I'm a bit concerned

[Jihadjoe]

I have had quite a lot of people come to me recently saying how they're really upset with the culture here on the forums and in game.

It has got me thinking about some stuff.

I think we're vile to each other here... Utterly insensitive, cruel, dismissive, agressive, nasty, childish -and- condecending.

This needs to change.

Here is where I think the problem lies. We share this space, it may be virtual, but all the people who inhabit it are real, with real thoughts, insecurities, and emotion.

It is very -very- easy to forget that when you look at a paragraph of text someone has written, or the avatar they use, or their ship ingame, which is just a bunch of pixels after all. That distances us from the real person behind it all, and makes it a lot easier to be unpleasent and dismissive to them. I know I fall into this trap and it makes me geniunely sad.

This is something I think we all need to remember. When you're here, and roleplaying, or looking at the forums, remember that there is a real human behind every last letter, or movement of a ship.

This doesn't mean we can't disagree, but when we do we should treat the other people around with dignity and respect, for their veiws and standpoint. If we forget this we are, as a community, completely screwed.

I am saying this because I like this community, and many people in it have become friends of mine that I would stay in contact with long after either I leave, or the community fades.

None of us should ever forget how human everyone else here is.

Peace.
Joe.

EDIT: I'm not saying this from a doom-mongering "disco is falling apart... oh woe and strife" point of veiw. It's not.

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