People who play and discuss videogames online are among the luckiest beings ever to tread this Earth. Being able to play and discuss videogames implies a number of things, after all - that you have access to a steady power supply, unfiltered (well, relatively) internet, a disposable income and the time to make use of all the foregoing. You're also likely to own a fridge, glass windows and a sofa, which is all basically magic by the standards of the average 14th century Anglo-Saxon serf. Why, then, do so many people who play and talk about videogames online spend quite so much time making themselves and other people miserable? And is there anything the rest of us can do about it, besides looking on in bafflement?

All this ruminating comes to you care of the antics of various Twitter (and in some cases, media) trolls, who've been ladling out the rancour in extra-large doses over the past seven days. The intro's incredibly facetious, of course - happiness isn't about how much you own, or how safe you are from physical hardship. It's possible to be filthy rich and suffer from depression, or at least that's what I'm told.



But I suspect it's also possible for the average individual to remain well-adjusted and pleasant despite, for instance, Treyarch's apparently appalling decision to make Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's DSR slower to reload and fire by around one third of a second. I think it's possible to smile and endure when somebody slays your virtual avatar with that selfsame weapon, or when another player asks you to stop messaging her death threats garlanded with references to genitalia.

I even think it's possible to maintain an air of aromatic, monkish calm when a Game Trailers show host labels you a "wanker", on the strength of your quite reasonable refusal to comment on a (now confirmed) rumour. Apart from anything else, this last trick seems the kind of discerning tactical gesture that wins you tonnes of support. Taking the moral high ground, and all that.

Sadly, Phil Fish wasn't feeling quite as forgiving when Marcus "AnnoyedGamer" Beer launched a bizarre attack on him last week. Instead, he told Beer to "compare your life to mine, then kill yourself", which prompted a lengthy backlash from various long-term Fishaphobes, which prompted Fish to throw down the mic, cancel Fez 2 and retire from videogames, citing a "long, bloody campaign" on the part of his various abusers.



Just to underline that, this the first time to my knowledge that a developer has ever abandoned a game - let alone quit the industry - on the strength of how he's been treated by followers and "fans". It's also, obviously, strong evidence that the nature of online discourse around videogames needs to change. Fish's incendiary patter, AnnoyedGamer's outburst and the reactions of their various disciples are all facets of a cult of antagonism that's been festering away for years, and which is no longer simply obnoxious, but damaging. I was rather looking forward to Fez 2, Xbox version or no.

Some argue that trashtalk - whether couched via social media channels, in party chat or in a comment - is just part of gaming's "identity", without which our industry would be a poorer, albeit more restful place. Vocal aggression is the inevitable and wholesome extension of competition, it's suggested, and to bottle the rage up is to "deny" your nature, and in some way dilute the core values on which this illustrious medium is founded.

Some argue that trashtalk - whether couched via social media channels, in party chat or in a comment - is just part of gaming's "identity", without which our industry would be a poorer, albeit more restful place. Vocal aggression is the inevitable and wholesome extension of a competitive spirit, it's suggested, and to bottle the rage up is to "deny" your nature, and in some way dilute the core values on which this illustrious medium is founded.

Even were all that anything other than utter, unprovable cobblers, there's a fairly clear distinction between proportional, of-the-moment aggression and death threats like those to which Treyarch's David Vondehaar was treated, following the latest Black Ops 2 tweak. I refuse to believe that even the very young players to whom this behaviour is often attributed are incapable of knowing the difference. If this is a question of "culture", that's a culture I want no part of. We can do better.

The problem, I'd argue, isn't that the trolls are gaming's inevitable and permanent background noise, as that the rest of us aren't doing enough to emphasise how things could be, given a touch more perspective and proportion. It's all the more painful when the uproar makes newspaper headlines (as it increasingly does, now that newspapers are alive to Twitter's capacity for sensation) and we're obliged to look on as the non-specialist press paints the enthusiast scene at large as a bubbling cesspool - all for the sake of some localised outbreaks of non-representative idiocy.



There are many brilliant, incredibly welcoming games communities on offer. I was charmed no end by the people I met online playing Armored Core 5 last year, for instance, who were quite ready to forgive my poor understanding of the jargon, and walk me through the game's tortuous inventories. This is the kind of community I'd like to become gaming's public face, one in which healthy debate and disagreement are functioning possibilities, and I'm mindful that we at OXM could do more to expose this sort of amity to the world.

Circumventing the idiots or blocking their attempts to contaminate us no longer suffices. We need to pick them up on their baseless outrage, challenge their excesses without becoming embroiled in shouting matches, and generally do our best to make the internet a nicer place for ourselves and developers alike.

Source: Rheena.com