ONLINE HATE AND HARASSMENT

[LionheartTSP]

The topic of online hate and harassment was breached by a letter I received from the ADL. I shared this with CCP and they appreciated my sharing. They invited me to say something in the Forum and to the CMO. This is an important topic and essential to the survival of online gaming. As we come out of this current crisis let us hope we have learned better how to work together.

I also shared with Jonathan Greenblatt, who sent me the letter, my perspective on EVE online and the welcoming community that I find it to be.

On the topic of hate and harassment some don’t want the discussion calling those who report harassment various unflattering names, some not all. If we want to keep our online communities unregulated we need to prove we can self regulate and communicate in a civil and responsible manner.

FLY SAFE 101

Many, wisely, avoid the comments section of most online posts and not all are into chatting online or using voice communication, but we all want our freedom of expression. As communications skills improve more will participate just as happened with the printing press.

I decided to start this discussion by dragging out an old education site shared by Uncle Carrot, an avatar that has educational pages created for children only to include children of all ages.

Uncle Carrot has one affirmation. “You are a maker of worlds, what will you make today?”

My Page

The EVE player community seems very charitable and helpful when it comes to New Eden. The EVE commenter is more typical of anywhere comments can be found.

Is it possible to raise the bar when is comes to making comments? There are those who say we just haven’t leaned how, it’s not in our skill set yet, like reading a newspaper. When the printing press was invented it was used and abused. It helped start one of the worst wars in history and the rise of Protestantism; sort of the non-Catholic lives matter movement.

There is a learning curve involved with any new technology. It will be used, and misused, at every level until we all get the skill training. If this thread should go off the rails, as I have seen others do, you can always go to Uncle Carrot.

My escapism while I deal with tough topics, or tough times, is to enjoy making some videos that help me understand the dark side of human nature, the idiotic side and the side that believes in faith, hope and love. I just want to fly.

Darth Vader, Jar Jar Binx and Obiwon Kenobi went into a bar; it was an Internet Bar and they all wanted to play EVE online. They registered as the three characters from Two and a Half Men.

[Jin_Endares]

[Major_Vom]

uhhhhh?

[Shipwreck_Jones]

@LionheartTSP

When the printing press was invented it was used and abused. It helped start one of the worst wars in history and the rise of Protestantism; sort of the non-Catholic lives matter movement.

Did you just insinuate that BLM and an entire religion are comparable to one of the worst wars in human history?

#Triggered

Edit: And in all seriousness, reducing online harassment is a noble goal. Unfortunately, your post might alienate people who might otherwise be sympathetic to the cause. lol.

[Xuxe_Xu]

just:

uncle carrot got juiced for the good of humanity. Aunt Rhubarb has a simple 3-step method online gamers can use if they are bothered:

step 1. - Harden right on up there precious.

step 2 - repeat step 1

step 3. repeat step 2 until no longer emotionally weak.

[Solonius_Rex]

@LionheartTSP

On the topic of hate and harassment some don’t want the discussion calling those who report harassment various unflattering names, some not all. If we want to keep our online communities unregulated we need to prove we can self regulate and communicate in a civil and responsible manner.

Problem is, anything can be considered harassment and hate to the right person.

This thread for example. I feel as though you are spreading hate and harassing me by posting this. Please stop.

So by your very own moral standards, you need to delete this thread and apologize to me.

I await your apology.

[LionheartTSP]

I do honestly and sincerely apologize if I have caused you suffering in any way. If you are indeed in pain it is probably something specific and not just anything.

If you genuinely feel harassed the devil may be in the details. The more you can tell me about what I have done and/or what anybody has done to you the more helpful.

As a professional soldier I have always been motivated by service. I have my own battles with anxiety & depression. Anything sets it off. But, I only relapse every few years or so. I have medication, but it works too well. Fortunately I can take it on an as needed basis, I don’t need it every day. When I have no anxiety I have no ambition or energy. Some anxiety is good. Some harassment is just kidding, but who gets to decide how much is too much. You do

My suffering is internal, harassment is external; so you can at least put your finger on the problem, literally. When coming from another human being, they have a brain and a choice and so do you. If they have expressed themselves so freely then you have an equal right to do the same. I am not saying hate for hate or even annoyance for annoyance is what’s needed. As Wonder Woman 1984 said in a nutshell; “You choose.”

