Fact-checking and critical thinking
Posted: 02 Jul 2020 14:05
Hello!
Since I took over as Keeper I haven't really used this forum section, mainly because I had not really figured out what to use it for, but now I know. I am going to use this forum section kind of like a "Keeper's blog", and share my random thoughts about different Genesis-related stuff.
For my first post I am going to write about something that is both worrying for the game and quite exhausting for us admins - the Genesis rumour mill.
I personally feel that a big problem with social media today is that a lot of people using it simply do not check the facts of things they share. A lot of people see something they like, or something that upsets them, and immediately shares the article to their friends, who does the same, etc. Sadly, many does not bother to check who wrote the article, or stop and think if it sounds reasonable at all.
So, what does this has to do with Genesis? Well, the exact same thing is going on in our community, and it's really bad for the players and wizards who suffer from the constant spreading of false information on Discord, forums, in-game and in private conversations.
Lately I have spent a lot of time talking to upset players who are certain the Genesis administration and some of our wizards are deeply corrupt. If all rumours are to be believed we:
- Clearly support the good-aligned players of Genesis.
- Clearly support the evil-aligned players of Genesis.
- Clearly support guild X.
- Clearly support guild Y.
- Do everything we can do destroy guild Z.
- Allow players that we like to cheat, while punishing other players we don't like.
- Help specific players to cheat by giving them items and/or nerfing their enemies.
- Spread secret information to select players in order to give them an advantange over others.
- Have some sort of agenda where we want a select group of players/guilds to benefit, while making the game miserable for the other side.
Some players have even quit the game because they know the admin is so corrupt and cheaty the game is not worth playing anymore.
People, you need to STOP and THINK.
Ask yourselves, WHY would we do all the things above? Why would we destroy a specific guild, or help a specific player? Why would we treat people differently on purpose? What's in it for us? What do we have to gain from doing that? Do you really think we spend countless of hours of our free time to run this game, only to then hurt the game by cheating or helping select players to cheat? Why would we risk that?
I am urging you all NOT to automatically believe everything you hear. Instead, stop and think. Is what you heard reasonable? Is it logical? Can whoever said it provide any sort of proof? Can you check things yourself, and perhaps find some proof?
Here's en example that happened some time ago:
A player loses their imbued weapon, and soon after is seen with the same weapon with the same imbument. What's the most logical explanation?
A: Wizard X cloned them a new weapon.
B: Being a known EQ-hoarder who plays many hours daily, they had a spare weapon in their rack, and went to Sparkle to imbue it using their big collection of imbuement stones.
Unfortunately a surprisingly large number of people apparently believe it's A, even if B makes way more sense and they have absolutely no proof that it was option A. Still, they tell their friend they're sure a corrupt wizard did it. The friend in turn gets upset, and tells their friends, and within hours a large portion of the Genesis population now "knows" that wizard X is a corrupt cheater, and probably the admin too, since they clearly let this happen.
When people have confronted me with their "truths" lately, I have in many of cases (including the one above), been able to completely dismiss it by providing proof that what they thought was going on was completely false. Unfortunately, rumours continue to persist, and it's very hard and time-consuming for us to win over the rumours, even when we have proof that's it completely false.
Now, I think the majority of the rumours floating around come from assumptions, like in the above example. However, just like in real life some players might also start these kind of rumours on purpose in order to get what they want, or use false rumours to hurt a player, wizard, guild, or faction they dislike. This is very common on social media as well, where people with extreme opinions spread false articles and false rumours, relying on people to become emotional and upset and share it without checking the source - which a lot of people unfortunately do.
Now, I wrote this from my personal perspective as a wizard and admin member, but this isn't something that only happens to us wizards, rumours are of course spread about players too, and I urge you to use the same strategy there. Stop and think if the rumour makes sense, and check the facts / ask for proof before you share it with others.
Thank you for reading all the way here!
Since I took over as Keeper I haven't really used this forum section, mainly because I had not really figured out what to use it for, but now I know. I am going to use this forum section kind of like a "Keeper's blog", and share my random thoughts about different Genesis-related stuff.
For my first post I am going to write about something that is both worrying for the game and quite exhausting for us admins - the Genesis rumour mill.
I personally feel that a big problem with social media today is that a lot of people using it simply do not check the facts of things they share. A lot of people see something they like, or something that upsets them, and immediately shares the article to their friends, who does the same, etc. Sadly, many does not bother to check who wrote the article, or stop and think if it sounds reasonable at all.
So, what does this has to do with Genesis? Well, the exact same thing is going on in our community, and it's really bad for the players and wizards who suffer from the constant spreading of false information on Discord, forums, in-game and in private conversations.
Lately I have spent a lot of time talking to upset players who are certain the Genesis administration and some of our wizards are deeply corrupt. If all rumours are to be believed we:
- Clearly support the good-aligned players of Genesis.
- Clearly support the evil-aligned players of Genesis.
- Clearly support guild X.
- Clearly support guild Y.
- Do everything we can do destroy guild Z.
- Allow players that we like to cheat, while punishing other players we don't like.
- Help specific players to cheat by giving them items and/or nerfing their enemies.
- Spread secret information to select players in order to give them an advantange over others.
- Have some sort of agenda where we want a select group of players/guilds to benefit, while making the game miserable for the other side.
Some players have even quit the game because they know the admin is so corrupt and cheaty the game is not worth playing anymore.
People, you need to STOP and THINK.
Ask yourselves, WHY would we do all the things above? Why would we destroy a specific guild, or help a specific player? Why would we treat people differently on purpose? What's in it for us? What do we have to gain from doing that? Do you really think we spend countless of hours of our free time to run this game, only to then hurt the game by cheating or helping select players to cheat? Why would we risk that?
I am urging you all NOT to automatically believe everything you hear. Instead, stop and think. Is what you heard reasonable? Is it logical? Can whoever said it provide any sort of proof? Can you check things yourself, and perhaps find some proof?
Here's en example that happened some time ago:
A player loses their imbued weapon, and soon after is seen with the same weapon with the same imbument. What's the most logical explanation?
A: Wizard X cloned them a new weapon.
B: Being a known EQ-hoarder who plays many hours daily, they had a spare weapon in their rack, and went to Sparkle to imbue it using their big collection of imbuement stones.
Unfortunately a surprisingly large number of people apparently believe it's A, even if B makes way more sense and they have absolutely no proof that it was option A. Still, they tell their friend they're sure a corrupt wizard did it. The friend in turn gets upset, and tells their friends, and within hours a large portion of the Genesis population now "knows" that wizard X is a corrupt cheater, and probably the admin too, since they clearly let this happen.
When people have confronted me with their "truths" lately, I have in many of cases (including the one above), been able to completely dismiss it by providing proof that what they thought was going on was completely false. Unfortunately, rumours continue to persist, and it's very hard and time-consuming for us to win over the rumours, even when we have proof that's it completely false.
Now, I think the majority of the rumours floating around come from assumptions, like in the above example. However, just like in real life some players might also start these kind of rumours on purpose in order to get what they want, or use false rumours to hurt a player, wizard, guild, or faction they dislike. This is very common on social media as well, where people with extreme opinions spread false articles and false rumours, relying on people to become emotional and upset and share it without checking the source - which a lot of people unfortunately do.
Now, I wrote this from my personal perspective as a wizard and admin member, but this isn't something that only happens to us wizards, rumours are of course spread about players too, and I urge you to use the same strategy there. Stop and think if the rumour makes sense, and check the facts / ask for proof before you share it with others.
Thank you for reading all the way here!