Tag Archives: Tobold

So there’s this story in EVE Online about a guy who said stupid things while drunk under the influence of his own ideas and a crowd that tends to support his viewpoints.

If you’re wondering who I’m referring to, I’m talking about Tobold at the moment.

Nope, not that Mittani fellow. Tobold.

The basis for his consternation lies in the events of Mittanigate, wherein a CSM player (and Council of Stellar Management) chairman named The Mittani seemingly encouraged other people into goading someone to commit suicide.

The fallout of this event was The Mittani (Alexander Gianturco)’s resignation from the CSM, the revocation of his CSM position in its entirety and a 30-day banning for The Mittani’s account (not sure if this still holds) a day later, a boatload of people going nuts everywhere regarding bullying and other issues in relation to this particular event, The Mittani (both character and person) refocusing his efforts on pretty much creating havoc across New Eden, and Tobold saying stuff again.

Now, I read Tobold’s writings, and I can see where he’s coming from, but sometimes, I think he’s preachier than I am, without trying to see what everyone’s viewpoint is on a particular issue.

I asked Syncaine to help me get more insight into everything by providing me with clarifications regarding what happened, minus his personal commentary. From what he’s told me, and from videos I’ve seen and posts I’ve read, all that’s happened is that a drunk guy (The Mittani) decided to be a complete tool and tried to get other people to be a dick to someone. The other guy didn’t quite care, and according to Syncaine, said recipient of the bullying in this case was even joking that maybe he should kill himself to get Mittani in trouble.

Dissecting the scenario, all I can see are the following:

1. The Mittani decides to be drunk and stupid.

2. People in the EVE community decide to act stupid as well.

3. Outrage spreads over the occurrence of stupidity.

4. Recipient of bullying doesn’t give a damn, and also says something stupid that makes light of suicide.

5. Reports that aren’t updated exacerbate matters.

6. Tobold says Syncaine and The Mittani are evil, which is stupid, because Syncaine is about as opinionated and well-spoken as Tobold and had his words taken out of context, and the Mittani, as we’ve discussed earlier, is stupid.

7. Errybody in the club getting tipsy stupid.

What does this lead to? Simple… People are idiots. They can be mean-spirited and follow the flow of discussion to an idiotic conclusion. Worse still, they can choose to follow an agenda of their own that misrepresents ideas to further their thoughts.

Whether that last bit refers to Gianturco’s campaign, Tobold’s writings, Syncaine’s writings, or my writings… why not just lump them all into a ball of stupid, call it a day, and focus our efforts on just being nicer people to everyone in general instead of being stupid dicks online.

That’d be the smartest outcome out all this, I’d reckon.


Category: EVE Online, MMOs, opinion

Everyone should hug.

As many of you might know, Tobold and Syncaine aren’t exactly best buddies in the MMO blogosphere. They’ve had their spats here and there, and I was wondering when one might just capitulate to the other’s needling.

However, when I saw that Tobold was thinking of disabling comments on his blog altogether and Syncaine was trying to reconcile with Tobold, it made me think of how complex people are, and of my own mental state.

Complexities

One thing that caught my by surprise was that Syncaine was the one who was trying to reconcile with Tobold. Sort of like when someone makes someone else feel sad, and they realize what their actions have done and try to make up for it so that the relationship can be salvaged for the future. I wasn’t expecting it.

I had this image of Syncaine being this badass who kicked ass and took names without thinking of other people. I was mistaken in this mental image, and remembered that behind the bloggers, there are real people with real feelings, and even if it’s just words over the internet, these words still hold power, and they can hurt.  

As for Tobold, the image I hold of him still holds true, I suppose. He is more diplomatic than Syncaine, yet is hurt by the words slung carelessly through this void of technology. He has strong opinions, yes, but along with those opinions comes a heart easily pierced by people who don’t think before they write. Unfortunately, the Greater Internet Dickwad Theory posed by Penny Arcade still applies, and it’s a shame.

To both Syncaine and Tobold, I wish nothing but the best. I hope the two of you reconcile. I hope Tobold keeps allowing moderated comments on his blog. I hope Syncaine becomes more sensitive to the feelings of the people behind the blogging personalities he sometimes disagrees with.

Self-Reflection

While looking at Tobold and Syncaine, I also came to think about my own place as a writer. I’m more like Tobold in the sense that I don’t have the strong stomach for confrontation and trolling, but at the same time, I do accept that people are entitled to speak their mind, which is why commenting here is more or less open, save for the first comment, which is moderated.

At the same time, in comparing the two bloggers, I also noticed that unlike them, I don’t have a strong opinion on anything other than the realization that everyone has a preference that deserves to be respected. I tend to write about acceptance of differences, whether it be due to personal tastes or cultural nuances, as a running theme in this blog.

Of course, that isn’t to say that I won’t have a strong opinion in the future,  but knowing myself, I might temper my reaction as I see things from more than my point of view. That doesn’t always make for interesting reading and, if the goal of this blog is to have more readers and commenters, is not a surefire way to get the desired outcome.

At the same time, though, I’m reminded that Stropp of Stropp’s World and Ysharros of Stylish Corpse have already sent me messages on Twitter about being interesting. Stropp advises me to just be myself, and Ysharros tells me that I already am interesting (and that I should “be, not do).

In which case, I shall simply be Victor Stillwater, the blogger and the person behind the blogger. And I, both the persona and the person, want to send this out to Tobold and Syncaine: the two of you are different but wonderful people, and if you can get along in the long run, then it would be a better thing for the MMO blogosphere to have.

Also, just because I might want to look back at this in the future, there are now tags for Syncaine and Tobold on this blog. :)

Image Credits: Papermag


Category: MMOs, opinion, Personal

Advertising


Follow Games and Geekery

/feed/index.html https://www.twitter.com/iamstillwater

Categories