Taking the heat

[kate]

It has nothing to do with race and everything to do with visibility. Multiboxers aren't a "normal" thing for people to see on an everyday basis, but single players who act like jerks are. I don't normally see a cop everyday, but when I do, if the experience is pleasant, then everybody's happy. If the cop is a jackass, then I might think that all cops in that precinct are jackasses.

Think of Hunters, Death Knights, or maybe even Rogues. Three classes that seem to be a magnet for terrible players regardless of how easy the class actually is. Whenever I'm teamed up with a Hunter, Death Knight, or Rogue... they'll have to prove to me that they're not some keyboard turning window licker before I can trust them.

It's the fact that because there are so few of us in game, that when we are actually seen by the public our overall reputation is at stake. If one multiboxer leaves a sour taste in someone's mouth, that person is more likely to believe that all multiboxers are complete douchebags with too much time and money on their hands.

It's not difficult for us, as multiboxers, to act like good citizens rather than be asshats just because we can.

You seem to be under the impression that I don't understand the argument being made for good behavior. I do understand it, but I reject the premise.

Here is why:

1) There is zero burden on me to prove anything to someone else because that person has run into other people who share a trait with me who were jerks. The only person whose actions I am responsible for is me, and I simply will not accept the burden of having to prove anything because of the actions of someone else. I want to be treated as an individual, and I expect to be treated like an individual. When one deals with me, the individual, they should deal with our shared history together because that is the only fair way to deal with me because that is the only history I can be responsible for. I don't care if I remind someone of someone else - I am not that someone else, and holidng me responsible for that someone else's behavior is wrong, period.

2) The same thing is true of me: It is unfair of me to require that another person take on the burden of proving they aren't a jerk just because other people who share a trait with them may have behaved like a jerk. Just as I want to be treated as an individual, so, too, must I treat others as individuals.

3) People who make a point of letting me know that they are putting a burden on me without my consent are being jerks. Anyone who criticizes me simply because I am a multi-boxer (or a hunter, or a dk, or a rogue) and not because I, personally, have behaved poorly, is basically wearing a big flashing sign saying "I am a jerk, and probably not worth listening to." I have very little patience for trying to educate people who don't want to learn, or for discussing things if they are unwilling to change their viewpoint.

4) I agree that it is not difficult to act like a good citizen, and think that the world would be a much better place if everyone were to avoid jerk-like behavior. However, I will absolutely refuse anyone's efforts to put a burden on me to behave in any particular way in the name of the reputations of others. My reputation is *mine* not yours, and your reputation is *yours* not mine. People who cannot or will not understand and accept that are simply not important to me and I won't bother trying to change their opinions. The same goes here - there are some people who post on this forum who engage in behavior I personally find obnoxious, immature, stupid, anti-social, whatever. I don't bother engaging with those individuals, and I don't bother caring about what they say.

Edit: One thing I forgot to say - the only time I feel like it's fair for me to put an expectation on someone is when their behavior *directly* impacts me. I don't feel like other multi-boxers on servers I don't play on, who I don't interact with, who I have never met even on this site, directly affect me, and I don't feel it's likely that them acting like real jerks ever *will* affect me directly. And I don't consider having to rarely have someone insult me for being a boxer a direct impact.