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Why We Should Hate the Gaming Haters

Why We Should Hate the Gaming Haters

Recently, the upcoming game No Man’s Sky was delayed two more months. This sort of thing definitely isn’t new to gamers, and being part of the Zelda fandom, I can tell you I’m very used to delays. The internet, as always, had quite a bit to say about the delay for No Man’s Sky . The comments even deteriorated into death threats for both the reporter who broke the story and the developers, once the story was confirmed.

Let me say, I am a huge supporter of being able to say whatever you want on the internet. If you are well and truly angry about something, I understand that sometimes the internet is the only place to express those feelings. However, I also believe that we should remember we’re all people. Death threats are not the way to do that. Death is about as serious as you can get in our culture, mainly because it’s rather permanent. It is not a swear word you can just throw around so people will take you seriously.

Despite the seriousness of death threats, the internet provides an anonymity that allows people to make such threats without any consequences. In fact, they’ve become so prolific that I think a lot of us have become rather complacent about it. We don’t take it seriously anymore because it happens so often. I don’t believe this is okay, even though I too am guilty of apathy after reading one too many YouTube comments. Death is not some abstract concept that can be misinterpreted. It means death: the end of the life of a person or organism, the permanent ending of vital processes in a cell or tissue. However you want to put it, it’s still the same.

So when fans of No Man’s Sky say something like “I’m going to come by, say hi to you, and fuck you up… sounds like you have a death wish. We will find you. Be afraid human, we are coming for you” to the person reporting the news, it sounds pretty serious. Whether the threat stems from a mental illness or as a joke I don’t know. If it does stem from a mental illness, then the threat should be taken seriously. That person clearly needs help if this is how they react to a game being delayed.

Why We Should Hate the Gaming Haters

But again, this happens all the time, so why bring attention to it now? I think a lot of younger people, especially Millennials, are populating the internet with their very own culture and social etiquette that is very different from older folks. I’m not saying either culture is wrong, but they are different. A lot of the older ones believe that comments like death threats are not a big deal – say what you want and stop being so offended by everything. The younger ones, however, do make a big deal and have a slightly more restricting etiquette about what you can and can’t say on the internet. This sensitivity to extreme comments, again like death threats, comes from the younger generation’s etiquette that they must call attention to moments when they are offended, uncomfortable, threatened, or scared etc.

Therefore, something that’s been happening for years behind closed doors is now brought into light and analyzed for what it is and what it might be. I admit, I am a Millennial, so I do think it’s very wrong to send out death threats to game developers, community managers, and reporters, regardless of the reasoning. They are people too, and they will be affected by such serious comments. Just because you can’t see the consequences of your actions on the internet, doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

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