Judge not...

[Psycho]

Lest ye' be judged yourself.

Warning, following post contains possible angst and a bit of a preachy feel to it. This is all personal opinion. Read with this knowledge gathered.

That sentence rings a bell? I hope it does, because recently I've hit an issue at CoTH. One which I think I was blind to for far too long. The judgement of other players that seems to be going rampant about. I say this with the utmost of shame, that I have ignored this issue because it was not touching to me. And it has still yet to touch me.

But, I refuse to avert my eyes. No longer will I keep this accursed blindfold which I so foolishly donned.

Us, as role-players have turned to a world better than our own as a means of hobby... As a means of escape. This should have been our world without the judgement of the external. Without the pointing finger of modernity pointing to us with laughter and taunt! But nae, it seems that even within our deepest of sanctuaries, we turn to inner turmoil. Don't believe me? Open your eyes and gaze.

How many times have you seen others degrading others for their choice of location and roleplay? How many times have you seen others show their distaste for a certain played race? How many times have you seen others whispering behind someone's back, speaking not of good things? Even beyond roleplay, our rivalry continues. And I, for once, can not take this anymore.

There were times, when CoTH was home to me. You all, were my family. But now? Now I find myself afraid to go and enjoy the world as I once did, knowing of the hate I might garner for simple choices. There were times, where I was not afraid to make characters, knowing that I would not be so shot down by the community. Now I see this hatred of concepts emitting beyond our RP, to our very hearts and friendship.

What has happened to us, my family? We used to be the closest friends there were. We used to be part of a community which helped eachother and strive for a better tomorrow.

I'm sorry for what I've become. I'm sorry for holding my eyes closed to this. And I'm sorry if I ever did any of this.

I say, no longer! Cast away your anger, cast away your contempt! Is it not time we return to be the community we once were? The community I so proudly call a second home? This is to blame no one. This is my cry, my plea! My plea for us to once more drop our hate. To live in the world we were denied. A perfect one.

Thank you for taking the time and listening to my rant, and my sleep deprived nonesense.

With hopes of a better future, one unclouded by hate,

- Psycho.

Spoiler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8HdOHrc3...re=related

I think this sums up my point better than I ever could.

[Dae]

I hate to sound like a naysayer in the face of your call to kindness, but this is honestly a bit... vague.
Where are people being aggressively "shot down", other than for generally unreasonable demands? Are you addressing some specific issues, or just making a general statement about the server culture?

From what I've seen, the server tends to be stern, but fair. Staff and fellow users are often quick to remark, for better or worse, (see also: the durgenswurn thread) but as a whole seem willing to listen to a respectful and well thought out explanation.

Or perhaps you're talking about general discontent, like comments on special classes or the oft-heard "There are too many blood elves!" sentiment. Whether or not you actively view these matters as an issue, the point behind making these arguments in the first place is to maintain the abstract but necessary boundaries between strict, lore-abiding humility and doing whatever the Sam Hill people please.
Every creative venue has these moments of contention, as this norm is constantly changing. Ultimately, its a healthy thing to have, if enacted in a civil manner.

CotH has its flaws as you've pointed out, but every community does. And while putting out positive vibes is certainly a good thing to do, but if you would be more specific, perhaps we could work to improve the issues you're thinking of.

And I'm certain I sound quite put off here, but I'm actually find all the outwardly positive and loving threads on the forums here quite heartwarming, this one included. I just have to be so darn analytical and problem-solve-ie all the time.

Oh, and I've been writing a mid-term for my contemporary art theory course. That's probably it.

[Holynexus]

If you're referring to Booty Bay..I'm sorry, this is the ONLY location on CotH (edit : In WoW in general) I really refuse to roleplay in. I'm very sorry.

For the rest..I don't hate anyone. Even if I think sometimes it's a little bit too much elvish out here. ^.^ Even Forsaken need love

[Harmonic]

Double edged sword, really. My first instinct is to say don't take it so seriously, which is probably still my number one choice when it comes to hurt feelings over roleplay, either OOC or IC. My second instinct is to say that there's nothing wrong with Rachet, BB, or playing elves, as there shouldn't be a reason for people to refuse to play in certain areas.

All I can really offer up here is this... two sides need to be more understanding of the other. Don't be offended when someone passes something up, but for the same token, a good roleplayer will think of good reasons for their characters to be in places where things are happening. Don't like the location? Try to garner RP someplace else, but don't be surprised if you have to comprimise and RP at a place where you'll "never ever ever never" go to RP. It's not like people are binding your thumbs and hanging you by them, it's RP.

*Shrugs* I... am probably no help!

Love, Rensin.

[mimloopen]

It's true, I can rarely go a day on the server without hearing some anti-bloodelf or anti-booty bay stuff. In the end booty bay is just an rp zone, that offers a wide variety of rp, but people avoid it like a ghetto. And blood elves... just a race. A race with interesting lore, nice potential for different types of characters, and to be blunt they are visually appealing. Seems to me some people are just against popular, or 'mainstream', stuff for the sake of it. Would people still make snide blood elf comments if hardly anyone played them? Maybe but i'm certain there'd be less. In contrast, i've heard "Wow gj a tauren" more then once, because they're just so underplayed.

But that's just a common part of society... same reason people mindlessly hate justin beiber or twilight. Neither of them are my cup of tea but i dislike a lot of things, doesnt mean i have to actively hate on them.

