145993-contest-criticism-and-e-bullying

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So I'm probably going to get blasted by the same people responsible for this behavior in this thread, but I really don't care. Sometimes an internet community rises up above its vices and despicable attitudes brought about by supposed anonymity...and others they band together to be the worst representation of what it has to offer.
 
Since they announced the winners for the House of Haunts contest, I've noticed a disturbing trend across twitter and in game which is honestly just giving this community a horrible reputation as a bunch of e-thugs and sore losers. I can't tell you how many people have taken it upon themselves to go on a crusade to judge people, trying to undermine their creativity and recognition by Carbine by passing it off as unoriginal, ripping off other things, etc, etc, etc. And let's be honest, half of these people probably felt the need to vent their frustration because they didn't win and didn't think of something so cool.
 
Do you know how many housing plots we marvel at because they can reproduce something we love inside of this game? Tons of them. It's an amazing feat to be able to represent another world, original or translated, inside of Wildstar's housing system. I couldn't dream of making anything as awesome as the three winners of this contest, so I wouldn't dare judge any of them for being 'not good enough' or 'not original enough'...whatever those even mean.
 
Seriously Wildstar community, you are better than this. The last you want is to limit all of these creative people from making more awesome content for us to enjoy, to share with people who don't know what the housing system is capable of, and ultimately ostracize what should be a small, tight knit player base. Maybe it's a very vocal minority, but that doesn't remove the accountability we should all have. If you're here, it's likely because you enjoy the game and it's something we all share in common. To that end, you should be spending your efforts building up everyone around you because we share that one passion in common.
 
So to all of those people feeling the need to judge these winners openly, whether via world chat or on social media, I hope you realize that all you did was make yourself look shallow and essentially work to erode the wonderful things Carbine are trying to do with this game. Maybe this thread will stay up so that Carbine can help reinforce a positive environment for all of their players to come. If that's all this accomplishes, then good.
 
I just know logging on today to see chat made me sorry to be a part of this playerbase and I hope it's not a trend that continues. I for one thought that all of the winners had amazing plots...and if I've missed it, I hope I can see the list of all entries before they change their house b/c I bet there were tons of awesome things being made. #kumbayaandallthatjazz
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Kelimbror	
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			context?	
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context?
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			Makes me sad I wasn't there to witness it. Not because I think it should have happened, but only because I have a hard time believing Entity Housing chat would act that way. It's one of the most fun relaxed and friendly parts of the community.Twitter is twitter, there's nothing you're going to do about it, except remember anyone can comment there and not all of them are players or truly active ingame.In the end though, the forums and this kind of thread are probably the WORST option for addressing the problem. If someone is acting out ingame, then Report, Ignore, and Go On with your your day. A thread like this is just a drama factory and won't solve anything.	
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			Twittter is not the best place for any thing that I know of. Since I have seen nothing hostile in game and you are only stating vague things it is hard to say if you are right or wrong. So with out a better reference why are people not allowed to state their opinions of how they contest was done?	
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In the end though, the forums and this kind of thread are probably the WORST option for addressing the problem. If someone is acting out ingame, then Report, Ignore, and Go On with your your day. A thread like this is just a drama factory and won't solve anything.
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			*Multiquote forum hiccup*
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Kelimbror	
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I saw what you're talking about.
 
I was disappointed in Housing Chat's behavior, too...it's normally one of the best, most supportive places to chat in the game; but to be fair most of the people I saw saying these things are names that I don't recognize as being around before F2P came about and they were also some of the names I recognize as being excited about their own entries in the contest recently, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some personal bitters in the things they've said.
 
We're all allowed to have our opinions, especially when it comes to game-wise events like this...but that comes with the thought of: "Be Civil." What if one of these players who were rude had won, and people said the things about their plots that they're saying about the current winners?
 
Do I understand the point they were trying to make? Yes, but I don't agree with them. You can't give players credit for re-creating wonderful things from other parts of life in here with the tools we're given and then in the next breath vilify them for doing the same thing in a contest, and claim it's unfair to do so just because it's a contest.
 
All this aside, congrats to the winners! I did go ahead and report/ignore the loudest of the bunch myself and move on with my building, but that doesn't mean I still wouldn't like a "vote/kick off the internet" button someday...
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Kavi	
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*snip*
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			I was called a donald trump supporter last week.	
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This is an integral part of Wildstar in my opinion. This isn't just a 'report ignore and go away' problem. I'm not sure that it's such a great idea we develop that culture either. Oh hey, you can never set foot in the Wildstar public again because of how everyone tore you apart, etc, but hey it's ok...b/c you can just put them on ignore.
 
