Why Does This Even Need To Be Discussed?

Hello, Redstone players.

As you may or may not have noticed, I haven't really been around Prandel much lately. Mostly just logging to check on people and do SDs and GDs with a friend. I have, however, been perusing the forums, and first, a bit of news dealing with just me.

I love drawing, especially character design, and the artwork of Redstone is quite wonderful. So, since I have been playing this game quite a bit, I decided to try my hand at doing Genderbend counterparts to our beloved classes. I thought it would be cool to be able to choose whether you would like to be male or female. Just imagine seeing female thieves or male witches, and considering our game already glitches, putting class skills on items they have no business being on, why not?

So here is my try at a Genderbend Squire/Warrior, which I thought turned out quite well. As I said, it isn't the best quality due to my lack of scanner and odd lighting, and thus a lot of detail is missing. I also decided that it wouldn't really make sense to draw a separate Squire and Warrior, due to the fact that in the only difference between the two is a shield, hence the added shield.

I am currently working on the Thief/Monk Genderbend, which I think will also just be a single person. The only other one that I know for sure will be one representing both will be for the Tamer/Summoner, which already basically looks the same no matter how you slice it. I might also do this for Lancer/Archer, though still unsure, considering the weapons are very different and very large. 

I will post my artwork as soon as I have it finished and hopefully you all will like it.

Okay, now on to the part which is what the title of this post is based off of.

I am adding a read-only and a warning: please don't read on if you are easily susceptible to butt-hurt or are going to post vile, troll-like things in the comments.

I ask you to go to the forums, preferably the General Discussion, since that is where it usually happens, and click on any topic which is red and has at least a couple dozen replies.

Here, I'll even pick one for you, which just so happens to also be the most recent of these.

Just browse through those comments, let it sink in. I don't care who you are "loyal" to or you are "friends" with or even what guild you are in, just read. Act as if you were an outsider, browsing the forums to try and get a feel for the game, and that is the post you happened to click on.

Or what about this one?

Or even this older one?

And by older, I mean not even a week and a half ago.

Hopefully you see what I am getting at, even if you don't want to.

How on Earth can anyone accept this? I don't understand how anyone can feel superior to anyone over a game. 

Maybe everyone needs to be reminded that this thing they feel the need to publicly harass one another is nothing more than lines of code and some very beautiful character and background design. Even those who claim that they are "above" all this petty arguing seem to jump at the earliest opportunity to prove they'r "superior" and show how much "better" they are than "nubs". 

You notice all the words surrounded by quotations? Good, stop using those words, and I'll stop mocking them, since they are just a testament to the elitist attitude people have over this game.

People are literally at each other's throats over the fact of "who is better than who" and frankly I am sick of the whole pissing contest. It is really no wonder so many have left and so few actually would like to join our community. 

Yes, it can be blamed on the lack of GM attention and the seemingly endless bugs, yet it is the community that really keeps a game alive. If someone truly enjoyed and loved a game, the GMs and bugs would not hinder them. Yes, it would be bothersome, but they would generally stick around. 

But the toxic environment which is our community is enough to scare even the most hardcore players away, if they weren't a part of the problem. 

Instead of discussing actual real gameplay, there are posts like this or even this, which just shows how heartless some people are even when they aren't openly bashing other players. Our "General Discussion" should really be called "Cyber Bullying with Just Enough Redstone to Keep it Relevant". 

Even posts that are Redstone related and have absolutely nothing to do with anybody in particular suddenly become this huge flame war that strays completely off the original topic.

I don't know why I even try, since maybe only a few people actually read this blog and even fewer will actually care about this post, and I'm sure most of those who do care are caring for all the wrong reasons. They will probably feel slighted or that I am calling certain people out.

Trust me, that was not my intention at all. I simply wanted to show how our lovely community may look to an outside observer and how silly all this is.

I am not saying don't be passionate about what you enjoy. By all means, run with that passion and spread it to others. Make guides, write blogs, help newer players. Heck, be proud of your accomplishments, whether it is reaching a certain level, rebirthing, finally mixing that great gear, or even just winning a really hard GvG.

What I am saying is don't let that passion turn toxic. Be proud but don't let that pride turn into arrogance or turn you into an elitist jerk. Also, don't put down other people's accomplishments. Better yet, don't put people down at all. Be happy for someone who finally mixed that gear, congratulate the other team for a good GvG, celebrate when someone rebirths. 

Stop with all this hate, since it gets nobody anywhere and just generally leaves everyone with a bad taste in their mouths. Instead, be happy for each other and learn that being the best does not have to be coupled with being the most arrogant. 

The best players are not those with the best gears or the highest levels or the most time spent in Redstone.

The best players are those who realize that they, in fact, still have much to learn and are a help, not a hindrance, to the community.