1. Ignore them and keep writing. I’m guessing that that is what most people do.
2. Engage them and try to change their behavior.
3. Withdraw and stop writing.

I think it’s unlikely that any of these tactics are likely to change the behavior so I think you should do whatever you’re more comfortable with. Some people are obviously more confrontational and combative and will engage, others are more passive.

Some of the worst personal attacks I’ve ever experienced happened while writing about the nuclear disaster which resulted from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. There are a lot of vested interests which don’t want to have an honest discussion about the events which happened there, and the consequences for human life not only in Japan but all over the Earth. There is a tremendous amount of deliberate disinformation that is being propagated through mainstream media, and large numbers of people who are accepting this propaganda as reality. They didn’t appreciate having their bubbles burst with facts, and when it happened they suddenly snapped and started flooding my inbox with unbelievably vicious personal attacks and threats, partly because they felt that I was a threat to the online personas which they had created. Being publicly attacked on the PS forum is nothing in comparison.

How did I respond? I reported them to the mods and I continued to write.

You can never really predict when something like this is going to happen, because you can never know what element of Home has been internalized by some virtual user, and used as a projection for their unconscious beliefs and fantasies. So when you start to criticize that element in Home, they feel that you’re tugging at a thread in their personality matrix, and if you pull top hard who knows what might come unraveled?

To give another example, I also drew some unbelievably vicious personal attacks and threats while writing about women’s fashions of all things. Someone who is the worst sort of internet coward, and therefore the worst sort of internet bully, decided to launch a smear campaign against me in which they repeatedly and deliberately lied about me and my actions, and none of this occurred on the PS forums.

Again, how did I respond? By reporting them to the authorities and by continuing to write.

You’ve stated that you’ve no interest in the VIP area in the theater. Very well then. That leaves the issue of your personal concern as to how to respond to trolling on the PS forums. My answer, paradoxical as it may seem, is that you try to respond unemotionally, but with empathy. Try to identify the root issue and respond to that, rather than to the surface issues and emotions which are clouding it. You can never control how someone responds to you; you can only control how you respond to them. This is easy advice to give, hard to follow. If you were familiar with the history of the PS forums, you’d realize that there have been numerous occasions when the PS Home HCMs and Mods have failed in this task themselves.

(Editor’s note: This response has been edited to remove comments against the article’s author. Don’t like the author’s writing technique? Too bad. Write your own articles on the subject.)

Norse warned me not to run this article and he kept it on the shelf for weeks until he got sick of me begging. But I think this is an important issue in Home, especially in the Forum. The second question remains: how to cope with someone who acts that way?

I cannot condemn someone who “Imagines unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, etc…” because if they need that, a virtual reality is the perfect place to scratch that itch. Same with “wants ‘the best’ of everything'”. It’s the “Reacts to criticism with anger…” “Is easily hurt and rejected” and “Lacks empathy…” issues that cause the hurt feelings in those who come into contact with them.

What can you do if you want to post something in the Forum or write an article for HSM and you draw an attack by a NPO? Norse tells us to “take the high road” and ignore them but sometimes the urge to try to reason with them becomes almost overwhelming. Do you quit writing? Or just keep trying to ameliorate the situation? Or write nothing but ‘fluff’ pieces and threads that will anger no one?

I’ve observed narcissistic traits both in the wildly ranting trolls and the yes men that tend to polarize a lot of the discussions.

Perhaps the reason that so many narcissists are attracted to Home is because it is virtual and anonymous and one is free to create any persona desired.

Here are some of the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Sound like anyone you’ve met in Home or the forums recently?

Reacts to criticism with anger, shame, or humiliation
May take advantage of others to reach his or her own goal
Tends to exaggerate their own importance, achievements, and talents
Imagines unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, power, intelligence, or romance
Requires constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
Easily becomes jealous
Lacks empathy and disregards the feelings of others
Obsessed with oneself
Mainly pursues selfish goals
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Is easily hurt and rejected
Sets unreal goals
Wants “the best” of everything
Appears as tough-minded or unemotional

In the case which HIW mentions, since everyone involved knew each other, I feel that the forums were essentially an extension of real-world communication, and therefore can’t be directly compared to forums in which the vast majority of people don’t know each other, and where all sorts of deception can take place. One of my current gadflies is constantly buzzing about trying to get me to respond to them by making indirect attacks, and also has a tendency to use multiple forum accounts (while criticizing those who do this on their main account lol). I simply ignore this person and all of their alt accounts.

As HIW says, it does take a toll on you, does cause you to question yourself, and so you have to choose your battles wisely.

Doesn’t mean everyone has to agree — we foster debate and spirited discussion at HSM, because we cover social issues — but it means that here, at least, things will be civil. And the end result is that our audience knows that the discussions will be interesting (instead of painful) to read.

It is indeed interesting how the complaining on the Sony forum quiets down when an official voice steps in. To HIW’s point, sometimes it’s just a matter of feeling like you’re being heard. Even if the people are capslocked and incoherent and completely out of touch with reality, it’s amazing how a simple acknowledgement calms things down.

In this regard, I’d suggest that Sony could have an improved PR outreach presence on the forum. Yes, we know that they’re constantly monitoring it, but that’s not the same as responding, even with some preapproved banal verbiage. It might cut down on developer and consumer alike having to wade through so much bleating and moaning to find useful constructive criticism.

For me, the way to do that is play Call Of Duty or Tekken, you can release it a little more constructively than go and verbally attack somebody in the forums. (Hell, these games were probably created for a little pent up aggression.)

There must be something in that that the anonymity of being online can take away responsibility and accountability..

Again, great, thought provoking article Granny

Taking people out of their comfort zone is a real challenge, and one best handled delicately. Some people simply cannot accept a challenge to their beliefs or their opinions when it’s presented bluntly. They resent those that try to do this and consider those people threats. Most of the time, they resort to personal attacks to deflect a criticism that’s more than they can handle. Shifting the argument shifts them outside of the danger zone, especially if they can get the critic to respond in kind. Now they have the upper hand, because they can paint the critic as a cruel person and feel that they hold some sort of moral high ground, even though they initiated the attack.

I seldom respond to personal attacks unless something that is wildly untrue has been said. Often, I find that people who make those allegations are operating from some negative experience in their personal lives that causes them to be mistrustful of others. I’ve been called most of the names in the book. All I can do in that situation is point to what I’ve said in the past and ask people to judge for themselves. If someone can find some other motivation than I care about Home and the Home community, I do hope they’ll point it out to me, as it would likely be very enlightening.

As far as the rope debate goes, I won’t be writing about that anytime soon, as it was a personally draining thing to be a part of, and it took a heavy toll on me. My near silence on the forums, in Home and online in the wake of that was not coincidental. Sometimes one wonders what one is fighting for, and whether it’s worth the effort. Even those of us who strive to take the high road can get dragged down when the negativity rises.