Decorum

Well, part one is that you're mistaking a handful of upset people on the boards for "the playerbase". And secondly, people upset or with an ax to grind tend to post more and post more vehemently on message boards than people who are happy with what's going on. They post a lot and are "louder" about it, so it often makes certain groups appear more numerous than they really are.

It doesn't start until August 17th. It should be clear by then.

That will only affect those who were staying away from redside because of the markets. The rest of us that barely set foot there have many and varied reasons not to play there, all of which still apply.

Oh, people actually playing the game don't count. All that counts is tons of people standing around doing nothing.

Anything but Freedom and Virtue, but only to people for whom Freedom and Virtue are the "way it should be".

"Teams? Why is that important? I need to see a bunch of people standing under Atlas to feel as if there are other people on the server!!!"

I guess we're just going to keep repeating back at each other. That's not a problem with the gadgets, that's a problem with the people (and far far from a universal issue). In fact, it tends to be predominantly an American thing. They actually know how to relax in many other countries.

The Neutrals are fine with a tie.

I know what you mean. One of my life credos is "Steven needs input!" My computer without eleventy-seven windows open looks naked. The tv's always on (usually something from a history or science channel or old movie). There's usually notes and reference material laying all about.

One of my old roommates once came home to me watching TV while reading a book and taking notes on the show I was watching. Then the commercial came on and without looking up I used the remote to switch to the stereo. He just stared at me and asked "How many things do you need to be doing at once???"

OK, now that's just good clean fun right there!

"BOO!"

Actually, I didn't ignore it. My whole post was me disagreeing with it. Unless you're living in a hut or cabin somewhere happy with a subsistence living off the land (and your presence on a computer kind of negates that ), technology is making your life easier. Sure, you can find examples where it doesn't, but that doesn't negate that it does.

Unless you're specifically talking about our frivolous gadgetry like cell phones and iPods, etc etc (wasn't really clear from the first post), in which case it has more to do with how you use them. Certainly, a cell phone is easier and saves time more than hunting down a phone booth (especially since they've all but disappeared because of cell phones ). Almost all your examples were not the tech not making life easier, but the users making their own lives more stressful. It's not the tech doing that, it's operator error.

Just to note, sevenshade, this has happened with with every single new Issue since at least I7 (I can't say about earlier, since I wasn't here yet), so it's pretty much expected that "Santa" may be leaving us one in our stocking shortly after the 17th of this month.

Frankly, you're cherry-picking your examples there from the "frivolous" category. Technology makes our lives easier all the time. One quick () counterexample is a microwave oven. Or even stoves themselves. Transportation of goods using technology (especially food) makes your life easier every day. The electricity that powers your gadget examples? Technology making your life easier and better all the time.

Just because there are technological things that don't make your life better and don't give you more leisure time doesn't negate that there are such things that do.

It happens to me, too, usually right after posting, but definitely with no consistency. I just shrug it off as glitchy board programs and ignore it, though.

Let's not be stereotypical about it, either. Different people have vastly different values and different reasons for doing it. Unless you've become some kind of telepath, it's usually best not to make broad derisive statements about peoples' motivations.

I, personally, never report anyone. The most I do is occasionally give someone a /tell nudge of "heh, someone's going to tag you for that, you know. And you got the belt wrong, use this one..."

Standard answer to this kind of question is "If you have to ask, then probably a whole lot harder than you think."