Remember the Human

The last four days have proven to be a rollercoaster of emotion as a maelstrom of opinions regarding the Iron Crown Event, and more specifically EA/Respawn’s monetization strategies, has swept across this subreddit. Pitchforks and torches have taken center stage with rash, emotion-fueled insults rising to the top as most structured, civilized discussions seem to drown beneath waves of hate.

While I was originally upset with the Iron Crown announcement, viewing the ~$7 loot boxes as just yet another dastardly money grab, I now find myself looking at our subreddit with disappointment and confusion. Many of you have made abundantly clear your intentions to boycott Respawn and I not only support your choices, but encourage it! Please, if you believe strongly enough that Respawn has let you down or are thieves or have behaved unprofessionally, stick to your guns and do so. There have been several mistakes and questionable decisions made and it’s important that people shine light in them.

I find myself however, not wanting to boycott Respawn, but wanting to leave r/apexlegends.

Many users here have decided that the best way to address our grievances is simply to sling insults and threats, even at those that have no relevance to the situation. Take this example here, where a dev (and not one responsible for financial decisions) was made the target of a rude joke for praising fan art. We stress how much we want the devs to communicate openly with us, yet then use every opportunity we can to undermine and insult them.

It’s no wonder that some devs have started to get angry. The idea that a “professional” should be some immovable object to the unstoppable force of internet bullshit thrown their way is idiotic, and a pathetic excuse for people to use to justify their anger and inappropriate comments. No human should have to tolerate a seemingly endless stream of belittlement, defamation, and even death threats without reaction simply because it would look bad on their company. Tell me, if a dev calling a customer a dick makes Respawn as a whole look bad, how does our community members words make our subreddit look? Why should they even bother to check reddit when all we do is attack them and push them farther away?

All I ask is that we remember the human. At the end of the day, all of those devs are still humans and while the targets of your hate and frustration, are probably far from the source of it. While it should be more than evident to Respawn that we as a community are upset (because we are Respawn, we really are), attacking them isn’t going to make them want to fix anything. Anyone who has worked a customer service job knows that the customers you genuinely want to help most are not the ones screaming at you, threatening you, and threatening to call corporate.

Please, remember the human. Express your concerns, your grievances, your frustrations, but do so as a human, not an animal. The world has enough hate in it already, let’s do our part to reduce it.