Staying away from negativity in the hobby

[sundancer 42908xp 6]

So in the last few weeks I find myself nagging and complaining about a lot of stuff. And I’m not talking about things being said on the uHH. That’s (usually) just fun and nothing serious.

But more often then not I find myself in situations where I really want to make negative remarks because I really dislike something.  Things like a promotional piece for a Kickstarter and in the Kickstarter pledge levels are beyond any sane reason. At least in my view. Usually I would make myself heard and write something in the comment section. (Keep in mind I do this not only here but on various different site, forums and videos)

Since this Monday I actively try not to do that any more. For one we already have enough negativity in our lives at the moment as is and secondly it’s not my job to point out obvious flaws and terrible practices.

At first I thought it would be easy. Simply ignore it and just don’t write it. But man, it’s hard. There are things were I’d like to grab people by the neck of their shirts and shake them. And I do wonder: is this me? Is it the world itself that’s just feeling “not good enough”? Or am I just an angry old fart.

Anyhow… I needed this out of my system. Hope your day is better.

Keep safe, sane and crack on.

Speaking of cracking on… where the hell has Mel gone? :S

[panzerkaput 33938xp 0]

Its going to be a quick Mumble tonight, lol

 

[sundancer 42908xp 0]

only if someone brings up stuff that’s annoying…

[limburger 21674xp 0]

Like how Starwars Legion still isn’t Epic ? 😉

I try to put a positive spin on any negative feedback … doesn’t always work though.

At the same time we should be able to post remarks that aren’t 100% praise in any topic, provided all parties are open to discussion.

And sometimes a good ol’ fashioned rant is the best way to release all the negativity and stop it from consuming yourself.

[zeker1966 1633xp 2]

I personally don’t comment in an overly negative comment. I might say it isn’t for me or something like that but who am I to tell someone else to back or not a kickstarter. Or if I don’t like a game system I just don’t comment or follow the news for that game. The club I belong to has an unofficial policy that comments on our discord server should generally be positive or at the least constructive regardless of the company being discussed.

I think the internet has made it too easy to rant. People often have a knee jerk reaction to something and then immediately start posting. Imagine if you had to write things long hand, go to the post office and mail in your comments. Negative comments would still happen but someone would really have to put the effort into it.

[pagan8thParticipant 10747xp 2]

In the world of the internet anonymity is easy. People create an ID to hide behind and criticise.

How many people would be brave to criticise someone to their face? But it’s easy from the safety of your computer.

Old school bullying involved threat, intimidation and violence… it wasn’t fun to be a victim, but at least you were face to face with the bully.

Now it’s all done through social media and anonymous. Physically it doesn’t hurt, but emotionally it must and you can’t put a face to the bully. In my experience the name calling was unpleasant, but less painful than punching.

[crazyredcoatParticipant 13642xp 1]

To be honest, I think it’s just a reaction to the state of the world right now, to a certain extent. There is a lot of legitimate stupidity that gets a free pass and that will sort of taint the way people see things. I’d say everyone has been put under some sort of mental strain by all the goings on in the last 2(?) years and that will eventually boil over into other things. I know the feeling, and I know that I often struggle to stop myself just going ballistic on someone who certainly doesn’t need that level of negativity thrown at them. I did that even in the Before Times, but it’s gotten harder to deal with recently. It’s hard to fight it, but recognising that it happens in the first place is half the fight, mate.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19611xp 3]

Pressure valves are best to vent from time to time. Its also good to step back and exercise some stoicism. Unplugging completely is also very healthy considering the state of things mentioned before. Find your moment of zen in the small things… minis can fill that role. If not that, take tea (or hot chocolate) with the kiddo and just enjoy sharing a book while sitting huddled under a blanket. Time passes all of us quicker than we can catch.

[pagan8thParticipant 10747xp 0]

I have found that building new models can be therapeutic to me.

Work has been a nightmare lately… xmas at the post office was never good, but the number of parcels since covid is insane and management did not hire extra staff for xmas… and now we have the sales…

Anyway… building requires focus and concentrates my mind so that I forget the crap of the day behind me and the one to come the next day.

Also helps being a GM, as creating a universe and campaign consumes time… it also distracts me at work.

