An apology for my Slack behavior

[Kelfecil]

After educating myself a little bit more on the whole GamerGate thing, I realized how I have CLEARLY insulted some people by even saying I do not have a position on the whole matter. It became apparent after today’s search and findings, that I did not have a clear view as to what it was all about and what that hate group was tied to.

I apologize yet again for my inconsiderate comment which despite being made with good intent, it was still dumb (and rightfully called so) since it was ignorant. I will try not making such a mistake again in the future as this is a community I respect and I would rather not insult in any way.

I made quite a long post (that I soon after removed) about how the online Netrunner community has made me feel really bad in the past, but it was all in the heat of the moment and despite me not getting along with certain people, I shouldn’t be taking it out like that. I wish to only make this community better and little outbursts like that won’t help.

[servas]

I guess my 2 cents for the future: When you get flamed online it´s just a better idea for your own mental health to stop reading all those things, leave and get back to more important stuff like playing real games with real people. I get quite confused at some of the opinions on stuff that I just don´t care about when playing or thinking about Netrunner (or any other game I guess). Tried to express my opinion, got flamed imediately for stating that a man is a man and a woman is a woman and maybe women just don´t like Netrunner so much but hey, life goes on I guess, everybody to it´s own. And gamergate? Is that relevant outside of the (niche) gaming community? I didn´t even know about what happend there untill today and looked it up too. Wow, crazy shit, that´s true, but still? Isn´t it like more important to get that crazy president out of office asap? Has that anything to do with Netrunner or boardgaming? I just don´t like “real life” intruding in my “gaming world” guess. Got enough of that shit going on at work everyday.

[Kelfecil]

It is still a community with real people and real behaviors though. Therefore, it is easy to step in spaces where people do not feel comfortable for very reasonable and justified reasons. For that reason, for the health of the community and for the sake of everyone having fun in it, we need to be aware of those and be nice to each other, as well as considerate. That includes not making dumb comments on things and topics that we do not know enough about.

[Absotively]

“Real life” and the “gaming world” are not immune to each other.

[servas]

Sure, if that´s your thing, that´s fine. It definetly isn´t mine. As I said, I´ve got more than enough “real life” in my life all day long…

[servas]

Sure I would just like to add: Those who immediately flame somebody online for saying something wrong should also reconsider their attitude and how that maybe makes different people with different opinions unwelcome. Whatever, let´s just keep calm and play some Netrunner

[Absotively]

Did you actually follow the link?

The article is about how GamerGate helped lead to Trump’s election. That is, it’s about how something in a gaming community that seems like it’s only relevant there helped cause the exact problem that you think people should be focusing on instead. The “gaming world” spills over into “real life” (and vice versa) regardless of whether you want to ignore it or not.

[cursor]

Those who don’t want ‘real life’/politics clashing with their hobby are those who have the privilege of being able to take part in that hobby without being affected by the issues that people have been raising.

I don’t think you got flamed. People responded to you, and they disagreed with what you had said. When you’re wrong about things a lot, that’s going to happen.

Could you clarify what you mean by ‘a man is a man and a woman is a woman’. I’m not sure I want to know the answer, but statements like that sound eerily like things that people with terrible views say.

Back on topic: Kelf, I’m glad you’ve made this into a more positive thing. The gamergate comments and the link to that article both concerned me, as I was glad to have met you at euros and didn’t want to discover that you’re pro-gamergate or alt-right or anything like that. Thanks for explaining better. You do have a habit of saying things online that come across as provocative/offensive and, while it would be better if you could avoid that, if you do say something that elicits a widespread negative reaction, it’s good to take the time to understand why people responded negatively to a thing you said. As you seem to have realised, if nearly everyone in a group of people thinks that what you said was a bad thing, it’s more likely that you said a bad thing and less likely that they are ganging up on you.

Keep it positive, Kelf. And probably best not bring up topics if you’re unaware of their history.

[Michael_2_0]

Unless you want the slack thing spread out here, keep your apology for slack (or the people you offended). The rest of the playerbase don’t know, and most likely can do without the added drama in a card game, of all places.

[saracenus]

Um, no. It’s not spreading. It’s already here. We are just talking about it openly. Slack is inherently transitory, this forum isn’t. OP can say his apologies on slack but he can point to this thread and not spam Slack with big walls of text.

Further, if you don’t want to read what is going on here, you have the choice of not reading this thread. You have chosen to respond here and bring yourself into the “spread” as it were.

[servas]

Just to clarify, as internet conversations tend to have a lot of bad misunderstandings: I was just talking about the sexual difference, ok?

[servas]

So what you say is true because some guy on The Guardian thinks so? Well, it´s a very good paper but I just wouldn´t go as far as that. It might be even true, but it obviously wasn´t the main reason why this terrible guy got elected. I was just saying this: I didn´t even know about Gamergate and if I would ask my “real life” collegues about it they wouldn´t even know what Gaming or the “gaming community” is. The way I experienced Netrunner life and boardgaming in general was always a lot nicer and open to people from all kinds of backgrounds than that “real life” I am talking about.

[miek]

Gamergate and Trump are both symptoms of the same disease.

Also, you’ve kinda gotten into the habit of getting into discussions where people are having serious discussions about issues that are important to them, and then declaring these issues are not important and that these people are wrong for caring so much. You can kinda see why that irks people right? I think you might want to take a step back and consider whether or not your post is constructive to the topic at hand. If you want to avoid the politicising of these issues, then just don’t join in on these threads. There are plenty of others threads where your input is 100% welcome.

[dr00]

this has been a real problem lately imo, and i’ve noticed it especially being pronounced in the netrunner community.
the ‘bullying is ok, as long as it’s justified’ observation comes to mind. as long as someone comes across as close-minded, people feel justified in talking down to them, flaming them, etc. instead of trying to educate and actually be inclusive for everyone, even those who are ignorant. i hope that as we move forward, more people try to be more inclusive, even for people who appear to be uninclusive themselves

as for the subject of the OP, i’m glad that you’ve made this observation and are making an effort to fix things. i won’t bring up anything else here, but just say that i wish you all the best

[bblum]

There’s another thread for what this thread currently appears to be devolving into. No need for two.

@Kelfecil, thanks for your considerate apology.