Here is an anxiety meter I invented (I so want to do science on EVE someday)

Consider your own emotional investment based on the color. Red, definitely say something. Tell the person harassing you just how you feel; or, get away from them. Speak to someone you trust if the emotion does not go quickly away. Report the incident if it was serious and/or if it happens repeatedly.

If the meter is in the green you might try reason. This will not work if they continue to be irrational, but most people who are sincere will back off and maybe you helped someone from making a big mistake that day. Harassment is a big deal in the world today and people loose jobs over this or worse. Also, it can affect the fabric of an entire community. Our social justice system will probably not be any better than our criminal justice system, but at least on a personal level you can try to make the world a safer place for all.

Yellow, annoying going on distracting. Hang in there, do what you need to do to not let them bother you.

Again I apologize. You do not owe me anything.

~ Lionheart

[LionheartTSP]

[LionheartTSP]

In honor of the late General Colin Powell, a man who certainly dealt with hate and harassment. He accomplished IRL what many aspire to in EVE. Being great is not just a fantasy. It can start there, it does not have to end there. EVE is not just escapism it is so much more. I am amazed at what has been built in New Eden not just wowed by epic battles. There are those who dream of a better world, real or imagined. Those doing the hard work that keeps EVE online from the genius that started all this, to those who have kept it going, to all the players who have contributed so much. And, even some who have tried to distract us. Yes, it’s business and a playground, and so much more then blowing [colorful metaphor deleted] up. If that’s all you want go for it. If you like dukeing it out do so to your harts content here online in this safe place. If you are one of the many players who seek to reach greater heights, who would rather aspire than live off of expectations you can do it here as well.

The doubt peddlers, the fear mongers, those who understand the human condition seek an easy path to power through the manipulation of the weak. This is not the way of the warrior. Blaming others is not the path to freedom, it is the path to fear, anger and hate. Just ask Yoda. Faith, hope and charity (the giving of yourself) are work. Our individual power and authority is so strong it comes with a requisite balancing force of responsibility. This is what brings balance to the force. The choice to learn and to grow and not surrender to a downward spiral.

Those who say it can’t be done need to take a backseat to those who are doing it. Those who build don’t all do it for the glory. They build because that is who they are. They don’t do it to have clients, they have clients so they can build.

As a military man myself I can tell you we like it simple even though we know the world is complicated and the human condition is quite complex. We understand that power and authority can be delegated, but responsibility cannot. Those of you who seek to become fleet commanders will learn this. Plans really do fall apart. A person is not an object, but try to tell the Amarr authority this. People are not managed they are lead. This is the part of EVE not on a spread sheet.

If you want some great quotes this man, Colin Powell, who served us all so well IRL is a fine example of leadership. If you need some guidance he lives on in our memories and the work he did still lives on for the benefit of all of us.

My favorite quote in this moment;
“Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.”
~ Colin Powell

[Zaera_Keena]

You are a fictional character in a game called EVE, well with the exception of Princess Aiko, who is the real thing, but, how on earth do you hate and harrasss a fictional character?

[Zaera_Keena]

That’s deep

[LionheartTSP]

SEASONS GREETINGS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

As a poet, as well as a pilot who loves to fly spaceships, I find it easier to get away with being cynical than being sentimental. I’d rather be flying or working on the differences between nature poetry and salient poetry, but here I am because this topic is so very important not just to the world but to our world as players of EVE and to all online gaming.

I personally find neither quality, cynicism nor sentimentality, desirable. Being too cynical is no better by definition than being too sentimental and visa versa. How is it even the cynical, who love to talk, can’t have a rational discussion about two little words shown in the topic here? The cynical seem to hate any discussion of hate and the sentimental, and the rest, seem to seek to avoid talking about this important topic all together.

Fair warning, hate and harassment are not going away on their own and are being leveraged by those who hate online gaming as an excuse to get rid of it or at least harass our community for political points and gather hate against us. Mother Nature’s virus that has locked down the whole world will go away eventually on it’s own if for no other reason. Online hate and harassment are not going away until we learn how to better use this new technology like we did the printing press.