Come on. This is about culling this behavior, not just from the general we need to end internet bullying (which is impossible) but from the 'Wildstar housing, contests, artists/players' perspective. One of the first large contests and we've already got people on a witch hunt (halloween pun intended) against winners. Should we really just ignore that? I don't think so.
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 twitter
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You're not focusing on the key part of "Report, Ignore, Move On"
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I'm guessing this is referring to the lovely conversation I had with some folks in chat this afternoon. 
 
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The beauty of the game's system is it is very easy to make problem people go away, and find people who feel the same way you do, so you'll never have to deal with people out to harsh your mellow unless you choose to.
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I'm guessing this is referring to the lovely conversation I had with some folks in chat this afternoon. 
 
 
Yeah, there's no beauty about it. They just keep coming. I'm having to avoid chat altogether until they calm down. I can't even be seen in a twitch channel without a nuisance. It's rather disappointing and so I really appreciate the post, Kelimbror. My list of ignore has grown to be huge now. lol
 
It would be really nice if people could be made aware of the situation so it doesn't happen to future contest winners. I'd hate to see the community's reputation fall down hill all because of a silly competition. Mostly no one will care, but the few who read this and take something from it are totally worth it.
 
As for me, I'm fine just ignoring it and staying hidden for awhile, but man, am I ready for it to end already. Oh, well. I'll just have fun riding around on my Midnight Equivar in the mean time. xD
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			Does anyone know what OP is talking about?	
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I'm guessing this is referring to the lovely conversation I had with some folks in chat this afternoon. 
 
 
Yeah, there's no beauty about it. They just keep coming. I'm having to avoid chat altogether until they calm down. I can't even be seen in a twitch channel without a nuisance. It's rather disappointing and so I really appreciate the post, Kelimbror. My list of ignore has grown to be huge now. lol
 
It would be really nice if people could be made aware of the situation so it doesn't happen to future contest winners. I'd hate to see the community's reputation fall down hill all because of a silly competition. Mostly no one will care, but the few who read this and take something from it are totally worth it.
 
As for me, I'm fine just ignoring it and staying hidden for awhile, but man, am I ready for it to end already. Oh, well. I'll just have fun riding around on my Midnight Equivar in the mean time. xD
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			E-bullying.............Really? When was it that we became a society that is incapable of ignoring idiotic people.	
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			Unbelievable.  If someone cares enough about housing contests to put the work into creating an entry, then sour grapes aren't doing you a whole lot of good in giving you more shots in the future.  That's a right quick way of convincing Carbine not to do anymore housing contests.  Be happy for the winners, learn what you can do better, and if you want a midnight equivar that badly, pony up the cash.
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Cantatus	
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and if you want a midnight equivar that badly, pony up the cash.
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			  There will always be that player that exercises their emotions when they feel a sting of envy over someone else.. and while its immature and frivolous to act out on it... they still will. So you gotta have a bit of a thick skin to roll with the punches when their thrown at ya and do what you can to ignore it. Its not worth fighting with people when their behaving that way since usually its a desperate act to gain attention in a negative form to appease their shortcomings.	
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  There will always be that player that exercises their emotions when they feel a sting of envy over someone else.. and while its immature and frivolous to act out on it... they still will. So you gotta have a bit of a thick skin to roll with the punches when their thrown at ya and do what you can to ignore it. Its not worth fighting with people when their behaving that way since usually its a desperate act to gain attention in a negative form to appease their shortcomings.
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			No clue what this is about, but you seem to equate some Twitter drama with 'the Wildstar community' or something?	
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I was one who put their house up for the competition, and while I put months into mine, I'm not going to throw a public hissy fit. Carbine probably had a very clear idea with what they were looking for, it's Carbine's competition, not mine. I've been on a judging table, and trust me with as many applicants as they probably had it was most likely not an easy feat. I think they managed to do their table in one day in one meeting, where mine took time over two days to pick a best costume for my contest I hosted. I can't imagine judging by screenshots in a housing competition to be honest, housing is 3-D and screenshots are 2-D so I'm sure a lot of people's houses were lost in that translation. But again, it's carbine's competition not mine.
 
