seeing one player disrespect another on these servers, and it just really upsets me that some people have to have that attitude where, if things don't go there way or get killed in a BS way, they have to take it out on the players.

What happened to playing the game for well, fun? I can understand getting pissed because of a death. I can get that way too, but i never take it out on another player, not verbally at least. I would rather own that player in game instead of bitching and moaning but that's just me ;p

Bottom line is, one of the main rules on these servers is "Don't be a douche" right? Well, to be honest I see that rule broken so often it makes me wonder if its really being enforced anymore. And I'm not trying to say that our server admins are doing a shit job or anything, because I'm sure they try their best to keep everyone in line.

I'm just saying, this kind of behavior could turn off players new to the server, its just a pretty bad image of what these servers are about. If I were new to a server, joined and saw a bunch of people raging at each other over a game, I probably wouldn't stay for that long because they're not the kind of people i enjoy playing with.

Basically, what I''m asking, is would it be possible to enforce respecting other players a bit more than it is now? I think this is a valid argument and would make the servers more fun for everyone. And thanks for anyone who takes the time to read this. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

[Helios]

My boy, you've touched on one of the things we worry about alot.

For some reason, there's a lot of disrespect not just in TF2, but in online gaming in general. I think it stems from both the competitive nature of humans, and the fact that a "slap people over the internet" button dosen't exist yet. It always pains me to see people talking smack to each other, that's why we put that rule in place.

But here's the problem: we can't force people to be nice. We can...encourage it via threats of kicking/banning for being a jerk, but we can't force people to be nice, otherwise this is just a dictatorship. So the most we do is to inform everyone that disrespect isn't cool here, and (as harsh as this may sound) we expect our players to have a thick skin. The only thing more annoying than someone who always disses people is someone who freaks out when someone looks at them funny. This is why we may not take any action over a single snarky line, but if they keep it up we roll in like a Kansas Tornado.

So that's more or less the view of this on the administrative side of things. Disrespect isn't cool, but it's part of human nature, and we have to learn how to deal with it the best we can.

[NikkyVix]

The Snaipurburd is wise there. Allow me to supplement.

TFP began as an unnamed little gaggle of a couple dozen of us all playing as friends together on our own side server, because other servers had either become too hostile or too cold and caustic to be on. But what we've learned over the years as our playerbase has grown and our visibility to others outside the niche of "Gamer - Furry - TF2" has increased is that wider diversity slowly dissolves the close-knit community feel. More people feeling less associated by friendship makes a higher chance for assholery, trolling, insults, etcetra.

Most communities experience this as they grow, and while I believe it's awesome that so many people have chosen our humble little boxes as their place to play, there's also more people who don't care about you, or me, or the general laid-back nature of our servers we try to uphold. This is something we've seen for a while.

We get players who like to test the staff; cause a problem, then see if they can goad us into making it a bigger issue or being srs bsns. We get some who're just here to "troll the stupid furfags who think they're real gamers". We get the arrogant primadonnas who excel at the game and thus believe themselves above rules and sportsmanship. And we get the socially maladjusted who just don't like other people and only respect a gag order or kick placed on them.

True respect can't be legislated, because as Helios said, that makes us into the thing we wanted to avoid when we founded TFP. We'll make ourselves neurotic trying to pass judgement on every person who even hints at saying something derogatory, and our players will start whispering about the admins getting too power-drunk and eager to ban. If that happens, we've failed to give you the community we set out to make.

The only way I can see us combating the disrespect is by being more respectful, ourselves. The disrespect is rooted in the nature of the player, and must be solved there. Try and make friends or have friendly banter in Setup or post-match with not just our teammates, but with the other team as well. Congratulate a team on a good defense or offense. We as gamers are reward-oriented, and when we feel like what we're doing is getting respect or results, we're more likely to do it and less likely to act out in frustration.

TF2 is a difficult game to curb the frustration in when one's having a rough run or they feel the other team's just stacking, but in the end we all should remember that it is just a video game that can be turned off, and that the purpose of it is not to win, not to top scores...not even to collect hats! But to have fun.


tl;dr
Listen to Helios. Disrespect is a player-level problem. Be excellent to one another.

[Fox Vert]

[Sultry Skunk]

HATS! HATS! I NEED MILLIONS OF THEM!

[Purplecat]

[NekkidSnaku]

I usually just go

"It's always a crit ;_;"

because it's always a damn crit when I have 100% hp and 98% uberchage.

ALWAAYS

ALWAAAAAAAAAYS

Other than that...I tend to poke fun at the person who gets real serious in the games...telling him to calm down brah or something similar. They usually listen cuz you know, I'm always on the top.

*flex*

jp

[zorinlynx]

I've noticed a bit of this too. It's not common in my experience, but when it happens it can be unnerving.

I was accused of spawn camping on koth_nucleus the other night. All I was doing was taking out a sniper which was attacking us right from the spawn; I wasn't even hanging around spawn, just going over there as engie or pyro and killing the sniper.

After I stated that I wasn't spawn camping, I was told that I was being recorded. This person in general kept complaining constantly about everyone.

I'm not going to say who it was, as it's not the topic of this post. I just want everyone to know that this behavior makes you look bad, and to not partake in it. Acting as an "enforcer" is only going to make people resent you.

Just my two cents... --Zorin

[NikkyVix]