An unhelpful point
Jul. 7th, 2009 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kilroySo this guy played City of Heroes and wrote a paper about it. The link to the paper itself is further down the article; I haven't read it thoroughly yet.
Still, if the article is correct, I think our researcher is probably emphasizing the wrong point. Social spaces are constructed by consent and built on tradition, and the appropriate response when entering a new community is to stop and observe what the norms are. If you choose to repeatedly violate those norms, of course the community is going to respond badly. If they can't actually get rid of you, then the responses will escalate as the frustration level does. This is hardly a new idea and is by no means restricted to online spaces.
Saying "but it's not against the rules" is a valid legal defense, but it displays a certain disregard for the people currently inhabiting the community. In this particular case, I don't think the community merited fighting-- no one was getting hurt, and the purpose that he was looking for was actually served elsewhere in the game. So he was basically just being a jerk to a bunch of strangers-- is it publication-worthy that they were jerks back?
Still, if the article is correct, I think our researcher is probably emphasizing the wrong point. Social spaces are constructed by consent and built on tradition, and the appropriate response when entering a new community is to stop and observe what the norms are. If you choose to repeatedly violate those norms, of course the community is going to respond badly. If they can't actually get rid of you, then the responses will escalate as the frustration level does. This is hardly a new idea and is by no means restricted to online spaces.
Saying "but it's not against the rules" is a valid legal defense, but it displays a certain disregard for the people currently inhabiting the community. In this particular case, I don't think the community merited fighting-- no one was getting hurt, and the purpose that he was looking for was actually served elsewhere in the game. So he was basically just being a jerk to a bunch of strangers-- is it publication-worthy that they were jerks back?