Maybe over Christmas I'll organize a WildStar-wide housing compeititon where I co-ordinate with the community here. But the amount of effort that goes into this kind of thing is daunting. I guess what I'm trying to say is it could have been better executed, but kudos to Carbine for trying. Maybe next time poke someone actively involved in making these types of events and competitions and ask for their feed back or ideas? I can see why people were upset, but they don't represent the entire WildStar community. Some of us put a lot of effort into fostering a warm and welcoming environment. :)	
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This.
People are sometimes just asshats.
nothing a /block or /ignore cannot fix.
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Wait....people on the Internet are mean?
 
The things people get butthurt over are just so silly. 
 
Sorry this has been happening :( Sadly there is no way to stop it unless you put in a rule that states that anyone that is part of the contest and board mouths someone will get banned. That's the best way to deal with morons.	
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It is a shame that this kind of thing happened but unfortunately where there is competition involved you get winners who will be happy and losers who wont be.  The issue being is that a portion of those losers will be sore losers and will call out favoritism, bad judging, poor execution etc etc etc. for the reason they never won rather than it being the obvious reason that there plot just wasn't good enough to win in the judges eyes.
 
I will admit im not that skilled to be able to create some of the fantastic plots that ive had the pleasure to see during my time venturing around. I thought all the winners in the competition where amazing, I never seen any of the ones that never won but the simple fact is that Carbine judged every entry and in there opinion the ones selected where the best ones. Wither you agree or disagree on that nothing is going to change as it is there opinion and they have one just like everyone else, so rather than having a hissy fit about the sore losers just need to suck it up and put on those big boy/girl panties and be grown up about it. 
 
If they cannot be grown up about it and you find them annoying or what they are saying offensive then as mentioned earlier just block and report. I hope all the shenanigans that has resulted from this competition does not put off Carbine hosting other competitions and/or put of those on the receiving end from creating other fantastic plots to enter into future competitions if there are ever any more. 	
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It's too easy for people who have no experience with being in such a situation to say "just /ignore and move on".  I'm sure Flux is doing that, but is in a position where it's a new person harassing him every time.  When it's a huge crowd of faceless people attacking you because of something that happened with high visibility, having only one line from each one before you ignore them is still a big downer.
 
/ignore can't magically figure out all the people in the future who will attack you.
 
Flux, I'm really sorry this is happening, I too had thought better of the housing community.	
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It's too easy for people who have no experience with being in such a situation to say "just /ignore and move on". 
 
/ignore can't magically figure out all the people in the future who will attack you.
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What OP did is something that was helpful.  It's not "solve the whole problem or forget about it".  Some things help, some don't.
 
People are harassing Flux: hurtful to Flux
 
Someone shines a spotlight on it, making it less of a private burden and showing their support: helpful to Flux.
 
People imply being upset about this is a sign of weakness and Flux should just man up: hurtful to Flux.
 
Positives and negatives.
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What OP did is something that was helpful.  It's not "solve the whole problem or forget about it".  Some things help, some don't.
 
People are harassing Flux: hurtful to Flux
 
Someone shines a spotlight on it, making it less of a private burden and showing their support: helpful to Flux.
 
People imply being upset about this is a sign of weakness and Flux should just man up: hurtful to Flux.
 
Positives and negatives.
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Katia Managan	
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Unbelievable.  If someone cares enough about housing contests to put the work into creating an entry, then sour grapes aren't doing you a whole lot of good in giving you more shots in the future.  That's a right quick way of convincing Carbine not to do anymore housing contests.  Be happy for the winners, learn what you can do better, and if you want a midnight equivar that badly, pony up the cash.
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I didn't want to make it too specific, so let's just say that Entity was making a bad name for itself in chat and across twitter this weekend. The general point remains regardless of context though...lots of people complaining about various winners of housing or costume contests, using it as a platform to openly bash other players. Really sad to see tbh.
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And this is really what I'm trying to get at. While there are a lot of great posts being made here, the expected 'lol y so mad?' posts are representative of the overall problem at large. Suddenly it has become offensive to be a victim, to shine a light on bad behavior, and try to challenge a discussion to promote a better atmosphere for accountability.
 
Think about it....people publicly shame you for speaking out about being publicly insulted...all the while missing the point about trying to make something better for all of us. Like Cantatus said, this sort of reaction isn't going to help promote future contests or events. If the first time we do something 'big' like this ends up in people being attacked in a public forum, why would a lot of people want to subject themselves to that?
 
