Hi! Most of you know me as a skinner. I’m fairly well known, so some of you may recognize me. But I’m not here to talk about my latest minecraft skin, or how I shade my skins, etc. I’m here to talk about something more serious, and it’s a problem which I feel is poorly addressed.







So, over the last few months, I’ve gotten more interested in gaming communities, and have seen lots of gamers talk about what they like, what they dislike, and what they want. Unfortunately, I see something that’s repulsive, rude, and wrong--




All the hate.






Even here on PMC, a place filled with wonderful people who are some of the kindest I’ve ever seen, I see people hating on others. Someone posts a blog that’s an opinion blog? People start hating on them for their opinion. Someone posts a texture pack that isn’t really the best out there? People start saying how awful it is. Even on harmless things like a forum post, where someone says, for instance, “I don’t like that they removed the rose”. What happens? Hate happens. Someone comes along and says to themselves, “Hey, I liked the fact that they removed the rose. It was kinda dumb.”




And what do they do next...?




They hate. And it’s not just PMC that I see this. Rockstar botched the GTAV online mode? Hey, I’ll go on a GTA forum and say how I hate it! Skyrim being super bugged and glitchy? I’ll go on a Skyrim forum and say how I hate it! So many people do this, it’s depressing.







So, I have a question for you. If you saw someone say, “I don’t really like this skin (or anything else really)” would you hate on them? Let’s say for example, would you say that to yourself? If you were talking to yourself, or your friends, and they said something that you didn’t agree with, would you hate on them because of it? Of course not. Because if you did that to your friends, you probably wouldn’t have any friends, would you? So why do it online?






It’s probably because we feel that saying something online isn’t as bad as saying something in real life. You say, “Well, no one really knows who I am, so it’s okay, I guess.” Well let me tell you this-- if you are among your friends, and you hate on one of them, what happens? You no longer have those friends, probably. And what happens if you say it online, where thousands of members come on each day, and a lot of them see your comment? Well, guess what. Saying something online is a lot worse then saying it in real life. I suppose perhaps if you say something like that in real life, your friends are probably saddened by your words. If you say it online people probably won’t be as affected by your words, because they’re use to all this hate.






See, that right there. People are used to it. People have seen so much hate, they don’t even care anymore. Some people are affected, but I’m talking about those who aren’t. Lets’ say I go on PMC. I view the forums. Someone is showing off some minecraft artwork they did! I’ll check them out, maybe it’s cool! Wow, that’s really cool. I’ll say I like it, and reply, saying how I like it! Then, you see someone who doesn’t like it. Someone who says that the art is bad, and says it’s no good at all. Are you affected by this person...? Probably not, right?






So, now I can explain the title a little bit. As I call it, “Shut up and don’t talk”. What I’m saying here, is that if you don’t like something, shut up. Or, in less crude words, don’t say it. Don’t say, “I don’t like it”. Sure, you can state your opinion. Sure, that’s fine!




...




But why do you? If your opinion is just a big ugly pile of negativity, why would you say it? Would you like it if someone said that to you? Of course not. No one likes to be hated on. What you can do, is say how they can improve. Start by saying what you like, then say what you dislike. Don’t be 100% negative. And if you don’t like ANYTHING about something, don’t even say it. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth stating your opinion if it’s going to be 100% negative.






So lets’ go back a little bit, where I said about people complaining about GTAV, or Skyrim, or minecraft. I see people every day who say stuff like that, dissing the games for being bad. And these people don’t say any positive things about the games. Like how in GTAV, the story mode is incredible. Or how in Skyrim, it will keep you entertained forever, with its immersive wealth of quests, and the likes. Or how in minecraft, you can build anything you want to make. Let me tell you something-- don’t then say to the hater, “Oh look, another hater.”






What you could say, is, “Hey, I respect your opinion, but try to say some good stuff to! Is there anything you like about those games?” That’s better then hating back, which can start flame wars, which are, (for those of you don’t know) big piles of hate that start when do people collide, and others join.






If you’ve read this far, and don’t get what I’m trying to convey here, let me say it in one sentence. If you don’t like something, don’t say you don’t like it, and keep your opinion to yourself.




Because, man, no one wants to see someone hating on something! It makes people get angry, and in some cases, they hate back at you. Then of course, as I said earlier, some people aren’t even affected.




I also said earlier, about how saying something like that in real life is not as bad as saying something online. Well, let me tell you something that happened to a friend of mine. He was going to get a christmas tree, and he found one he really liked. Then, he saw a different one, that looked nice to. He left the tree that he liked, and looked at the other one. Deciding he didn’t like it, he came back to his first tree. He had only been gone for a dozen seconds or so. There was a young woman holding his tree up, and she was standing next to it. “Oh, I’m sorry, but I just left this tree to see another one. Can I have this one back, please?” he asked. Guess what. Her answer was, “No, I’m waiting for my husband to get back, and this tree is ours now.”






Wow. This stuff happens in real life to! You may not notice it that much, but it happens. So if you see someone like that, online or off, just say a few words that might convince them otherwise, or make them say “I’m sorry”. And if you see see something you don’t like, or someone says something you don’t agree with, bite your tongue if your going to say something really negative. Because, as I said earlier, no one wants to see hate. No one should be given that kind of hate, because not many people deserve it. I suppose, if you see someone who lies, or flames, or something like that, you may think the right thing to do is say bad stuff to them.




It’s not. What you can do, is click the little alert button under their forum post, or report them to a mod via PM.




As I said, just shut up and don’t talk.








Note, this is purely my opinion. If you’ve got something to say, or don’t quite agree with me, feel free to comment! I love hearing peoples’ opinion. Just no hate. :p