Avoiding Abusive People in the DDO Community

[Falco_Easts]

My first thought in reading the OP was that it was a trap and someone, somewhere was hovering with their mouse over the report button waiting for a reply.

I understand your desire to improve the game, I do not understand your arrogance in assuming your way is the only way.

Me thinks you might be seeing abuse so much because your are looking for it so hard in every multiclass that joins.

If 4 out of 6 people in a party want to run it fast and they other 2 don't who is being abusive by forcing the others into their playstyle?

From what I have seen of your posts, I think you would be a PIA to run with so determined to play the game your own way with zero flexibility to adapt to what the group wants over what you want.

[Kirachan]

Check out the OPs MyDDO page: http://my.ddo.com/snootch/
There's more fun stuff there :P

[katz]

[Hobgoblin]

Check out the OPs MyDDO page: http://my.ddo.com/snootch/
There's more fun stuff there :P

no offense, but i think that is what the op wants.

he put up flame bait trying to get people he doesnt like in trouble, is how i read the op.

dont fall for it. be the better man and walk away lol

hob

[tdocxxericxx]

Wall Of Text!

Snootch

tl;dr

[Milamber69]

I have been noticing lately that Turbine's moderators have been working rather hard, seeing as offenders within the DDO Community are showing no regard for community etiquette, manners, and responsibility. This is unfortunate, but one can understand the temptation that a few people succumb to when they can hide behind an online avatar and can act differently than they would in real life. We have seen a few people create multiple accounts just to terrorize the DDO community and individuals, both on the Forums and in-game. And after being moderated off of the DDO Community platforms, they take their personalities and avatars to other websites to continue on. It really makes you wonder about their personal lives, but it is unfortunate to witness them trying to denigrate the DDO Community (or anything else) like that. It is seriously time for these people to find a new hobby, perhaps one that requires one to look another in the eyes when dealing with them, as opposed to behind-a-screen tactics, and becoming more responsible with their words and actions.

So let me say thanks to Turbine for doing the job that we have been paying them to do in moderating these people, their accounts, and their posts. It is so unnecessary if we all could just act maturely, but such a thing is hard to command and expect from people. Especially those who fall to the temptation to hide behind their computer screens and seek to harm others, when they would never do something like this to them face-to-face (fearing the consequences).

I have personally played on the Argonnessen DDO game server for over a year now. I have met all the types of folks there. I have met wonderful people on this server and have made what I consider real friends here, at least from the online standpoint. I don't plan on meeting them in person, but I have met wonderful people from around the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, and some other places. Their personalities have been mature and fun, and never would any of us contemplate how to ruin someone's day, ruin their entertainment experience, or in any other way bully or abuse our environment or others. It just doesn't make sense to do that, obviously, especially for grown-ups.

But there have been the very few folks who, for some reason, are just really mean, immature, or otherwise abusive. And they are not this way simply because they have stayed up all night playing DDO for 14 hours straight without much food and water (which is a problem in and of itself!), but instead because of people of various ages who simply like to harass others. They think it is fun and cute to defame others, harass them with Tells or within party voice chat, and gang up on others so as to get affirmation from folks that act like they do. These abusers tend to succumb to arrogance when they get others to support their poor behavior, and the gang/bully mentality sets in in DDO's guild format. It becomes appalling to witness abuse and arrogance in a community that can certainly do without it.

This post here is designed to offer the casual DDO gamer something to consider when playing the game of DDO as he/she plays in Pick-Up Groups (PUGs) and in guilds. It is designed help you avoid wasting your time with people who have serious personality problems when online and here in the DDO game community. I hope that you will not suffer the amount of abuse that I personally have had to endure while playing DDO, as I have learned a lot from Turbine on how to avoid these people, to report them for moderation, and to help protect myself and others from these online abusers. Hopefully the following information will help you protect yourself from these random online strangers and prevent from ever having to deal with their abusive behavior whatsoever.


What to Look for When Protecting Yourself from Abuse within the Online Video Game of DDO

1) Nearly all people who are abusive are also very arrogant. They like to brag about themselves and their playing abilities and accomplishments, the guild they are in, the characters they have built, and the items that they have found or crafted. This makes it easy to spot them as someone not to waste your time with, as they usually view anyone else as "lesser" in this game. Rather than trying to tolerate these folks, instead let them bask in their own self-glorification. This will reduce the amount of spam you have to put up with relating to item links in the Chat window, foul voice chat messages insulting others, and all the creepy things that go on when someone is full of themselves. Instead, have fun with people who think like we do: the casual, considerate gamers who came to a MMO looking to have fun with other people and letting everyone play their characters how they want to.

