The online behavior of Comic Book Professionals

[DV1Band]

I'm not going to knock you for that...

[Valerie]

what you perceive to be trollish behavior. which is funny, because calling Wacker (or me for that matter) a troll is probably far more offensive than anything he says to a "fan"

If you paid attention, you'd see that I did not actually call anyone a troll. I just pointed out the gulf between talking with the fans and trolling them. A great deal of that is determined by motivation. Whether or not Steve Wacker is a troll boils down to whether he intends to talk to the fans or to upset them.

As for me, I grew up playing more sports than D&D, too, and I hang out with firefighters. I know the difference between good-natured ribbing and insults, and based on what I'm seeing on this thread, I feel pretty safe calling you a troll.

[Raphael Edwards]

As for me, I grew up playing more sports than D&D, too, and I hang out with firefighters. I know the difference between good-natured ribbing and insults, and based on what I'm seeing on this thread, I feel pretty safe calling you a troll.

XD

I loved reading all of this.

[thirdfalcon]

I guess it's a good thing I'm not saying it to Wacker, but rather his Stan.

Oh, and I like how you quote me as rude, but ignore your boy Smith here when all he posts are rude digs. Must be cool to ignore what doesn't suit you, huh?

I would just think that you were be a little more polite considering that you are giving someone the business for being mean and rude to his fans. Apparently it's fine to go after someone with insults as long as it's you or someone you agree with, eh?

[Schmed]

no way, the NFC sucks, they should make the NFC Championship

That's what I said, they make it to the NFC Champ, most likely the Bowl, but for sure the NFC Championship.

[Raphael Edwards]

I would just think that you were be a little more polite considering that you are giving someone the business for being mean and rude to his fans. Apparently it's fine to go after someone with insults as long as it's you or someone you agree with, eh?

What? I'm not even really talking about Wacker much, but rather his defenders. I'm not afraid to call a spade a spade though, and Wacker in most posts I've seen from him is either trolling or snarky and dismissive. I haven't been on this board in a while though, and others have said he posts other things besides that, but this is what I most often see.

And I don't think it's fine to go after anyone with insults whether they are representative of my thoughts or not so long as the person they're speaking with doesn't insult them first.

You and Ben just jump in to side with Wacker no matter what from what I've seen, and that's...not okay. *Madara voice*

[thirdfalcon]

I really think sports is very similar in most respects, and I don't think you're differentiators do a great job distinguishing them. Just like an athlete can 'shut his fans up' with his performance on the field, a writer can do the same by continuing to publish a great product month in and month out, and doesn't have to come on to a message board to tell the fans why they're wrong.

The other similarity, that as I mentioned earlier, is that in sports you can once in a while get a loose cannon whose completely against the grain and often rubs people the wrong way, as some of the exceptions you listed. And that I should consider Wacker to just be an exception to profession and not take his comments on the Boards in a personal way just assume he's a bit more confrontational than most professionals. The thing is that none of those other guys in sports, would actually take to online message boards, enter the fans' domain and then rag on them. It just doesn't happen. And when it does, like Amare cursing someone out on Twitter, it becomes an embarrassment for that athlete. Here it becomes a point of pride.

There are some things that are similar, and I'm not dismissing the comparison out of hand. But I also think that with team sports how you conduct yourself in public effects the whole team. Negative media attention has derailed entire seasons. There's also a lot of other factors in play though such as how much the media likes you which is mostly determined by how successful you are and how much accsess you give them. Doc Rivers of the Celtics is a good example of someone that the media protects if you follow basketball at all. The point I am making is that sports media is much more intense and can get in the way of a team's focus and actually cause them to lose games. And winning and losing are always going to trump everything else in sports. If Steve Blake averages 20 and 10 for the rest of the year then I guarantee you that what he said to a fan will never be brought up again.That's what is driving the efforts to make athletes conduct themselves in a certain way in public more than anything. And again the way individual sports are different backs all this up.

