Of Payments and Forums

[KaiKatzchen]

So, we all know that payments are resuming in January. Curiously, I've noticed that over the course of the past week or two the general tone on these forums has been extremely harsh. Extreme amounts of back and forth bickering, frequent player attacks, a low tide of respect for other people's opinions, and so on.

Last two weeks? I've been people acting like this since the forum came into existence, I don't really see it as a new thing that just happened over the last few weeks. People have always been rude, bickering and attacking others on these forums. I always remember the #1 reason in the '5 Scientific Reasons People Act Like A--holes on the Internet". -____-;

Behavioral scientists have a keen interest in the increasing trend of so-called "webrage": the tendency for Internet commenters to spew naught but filth and bile with little to no provocation (for some handy examples, just scroll all the way down to the comments section!) But aside from vitriol-laden feedback sections wrought with verbal filth and textual disease, the scientists are also pointing to the rise of new websites, like mybiggestcomplaint.com and justrage.com, which are dedicated exclusively to the world's saddest expression of rage: Angry typing. These sites don't even pretend to have content, they're exclusively devoted to venting nerd fury for no valid reason. Although that does finally answer the age old Zen Riddle: If there were no Internet to flame on, would flamers still flame?

These researchers all differ on what, exactly, is causing this outpouring of impotent rage--some point to the anonymity of the Internet providing a consequence-free environment for a--holery, while others blame the anger on a lack of emotional cues like voice fluctuation and body language--but all can agree on one thing:

The newfound ability to distance ourselves emotionally, while simultaneously remaining connected on a global level is leading to an overall increase in both anger and stress levels across the board. So, while the Internet may have linked humanity via information, and possibly ushered in a new era of human intelligence, it's also allowed us just enough distance to constantly tell each other to go f ourselves unconscious for no apparent reason with a previously unheard of lack of empathy and remorse.

Happens on every forum unfortunately.... welcome to the internet. /sigh