TL;DR: Attack the ideas, not the person. Address the in-game behaviour, not some imagined personality defects IRL. Keep some perspective that it’s a game, not real life. Someone disagreeing with you on the forum is not trying to marginalize your lifestyle.
Some posters recently seem to have lost touch a bit with the fact that, despite our sometimes strong feelings about it, EVE Online is a game.
It’s not a career, it’s not a religion, it’s not a war against other people. (In-game, it can be a virtual war against other players, that’s a different thing).
I’ll use a couple specific examples but am not attempting to single any one person out. Why, even I myself have, on occasion, been less than friendly and welcoming to other players.
Apparently these comments can be labelled as “hate speech”:
Under this definition of “hate speech”:
And yet the same poster is perfectly comfortable making these comments:
Note that there is a difference between commenting on a person’s in-game actions, or forum posting behaviour, and attributing significant personality and moral defects to them, IRL, as a group.
Mining is a valid playstyle. Hauling is a valid playstyle. Multi-boxing and AFK play are valid playstyles. These are all valid because CCP designed their game that way. If hunting weak targets in Concord-protected space while remaining personally safe from random attacks is valid for the 10% of the player base who engages in such action, I’m pretty sure that contributing to the in-game economy through the mining, industry, hauling and trading in high sec that roughly 40-50% of the players engage in is equally valid and equally “the way EVE is supposed to be played”.
When you start judging other people, outside of the game, because they perfectly validly play the game in a different style than you prefer they do, you’ve lost perspective.
When you condescend to them for doing safe things in safe space, while yourself hunting only safe targets in safe space; and attacking them personally for choosing to play a completely valid playstyle, you’ve not only lost perspective on the game but you are likely entering into “unhealthy fixation” territory.
Choosing, for instance, a play style that requires other people to be your victim, and then castigating them for not wanting to be a victim, borders on the ridiculous. Your play style may be a necessary part of EVE for you - but attacking other people because they don’t care to be your ISK pinata seems irrational.
Conversely, getting bent out of shape because someone in PvP-inspired game nukes your ISK-boat, when 8 times out of 10 your ISK-boat was fitted out in a way that says “I’m a fat easy target, come nuke me!” makes no sense at all. It’s a PvP game, there is no 100% safety, play as if you’re going to get PvPed every time you undock.
CCP designed the game. CCP made all the changes they chose to. CCP was not placed at gunpoint by any group of players and told “You must make these changes we dictate to you.”
If CCP has made changes you think are bad for the game, then make your points with CCP. Continuing this process of attacking other players for imagined “you ruined my game!” offenses only strengthens the negative perception that much of the gaming population already has of EVE and it’s player base.
Step back. Get some perspective. Address the game, not your imagined failings of the people playing it.
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