Ouch! When is enough enough (Club Calypto related)

I took a break from actually playing EU for about 10 days not so long ago. These types of things happen when you work in IT and stare at multiple monitors in a dark room for hours on end each day. Your eyes get square, your butt gets sore, and your muscles start whispering things to you like "lazy ass, how bout you do some yard work or go to the beach?" Eventually you either listen or you grow fat and listless as the onset of depression turns into a full blown medical case.

When I decided a short respite was in order the Calypto drama had died down. I didnt figure it was gone. That's wishful thinking. But it had gone back to ingame stuff, minor ingame stuff, as the current Krakatoa of Sweat Camp that is all the drama surrounding this station spent its vital energies. Sure the landscape was still smoldering, and parts of sweat camp smelled bad. But we're used to that. Its a swamp filled with combibo poo and the last bowel purgings of thousands upon thousands of dead newbies. My thought on the matter was that those who were involved, actually involved, would find a way to discuss it and at least reach some sort of civil arrangement to stay the f--- out of each others way.

But it was not to be, as is evidenced by a few popular discussions over at Entropia Forum.

Now before everyone goes off on me for stirring the pot again and attacking their friends, thats not what this is about. Yes I think these people need to leave him the f--- alone. Its obvious that a pack mentality has taken over and like a bunch of hyena, once an animal separates itself from the herd the hunt is on, and it wont stop. Except that it needs to. This isnt about survival. Its about sheer human brutality. I also think that Calypto needs to stop. It just isnt fun anymore. A defense was made, and it was a good one. Why continue? Which brings me to my point?

When is enough enough? In boxing you have rules. 9 rounds. 3 minutes each. You can tap out, last the entire 9 rounds, or convulse on the floor. These rules are there to ensure everyones safety, and minimalize casualties. Unfortunately on the internet there are no rules. Sure, people can eventually apologize, make nice with each other, and move on, but most of the time the sad truth is they dont.

Why?

Because the only thing that matters on the internet is Ego. Closely entwined with Ego unfortunately are the sisters Pride and Power. Attack a persons pride or power, and the Ego steps in, already 100% invested. Ego doesnt care about anyone else but itself and whats good for it. Pride tells Ego "Baby, you are so smart. You can do anything." At the same time Power tells Ego "Honey dont let them push you around. You are better than them and you can show them."

This is simplified, but typical of the human mindset. Even in our day to day interactions we feel this way. We just mitigate it with other soothing voices like Self Preservation, Financial Ruin, and Broken Nose. These voices remind us that what we may be about to do could lead to personal discomfort. Personal discomfort is what we generally use to define what is stupid and what is not. Its also what people use as a gauge to see whether youve had enough of a fight.

The internet unfortunately blurs these responses. The mind is NEVER uncomfortable. Its always working, never tires, and has only a very limited capacity to show pain. Unfortunately that limited ability is either misunderstood by others as a continued desire to fight, or is completely understood as a sign of pain, and like a wild animal the psyche moves in for the virtual kill. I tend to subscribe to the latter of the two outlooks, but I feel its fair to have the former at least be represented as a possiblility.

The question is, as a community how does this impact us? How long do we let something like this go on before it starts to hurt us. Already the lies spread by the initial foray into the internet have reached more ears than not. The poisons there forever taint the community. The implications of the effectiveness of the Sherlock Holmes scheme essentially tell us all that it is OK now to use this tactic in personal warfare with another individual in the Entropia Universe. Anyone who thinks this is the last time, or most serious time this type of thing will occur here is deluding themselves. Attacks like this will now continue, and they will be more frequent and more outlandish.

I fear that the fate of Club Calypto is already a foregone conclusion. It disappoints me because the effort does bring something that I feel new players need in droves. Unfortunately for us, not enough people stepped forward to tell their friends enough was enough, and those that did were not successful in making their points clear (myself included).

I feel as a community we need to collectively decide when enough is enough, and simply cease the harassment. Clear victor or not, after a certain point there is no possibility of anybody winning. Instead everyone loses and both pugilists and audience end up leaving somehow lessened by the experience.

Yes, I am talking about those who keep posting this trash on EF, and keep responding to it. Your posts do not help anyone. They dont clear anything up. They dont even make Calypto feel bad anymore. At this point its just masturbation of the ego --- YOUR ego, not his.

Yes I am also talking about Calypto, who does not seem to know when his point has been made, and has as a result brought this conflict to a height of absurdity.

I write this not for anyone in particular, but for everyone in Entropia. This is not the last time events like this will happen. It is our choice, all of our choices whether we continue to feed this type of trash mentality or let it wither and die once equal representation has occurred.

I have been gaming online for 13 years. Conflicts are common. The drama online is sometimes fun. Never have I seen drama this bad. Ive played all the top PvP MMORPG's. Never have I seen hate this intense. Ive participated in massive guild betrayals where real property was lost (property that could have been sold on Ebay for tens of thousands). Never have I seen lies so eagerly spread and accepted.

Over the past 3 days the Entropia community has thoroughly disgusted me over this matter, to the point where I feel some shame being a part of it.

I post this on EP because its the only place where it wont get spammed all to hell, and where folks might actually consider whats been said and what the implications are.

 

Its true that Fishface canceled the show. I talked to him a bit about it last night. Im also going to remove some names from the post made on my forum. Some users have expressed sensitivities and I feel that the sensitivitiy here detracts from the actual point I was making with my thread enough that removal of names and replacing them with neutral pronouns where applicable is in everyones best interest. I'll probably do that later on today, or tomorrow depending on meetings and what not that I have happening later this afternoon that are going to suck up my idle time!

 

*navigates to User CP*
*clicks Edit Ignore List*
*adds Faye*

The world is a much better place.

*breathes a sigh of relief*

Sorry, Im just done with this particular individual. Her posts only make me angry.

 

Hopefully it ends very soon. This matter was virtually dead from my personal perspective. A few lingering forum threads that time would bury and that would hold little value for anyone other than an archivist to thumb through were all that was left. I cant speak for everyone, but it seemed to me that the radio broadcasts had ceased to be inflammatory (whether in response or otherwise). Given the free spirited nature of Calypto's show that alone said enough.

Even the article on my site is quickly moving past front page status as more current news replaces it. Edits were made in order to be accommodating to the community as a whole, with the hope being that any readers would be left to make up their own minds with greater ease, for those who were interested. The entire thing though was and hopefully still is fading into obscurity.

This I think accomplishes the greater community goal here.