2) Because arrogance usually goes along with an abusive attitude - making them easy to spot - another resource to verify before partying with someone is their My.DDO webpage. Often times abusers (who are very proud of themselves) will have an account set up so that they can post on the DDO Forums. This account page can link all their characters on the various servers, as well as be used for an introductory format. The easiest way to view someone's My.DDO webpage is to press Control+M when in-game, then search their Character's name in the Search field and pull-down menu. There you can get basic information on how they view themselves, their play styles, and characters if they decided to post something. The more flamboyant players make their arrogance obvious.

3) Some of the most abusive players in the game of DDO follow certain patterns that I have picked up on. It should be noted that these characteristics are just similarities and should not be considered as "everyone who fits this profile are abusive!" These are just some patterns that I have noticed and forwarding on to you for your consideration as "red flags" when playing with certain players so as to protect yourself from abuse, harassment, and general wasting of time and reduced entertainment.

A) Multi-classed characters. Not everyone who multi-classes is abusive, nor are all pure-class players not abusive. It is just that most abusive folks that I have met typically despise pure-class builds as something "weaker" or something to be expanded upon.

B) Multi-role game style. Usually abusers are bored with party roles in role-playing games. This is an obvious red flag, I think! What they tend to do is multi-role, which is something like multi-classing to get a Rogue splash on their build so that they can attempt traps or get Evade, splashing Cleric for healing themselves, and maybe something else like Ranger or Fighter for certain Feats. Beyond the multi-classing, they seek to be "self-sufficient" and thus attempt multiple roles to minimize the party's requisite functions. For example, abusers will typically claim that they can heal themselves without the need for a Cleric in the party. After that, they go on to abuse a Cleric who does not zerg alongside them in a quest. Just an example.

C) Self-sufficiency over specialization. Along with multi-classing and multi-roling, abusers typically fall into the pattern of thinking they are "self-sufficient," as alluded to just above. What this also means is that they expect others to be "self-sufficient." The idea is to have a party of folks who do not rely upon each other too much or not at all. The idea of "party," then, becomes something like an end to justify a mean. And as one might imagine, this play style lends more to those who wish to zerg (rush) through quests. If your spellcaster can't fend for himself, then the abuser makes fun of you and harasses you, rather than protecting the robe-wearing ranged caster. Again, the pattern is to eliminate the thought of roles in a role-playing game and to expect a party to be around when you need them, not the other way around.

D) Zerging. This is the concept of sprinting through quests in order to get something like "experience per second." Zergers typically choose quests that give high XP rewards and then just rush through them time and again. Sound like fun? I don't think so, either. But all they want to do is level-up their character quickly, which usually results in failure of quests. When they are successful, they get more motivated to continue the practice. And for those who hate zerging (because it is anathema to the genre of role-playing games), these abusers will make fun of you for "not keeping up" and because they don't want to "hold your hand" and other such language. In other words, they also abuse the genre and the game itself by zerging through quests, leaving people behind, and making fun of those who want a better entertainment experience.

E) Belong to larger guilds. The larger guilds in DDO are large because of constant game playing. From playing countless hours of DDO, guilds start out small, then attract more members as their Guild Renown (and thus Guild Level) increases because then their Guild AIrships have more buffs for people to use. In other words, many new players and others are simply interested in using large guilds for their nice Airship buffs. Also, they use these larger guilds to find people of their same level to quest with, knowing the guild style of quest playing and playing to that. That is, one knows what to expect when in a guild. The problem comes when arrogance sets in. Then it becomes "my guild is bigger/better than yours." Also, getting use to that guild's play style, they think others are failures if they do not play similarly. The result is often abuse, harassment, mockery, etc. There are very few large guilds in DDO that are great to play with. The best guilds are the smaller ones. Most large guilds are simply comrpised of people looking to use the guild size for something, as opposed to playing with people they know, are friends with, or who think like they do. In other words, strangers who are opportunists. The other types of large guild members are the active founders who spend their money on the guild for bragging purposes and whatnot. In general, it is best to avoid the larger guilds in DDO and instead learn how to play by experience and from considering what others have to say. For those who want a more intimiate entertainment experience, try playing with people of smaller guilds and see how they play. If you like it and want more of it, then stay active and help develop that guild to a higher level. Abusers, on the other hand, just use guild size for baseless bragging rights and as reasoning to abuse others. Again, this is just a pattern of abusers and not indicative of all players in DDO who are in larger guilds. It is just part of the pattern that I have noticed frmo those who have abused me and others that I have known.

