Originally Posted by
TyG
BEFORE READING THIS, SOME MAY REACT DIFFERENTLY TO THIS TOPIC THAN OTHERS! IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE OR DO NOT LIKE THE TOPIC ABOUT BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS, PLEASE STOP READING! PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL TO ANY PERSON WHO AGREES, DISAGREES OR HAS SOMETHING TO ADD ON TO THIS POST.
Dear Era Community,
Having been here since 2012 in the Era community, I've experienced some questionable behavior in-game and on forums. Now, I do understand that there are rules already in place that punishes severe behavior, but I'd like to touch on more circumstantial situations. (Dear moderators. I understand this is a highly delicate topic, but I feel it needs more focus on more circumstantial cases).
Now, EVERY individual is different, and that's what makes everyone so unique in this world, and is what makes Era such a unique community. I love Era for its immense diversity and is what makes me come back regularly to play the game or be on forums. Now, I do not condone ANY severe behavior that is punishable, and I'm sure many understand that, but I'd like to focus on what is right and wrong when approaching or dealing with an individual.
Before I start, I need to re-emphasize the importance of knowing that everyone is a unique individual, majority born and raised differently. This precious principle is important to remember when contacting a person you DO NOT know. You'll see the importance of this principle in this thread.
Now here comes the key principle. Everyone is different, and may not assimilate to YOU or your COMMUNITY. This notion means people may not understand what you are talking about, or your sense of humor, your attitude, or in fact, ANYTHING that has the possibility of being misunderstood. So what does this mean? It means that understanding an individual is key. For example, many can wrongly misinterpret hand gestures. In my school, my friends commonly use the "want to eat?" hand signal, which can be misinterpreted by others as a "screw you" hand signal (they don't do the gestures properly). This principle is why it's important to understand those around or with you.
So, what does this have to do with the Era forums? The principle applies here as well. I for one, have been commonly confused or insulted by attitudes or sayings. Sometimes, I feel as if some individuals can have harsh attitudes towards others, whereby it's merely a typical approach where they live. This idea also applies with jokes. For example, a joke one may find funny; another might not (like racist jokes). Talking about individual events may also cause others to feel uncomfortable (such as disasters). These examples are only just a few circumstances I've been affected by the most.
So what do you do to avoid the complex situations? I, for one, have just stuck to the topic that is in a debate. I feel as if it's the most neutral way to convey a point, while not causing any offensive misinterpretations. By going off topic, this increases the risk of possibly touching upon a sensitive subject that one may be uncomfortable discussing.
These circumstances are why we should know that every individual is unique. They may not understand or feel comfortable with the same things you talk about, which is why this notion is so essential to communicating with others.