I love Blizzard. I love Overwatch, I like WoW, I’ve had a lot of fun in Hearthstone. They’re well-made games, i like the art style and lore, overall I have really enjoyed the things put forth by the company.
Now, I’m pretty new to the forums. I dont’ comment here much. So maybe I’ve just been exposed to a small part of the community here, and my sample size is too small to make any kind of judgement. But I’ve read a decent amount of posts because almost everytime I google something about Hearthstone, Google takes me here.
But…
Similar to the other communities I’ve run into in Blizzard games, namely Overwatch, this community is ridiculously toxic. Pretty much every post you click on has someone, for absolutely no reason, initiating some kind of fight or personal attack on someone who disagrees with them. It’s ridiculous.
“Zaxo, that’s just the internet.” No, not really. There’s always trolls, sure. But this is a community. I’ve been playing games online since the early days of Runescape. I’ve visited forums for dozens of games (along with several designed for music lovers/traders) and fully immersed myself in countless gaming communities, from small to large games. And this community is by far one of the worst, right next to Overwatch.
If someone is frustrated with the game and comes to comment to vent their frustrations, they are not met with people genuinely trying to help them have a better experience. And before you say anything, remember, that’s exactly what the forums are for. Forums are here to share information and have players help each other out. That isn’t even half of what goes on in these posts.
New players are criticized for not knowing certain things. People who don’t like certain things about the new updates are told it’s because they suck at the game. The list goes on and on. The forums are here for people who are having difficulties to find support. If everything is going great, you don’t need to make a forum post. If you’re posting in the forums, 90% of the time it’s because there is some kind of problem that you’d like to be addressed.
As other commentors, it is our job to help address these problems TO HELP people, not to attack them. And this community is absolutely horrible at this. People are condescending, toxic, and constantly trying to prove that they’re the master of all matters regarding Hearthstone. I’ve seen a handful of decent conversations compared to hundreds of toxic comments.
I honestly don’t think most people in this game are capable of not being condescending. A lot of people here seem to be completely unable of comprehending a different perspective, or they literally just don’t care to because they’re more concerned about inflating their own ego.
In any case, stop commenting if you’re going to be condescending, backhanded, toxic, insulting, whatever else. Just go back to playing the game. Stop bringing the community down to your level. If you can’t comment on someone’s post without throwing an insult in there, implying they suck at the game, etc., don’t comment. Just leave the forums or create your own post.
It’s not that hard, and you’re making the community a worse place. Maybe that’s what you want. Maybe you want to surround yourself with toxic, condescending jerks who just look down on anyone who isn’t “as godly at this game as them.” If that’s what you want, by all means, go ahead and continue as you are. But the rest of us would appreciate it if you just stop. Just go back to proving how much of a god you are in the game, not in the forums. Literally no one cares here. You’re just causing problems for your own ego.
Even as I type this, I can see the comments that are going to come in. I can’t even say “don’t be toxic” without people coming in to try to justify that the reasons they’re being toxic are validated (i’ve done it on other posts). Maybe people literally can’t even comprehend the fact that they’re being toxic, idk.
In any case, there’s the rant. I’ve read too many unhelpful, aggressive posts, and decided to make this one to see how many people agree with this sentiment. I care about having a good community. A good community can make a bad game awesome, and a bad community can make a great game terrible. The choice is yours, every time you post (or have the self control not to).
Edit: The toxicity I’m referring to here is explicitly the kind of player-on-player attacks. People will have a lot of aggressive things to say about the game sometimes. But that’s the game, not other people. I think the forums are largely where those aggressive posts about the game should be directed. As long as players aren’t attacking other players, I think they deserve to be met with respect and a genuinely helpful spirit.
[Moderator’s note: Title edited to be less inflammatory, the post itself is generally respectful, keep it positive in replies, please.]