FF14 and toxic positivity

[Illmaeran]

if somebody likes the antagonists in a video game, then they are bad people with flawed morals.

Hannibal Lechter's the best villain ever written and I love the character.

I shall thrown down my gauntlet if you disagree, sir!!

[KizuyaKatogami]

The playful comment was in response to posters who have consistently insinuated over a number of years that if somebody likes the antagonists in a video game, then they are bad people with flawed morals. In addition to sending weird threats and comments outside of the game itself through Reddit, Twitter and Discord.

Speaking of which, it has long been a problem within the lore community where certain posters will repeatedly harass someone, then when they get even the slightest bit of pushback in response, they throw up their hands and feign innocence.

Some people must just be absolutely infatuated with you given how much they memorize your posts. Must be the hyur face.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Some people must just be absolutely infatuated with you given how much they memorize your posts. Must be the hyur face.

It's almost like you remember the people you have strong disagreements with.

It's the same with your posts. But then, you knew that.

[Shougun]

The playful comment was in response to posters who have consistently insinuated over a number of years that if somebody likes the antagonists in a video game, then they are bad people with flawed morals. In addition to sending weird threats and comments outside of the game itself through Reddit, Twitter and Discord.

Speaking of which, it has long been a problem within the lore community where certain posters will repeatedly harass someone, then when they get even the slightest bit of pushback in response, they throw up their hands and feign innocence.

I think there are some interesting discussions over there but given my experience with a few people, who I don't believe are evil and have seen be helpful / nice, the lack of willingness to fly with an idea but rather actually a sense of willful desire to smack down ideas instead of use their knowledge to make it better. . . makes me not excited to discuss lore in this game.

That said A. I've seen a number of posters who are active there that I love to see here and are not like that, so.. painting by association is rude lol, and B. To be fair I prefer to get lore myself or at least via nice deep voice presentations xD so I might not have visited a lot anyways. Very much into the death of an author type thing, where interpretations and meaning become both public and personal.

Or more cynically you might say lack of creative vision, but maybe that is unfair if you were discussing something they were actually interested in. Though that makes me feel less great, since I feel if you are willing to engage with someone you should really give it a true try; otherwise.. maybe just don't engage.. lol.. like I've on many occasions went in trying to encourage or add onto ideas that originally were not really my desire (mainly when I see a lot of people shutting them down). I say as much when I do though, just to ensure clarity of my own bias / thoughts. Those who ask questions to better understand the situation and earnestly use that info, even if they don't agree, are some of my favorite posters (which there are a few).

To more of a point of your post though, in my experience the most shutdowns I've seen in the forums are from people who either use code, money, or lore, and of the three it's lore that I've seen far more shutdowns of ideas in a way that I feel is the most like "....really though?". Funnily the most adamant shutdowns that used lore, that /I've/ experienced, have ended up being proven wrong later XD, sometimes to the point that nearly exactly what I thought could happen did actually happen. I think money reasons are the worst because we really know nothing about their situation, we've no business planning their finances, then lore because given patience and creativity you can make a lot happen lol, and code being fairly logical especially when said by those who have some interest in the field.. though I've seen understandings of the game that are also not true. Like someone tried to convince people at one time that instanced for all housing is impossible as it would require too much data and no game could do that (which of course has happened). Yet with all three 'shutdowns' often simply "time" could be the cure to the problem. Time for money, for smooth transition in the story, for figuring out the solution to making chocobos be allowed in parties.. etc, etc.

It was only a few months ago on Reaper, people saying things are impossible or certain desires couldn't be done. Before reaper shirt it was more on Necromancer... but if some recall my posts on how to make a Necromancer work- using wraith like imagery over pure undead, could potentially bind with spirits and have a new visual effect, scythes, etc...A few pretty adamant that such designs couldn't be done due to lore. Honestly I think the more people say no to something the more likely they make it to be lol. Yoshida over there looking "seems like people think I can't do this... I'll show them!" . Similar stuff happened with other topics, like beast tribes and summons.

Though one person did describe the actions 'against' certain ideas not so much as things are impossible, but as they're concerned players are going to encourage bad changes to the story. Which I respected as that's like players who want no ultimate or all ultimate content, not that it's impossible just "I don't like the sound of that".

As for the thread sake- to me it seems relatively similar to as it was before, still a lot of people who think the game can do no wrong, still a lot of people who think the game only does wrong. /shrug lol. I think we're generally similar, I've not seen huge shifts in culture that are horrid and concerning. Still a lot of nice people, nice people who've had bad days sometimes, and then a few others, just like normal.

I think it is honestly fine if someone thinks the game is perfect, a bit weird if they think it's the worst and are still playing though..., but just what gets my goat is people shutting down ideas, especially lazily. Can nearly hear my brain start to click when I read that stuff O_o O_O o_O, like captain hook and the crocodile clock. Since I've not said anything good, I'll counter myself and say I know I write a lot.. so I'm sure many wish there was headlines they could read instead of the post lol.

[kpxmanifesto]

The premise of this thread isn't that people can't handle criticism of their criticism. It is that a vocal portion of the community has a habit of resorting to very unpleasant tactics in order to deflect and stifle even the most constructive or innocent feedback related to the game.

Those are the types of people that will gatekeep the term constructive criticism. They'll say arbitrary things like "your criticism isn't constructive" or "your explanation isn't elaborate enough." It's a way of denying that there's anything wrong with the topic you're criticizing.

[Gethard]

Hmm, there's a novice network? I should check that out. Personally I think there is way too much negativity in almost every online community that exists, and the flipside ("fanboying") can be just as toxic in different ways, but I look around and see players everywhere, day or night, putting on concerts and special events and it has been so long since I saw any sign of a healthy community in an MMO that I'll take the fanboys over the haters every time.

[Jeeqbit]

Hmm, there's a novice network? I should check that out.

You can ask anyone with a crown icon next to their name if they will invite you to the novice network (it's their job to that they agreed to do). If they don't you can ask another one.

[Illmaeran]

I don't agree with the idea that there's "Toxic Positivity" nor that there's "Toxic Negativity" in the game. Positivity and negativity both abound, drowned in a sea of aggressive and inflammatory language.

Different people have their unique perspectives which influence their outlook on the game. By nature, different people have varying capacity for empathy, which in my experience here on the forums, the more empathetic people tend to be the ones who are most positive toward the game and CBU3. That empathy helps build acceptance of the difficulties the company's faced in the past couple of years with the corresponding defense of the CBU3 team. On the flip side, those who are naturally less empathetic tend to be people who are more blunt, speaking their minds with less care of how the words impact the receivers. Their points are often valid and have equal right to be expressed, but it's typically the way they're expressed that leads to problems.

I think the forums have an issue with a low tolerance of wording, sensitivity to perceived tone, ability to at least make a modicum of effort to see the message behind the language, and willingness to ask for clarification to make sure the point is understood before rebutting.

[Colt47]

Is this a thread about novice network? The title and content are so vague that it's like looking at a bunch of color splotches on a piece of paper and asking people to say what they are seeing.