Relic Entertainment - PinkShirtDay (StopBullying)
We're celebrating #PinkShirtDay at the office! Let's #PinkItForward and stand up against bullies both on and offline!
https://twitter.com/relicgames/status/570712511646867456
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDJHVT4qAFS/
relicentertainment Last month we celebrated @pinkshirtday. We made a commitment to stand up against bullies both on and offline -- and we challenge you to too! #PinkItForward #StopBullying #PSD2016 #Latergram
Cyberbullying (especially sociopathic behavior) is a very real
community threat that should not be taken lightly. But I'm not sure banning just Barton would accomplish much without raising awareness within the community. One of the best defense against bullying is community awareness so I applaud all that keep talking about it.
Psychology 101, no one is immune or invincible. ALL can potential be traumatized. The emotional trauma can be equal to torture. Psychological torture undermines the very ability to think which can then lead to suicide.
Believe it or not, there are highly intelligent cyberbullies out there (sociopaths don't feel empathy) that have perfected psychological torture and manipulation down to a fine art. Trust me you don't want to invite these bullies/sociopaths into the community. Within sandbox games such as EVE online there are bullies that will spend well over one year to get what they want (humiliate their victim both privately and publicly). You think this community problem will just go away by itself? lol. Not so.
There is plenty of evidence that proves a direct link between Cyberbullying and depression/suicide. It's escalating at an alarming rate. This is fact, like it or not.
Personal, I have seen firsthand how destructive it can be in both real life and online. My sister was bullied in school which leads to many years of depression (20 years) and suicide threats. Think for a second what that can do to a family let alone a whole community.
I have played EvE online for 10 years (from beta to 2013) and witness how bullies can destroy the community inside out. I'm an old school director/admin of the RAZOR Alliance. I was a personal friend with the female CEO of Roving Guns (Niffer Mac), which many RZR vets (or former) would consider the "cultural heart of the alliance" (now just a shadow of its former self). RG was behind RAZOR's funny WW2 propaganda posters which most EVE vets will remember.
RAZOR WW2 propaganda movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuREEonWGJ8 (77.685 views)
WW2 Propaganda Posters (viewed by the millions at EVE-O forums)
http://propaganda.eve-razor.com/
Not saying this to win a popularity contest but just to prove I have the credentials to speak about Cyberbullying.
Now I know Kyle from Relic has been in contact with CCP community team (@SveinnKjarval) and like what they have been doing after watching #GDC16.
https://twitter.com/kyfehr/status/717773662925905920
https://twitter.com/sveinnkjarval
@SveinnKjarval is one of the reasons I still respect CCP as an EVE online fan. Keep in mind that EVE is a sandbox game and a "social experiment" what happens when gamers are given the freedom to do whatever they like (almost). There is both heroes and villains in that sandbox or EVE would be dead.
BUT, even within a dark universe such as EVE Online, CCP takes Cyberbullying extremely seriously which they have proven in
words and
action.
Here is one "positive story" where I believe CCP acted correctly to a possible suicide attempt due to Cyberbullies;
http://jestertrek.blogspot.dk/2014/03/yuppie-nuremberg-defense.html
Yuppie Nuremberg defense
*SNIP*Finally, the victim says "i am going to go blow my brains out in my garage. bye everyone". He's told "don't miss"(!) (sic). He disconnects.
I take a moment here to briefly remind you: this is the community that you are part of.
The victim tells the story of what happened next on Reddit:
Hey guys, so I am writing to you right now because the police literally just woke me up (4:30 am here) asking if I play an online game called EVE and that CCP games actually contacted INTERPOL (I live in Canada- that's x-country police work right there) who then contacted the RCMP who just dispatched two officers to my house because I said I "was going to blow my fucking brains out" in Local Chat at Jita because of a loss earlier. I imagine the follow up text (body disposal, cleanup) that another player and I were openly joking about made itself to the report however the officers were kind enough to only mention the fact I had said I want to end my own life in an online video game. The officers then asked me if I have a history of self-harm, and if I had any firearms in the house (no, to both) Lesson learned here? Watch what you fucking say in an online game! Even when you say something to somebody specifically, someone may take it out of context and get fucking INTERPOL involved. What kind of international suicide watch list did I unintentionally end up on?
That's the CCP Community team making a hard, necessary, and correct choice. CCP VesnaPrishla states:
This falls under general policies of most MMOs and if it even helps prevent suicide of one person out of 100, its worth it. We are sorry if you had a bad experience regarding this and we hope you will understand the reasoning behind it.
Far from being angry, the guy replies:
If anything, I should thank you guys... If it had actually been a real case... You would have saved my life.
CCP Falcon adds:
We take all cases of this nature extremely seriously, and contact the appropriate authorities whenever a case like this arises.
We would far rather wake someone at 4:30am and make sure that they are okay, than hear that someone had harmed themselves and we hadn't responded to either a cry for help, or a notification from a concerned member of the community that someone had expressed an interest in harming themselves.
And this is the correct choice. Moreover, it is the right one. The Yuppie Nuremberg defense is no defense at all when it comes to this kind of situation.
Now, thank Heaven this was not a real suicide threat and this player is OK. He was joking, CCP took it seriously, and that was the right choice. Another Redditor, a non CCP employee in a similar job, put it this way: "I'll gladly take 20 pissed of players that rage at me afterwards if it means I can save 1 dude's life." Yes. I'm glad the Community team is willing to be proactive in this situation even if some of those on Reddit bring up the specter of Big Brother. It's the right thing to do. So thank you to the CCP Community team for doing it!
But let's also not forget how this started. More to come.
So you still think this is a joke? Well, this is nothing. There are many other stories out there that take bullying/sociopathic behaviour to a whole new level of nastiness.
Denmark
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Relic Entertainment
