How did we get so Stompified?

After about half-a-year of TF2 gaming hiatus, we're back online. Many of the guys are thanking me for starting something new a fresh. Personally, it really wasn't my intention to start a "full fledged" TF2 team again. The original intent was to just jumpstart some TF action with my WoW guildies (Yes, oddly enough, I still play WoW, full Cryptstalkers with only 4 hours of raid a week no less)

What's really odd is how all the other guys saw this as an exodus of sorts. Some found it a new beginning for their gaming experience, others thought it to be a renewed agenda to "get back their A game". It ended up splintering the 10 year old establishment that I helped build an image for - I am still damn bummed about that by the way.

Anyway, it occurred to me the level of discontent and unhappiness was at an unmanageable high. Whether you're joining us out of this or in the best of personal interests, I hope you come with no malicious intents.

So yeah, welcome aboard Black Orchid.

It's been awhile since I surfed around the GS forums. I've never liked the petty arguments that go on in those threads so I tend to avoid it. Although I enjoyed discussing the benefits and shortcomings of team colours on one particular thread - kudos to the posters who were posting something worth reading.

I was just skimming the threads and their titles, then something clicked in my head; how the fuck did our society get so "Stompified"? It's so apparent and rampant in any forum, regardless gaming or political, that everything which could and should be logically discussed is turned on its head and turned into tabloid trash.

Such meager and petty arguments are fought over the most minor of things. And when detailed interpretation is exercised, it's used to dissect the most irrational topics. I recall in great detail (and I'm sure you do too) a couple of incidents that erupted because of the deliberate misuse of reading-between-the lines. Unfortunately, it was all directed at Rat (who's been at the receiving end alot of flak for some strange reason). You remember the "We are not noobs incident" prior to the commencement of a match, which ultimately led to the cancellation. Then there was the metaphorical use of the phrase "tiny eyes" to personify the shallow-mindedness and naivety of a certain individual. It's amazing. I for one am disgusted by the hypocrisy that exist in society.

I chose to describe the issue as "Stomped" because of the way in which the local "netizens" of today shield themselves behind their computers complaining and persecuting others of acts and events that they themselves are perhaps culprits or even victims of. We all know the Stomp webpage, and personally, I'm disgusted that the national paper associates itself with this tabloid trash.

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." -Eleanor Roosevelt

I've been called "elitist" for having such views (among other things no doubt; stacker, lamer, egomaniac, fucker, noob, acs boy lol) But let's just hold up on the insults for a second and ask yourself, honesty, has your way of thinking changed anything for the better?

We need not look far to see examples of social degeneration in communities. On a broader scale, we see that locals who patronise Stomp-like websites and forums, are not only very well organised hypocrites, but worse still, they develop a deep sense of procrastination. They revel in complaining and in doing so, destroy whatever remaining Will of Thought they have in themselves and those around them.

A classic closer-to-heart example for us would be the TF2 community in the region. You need not dig deep to draw parallels with the mentality of the players with that of the local populace. About a year ago this "scene" showed so much promise. It truly felt like the furious days of e-station and the TFC compy, only this time it was online and happening everyday. Felt like a fucking fantasy come true - literally.

I suppose as with all online applications there is this danger of rapid consumption. Like how no one I know (except Trum lol) sips a wine or a whisky slowly, savouring the flavours and texture. Everyone seems to be going after the shooters, climbing the steep hill to high at a ridiculous rate.

Then, the comedown. With such rapid consumption and proliferation, like alcohol to minors, things get out of control and there's vomit everywhere.

I tip my hat with praise to the clans and teams who took it slow with the community but ramped up their skill levels. No names necessary, you know who you are. The best way to play politics, externally or internally, is to not play it at all - kudos to you and you have my respect.

For those who do not fall in the above category, I'm afraid that you are the cause of this sorry mess we're in. You failed to realise that, as with evolution and natural selection, diversity will always bring fresh and interesting things to the table. You have no one to blame for the stagnating local TF2 scene but yourselves.

Right now, Orchid is something I like to see as a new offering. A re-introduction of a hybrid species if you like. I hope some of you are able to comprehend my intentions now and perhaps gauge the direction we're steering this team. To those who have been unwilling to constructively contribute, your requests fall on deaf ears. As Einstein once said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."