Community - A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals (source google.com)
Troll - (bold is added by me) In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory[citation needed], extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. (source Wikipedia)
I know this has been said to death, and everyone has been putting in their 2 cents in the past couple of days, but I need to say my little piece on the matter. I don't have the prose of others, and as we've seen my poetry can be a bit forced, but I'm going to borrow a minute of your time anyhow.
Why are you here? Why do you read these gaming blogs? If you blog yourself, why do you blog?
Probably because you enjoy all of the above, or you wouldn't be doing it. I highly doubt anyone is getting paid to read or write this stuff (not counting the lads and ladies that are actually publishing - heck, many of them aren't getting paid either). No one is forcing you into the blogosphere. You are here because you enjoy the community, the camaraderie, the attention to some extent, the joy of giving to others of yourself and your skills.
So why the fascination with shitting on people? Not all of us. Not most of us. Way less then some of us. The aberrant few. The type that kicks puppies and tortures kittens. The type that sets a fire, then waits for the fire department to respond and watch them put it out as they risk their lives. The type that would rather watch someone trapped in a car accident then help - not out of fear for their own safety, but the joy of watching the suffering. I've dealt with the above in my career, and they are not wired like normal folk.
Online communities have the same types of aberrant individuals as normal communities, but in far larger numbers. Anonymity. It lowers inhibitions. Those that would never act out on these impulses in their "real life" are more apt to do so online. A "troll" in your community, amongst your neighbors, would not last long. Online, "trolls" have the ability to regenerate like an AD&D Trolls of old.
Of course, online communities also allow those that are painfully shy to open up. Anonymity. It lowers inhibitions.
The blade cuts both ways.
If this were a forum, a strong hand by moderators would keep the "flame wars" and "trolls" under control. In this community, the OSR Blogging Community, there is only us.
We are not friends, at least not most of us. Online acquaintances at best. But we share a hobby and a community. A good, healthy community pays dividends on a daily basis. I'd like to think this is a good, healthy community.
K, done preaching. Off my soapbox. Carry on, nothing to see here!
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ReplyDeleteI know why I write my food blog. I need a place to store my recipes is an easily-searchable, easily-edited format.
ReplyDeleteI know why I write my surf blog. When I'm old I want to look back on all the places and times when I was younger and stronger.
I like my garden blog because I like to track progress in the yard over time.
In all honesty, I don't know why I continue with my game blog. Sometimes I look at all of my old zines and miss the quiet diligence of sending people mail.
It is hard to ignore forum trolls, even with web-sites that allow you block some users. But this blog thing, ignoring them is so easy and the best approach.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I blog? Because I love writing game material, reviews and fiction (I don't do the journal thing). I love comments but have no hesitation in deleting comments and denying the free-speech of trolls.
I have a healthy respect for those of you who do this as a journal or put your personal lives into what you write. I love reading these journal-blogs and commenting, but I think you'd have to have a much thicker skin than mine to do it.
Christian, I read all of the above of yours and still enjoy the snail mail deliveries too ;)
ReplyDeleteWoops, finally broke down and made a blogger account just so I could comment on Blogger blogs.
ReplyDeleteI like to read stuff published by people playing games and the experiences they have. I despise those who attempt to position themselves as better than the next guy. Most of them are not or ever will be.
I blog mostly because I just can have fun doing so. Let a bit of the crazy out of the brain. Not too much.
I don't get people shitting on others either. I read a lot of stuff I do not agree with. Mostly, I just move on to read another blog. Everyone plays games differently. I have never understood the fascination with trashing someone else's thoughts just for the sake of doing so. People get a rise out of it. Being an ass just for the sake of being hated draws attention. That attention, I believe is the heart of the matter. They thrive on it.
Good topic.
I don't have the prose of others
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know Tenkar, I thought the above was very well said.
@austrodavicus - I have my moments, don't get spoiled on me, they can be few and far between ;)
ReplyDeleteMy blog is more a campaign notebook in online form so I can keep it easily organized, and eventually compile the notes, formatted and in good order, into a hardbound copy for myself, but if some other folks get some enjoyment out of what I put up, then good for them. I enjoy reading what others playing old-style games are doing, too. I don't like the "Gygax might have done this or that" stuff that gets posted so much - this is about moving forward, not backward. We should move forward with these rulesets, play the games, and have some fun. If we take the fun out of it by taking it all too seriously, then our Dungeons Are, indeed, Suck.
ReplyDeleteI am actually a sentient program in the Matrix. Everything I have ever said is a lie, wrapped in an illusion, trapped inside an enigma, designed to confuse and obsfucate the truth so that I can turn you into a duracell.
ReplyDeleteFuck! And here I thought you were a friend! Goddamn sonofa...
ReplyDeleteHeh... get back to work he of boundless creativity :)
Well, I blog because I enjoy it. I read other blogs because I find them synergestic, and they help inspire me when my creative well is dry. As far as being anonymous, now that I'm running for a spot as an ENnie judge for 2012, my anonymity is gone, which is fine with me. I have nothing to hide.
ReplyDeleteI said it on your blog and I'll say it here: Congrats Z!
ReplyDeleteI blog here because, honestly, who else is going to read this game stuff I blather on about?
ReplyDeleteI have a hobby I enjoy; I have found others who are the same. YAY! Not only that, I found others who shared many of my own experiences of growing up as an imaginative escapist and creative person.
ReplyDelete