[panzerkaput 33938xp 1]

I agree with you @sundancer and I am also going to try and do that and offer only positive comments and in a way thats what we all should do to beat the negative traits

[somegeezer 18431xp 4]

I delete a lot of comments below posting. Sometimes for quality, sometimes for negativity (you’ve read what survives this process, imagine the shite that doesn’t make it).

Negativity has its place, in life and I’m the hobby (I’m fond of saying I’m not gloomy I’m just a realist) and I think it’s ok to point out that some games/minis/ideas/Kickstarters are shit.

It’s a matter of moderation. Jumping with joy over every GW (it’s mostly GW) release is as boring as shooting every one down.

[redscopeParticipant 2713xp 1]

I found myself on the opposite of the coin that I get annoyed by the constant and it often is constant attacks of negativity on the hobby and hobby companies. When people are making critical comments on a model or a style that is fine but it is the more general hate certain companies get just because they exist, or comments on they release to much or its too expensive.

I find myself defending the position because most of the people posting have zero idea what they are talking about. One issue related to wages paid to a rules writer, if anyone had bothered to look at industry standards and what other companies are paying them it was the same. We might be shocked by how little rules writers are paid but that is just a reality. It created negativity for a company around an issue that did not exist.

I come from a generation that was just in awe and excitment at any release or news we used to get. At the time we had less choice and lacked the pressure of the internet telling us months in advance what was coming out. I still have that excitment when I see new releases but if you look at social media half the comments are people already complaining about it. I should ignore them but it really does damp the spirits at times.

Not everything released is for us personally. I look at some kicker starters and think who is paying 300 dollars for half a ton weight in new buildings. However people have backed it, 1,000’s did so. Just because I personally dont think it is for me clearly I am wrong in those views yes to some degree I am out of touch. I should be happy for those people that they enjoy that product and that is good for them. So who am I to be negative about it ?

I think trying not to let your personal views when it comes to being negative is the correct solution. It is fine to make a critical point about a product but the general negative comments I dont think is good for the hobby or our own mental health.

 

[panzerkaput 33938xp 4]

Surely there is a different between not liking something because it is not my cuppa or critiquing it and being down on it because it is from “that” company. I would say the first isnt being negative but the later is

[limburger 21674xp 1]

@redscope just because you don’t like something and say such things that doesn’t make you wrong (or them right).
It’s an opinion that is as valid as any other, because there’s no accounting for taste.

I’d even apply it to rules/systems …

As long as you can read critique as an opinion piece and not as a (personal) attack it is ok.
I also feel it applies to both writer and reader.

Emotion can be hard to express in plain text, which means that some things may sound more negative than the person writing it wanted it to. As such I’d argue that in addition to being mindful of the tone of the stuff we write we should also take it easier when reading critique.

A good test would be ‘if company X made it would you still have the same reaction’  ?
If the reaction is similar then the critique is justified.
If it isn’t then the only difference should be along the lines of ‘I expected better’ and not like ‘well it’s [insert brand]’.

I also argue that we should always remember that while companies are not our friends, the people behind that company are still human beings (I hope …  ) and should be treated as such.

@pagan8th I can only speak for myself, but I’d say the same things in the real world as I do on-line.
Social media themselves do run on a negativity feedback loop, because ‘hot’ topics tend to be trending which attracts more responses.  And the best way to get trending (and cause people to react) is to say something that is as offensive as possible. They kind of live because of the flamewars and click-bait items that they (and people within such communities) post, which means they have zero incentive to fix things.

I’m glad that we don’t have such a negative feedback loop within the OTT platform.  (I could do without the XP and thumbs up counters to be honest, but I can see why people ‘need’ them )

[onlyonepinman 18060xp 4]

There’s loads of stuff in the Hobby I don’t like but I realised a couple of years ago that commenting about stuff I don’t like didn’t actually make me happy, so I just stopped. I just asked myself what I thought I was achieving by making negative comments and I couldn’t give myself an answer.  It’s literally just pissing on someone else’s fun.  It also pisses me off a little when I see people doing the same about stuff I like, that makes it so much easier to not do it myself.  Some models or games exist that I don’t like, so what?  Nobody is forcing me to buy them and honestly, nobody actually gives a shit if I don’t like them.

I will still offer my own opinion on articles and opinion pieces that I disagree with (if I feel strongly enough) but when I see releases or models or companies that I don’t like I just ignore it.

 

 

 

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