Usually, people who troll online games are fourteen-year-old, curly haired little douchebags with no aim in life other than to make people miserable. At least Loyola University media professor David Myers has an excuse — he was trolling City of Heroes and becoming one of the most unpopular players in the world, all in the name of social studies.
When Myers first played City of Heroes/Villains, he noticed that the heroes and villains were not strictly playing by the rules, instead peacefully co-existing with each other and often taking out computer-controlled opponents instead of opposing factions. He decided to change all that with Twixt, a rocketboot-powered teleporting superhero who would whisk player-controlled villains in front of a cartoon robot firing line for instant kills. He was not liked.
“I know (how Twixt plays) is considered ‘legal’ but this person is getting really out of hand,” said one player on a message board. “This guy has got to go.”
Unfortunately, Myers wasn’t going anywhere, as he was incredibly difficult to defeat. Twixt’s persistance, as well as his “Yay, heroes. Go good team. Vills lose again,” victory cry, drove people to the brink. Soon, Myers was receiving death threats and verbal abuse. One person wished cancer upon his mother, another said simply that: “EVERYBODY HATES YOU!”
So, why did Myers, who is an avid videogamer outside of his work, strive to become the world’s most hated City of Heroes player? To prove that “modern-day social groups making use of modern-day technology can revert to “medieval and crude” methods in trying to manipulate and control others.”
You didn’t really have to turn yourself into a social pariah in order to prove that, Myers. You could have just read the comments to any random PlayStation 3 blog article.
[Thanks, Wardrox]
