[Rant] Why should we tolerate abuse in virtual environments?

It really shouldn't be part of the game, but unfortunately, as the author of that article points out, it is. The last time I checked, the point of playing a game, online or off, was for enjoyment. Unfortunately though, some people's enjoyment from these games stems from the verbal abuse they dole out regularly. It's really kind of sad that people have to resort to abusing innocent players due to their own boredom (or in a lot of cases, loneliness). The only thing you can really do against them is fight back, which in the end is bringing you down to their level, and is probably what they wanted in the first place.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Elixir

People will be assholes in online games (or anything really) because they're a username and a voice. That's it. You either get punished, or you continue doing it. Getting banned leads you to going to an alternate server and doing the same shit over again.

People enjoy being assholes. Bottom line. Not only do you play your favorite game, you get to ruin someone's fun online for your own personal enjoyment while playing your favorite game. I don't find many people in online games (most notably FPS) who aren't abusive since they take it way too seriously.

The sad thing is, I've met people off of Tetris Worlds for Xbox Live who were taking it way too seriously and being real dicks about it. You know you've sunk to a new low when you're bragging about your imaginary block-laying skillz.

There's nowhere I can't reach.