What the heck is wrong with some people? Do they think this is fun?
Finding ways to ruin the lives of others? That brings them joy?
I've been thinking about it, and I think it boils down to fear.
There is a tendency across the board for gamers to be perceived as social outcasts; that's not entirely untrue; I'd say I'm pretty borderline on it myself. I think there's some, though, who've felt rejected by society a bit and
embraced the label; gaming is a place For Them, and they feel safe there. Trouble is, that has also led to gaming becoming very insular and exclusionary. And now, as interest in it has increased beyond the traditional 'gaming fandom', there's been calls for lots of things that chip away at those walls, and games are being released that challenge that ivory tower.
Gaming is evolving, and they're fearful that the thing that was there for them throughout the times when they've felt ostracised from society is going away. I can, to some extent, empathise with that. I've had a safety net torn away, and it's
terrifying.
The problem is that these gamers are also internet-savvy - and so, rather than having to accept it, they've been able to, well, mobilise. One person who's fearful of change will eventually have to move with it and - hopefully - adapt and change for the better, and become a healthier member of society. A hundred people, though, all with similar fears, stuck in the same echo chamber, and with the power to use their tools and talents to fight back... are doing
this. I would suggest that in the minds of many of them, this is an ideological war, waged against those who they perceive as taking arms against
their world.
Basically, I think we're somewhere in the middle of the second half of The Wall right now, but with the drug-induced haze actually being enacted for real in the digital environment where they
are capable of doing that sort of thing.