Slashdot put up a post today covering James Egan’s fantastic rundown on the BoB debacle. If you haven’t read about it yet, please do, totally accessible for even non-EVE players like me.

What struck me was one of the highest rated comments on the Slashdot post:

by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 06, @02:55AM
In other news, I just killed Revolver Ocelot in MGS. It was a really tough fight but I managed to pull it out. Can I get my own Slashdot article too?

It’s … really dumb, obviously, but beyond that it shows  a staggering misunderstanding of what online gaming *is*.

Comparing even the most casual of interactions in an MMO to completing something in a single-player game digs right into the heart of the online disconnection a lot of players have nowadays. It’s possible that guy was just being a dick and saying MMOs aren’t that interesting, but I think it’s more likely he buys into the same logic that’s created the incredibly foul Halo 3 multiplayer experience. A significant portion of younger players, I think, just don’t care that there are real people on the other end of the line. They type things, they say things, and to them the voices and text responses are just as much a part of the game as the orcs and weapons. Like we’re NPCs put there for his amusement.

I’m cranky on this, I know, but John Gabriel’s mighty theorum is powerful stuff. Meanwhile, the connection, the sense of not being alone, the community are all greatly serving those of us who see the little text popping up in the lower left-hand corner as more than just background noise.

Instead of the usual enormous blog post (which I used both in 2007 and 2006) I decided to take a different tack this year. Below are embedded a pair of videos running down my thoughts on the upcoming year. Enjoy!

This, right here, is why MMO players are so freaking cynical:

If Fun is generated by learning new skills, and you’ve been playing games for decades, it’s fair to consider the effect. You can look at these things in terms of a calcified critical perspective, and it makes for incredible rhetoric. The medium has changed substantially on their watch, though – irrevocably so. New people are making, playing, and thinking about games. It takes time to calibrate your instruments.

I think it’s been obvious in the past that Tobold and I have disagreed on various issues, but … seriously, you’re giving him crap about getting a freebie account to Warhammer?

Sayeth Lum:

Belgiumgate is kind of silly, and not just because I like typing the word “Belgium”. If you think a blog author is going to be bought off by a comped account worth a bit more than what I paid for a bowl of pho this afternoon… that must be damned good pho. And it wasn’t. I’d want AT least some Pad Kee Maw before I give up all my principles.

Sayeth Cameron:

There are two ways to get subscriptions to online games: 1) Get a job and pay a bit of money each month, or 2) Write about online games for long enough and get involved enough with the community (by reading, writing, responding, and attending industry events) that companies will (occasionally) grant you one. Tobold doesn’t get some kind of special status because they like him better than anyone else. He’s proven his dedication to writing about this stuff and developed a substantial following due to his frequent, thorough, and insightful posts.

‘Nuff said.

Update: The Freeman gets it right. Again.

The issue of virtual rights has been raised, first at Kendricke’s blog and then by Grimwell. Kendricke is bouncing off of ideas raised this past weekend at IMGDC, and I really must codify my notes from Dr. Bartle’s fantastic session on government intervention in virtual worlds …

In any case, the bottom line is that having ‘rights’ is more trouble than its worth. I want to make it super clear here that my opinion here isn’t ’siding with the devs’ – it’s a purely selfish notion. Games with ‘rights’ aren’t games anymore. They’re extensions of reality and by definition no longer exist purely for fun. With ‘rights’ comes a legion of unwanted components like tax laws, intellectual property rights, etc, etc, etc … all BS categorically not having anything to do with gaming or fun. I don’t want to have to submit a W2 everytime I join a new gameworld, and then think about my virtual income come tax time.

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The recent discussion in the Warhammer world about whether or not to have forums sounds very familiar. So does the fan reaction, and so does Darren’s response, which is something like “if they step out of line, ban em’.” I realize I have a sort of skewed perception here, but one thing that I think Slashdot does very very right is the whole ‘don’t ban people -ever’ shtick. Instead of banning folks who get out of line, Slash has the tools available to make annoying posters ‘disappear’ from the perspective of readers. Metamoderation of original comments allows readers to have the kind of experience they want. If you want hate, bile, and hilarity, you can read at that level. If you want only useful or insightful comments, you can read at that level.

The problem with banning is that it feeds into the ego of the troll. See, trolls live and die by the amount of attention they garner. They’re attention whores, basically, though most of them are a different breed than the Guild drama queen or the popular kids in school. On the Bartle grid, they get their jollies on the ‘Killer’ part of the map; they play the game (in forums and on websites) mostly as PvP. So, as they see it, getting banned is a good thing. It’s a further ‘injustice’ they can shout to the rooftops, evidence they can hold out that the Man has him beaten down.

I’ve compared trolls in the past to the rampaging advertisements from that classic Simpsons Halloween episode. The only way to truly kill a troll is to stop paying attention to it. Give other readers the tools to block them out, marginalize them, and forget about them. Banning just creates overhead for staff and feeds into the troll’s cycle of pain.

Obviously I probably fall into the category of someone not smart enough to moderate a forum, but that’s just my two cents.