That is a little bit of a rant and a generalization from someone who usually posts tiny replies so forgive me if it sounds bad!

[Saiyuu]

I think Psycho meant more than just the anti-elf / anti-booty bay stuff. At least as someone who often talks to him, I might have a better idea of what he's talking about (I think). It's more about roleplay and characters in general. As much as CoTH is a nice place and is an interesting community, some of us are far too... "Elitist" (I'm not sure if this would be the right term, forgive me nonetheless). Some people go as far as to inquire or bash at you for playing a character wrongly, merely because you aren't following a race stereotype (Racist Nelf, Pious Draenei, Rude Human and so goes your list) or because you decided to try something different with your character. This usually makes people develop a kind of self-defense mechanism where you keep your eyes peeled while playing your character, afraid you might be stepping on land mines and that the world and its mother will judge anything wrong you do...

It's sad, but it does happen. Psycho probably means that CoTH didn't used to do this as often as now.

[Psycho]

^ Pretty much.

I apologize if I didn't manage to bring my point through clearly, I'm severely sleep deprived and a bit groggy. I just felt the need to share this.

[Rowgen]

I support this.

That's all I'm saying, and it's all I need to say.

[mimloopen]

Oh okay. But my point rests D:< Yeah I know what you mean. People should be allowed to rp as they please (within realistic limits, aka no death knights getting pregnant etc.)

Now that's a shorter post!

[Duraza]

Its funny, because I actually think the server is far less elitist now then in the past. Maybe I just don't notice it anymore or I've just seen far worst.

In any case, when elitism happens... Why not just tell a GM? I mean, in cases like 'BB, elves, etc' I'd refer to Rensin's post... But otherwise, if someone is back talking you just talk to the GM team. That's what they are here for and your problems might actually get solved. (And if you do talk to the GM team already... its not like my point is any less valid.)

[Nostra]

I'm not even sure I should reply, I might come off as a total ass, and I've noticed that whenever I see one of these topics I reply with something that can be summed up as 'seen it all before'. : /

But then I have, or well, most of the time I recognize what's been written and honestly. . . these things have always been a problem and probably always will. I have yet to visit a server where there isn't vocal dismay over this or that hotspot, for example. Or where there isn't rumours and shittalking going about.

I've never had a problem with it, because when I log on I do so to play, to have fun. And I do, even when I was on the GM team I rarely had any days where I'd get on CotH and feel like shit. But I can sympathise with this topic, a lot of what I loved about CotH was the people I got to know during the first few months (and then a few late-comers and once they started to drop off my interest went away as well, slowly but surely.

I don't think CotH is any less of a 'home' today than it was three years ago, but the people you associate the place with might have changed or gone elsewhere. The solution is to either take a break or find new people to play with and enjoy CotH with, maybe try a reboot and create a new character and play like you did when you first joined, when you didn't have that circle of friends you usually play(ed) with to rely on.

[Kenshiro]

Its funny, because I actually think the server is far less elitist now then in the past. Maybe I just don't notice it anymore or I've just seen far worst.

In any case, when elitism happens... Why not just tell a GM? I mean, in cases like 'BB, elves, etc' I'd refer to Rensin's post... But otherwise, if someone is back talking you just talk to the GM team. That's what they are here for and your problems might actually get solved. (And if you do talk to the GM team already... its not like my point is any less valid.)

[Jonoth]

During my recent revival of the Bloodpaw, I was looking all over the map for potential places to RP. I constantly passed over Booty Bay because of it's reputation for what kinds of RP happen down there, and wondering if I did anything in the area if other players would follow or say that they won't RP there.

Then I thought to myself....

Booty Bay. It's a bay. It's a port. It has pirates. Why -not- RP there? It fits pretty much every criteria for a pirate-based guild to go there.

Like said before, I think we get too wrapped up in what's said to actually explore the possibilities. And for the couple of times I've seen questionable things there, I realized I've had many more positive RP experiences over the nearing two years I've been here. Hell, I stayed away from BElves for the same reason, and recently I've made a BElf character that I actually enjoy playing, even if not as frequently as some of my other more cherished characters. Things change. What excites you and inspires you can change. And if you don't allow the inspiration to come, you end up unhappy and bitter, while the people that get raged at are too busy having fun to notice. And the point of a game is to have fun.

So have fun people! Happiness is mandatory!

[Zhaei]

To try and give the opinion of someone who has been on the server two months (today! ), I somewhat agree with the OP. While I personally hold the opinion that some races are underplayed, Gnomes, Dwarves, I don't see the need to bash people for playing a Blood Elf. I think that although some would like to hold CotH as a haven for nice people and quality RP, everywhere has a few people that don't hugely agree/fit in with the general consensus of ideals that a community holds. While I don't think there is anyone that actively goes out of their way to be douche-baggy about stuff, there are individuals who are hasty to judge, or are too blunt about their opinions on ones characters. I have indeed experienced this myself, but in the end, it's the internet, which is full of horrible people, and this community is multitudes better than most I know, from Arts, Music, Gaming and many many others.

While I think we should treasure what we have here, which in my opinion is amazing, perfection is impossible to realistically achieve and will only end with more OOC drama/dispute should we attempt to reach such a pinnacle of awesomeness.

“A beautiful thing is never perfect.” -Anonymous.

[McKnighter]

I've seen it. I've been apart of it.

It's a nasty habit, but I'll echo what Duraza said. It's better than it was before.