The Noob Effect...

[WitchdoctorDan]

I have noticed mid to high level pirates calling others noobs with NO evidence to back it up. Now, I'll be the first to say that that is bad manners. But think about it for a while... What does calling other players noobs make you? (Besides impolite, of course) A noob. Very counter-productive, eh? I've posted this because the rate of Noob-Callers, as I call them, has increased threefold. Every person that gets called a noob is discouraged. Yet also they have added that to their vocabulary. Anger + hateful names= someone that will call others those hateful names. And it begins. It spreads like a ripple, and suddenly hundreds are bullies. Psychologists have coined a similar problem occurring in the world's schools The Bully Effect. In a school one bully can grow to dozens in a year, just like hundreds of Noob-Callers will soon be thousands. In a game where the target audience are kids >12, this will spread like a wildfire. I posted this to discourage people from being bullies over the internet. I also encourage you to explain this point to these Internet bullies. Although that last part might not work out!