Venting about Vent
Posting late at night is only a bad idea if you don't think you'll be willing to acknowledge what you wrote the next day, right? So, I game and part of the experience is being on Ventrilo (Vent) a real-time VOIP chat channel. It has been most educational to be a "fly on the wall" and to hear how gaming guys talk about stuff. I used to think there was such a thing as a "garden-variety asshole" only now I realize there isn't a garden big enough.
Actually, most guys I don't think realize how they sound. If it wasn't a terribad invasion of privacy recording and playing back to them some of the things they say would be hilarious. To me. However, there are some things that get said on Vent that would make me happier if they weren't said at all. A short list follows.
1. Could you PLEASE stop apologizing for swearing? It's not like I haven't heard the terms before or that you're sorry for swearing. If you're gonna pop out "f-bombs" as part of your dialogue, fine, but you lose a lot of your impact if they're followed with "umm, sorry, forgot there was a lady/girl/woman in vent." No, you didn't forget. You didn't think it mattered.
2. Please stop beginning dialogues with phrases like "I'm gonna be honest here. . .", "I'm not gonna lie. . ." and "Truth is. . ." Really? Are you lying so much that you need to tell the audience when you're being honest? Or are you trying to excuse being hostile and/or rude by cloaking it in tactlessness? Neither one is a winner. Even if you're using it as a cliche it's tired.
3. Work a little harder at concealing your misogyny. You might find it hilarious to call your male gaming buddies "whore", offer up sexual innuendo regarding their mothers or informing them that they "cry like little girls" but it should have stopped being funny when you were in grade school. Insulting people by comparing them to girls and women where the female gender is always the loser is misogyny. So are statements like "A girl. Great. We're gonna lose." What, are you 11? Knock it off.
4. If you talk in Vent be prepared to deal with other people responding to what you say. If you really don't want an audience for what you have to say consider finding a more private venue to talk in. You could also just not say that particular thing.
As always, YMMV.
Actually, most guys I don't think realize how they sound. If it wasn't a terribad invasion of privacy recording and playing back to them some of the things they say would be hilarious. To me. However, there are some things that get said on Vent that would make me happier if they weren't said at all. A short list follows.
1. Could you PLEASE stop apologizing for swearing? It's not like I haven't heard the terms before or that you're sorry for swearing. If you're gonna pop out "f-bombs" as part of your dialogue, fine, but you lose a lot of your impact if they're followed with "umm, sorry, forgot there was a lady/girl/woman in vent." No, you didn't forget. You didn't think it mattered.
2. Please stop beginning dialogues with phrases like "I'm gonna be honest here. . .", "I'm not gonna lie. . ." and "Truth is. . ." Really? Are you lying so much that you need to tell the audience when you're being honest? Or are you trying to excuse being hostile and/or rude by cloaking it in tactlessness? Neither one is a winner. Even if you're using it as a cliche it's tired.
3. Work a little harder at concealing your misogyny. You might find it hilarious to call your male gaming buddies "whore", offer up sexual innuendo regarding their mothers or informing them that they "cry like little girls" but it should have stopped being funny when you were in grade school. Insulting people by comparing them to girls and women where the female gender is always the loser is misogyny. So are statements like "A girl. Great. We're gonna lose." What, are you 11? Knock it off.
4. If you talk in Vent be prepared to deal with other people responding to what you say. If you really don't want an audience for what you have to say consider finding a more private venue to talk in. You could also just not say that particular thing.
As always, YMMV.