I'm not trying to sound like some overly emotional Wildstar nut, but think about all the things this game has that can make it magical. The last thing I want to see is turning wonderful systems like housing and costume customization into highschool popularity contests...especially when it hurts people in the process. I'm normally the angry one who hates everybody, the cynic, and the hermit...so the fact that I'm having to try and be all happy-town-kumbaya means things are markedly bad.  :(
 
Please be nice so I can go back to yelling at people to get off my lawn.
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What OP did is something that was helpful. 
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I'm not referring to every single person who brought up the /ignore option, some are legitimately trying to be helpful.  But there are definitely some elsewhere and here that imply that Flux needs to man up and are definitely hurtful.
 
As for the thread itself, it's not Flux's post.  If Flux is being harassed everywhere he goes, it is no doubt a pickmeup to see other people who are in support of him speaking up, showing that they notice what is happening, and that the majority of the community does not agree with those sentiments.  And it would not be wrong for him to feel that way.
			
				
	Edited November 2, 2015 by Katia Managan	
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I'm not referring to every single person who brought up the /ignore option, some are legitimately trying to be helpful.  But there are definitely some elsewhere and here that imply that Flux needs to man up and are definitely hurtful.
 
As for the thread itself, it's not Flux's post.  If Flux is being harassed everywhere he goes, it is no doubt a pickmeup to see other people who are in support of him speaking up, showing that they notice what is happening, and that the majority of the community does not agree with those sentiments.  And it would not be wrong for him to feel that way.
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			You're right a more positive tone would be better, but I still think it's better that things like this are being said rather than not at all (and it spurred many others to follow suit and speak up in this thread).  An outsider will judge what the community's opinion is more by the amount of people speaking each way, it would look worse if someone saw all the negative opinions and no disagreement to them.	
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Most of us can agree that this type of behavior is expected in every competition and should be ignored/reported. I did expect this, I do ignore/report, but as Katia said, "/ignore can't magically figure out all the people in the future who will attack you." I'm not some child crying about bullies (because why should I give a damn what others say), but what's upsetting is that I can't have a decent conversation with anyone on the internet without some new person entering to insult me. The interruption is an annoyance and the constant /ignore function becomes tedious and takes away from a normal gaming experience. Unfortunately, the only way to dodge this is to avoid chat altogether, but I'm fine with being a hermit for awhile. The point is that it's simply unacceptable that I'm having to do all this just to play the game peacefully, and that's what I took from OP along with my next key points.
 
 
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Disagree. A vague scolding of "the community" in an open forum accomplishes very little positive. It paints an unrealistic picture to people who weren't there to witness the events and makes the game seem less nice than it is. It also feeds the people who get off on harassing others by demonstrating they got to someone. It's troll food. Especially since it does nothing to get actionable information into the hands of the people who are supposed to do something about it.
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I don't disagree with support. However for me it is really a matter of tone. I have a hard time considering something charged with negative language like the OP, as supportive. Especially when it paints with a pretty broad brush and little effort to isolate the haters as a fringe (which is what in reality they are). I'm more of a 'make the next thing that happens a good thing' person when I can be, so I don't see a scolding as productive when there are better options.
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I was quite impressed with the winners.  Heck I was really impressed with the entries as well.  Lots of hard work and talent went into those, and I am sure there are hurt feelings, etc. but something I was taught a long time ago holds true today:
Win with grace and lose with dignity.
 
Or to put it even more simply:  Don't be a cupcake.
 
Life is so much simpler with that one rule.
 
Anyways, glad you kept them all on Entity 1 (I moved to Entity 2 to avoid queue times, etc.) :P
 
but seriously, I always hope for people to behave better, and am so often disappointed in the way they fight to the bottom vs rise to the top.  
			
				
	Edited November 3, 2015 by SickToubib	
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Most of us can agree that this type of behavior is expected in every competition and should be ignored/reported. I did expect this, I do ignore/report, but as Katia said, "/ignore can't magically figure out all the people in the future who will attack you." I'm not some child crying about bullies (because why should I give a damn what others say), but what's upsetting is that I can't have a decent conversation with anyone on the internet without some new person entering to insult me. The interruption is an annoyance and the constant /ignore function becomes tedious and takes away from a normal gaming experience. Unfortunately, the only way to dodge this is to avoid chat altogether, but I'm fine with being a hermit for awhile. The point is that it's simply unacceptable that I'm having to do all this just to play the game peacefully, and that's what I took from OP along with my next key points.
 
