Troll Alert!

Since I gave the Cheerleaders some TLC, it's only fair I give Trolls some attention too. But while the previous post was a nod to Cheerleaders, this is more a question mark. I honestly fail to understand why Trolls act the way they do. We often hear the cliché statement that Trolls are just sad people, angry at the world that bullied them, venting their personal failures in real life, (insert other lame excuse here) and who are trying to make others feel as miserable as they do themselves. But fact is, I've known a number of Trolls (and griefers for that matter) who are everything BUT losers or depressive in real life. So why?

I read the forums and it's the same people going on and on about this or that, throwing every insult they can come up with, whining and complaining about everything and anything. It doesn't matter how much you go out of your way to please them, they will find something to be disgruntled about and stir the pot over.

Sometimes, they have grounds to be unhappy but they voice their displeasure so viciously that whatever valid point they were trying to make gets losts in the rant. And the truth of the matter is, once you establish yourself as a Troll, we (the Devs) eventually just stop reading you. So who really gets hurt in the end?

When I read a post and the first line is "Devs, I demand an answer now!!", the first thought that crosses my mind is "I hope you're not holding your breath irl!" That alone pretty much guarantees you will NOT get a reply. And then the posts where some dude is popping a vein over the fact that we're not customizing the game to his specifications. It's like what?! And then they are offended that we don't post or reply to them. But what do they expect? We know they will twist our words and hold everything we say against us. So why put ourselves in the line of fire?

On another forum, this guy was talking about shutting down accounts and randomly ranting about how the Devs' shortcomings had pushed him to this. But reading the thread further, he actually posted how he's really just closing accounts because rl makes it impossible for him to continue playing as much as he used to. And I couldn't help but wonder why he had felt the need to unfairly bash us when in fact it was the changes in his life (that we have absolutely no control over) that impacted his ability to play.

I dont know the English equivalent (and I'm too lazy to look it up!) but in French we have this saying: "you can't catch a fly with vinegar". I will be more enclined to stay after hours to fix a bug or add a feature that wasn't planned in the schedule to make someone pleasant happy. Trolling is the best way to ensure you probably won't be read and that your concerns, however valid they may be, are less likely to be addressed in a timely fashion.

With that said, I would really appreciate if a Troll would hit me up and give me some insight on what's the deal! And not just the trolling against Devs but also the trolling against other players. I would REALLY love to know what's the kicker.