F) Use the word "noob" more than other words. Ah, the great insult of an abuser, apparently: "noob." That is their way of insulting people who disagree with them, their play style, or their build/guild/etc. It becomes obvious why they do not wish to help new players in the game, then. They merely want to use new players to build up their guild size and to indoctrinate them into a certain playstyle. What I have found interesting is when I have spoken to more open-minded folks who prefer my suggestions to play more clasually and to be more role-specific. They seem to realize that the abusive types on DDO are too narrow-minded and ultimately not fun. These newer players don't last in the large guilds as long because they want to play the game how it was meant to be played: as a role-playing game in an adventure setting; not as a one-size-fits-all action game where everyone has the same class splashes and zerging techniques. (It's almost kind of like early Final Fantasy titles versus Zelda, when I think about it. Your FF characters develop within their classes, while Link develops linearly. What ended up happening was that the word "role-playing" got morphed into something like "anything where you do not play as yourself." But that is not the classic definition. The classic definition is the systematic building up of a character at each level in specific ways for a clear end result. Multi-classing, then, almost always works counter to that, though there are very few exceptions. In a true role-playing game, a character in a party is expected to be a specialist and not be watered-down, taking on roles that do not pretain directly to his class.)


These are just some "red flags" for you to consider when playing the very fun game of DDO. As Turbine says, the game of DDO is "powered by our fans." Without thousands of people playing this game at one time, DDO would be less than what it is today. But also with thousands of fans comes a higher percentage of people who abuse the genre, the game, and other players. We must be vigilant in protecting ourselves, reporting the abusers, and maintaining this community. Whenever you spot an abuser, it is important to recognize them and call them out. By that I do not mean to confront them, as they often tempt folks to do (and then bring in others to gang up on them). Instead, call them out for others, especially to Turbine. You can rely on Turbine moderators to maintain their property of DDO. They lose money when bad people influence their community. So Turbine wants to correct the problems that they are having, and that includes problem players.

My advice for those looking to have a fine gaming experience within the DDO Community includes:

1) Meet people! With so many folks out there on DDO, there are sure to be good people who think like you do. Befriend them and play with them regularly. That is the most fun: playing with people who think like you do.

2) Support those that think like you do, within the context of being helpful, supportive, and beneficial to the DDO community at large. Again, it's not all about you; it's rather all about the party! Make good parties by being a good party member. That includes character build and real-life human personality. Play to your party role and be reliable and kind. Let others play their characters to their party roles. Be patient and helpful. With enough practice and playing with people of like mind, the game will become much more interesting and fun!

3) Help police the DDO Community. Turbine is on the ball most of the time. However, they usually appreciate it when we shine the light on the problems in their community. If you are mature and proper about it, you can quickly and easily report a problem to Turbine, and then they can decide if they will do something about it. For example: Naming Policy violations, behavior violations, etc. These are usually obvious because they are mostly written down for all to see. So you just pass these along and let Turbine deal with them, if they want to. Be honest and be in the right. Then it is just a matter of reporting the abusers. It is as simple as that, and it is true in other facets of life, as well.


I hope that this guide, of sorts, helps you to identify abusive players within the DDO Community, but also motivates you to take a stand against them (with Turbine's help) and to support the better causes out there. The DDO Community can be much better if we help Turbine root out those who are so focused on harming others. Identify the patterns and then deal with the problems with proper discipline. In time, the Forums will be cleaner, the parties will be friendlier, and the game of DDO will be much more fun for everyone playing it.

Take care, and I hope to see more like-minded thinkers in the game.


Snootch

I stopped reading about halfway through because I have seen this post before, some other guy did it, some other time on some other forum. Ganak pretty much nailed it in one sentence, you need to take less satisfaction in the sound of your own voice. This is an internet forum which means even though you are entitled to your own opinion (like mine), usually no one cares and its not going to change the world.

Beautifully written though, give Hallmark a call.

[furbyoats]

I stopped reading about halfway through because I have seen this post before, some other guy did it, some other time on some other forum. Ganak pretty much nailed it in one sentence, you need to take less satisfaction in the sound of your own voice. This is an internet forum which means even though you are entitled to your own opinion (like mine), usually no one cares and its not going to change the world.

Beautifully written though, give Hallmark a call.

mmhmm

[Milamber69]

P.S - I loved the extract in your 'How to build a proper Healer' guide on 'Healer wave strategies'. Brilliant.

[Veileira]

If someone says something to me and I turn around to tell other people the person said something far worse than what was said, that would be considered libelous at worst, and definitely disproves any sense of community responsibility at best.

I'd call that a red flag. A big, bright waving red flag with the words "red flag" printed on it could not be more of a red flag than doing something like that.

It's totally against any sense of community spirit whatsoever. Good thing Turbine protects us by moderating people who do such things. Right?

[furbyoats]

P.S - I loved the extract in your 'How to build a proper Healer' guide on 'Healer wave strategies'. Brilliant.

I think i saw the op respond in a cleric build thread basically telling someone else that their build was horrible and it was unable to be a healer.

Then the op comes over here and makes a post about people being abusive.

The pot calls the kettle black?

[ORIGINALBAG0]

The pot calls the kettle black?

Is that racist?

