http://whilyam.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/beating-the-bullies/
The discussion on the role of Cyan should prove one thing to you. It takes a while for dead ideologies to die. There will still be the hardcore supporters who will fight you. As the ideology dies, the views become more extreme and more fundamentalist. The tactics turn to bullying.
Cyan’s role in Uru has diminished and will keep diminishing and Cyan will be better off as a result for the reasons I’ve outlined before (it will free up resources). I have seen no coherent reason why the community in general could not acquire an individual responsibility to decide their experience in an Age. Particularly since the fan Ages might be separate (and thus distinguishable) from Cyan’s Ages.
And yet, I was regaled in warning after warning of how Uru isn’t Uru without the strictly-cohesive canon (which it has never had). The level of delusion is what is truly frightening. Canon is GOD was a phrase actually used. Completely ignorant of the fact that Uru has spent the majority of its public life without canon (as Until Uru). The Liaisons didn’t cause a backlash when all of them quit in disgust and the event drove several away from Uru. There was a sense of absurdity in the statement that “Uru isn’t Uru” without canon. It was the same sense I got when a team-mate of mine claimed we weren’t making an Age for Uru, we were making a “game.” The correct continuation of both those thoughts is “to me.“
Uru means different things to different people. End of story. The more diverse number of reasons we can bring people into Uru for, the more successful it will be. None of the preferences the community has are exclusive. A poorly-textured Age doesn’t ruin all Ages for me. As such, a poorly-written backstory for one Age doesn’t kill all Ages for me. If you don’t like an Age, don’t come back to it or discover something about it you like. That is the mantra repeated over and over. It is a flawed mantra (as it can be applied to any number of atrocities in human history) but it is perfectly acceptable here in this lesser of concerns.
So how do we beat the bullies? There was a term used back in 2007, “concern troll.” It was (in some cases fairly) attributed to posters who registered just to fake concern and cry crocodile tears for Uru’s hopes of survival because Uru was missing this or that. The new breed of concern troll is the one who wrings their hands at how Cyan isn’t involved, how we’re so ungrateful, etc.
The easy answer, the stupid answer, is “ignore them.” But the problem is deeper than that and can’t be addressed by nazi-esque purging (is it Godwin’s Law if I invoke the Nazis on the side I agree with?). The deeper problem is that Uru abounds in diversity but lacks in understanding. This is why the way to beat the bullies is to let them build their own area and have it compete with others. It is not to set up their ideas as the “official” shard while everyone else is relegated to “fan fiction” status. That sets people on a pedestal that leads to anger and resentment.
Uru can be more successful now than before, but we need real rational ideas not antiques that ignore the new reality.
No, this is not a new kind of concern troll. They’ve been around the community for a long time. Only since Open Source has been declared have they decided to scream at the top of their lungs, as though they’re a small child that throws a fit when they don’t get the toy they want.
Some of these people want to control what ages we can and cannot see. I’m not sure if this is because they don’t want their (and by extension every persons) world to be tarnished with an age they themselves deem impure or whatever else. In reality (which I understand by now some of these people are in the cavern to escape that place) these bullies have no control. They can’t control who makes what or who downloads and explores which age. And I’m sure with some of these people it irks and eats away at them.
Choosing which ages can and can’t be used… If these idiots had their way they’d probably choose which people could and couldn’t be allowed into Uru.