Matt the Radar Tech
ꜰɪxɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ʀᴀᴅᴀʀs ᴀɴᴅ sᴛᴜꜰꜰ
One thing I've noticed in this community: holding grudges. Excessively so.
There has been an underlying penchant for finding anything useful to hold over someone else, in order to shit talk or otherwise undermine when the time suits.
That's also another issue I've seen: Timed/organized smear campaigns.
People might deny it, but it happens; suddenly Faction X is a focus, and there's a bunch of 'did you know this', or 'remember when Y did that', or other such things from a group at one time.
One example I have personally seen would be the continued smear from CIC toward the FO, especially in public discord regarding recruitment attempts.
Beyond that, perhaps a very real issue is an inability to let things go? Water under the bridge is not a term used often around this community. A range of grudge-induced media - from screenshots, to copied quotes, to memes, and other things - are kept close at hand, ready to spring on others, whether randomly or thoughtfully (such as disparaging a reputation prior to invasion, for example). Some people have fun with it, some don't, and others still attack such instances with wild intensity that is clearly toxic... and perhaps that's something that needs working on?
Another thing I've noticed: IC and OOC are bleeding through.
When the Ascendancy was a major for that very brief stint - shit happens, we tried - we had literal individuals combing our discord to provide others with screenshots, solely to have select quotes or conversations on hand for future purposes. In such an instance, I expressed a general OOC opinion of how the CIS tended to try and occupy too many lanes (sub groups for days), and was approached by a CIS staff who asked if the purpose of an IC was even worth it. I just said it like it was "IC is IC, OOC is OOC", and also said I had no issue with anyone in particular, beyond what I had said about the faction's stance for creating a lot of sub groups.
In that instance I like to think grudges were avoided, simply by talking, but there was certainly a danger there of grand misconception and possibility of immediate degradation of IC and OOC relations purely from a snippet of conversation from one individual.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that conversation can help, but people actively pruning discords for 'incriminating' evidence isn't helping anyone, beyond self interest or adding to the grudge repertoire. I saw first-hand how outrageous one single out of context snippet could change the trajectory of an entire faction's relationship with another, over 3 sentences in an OOC general chat... and it was fairly disturbing, because of two reasons:
1. I just said something I felt a lot of people thought/said, so didn't think anything of it.
2. If said CIS staffer hadn't of approached me, after being shown the snippet, I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong.
So, to sum up- Communication is key. What is important to one, might not be important to another. If you disagree, speak to that person. Letting things fester will only make it worse. And finally, spying achieves little beyond what it is intended for: sabotage.
There has been an underlying penchant for finding anything useful to hold over someone else, in order to shit talk or otherwise undermine when the time suits.
That's also another issue I've seen: Timed/organized smear campaigns.
People might deny it, but it happens; suddenly Faction X is a focus, and there's a bunch of 'did you know this', or 'remember when Y did that', or other such things from a group at one time.
One example I have personally seen would be the continued smear from CIC toward the FO, especially in public discord regarding recruitment attempts.
Beyond that, perhaps a very real issue is an inability to let things go? Water under the bridge is not a term used often around this community. A range of grudge-induced media - from screenshots, to copied quotes, to memes, and other things - are kept close at hand, ready to spring on others, whether randomly or thoughtfully (such as disparaging a reputation prior to invasion, for example). Some people have fun with it, some don't, and others still attack such instances with wild intensity that is clearly toxic... and perhaps that's something that needs working on?
Another thing I've noticed: IC and OOC are bleeding through.
When the Ascendancy was a major for that very brief stint - shit happens, we tried - we had literal individuals combing our discord to provide others with screenshots, solely to have select quotes or conversations on hand for future purposes. In such an instance, I expressed a general OOC opinion of how the CIS tended to try and occupy too many lanes (sub groups for days), and was approached by a CIS staff who asked if the purpose of an IC was even worth it. I just said it like it was "IC is IC, OOC is OOC", and also said I had no issue with anyone in particular, beyond what I had said about the faction's stance for creating a lot of sub groups.
In that instance I like to think grudges were avoided, simply by talking, but there was certainly a danger there of grand misconception and possibility of immediate degradation of IC and OOC relations purely from a snippet of conversation from one individual.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that conversation can help, but people actively pruning discords for 'incriminating' evidence isn't helping anyone, beyond self interest or adding to the grudge repertoire. I saw first-hand how outrageous one single out of context snippet could change the trajectory of an entire faction's relationship with another, over 3 sentences in an OOC general chat... and it was fairly disturbing, because of two reasons:
1. I just said something I felt a lot of people thought/said, so didn't think anything of it.
2. If said CIS staffer hadn't of approached me, after being shown the snippet, I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong.
So, to sum up- Communication is key. What is important to one, might not be important to another. If you disagree, speak to that person. Letting things fester will only make it worse. And finally, spying achieves little beyond what it is intended for: sabotage.
).
