A public apology: Whats wrong with the internet.

For those of you who don't know, on my last post I called another player a few names that weren't really true.  I wanted to talk today about things that are wrong about the way I approached things.




1. Because of a misunderstanding I lashed out on a fellow player.  I don't know him personally and have never even talked to him outside of one two hour game.  Yet, I assumed he did something just because he lost the game, and because of this false assumption I felt I should come on here and express how I felt.  That is wrong.

2. Even if he had done exactly what I thought he did I still don't know him nowhere near close enough to make a value assessment on his personality and morals.  Lets say he did many things to me that were not cool, can I still call that person a jerk or anything else? No.  Put simply you don't actually know someone just because you play one (or many) game(s) with them.  Even if someone pulls an intentional 'dick-move,' that doesn't mean they ARE a 'dick'.

3.  Always give people the benefit of the doubt.  I have met many internet personalities and played against most of them, all in all I usually find that who they are at the table isn't who they are in real life.  Some guys are serious-tough at the table and then laugh non-stop and tell jokes away from it.  Have you ever heard an "in game," tape of Michael Jordan?  He sounds like a total WAAC jerk, but off the court he is really cool, how dumb would you look trying to call him out?

Long story short.  I have noticed and commented many times how people lose all sense of boundaries on the internet and make comments that they normally wouldn't in real life.  I have always thought that it was one of the worst things about our community that people are so insulting to others online (especially in the comments sections).  Yet, despite that I fell into it the moment I had an opportunity.  Even if I had the worst opponent in the world and he was a complete jerk/a-hole, I still have not right to come out and say anything.  So, my apologies to the player involved and to everyone else.  I don't want this Blog to be another "Im-awesome-and-I-insult-everyone-who-ins't-me," blog.

Morale of the story: It is rare that you actually know someone well enough to say what they "are."  Even if you do know them well enough calling them out on the internet is not classy or cool.  In the end it is you who looks like a jerk/douche/a-hole.

I had an amazing time at WargamesCon and I am looking forward to it next year.  They run a spectacular event over there, it is a true shame that this discussion is the last taste in my mouth after such an A+ weekend.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.