Respect.

[Bishnak]

This word has been the cornerstone in the Conquest-rulebook ever since I first came here, and during those months I've had numerous conversations with other players about how the term, to some, is completely misunderstood considering the way it is being applied and handled. Obviously this is the beliefs of a select few and doesn't necessarily represent the truth, but hopefully you will all be respectful enough to acknowledge the opinion of others even if it differs from your own.

So what is respect to you? To me, respect means being treated with esteem and consideration and the will to treat others in a similar fashion. Empathy goes hand-in-hand with respect, the ability to have a regard for other peoples' feelings grants an ability to see things from their point-of-view and allows for more just treatment of said people, should the situation call for it.

On CoTH however I saw many times how the term 'disrespectful' was put to use when an individual didn't agree with the opinion of those that 'mattered', or however you want to put it. People in power asserted their authorities over the less powerful cliques and very often showed what can best be described as arrogant attitudes. To me, this (if anything) qualifies as disrespectful manners, yet no action was ever taken. Instead, it became the people 'below' who got accused of not showing the higherups proper respect for accepting the fact that being in control's extremely stressful and thus one had the right to be.. grumpy? for lack of a better word. This was one of the main reasons why I gave up on playing here. I was part of the 'popular crowd' for a long time, but I slowly realized that you ran a constant risk of being shut out and backtalked as soon as you swayed from the general opinion, and upon complaining you were deemed disrespectful to the community and cast out. (I saw this happen several times)

So I guess this thread sort of serves both as a form of criticism towards how the term respect is applied here, as well as a chance to discuss the meaning of the word itself. I trust that whoever chooses to participate and perhaps even offer up a retort to my views on the CoTH-rulebook keep things nice and civilized.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, but I do believe in freedom of speech and the right to question.

[Proxy]

That's a pretty loaded post.

I have a few questions, if'n it's alright. You said you gave up on playing here- have you kept up on the forums? I only ask this because I don't recall seeing your name in any big way. (Though to err is human, and to forget is Proxy.)

If you have, then I'm a little confused. I will say right off the bat- yes, I have seen some of this. But none of it has been horrible enough to warrant a large statement. It's a privately-run server full of eloquent people who like to play pretend and enjoy creating both positive and negative drama in a fictional setting. Invariably, there will be disagreements, drama outside the game, hurt feelings, inflated egos...

But that's really just life.

I'm not pleased with all the stuff that goes around here, but nor am I pleased with everything in my real, physical life. The trick of it is to take the good with the bad, and to back off when there's no reason to jump in. It's why I've steered clear of the Grunt forums. No room left fer my ego.

I'm pretty new here, so I don't have the experience you have. But I do know that my time here so far has been fun. I look back in the posts to '08 and I cringe at all the bullshit people seemed to be slinging at each-other... it gives me some perspective. I think things are pretty darn good around CotH.

I have bitten my tongue several times when I look at some posts, and reminded myself that a position of power is high-stress. No, it doesn't excuse outright horrible behavior. But I know how it can bring an edge of bitterness to one's tone when you really don't mean it that way. I like to think enough of myself that I'd step up in protest if it got downright unfair, but I really haven't seen the need.

So. I've always been of the opinion that name-calling is silly, but being vague when addressing problems is counterproductive. And I really don't know what prompted this post y've made. Again, I've seen bits of what you're discussing, but if it's getting out of hand then I really haven't noticed.

(... And I was a bit upset by this, honestly. It felt like an angry scolding from a politically-correct parent more than a study into the meaning of respect and how it's applied here. I believe in freedom of speech and the right to question as well, but I don't think a disclaimer at the end of a post excuses the tone of the content.)