ORIGINAL: Nemo121
I think the biggest problem isn't a single word but the underlying issue which is that many people here ( both developers and players ) invest hugely in the NIHS ( Not Invented Here Syndrome ) and appear closed to opinions or even discussion which runs counter to their own assumptions.
When you get people deriding or refusing to engage with those who are trying to be evidence-based then you have proof certain that there's something rotten at the core.... Sadly all too often people here think that "but my bias says different" trumps the need for rational discourse. Obviously there are also situations where the person arguing the counterpoint is purely reliant on their own bias.
Unfortunately, ever was it so. Humans often aren't rational, open to new viewpoints, tolerant of difference or even, often, particularly nice. This forum is just a microcosm of that with people banding into pseudo-clans, exaggerating differences with others in order to increase the extent to which they "belong" to "their own clan" and projecting out against "the other" that which they find unacceptable within themselves.
I applaud the sentiment but most people in online discussions don't really tend to operate at much above a cavedweller psychological level of personal and external insight.
Pessimistic? Yes, but also experientially and even evidence-based. There's a lot of interesting work being done on the social psychology of internet groups which seems to show this sort of emergent behaviour arises naturally time and again.
Even the whole "this game is great" .... "I feel betrayed because of this minor error which is a HUGE PROBLEM which renders the whole game useless and MUST BE FIXED. You have RUINED MY LIFE !!!!!" dichotomy which goes on here is analogous to the whole leadership myth thing which goes on with human groups. Humans tend to look for leaders and then bestow in them capabilities and hopes they don't and can't have. A certain portion remains blind to the difference between what is and what was hoped while others notice it and then utterly over-react swinging wildly from overly faithful follower into implacable enemy. Neither position has the benefit of logic and proportionality but both are highly human and because so few people take the time to realise that their hopes and disappointment are both magnified few people in net ( and other groups ) maintain a more steady course through this cycle.
Of note: the psychology of this leadership myth/cycle is not much different than the cycle which occurs in romantic love--- initially idealised, later realisation that "the other" isn't as one idealised her/him and then lastly either reconciliation to this reality and the adoption of new bond-reasons or the dissolution of the relationship ( ie divorce ).
So, Cuttlefish, bravo but I fear the vicissitudes of psychology will torpedo this particular Hibiki.
I would have said this myself, but then better. You beat me to it though
[:D]
(this was a joke).
On a more serious note, banning a word will not change human behaviour. Some feed of emotions, especially in internet discussion. I know a gamesite that existed a looooong time ago (Medieval total war fansite, totalwars.net). There was an area - the warzone - where people were allowed to participate in "internet jousting" aka smartass each other in the forums.
It was nice as a kind of experiment but it showed what can happen to people once you "unleash" them. It ain't a pretty sight. [:-]
Personally I like the saying "don't argue with an idiot, he'll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience" and it has done me countless favours (is this the way you say it?) in internet conversation AND in real life..