[Kirachan]

no offense, but i think that is what the op wants.

he put up flame bait trying to get people he doesnt like in trouble, is how i read the op.

dont fall for it. be the better man and walk away lol

hob

Is it not allowed to link a persons MyDDO? You could view it from his profile yourself after all.

In any case, I saw it before this nice thread and found it quite entertaining. I certainly don't plan to commend on the subject matter.

[skaltervox12]

Everyone, just Shut up, really, already. What are we accomplishing by advancing this circular discourse?

[furbyoats]

Dear moderation team,

The original post, while sheathed in helpful intentions, is full of provocative statements. I only hope that you are looking into what was written and that the nasty ban hammer does not come swinging because someone is trying to bait a portion of the community that they have a personal problem with.

If nothing else, this topic should belong in the new player forums. Since the OP directly stated that bad events happened to him on this server...wouldn't this post be in violation of community guidelines by recanting past actions that involved moderation? If you let this thread ride, I hope you stay unbiased. If you must swing the hammer, I only ask that you maintain the same standards to the OP as you may to the replies.

Thanks,

Furbs

[BitkaCK2]

Everyone, just Shut up, really, already. What are we accomplishing by advancing this circular discourse?

We are making the Cube hungry.

bitkaCK2

[furbyoats]

We are making the Cube hungry.

bitkaCK2

here, distract yourself with this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnZhi...&feature=share

[Osharan_Tregarth]

Is it not allowed to link a persons MyDDO? You could view it from his profile yourself after all.

Nope.

I am aware that at least one person has recieved points for pointing out that someone's characters weren't anon, and thus could be viewed by anyone wanting to look them up.

Apparently this was being hostile to the person involved.

[Galeria]

Being a newbie myself and someone who really dislikes playing with people who trash others... I find a really nasty undertone to the OP. It's more like "let's get our pitchforks and torches" than honestly helpful or useful.

• My first character was a multiclass. And I am TRing her into the same multiclass because I like playing her so much.( I find most people assume multiclasses are noobs who don't know what they are doing rather than thinking they must be some uber-elitist. I'd say this is more of a bias on your part than a real "indicator" of an abuser. I assume you've been stomped by some rocking multiclasses that have hurt your feelings...)
  
• I really prefer my self-sustaining toons to my "do only one thing" toons because I don't like being needy or dependant on a party to complete a quest. Pugging is like a box of chocolates... it's better to be able to take care of yourself.
  
• I joined a large guild and they are sooooo much better than the medium guild I first joined. Nicer, more mature, more helpful. I couldn't disagree more with your "large guilds are indicators of bad people" implication.

Overall, it's less of a "lets make this a better place" and more of a whinefest of hurt feelings and prejudices.

I'm sorry your playtime has been so miserable for you, I really am. I have run into some rotten people, some hateful people and some plain old nasty people not to mention a stalker or two in my first 6 months of playing... but they are far outweighed by the funny, helpful and freaking awesome people I've met.

Focus on the postive and you'll feel better. GL.

[furbyoats]

Being a newbie myself and someone who really dislikes playing with people who trash others... I find a really nasty undertone to the OP. It's more like "let's get our pitchforks and torches" than honestly helpful or useful.

• My first character was a multiclass. And I am TRing her into the same multiclass because I like playing her so much.( I find most people assume multiclasses are noobs who don't know what they are doing rather than thinking they must be some uber-elitist. I'd say this is more of a bias on your part than a real "indicator" of an abuser. I assume you've been stomped by some rocking multiclasses that have hurt your feelings...)
  
• I really prefer my self-sustaining toons to my "do only one thing" toons because I don't like being needy or dependant on a party to complete a quest. Pugging is like a box of chocolates... it's better to be able to take care of yourself.
  
• I joined a large guild and they are sooooo much better than the medium guild I first joined. Nicer, more mature, more helpful. I couldn't disagree more with your "large guilds are indicators of bad people" implication.

Overall, it's less of a "lets make this a better place" and more of a whinefest of hurt feelings and prejudices.

I'm sorry your playtime has been so miserable for you, I really am. I have run into some rotten people, some hateful people and some plain old nasty people not to mention a stalker or two in my first 6 months of playing... but they are far outweighed by the funny, helpful and freaking awesome people I've met.

Focus on the postive and you'll feel better. GL.

ooooooo, this one stings

[Nysrock]

After reading the OP all I can think of is profiling. He tosses a LOT of generalizations around and then profiles people off what he thinks they should do/be. While I believe everyone has the right to choose who they party with I don't think you should make it sound like those types of people you mention are the problem.

Basically it boils down to be prejudice against multi-classing, self-efficient people who can, and will, zerg through a quest. So what if I take 1 level of rogue and have max trap skills on my fighter. Nothing says you have to play a certain class any one way. That's what makes this game so unique, the ability to customize your character your way for your maximum enjoyment.