 
 
This is not trolling, they are not trying to elicit an angry response from me. They're simply raging and searching for others with similar feelings to gain support so they can feel better about their loss. When they find that support (and they do) they continue to harass together and find more support. They're unmoved by whether it affects me or not, so they continue to prey just the same. As for the people who did not witness it, I believe they'll see how many supporters there actually are here, as I did, and feel much better about the community, especially if they've been in a similar situation. However, what does make the game "seem less nice" is the negative feedback toward the OP's support for those experiencing "e-bullying."
 
This is just my experience, though. A lot of posts here seem to be focused on my situation when it's not just me annoyed by this. I know this is the biggest housing competition we've ever had and with larger prizes, so the case is a little more severe now than it's been, but there are others in the past, present, and possibly the future who deal with this. So I ask that we don't focus this topic solely on me and instead continue to support everyone :) I also think this is why OP seemed somewhat vague, because s/he was referring to everyone affected by this. 
 
 
 
This is spot on. 
OP and other supporters here: helpful
 
 
This: Not helpful nor hurtful because these points were already covered. 
Again, the tools are being used, but they don't fix every bad newcomer out of the hundreds that continue to show up and disrupt the gaming experience, and the harassers are not preying on feelings nor are they being hurt. Supporters like OP are very helpful and I think we should encourage it more. People one after one ruining the gaming experience for any victim/witness is unacceptable and is completely worth mentioning. Yes, there are few who touch the forums, care enough to read, and will actually take something from this, but those few are completely worth it.
 
Now I think what would be most beneficial is stop worrying about whether this topic is beneficial or not (because it has been for me and a few others so far), and instead just let it continue to show how awesome our housing community really is. :)
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It's like you completely ignored what he said as well as what many other people have been saying about the topic...
 
So yeah. Let's continue to put our hands over our ears and eyes and wish the problems away. That's what makes communities magical!  :wacko:
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You think anything in this thread is going to stop criminal players from committing crimes?
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This has absolutely nothing to do with the thread. So uh..yeah..don't know how to really respond to you.
 
I find a pretty obvious trend in this thread. Those that say this is unproductive and only causes drama, which then follow up by putting words in my mouth or creating false narratives. Then there are people who actually read the posts, understand what this means to the community at large, and can have a meaningful discourse. I would love to invite you to the other side of the discussion, but it would take a personal investment into making Wildstar a better place by putting forward your personal best face.
 
It's not about policing or shaming, which is why I don't have names, screenshots, or any other dramatic methods. It's about personal accountability and recognizing the need to foster a growing community of players w/r/t the specific artistic content avenues Wildstar provides. I'll give you an olive branch. Go back and read my posts. Not just the first post, but all of them. If you can point me to where I'm trying to 'punish' people, I'll eat my hat. And I really like my hat. But if it so happens that you realize this is a commentary on community and beginning a discourse on what that means...then hey, I'm here to keep talking about it.
 
The last thing I will do is stop supporting other players b/c you feel it's beneath you or 'you know better' than I do. Sorry, not going to happen.
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It's not about policing or shaming, which is why I don't have names, screenshots, or any other dramatic methods. It's about personal accountability and recognizing the need to foster a growing community of players w/r/t the specific artistic content avenues Wildstar provides. I'll give you an olive branch. Go back and read my posts. Not just the first post, but all of them. If you can point me to where I'm trying to 'punish' people, I'll eat my hat. And I really like my hat. But if it so happens that you realize this is a commentary on community and beginning a discourse on what that means...then hey, I'm here to keep talking about it.
 
The last thing I will do is stop supporting other players b/c you feel it's beneath you or 'you know better' than I do. Sorry, not going to happen.
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Shame some people are acting up as a result of the contest, but as it's the first official challenge from Carbine, not surprised. I've encountered some weird moments and a touch of jealousy when showing my plots. In the end I think it's just something you have to ignore (or debate in the case of criticism, if you're up to it).
 
As far as this thread, I think there's a useful purpose here, which is reminding those of us who may be unaware/apathetic that we can help, too. So while I agree that asking jerks to stop being jerks mostly won't help (especially here where they're probably not even reading it), now that I personally know this happened, I'll be sure to call it out if I see it in-game. If enough people show solidarity, it's quite easy to talk down or chatscroll jerks out of a chat.	
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			That contest was rigged! My spooky outdoor stripclub should have won 1st place.	
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