Also I'm going to ask you not to cut out the parts of most posts that you don't want people to see. I do not need an editor. Taking out things that don't fit your narrative is exactly the kind of thing I have been talking about with you.

[thirdfalcon]

What? I'm not even really talking about Wacker much, but rather his defenders. I'm not afraid to call a spade a spade though, and Wacker in most posts I've seen from him is either trolling or snarky and dismissive. I haven't been on this board in a while though, and others have said he posts other things besides that, but this is what I most often see.

And I don't think it's fine to go after anyone with insults whether they are representative of my thoughts or not so long as the person they're speaking with doesn't insult them first.

You and Ben just jump in to side with Wacker no matter what from what I've seen, and that's...not okay. *Madara voice*

If you don't think it's fine to go after someone with insults then why are you?

[Raphael Edwards]

If you don't think it's fine to go after someone with insults then why are you?

Like who? Ben? He's been coming at me and everyone else almost nonstop, so I responded in kind. Thus our page worth of ribbing back and forth a while ago. Why are you so willfully ignoring that?

[thirdfalcon]

Like who? Ben? He's been coming at me and everyone else almost nonstop, so I responded in kind. Thus our page worth of ribbing back and forth a while ago. Why are you so willfully ignoring that?

Because I hadn't read the rest of the thread at the point. I'm not really talking about that stuff.

[Raphael Edwards]

Then what exactly are you talking about?

[thirdfalcon]

Then what exactly are you talking about?

I'm talking about how you are insulting to people while arguing that someone shouldn't be insulting.

[Raphael Edwards]

I'm talking about how you are insulting to people while arguing that someone shouldn't be insulting.

Such as? If you're talking about Ben, I've already explained that I'm responding in kind, and yes, in this case, two "wrongs" make a right, and even then I've only done so after constant ribbing from him. Ribbing you conveniently ignored.

So no, you're not looking at things correctly and placing unfair blame on me.


Notice how with everyone else I speak with, or even in my own topic I'm completely respectful, while even there I was ribbed and instead responded calmly and respectfully.

[refrax5]

You know who reminds me of DeMatteis? Yost. He really, really does. That's why he's so good to me. I feel like I'm reading all of the awesome inner monologues that J.M. did during the clone saga, only now it's Yost doing it in Scarlet Spider. It keeps me buying without even reading the previews anymore...

Yost seems like a really nice guy and is probably one of my favorite writers at Marvel. I don't know what I think about Wacker's online antics. Generally speaking, there are a lot of insulting, hysterically negative people on here and that seems to be who he usually goes after, and I'd be a hypocrite to really blame him for that, since those folks get on my nerves, too.

But sometimes, there do seem to be some valid points or concerns that he gets kind of nasty and condescending about. I just kinda feel like, I don't know, why stoop to their level? And why snap at the people who really don't get it.

Saying DC didn't get Grayson's run as Batman right is absurd and a bit insulting to them. That run was awesome and popular enough that they extended it way beyond what it was originally supposed to be. Hell, Damian Wayne was supposed to die originally, according to GM. Stuff like that just seems weird and pointless to say.

And people will always buy this stuff due to hype or curiosity or to have a complete run of something, etc. That doesn't mean people aren't annoyed or unhappy and it doesn't mean that everyone who isn't thrilled is some online troll deserving of ridicule. I can see where he's coming from to an extent, but he doesn't really strike me as anyone I'd feel comfortable speaking to, as a fan. Slott seems really nice, though.

EDIT: I kind of feel like I'm going to catch hell for this.

[thirdfalcon]

Such as? If you're talking about Ben, I've already explained that I'm responding in kind, and yes, in this case, two "wrongs" make a right, and even then I've only done so after constant ribbing from him. Ribbing you conveniently ignored.

So no, you're not looking at things correctly and placing unfair blame on me.


Notice how with everyone else I speak with, or even in my own topic I'm completely respectful, while even there I was ribbed and instead responded calmly and respectfully.

Two wrongs never make a right, and Ben isn't arguing that someone shouldn't be disrespectful