It is interesting to read responses to the Twixt paper here.
I attempted in the CoH/V forums, briefly, something of a debriefing process, but reaction was more suited to confirming the paper’s conclusions than explaining and detailing them further. Here’s a brief synopsis:
Re: Not sure if you guys have seen this… [Re: #12623135 – Tue Nov 25 2008 06:13 AM
All I keep thinking of is the name, “Dr. Josef Mengele.” – Turgenev
This sort of response hovers dangerously close to Godwin’s Law, which means things have probably already entered Goon territory. Although the Mengele analogy is, of course, somewhat expected (and predicted by the paper, actually), it is not nearly so apt as this one, which led to, among other things, effigy burnings.
So it goes.
Hell hath no fury, it seems, like social mavens scorned.
November 26, 2008 at 3:37 pm
You should be attempting to justify my post there, Myers. I stated that an incident was well known in the PVP Community in twixt actually got banned for using the N word against other players in both broadcast and tells, and remained unusually quiet for a few days/weeks after he came back.
Also your use of the term “arean boys” to describe a player segment needs to be somewhat justified too.
Thanks.
November 26, 2008 at 3:38 pm
*in which
(bad players write badly)
November 26, 2008 at 8:10 pm
The N word incident never happened. I was never banned. Still another example of how Twixt behavior was distorted by the social powers that be.
I did indeed use several phrases fairly consistently: arean boys, lootbois, lowlife slimeball farmers, get moar phase, etc. In general, I tended to use these in a mirrored response to the (much more) graphic verbal harassments I received in public and private game com channels.
Two points: I used these phrases only after observing what happened when I said nothing at all (primarily on Champion and Infinity); using these phrases, or other similar verbal tauntings, had little to no impact on the behavior of others towards Twixt. It was the play, much more than the words, that seemed to determine the response.
This result, btw, is similar to what I read somewhere on the boards: players are much more tolerant of verbal taunting (i. e., trash talk) when they are winning; they tend to complain much more about the taunting when they are losing.
Also, note that I never ever, after killing another toon, said “PWNED,” or anything of that sort. Instead of making killing individual players a Twixt goal, I was much more conscious of making sure I consistently emphasized (after winning the zone) “vills lose.” I’m sure you — and many others in RV — can verify this.
Overall, I think the poems posted in the forums were the only game-related com form that elicited any sort of sympathy/empathy/understanding for Twixt and his play.