When it comes to being negative there is plenty in the world to have strong feelings about. This will always be true. Healthy skepticism seems here the right and reasonable thing if done reasonably.

We each dream of heaven and being accepted for who we are and not judged. What on Earth? “Peace on Earth, good will toward men;” a cliché we dig out and dust off once a year at least. What about all the good in the world that if it didn’t get done we would not be here? How is it faith, hope and charity are so hard and fear, anger and hate, or even apathy, are so easy?

I believe I have proven here in this discussion the words themselves, hate & harassment, are hated to the extent they alone make some few people angry. A minority, but a noisy minority that seeks these days to be the tail that wags the dog.

How can these two words have such power as to not rate our honest and reasonable discussion in a community that is ostensibly about sharing a good time? Unchecked and the party keeps getting interrupted by a knock at the door with the authorities telling us we are being warned or worse.

SELF UNHELP

[LionheartTSP]

VICE
How much is acceptable and how much is not; to be or not to be. Just two days before the Thanks Giving Holiday I experienced for the first time in an EVE chat actual words of hate against a specific group of people, words I would be obliged to share with an organization that seeks out such signs of racism in order to fight it IRL. I would also have to report the heroic players in our community who did a marvelous (real Avenger stuff) job of quelling the unruly player. Ironman was always my favorite because he was just a guy with a workbench and did so much good. You don’t have to be a superhero to stand up for what is right. This individual who was engaging in hate speech was sharing their displeasure, it seemed to me, at feeling victimized by victimizing others. I found his words defamating the character of a community that I love. “They came for the Minmatar and nobody said
anything, then they came for the next group, and the next.” ~ unknown, did not survive.

Thanks Giving is a time millions will travel, even in these trying times, to gather together to celebrate what they have even in these during an existential global threat. If the whole of humanity stood up at the same time would that knock the Earth off it’s axis?

There is a Christmas story, true story, that soldiers on both side of a World War stopped for one night to gather in the middle of no-mans-land to exchange gifts and sentiments of good will. The next day the went right back to killing each other. We are not simple beings. This does not mean
we cannot learn.

Gaming online may be fictional, but it still has to contend with the human condition.

[LionheartTSP]

FICTION MATTERS

[LionheartTSP]

I don’t feel it’s deep, it might be too much. Even when we are being shallow we can see our mistakes and simply apologize.

[Zaera_Keena]

https://media4.giphy.com/media/XtvIJVzWNS7bAw5l44/giphy.gif(image larger than 4 MB)

[Jin_Endares]

[LionheartTSP]

TO Zaera Keena and all future legends of EVE

You have replied three times so I am guessing you are not trolling looking for an emotional response. The thing is you stake a claim, a valid claim, but you never mine it. Not saying you have to that is up to you. One thing is for sure the more anyone says something; anything online, talking to yourself or not; the more you are likely to be unfairly criticized; nobody wants that.

This is a part of EVE forums, as stated above and by those who invited me to be here, for out of pod discussions including fiction and non-fiction. If you want an emotion here it is: I feel our community would benefit from your discussion on the kind of freedom a fictional character ought to enjoy. After all this is supposed to be a fun game. You are not alone. I will listen even if others will not, always.

[LionheartTSP]

For Jin Endares and all who feel this way because I kinda feel the same way,

To paraphrase “Person Of Interest;” victim or perpetrator we will find you. Victim or perpetrator people are feeling judged and harassed. Many will not report hate & harassment, yet 60% of young online gamers did report being harassed or worse in 2021.

Personally, I am fine with ganking, it makes things more interesting. Bumping is just funny I feel. No one seeks to be called a bully, but bullying does occur.

Maybe this will help:
“Reason is not automatic, those who deny it cannot be conquered by it.”
~ Ayn Rand

Those who feel they are being rational can feel victimized for no reason. We are taught in school that reason conquers all, so where are the classes on how to handle a situation where someone is being irrational? I get the feeling rational people don’t know what to do when they come up against feelings so they ignore the situation allowing the irrational to take control.

[Cilla_Cybin]

@LionheartTSP

One thing is for sure the more anyone says something; anything online, talking to yourself or not; the more you are likely to be unfairly criticized; nobody wants that.

I’m all for online protection, but I also think one has to recognise when people are quite capable of taking care of themselves.