- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
- 1,860
I was driving home the other day, and a guy wouldn't let me over. I immediately thought he was a callous jerk, keeping me from getting where I needed to go. This morning, I realized I hadn't seen someone signaling to get into my lane, and they cut me off rather sharply. They must have thought of me precisely what I thought of the guy who wouldn't let me in.
What's the point? Well, we have this tendency when upset or offended to ascribe permanent characteristics to the offender rather than realizing there's no intent to do any harm to us or upset us in any way. The other guy may just not have looked. He may be in a hurry. His mom may have just died. Better to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Now I'll translate this to what it means in game. Never take things in game personally. My rule of thumb: if there's any doubt, give the other player the benefit. Take the comment as a joke, and never let it get under your skin. None of us expresses himself or herself perfectly, but most of us are good people who want to have fun with others in this fantastic community.
Here's a harder scenario for consideration. What happens if you're disciplined? An admin may make a decision you don't agree with. You may be kicked, you may get a temporary ban.
Understand that a good administrator isn't attacking you personally. He or she is simply taking care of a rules violation or server disruption as politely and efficiently as possible. In fact, they may take an action to help you become a better player and give you the chance to reflect on what the community means to you. In some cases, we've had tremendous success stories from just such actions.
If someone's really just an unpleasant person, that will show in time and be dealt with, but 9 times out of 10, that's not the case. If you don't take anything in game personally, you'll save yourself tremendous aggravation and take control of the one thing that can turn any situation around for you: your attitude.
[/end Monkey rambling]
What's the point? Well, we have this tendency when upset or offended to ascribe permanent characteristics to the offender rather than realizing there's no intent to do any harm to us or upset us in any way. The other guy may just not have looked. He may be in a hurry. His mom may have just died. Better to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Now I'll translate this to what it means in game. Never take things in game personally. My rule of thumb: if there's any doubt, give the other player the benefit. Take the comment as a joke, and never let it get under your skin. None of us expresses himself or herself perfectly, but most of us are good people who want to have fun with others in this fantastic community.
Here's a harder scenario for consideration. What happens if you're disciplined? An admin may make a decision you don't agree with. You may be kicked, you may get a temporary ban.
Understand that a good administrator isn't attacking you personally. He or she is simply taking care of a rules violation or server disruption as politely and efficiently as possible. In fact, they may take an action to help you become a better player and give you the chance to reflect on what the community means to you. In some cases, we've had tremendous success stories from just such actions.
If someone's really just an unpleasant person, that will show in time and be dealt with, but 9 times out of 10, that's not the case. If you don't take anything in game personally, you'll save yourself tremendous aggravation and take control of the one thing that can turn any situation around for you: your attitude.
[/end Monkey rambling]
