To the L4D2 community, my first and last rant.

[Johnny]

I've never done this before but this seems like an appropriate time.  I’m going to address the elephant in the room here.  Please keep in mind that these are exclusively my own opinions, so take what I say at face value and don’t make any wild inferences or assumptions. 

 

I will admit I have never really read the GC rules.  I think I skimmed over them… 3 years ago?  Off the top of my head, I bet they summarize as follow: fun, clean (multiple denotations here relevant to gaming, i.e. good sportsmanship, no cursing, cheating, hacking, etc.), respectful, competitive gaming.   Pretty close, right?  Everyone who plays here for any decent amount of time knows this.  However, recent drama and behaviors from a certain few have shown that these members have forgotten these fundamental principles of the community.  I’m not going to mention any specific names, but if you are wondering if I’m talking about you, then yes, I am.   

 

If you have the attitude that admins of this community are “worthless, abusive, power hungry nerds who compensate for some perceived personal shortcomings by exercising excessive authority over others on the internet”, then I’m talking about you.  To me, bans are not punishment, but a form of reinforcement.  In psychology, reinforcements are anything that increase a desired behavior or response.  It is a negative reinforcement, by removing your ability to play on the servers, we hope to re-mediate your behaviors to conform with the community standards - fun, clean, respectful, competitive gaming.  There are specific rules, guidelines, and multiple layers of review for bans.  Do I agree with all the rules? No, I don’t.  I think some of them are stupid, but I acknowledge why they are necessary. Do the admins make mistakes? Yes, they do. The admins are reviewed, counseled, and corrected as necessary.  The bad ones are no longer here, either voluntarily or otherwise.  The system is not perfect but it works well.

 

If you are playing by yourself or with your crew on our servers and you think,” This is great, I’m rekking these sorry noobs”, then I’m talking about you.  I hate to burst your overblown egos but you are big fish in a very, very small pond, and that’s not a complement.  To further clarify, you are “omgz, super pro elites” within one small, fun-oriented niche community of a declining 5+ years old niche game.  Please, please try not to brag too hard about your skills, because that makes me cringe inside.  I can watch open heart surgery.  I have witnessed the results of meth heads beating and neglecting their infants to death.  I have seen drug abusers squat and poop themselves in a state of psychosis.  I have seen bones and organs outside and still attached to a living human body. I have seen multiple people die and watched the light and consciousness leave their eyes. None of that makes me cringe.  But when you brag about your pro skills in this game, a VIDEO GAME of no relevance or import, a small part of me dies and a single tear rolls down my cheek.  Please stop, just stop.  Humility is a defining trait to acquire, one of many contributing to personal excellence and integrity.

 

Attitudes, defined as “feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events” (Dewall & Myers, 2016). Your attitudes are abundantly clear in what you do and say within and outside the community, between and among yourselves, about the community, its members, and admins.  So why are you still here?

 

Why are you still here? That’s my question.  What exactly is it you do here to improve the community?  You don’t help or teach new players.  You don’t enforce community rules; you argue and bend the rules.  You troll in-game and in the forums, replying with nothing substantial or productive.  In game, you engage in selfish, passive-aggressive BS gameplay - you don’t volunteer to balance teams when asked; you don’t send or spend your points; you knowingly stack teams for lols, etc.   You cause unnecessary drama.  You talk poop in your private chat servers about the community, about the admins, about other members.  You use our servers as your private playground with your friends while trolling, joking, instigating, and complaining at the expense of others’ time and enjoyment.  So, I ask again - what exactly do you do, here, to help the community?  Why are you still here?

 

Peanut and Crasx have briefly hinted at it but I’ll straight up just say it here and now, openly and directly.  If you can’t adhere by community standards, please leave.  As in, get the **** out. There’s no place for you here.  The community will survive without a handful of players who contribute nothing but drama and BS.  Remember that you are the ones spending your or other’s money subbing, or using VPN/alts to attempt to continue playing here.  That is a huge complement to us – Thank you!  There will be internal changes to the community addressing these recent events that have transpired.  Too many people have forgotten that Gamers Coalition is about fun, clean, respectful, competitive gaming.  To everyone else: GC is what it is because of you, its members.  You guys are awesome! You are the reason GC is such a great place to play.  Thank you!

Edited August 5, 2017 by Johnny