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BoringSupreez wrote:My entire problem with the phrase "white privilege" and "male privilege" is that it attempts to create "awareness" by putting white males in a negative light. That is completely unnecessary.

I don't see how explaining that maleness and whiteness are both historically and contemporarily privileged social positions (in most contexts) "puts white males in a negative light". It just names a truth.

Being born a straight white male is akin to winning the demographic lottery. If the term calls awareness to that fact and thus provokes a discomfort amongst white males that might challenge them to use their privilege to create a more equitable society going forward, I don't see that as a bad thing. I don't feel guilty for being a white male, but as someone who values fairness and equality regardless of difference I would feel guilty if I didn't use my resources to try and facilitate that future. Educating people about their privelege is an important step in that process.

BoringSupreez wrote:As for threats of rape or death, how often does anyone actually follow through on that stuff? You know it's not real, and the attention you give it encourages even more behavior of that type.

I wish we could all feel this confident in our own safety. The threat of violence and/or rape in context of not being able to adequately protect oneself is a very real concern in many peoples' lives. If you can shrug off those kinds of attacks, that's wonderful, because it means those dangers aren't a regular part of your reality and you're not used to feeling like a target. For other people, though, these over-the-top threats can't be watered down into something that doesn't cause legitimate distress, because it's something they worry about on a frequent basis.

No, I don't think it's likely that a disgruntled XBox Live stranger will abduct me or my pets. But I also didn't think it was likely I'd ever be stalked by a customer. Things happen. And it's very hard to unlearn that sinking feeling in your gut.

But to warm all our Racketboy hearts and feel proud of our community here, I'd like to mention that when I joined the board, I deliberately avoided making my Racketboy username identical to any of my other miscellaneous accounts; I was anticipating the possibility of needing to escape and/or hide from you guys if you turned out to be malicious batshit gamer creeps. I was so happy to discover that my worrying could not have been further off-base. Yay us!

The other wrinkle, of course, is that people don't like being told that "they have it good" when they often don't. But, again, understanding white male privilege (or any identity that has privilege in any context) means understanding the privilege of that identity compared to others in otherwise same circumstances. So being a white male who is poor, has little education, lives in a bad neighborhood, and has a bad family situation absolutely doesn't feel like "privilege". It sucks, hard. But that position has historically and statistically been even tougher for someone who isn't white and male to get through or to pull themselves out of.

I like playing video games

I played online heavily with Call of Duty 4 to Modern Warfare 3 and was subjected to such nonsense from the on set. Never had a problem with Bad Company 2. As my life started changing and accepting more responsibilities I waned off of playing those games and online in general. I won't say that I was good but during my sessions I would start so so then peak where I would dominate and then after a few hours or so I would suck badly and get super agitated and stressed. I finally took a step back and said I'm done. I let my Xbox Gold lapse and never looked back.

Since then I don't play competitive multiplayer. Only co-op if I had no real alternative.

I agree there's a hell of a lot of cases of un-diagnosed sociopaths in the wild and what better way to show that than through online play.

Oh, the ever present straight white male argument. Yeah, I'm more with BoringSupreez on those views, and I also agree with the idea that people aren't inherently good.
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On topic, I think it has progressively gotten worse partly due to the audience that gets attracted. When online gaming started, it was a pretty select group of people, most of whom I don't believe are the type inclined to be rude to each other for no reason. Then it got a bit more popular, it opened up a bit, but the old community still had set standards of the way one should conduct themselves within the community. Then it blows up, online gaming gets huge, and you get a wide variety of people. Then it all goes downhill.

I also think some of it has to do with the stigma of gaming going away, and the type of people who get overly competitive and mean get going. The dudebro's and hardcore jocks and such get in. I don't say that to target anybody or anything, but all of my experience points toward the less sporty or more stereotypically "gamer" types being a lot more mellow and easier when it comes to the competition than all the football players or people like that.

Forlorn Drifter wrote: The dudebro's and hardcore jocks and such get in. I don't say that to target anybody or anything, but all of my experience points toward the less sporty or more stereotypically "gamer" types being a lot more mellow and easier when it comes to the competition than all the football players or people like that.

I know a lot of angry, angry nerds - spiteful, pathetic little bastards. I would also argue that this type of behavior isn't strictly isolated to online gaming either; card games like Magic: The Gathering and mini-wargaming like Warhammer 40k have their share of assholish-dickheads too. I think competitiveness is a big reason why people lash out at others, especially when they have the anonymity to do so. The internet brings out the worst in some people, but those are people are probably assholes to some degree anyway.

I wasn't categorizing that good at the time. I'm not sure how to explain what I mean, but it seems to me like it was a demographic change to me.

The only online shooter that I can really say I play is TF2, where luckily, the community isn't by and large mean-spirited, but instead just silly and bizarre.