A poser that has me boggled.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Ok, I don’t understand the reasoning behind this syndrome, so I’m making a thread here asking people for their insights into it. My mind is boggling, on a different place on the internet (which shall remain nameless, please don’t mention the place if you know the one I mean, since it’s a “no no”) I use an icon made up of cropped screenshots taken of the Everquest characters that I own. I’ve had troll-like people look at my icon, both when it was stationary and now moving and sneer, and call me a furry. Do these pictures look like “pics of people dressed up like animals” to you? (A direct quote of the most recent incident.)

Take a good look at them, don’t they look more like animation stills? It’s not just me either, I’ve seen others on this place who also play Everquest, and use icons made from screenshots that have had the same thing. You would think that with images like this or this in the icon too, they’d get a clue that I’m just a fantasy fan at the least. There’s been a recent upswing all across this other place of people making such an assertation about others. (This place I speak of, is open enough that if a person WERE a furry, they’d come right out and say it btw.) I’m not a furry, I just happen to have a hobby that I’m quite fond of, Everquest. (EQ 1, not EQ 2 btw.)

Stationary icon

The above icon was cropped from this image.

My moving icon

Another image used in my primary icon.

A different image of one of the other cat creatures used in my icon.

A still image of the frog creature in my primary icon.

A better picture of the frog creature in my icon.

Another icon I have been known to use.

All images linked here hosted by Imageshack

Top it off, with the fact that my readily available, only-a-click-away profile has these interests listed: “ad&d, anthropology, archeology, art, books, british comedy,** cats**, celtic, conservation, dragons, elves, emotional growth, everquest, faery, fantasy novels, fighting ignorance, first amendment, folk lore, free thinker, goth, learning, life post-hysterectomy, meditation, music, mysteries, mythological creatures, mythology, national geographic magazine, nature, open mind, pagan, science, science fiction, shamanism, societal consciousness, spirituality, the lanys, the straight dope” and says in part:

So, I don’t get it, how can people have such closed minds, even with the truth staring right at them? Some of these people purport to be intellectuals, but I don’t think they are “true to form” if so. What makes such mentalities “tick”? Are they just saying hateful things, or do they really believe them? If they believe them, why do they, and how? What is your take on this? :confused:

2

Yep. It’s got me completely boggled too…what the buggery you are complaining about. Well, I think you’re complaining, but I’m really not quite sure. :confused:

Would you like to rephrase your post in some sort of regular English so that it might be understood by dumbarses like me?

Cheers.

3

Here, kambuckta this might help you. Slang term definition “furry”. They are using meaning number one. They’re calling me a sexually perverted fetishist, based soley on an “icon” that I choose to use, which has artwork from a hugely popular worldwide Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. (FTR, I don’t have a problem if someone gets turned on at the thought of a human in a furry costume putting the moves on them, but that’s not what turns me on.)

I’m trying to figure out where it comes from, and how on earth they can continue with such an assinine mis-conception even with the truth staring them in the eyes. Do they really believe those images look like actual people, dressed up like animals, or are they just being stupid for the sake of snarking? I guess I just don’t see how displaying such a closed, prejudicial mindset could bring any enjoyment.

I’m a fan of Everquest, in which I play several different races, even humans on other servers. I like playing my computer game from time to time, though lately I’ve been playing MechCommander 2, and Arcanum. When I get the chance, I sometimes read various books, “The Rowan”, “Eragon” and “The Cat Who Talked Turkey” are currently what I’m multi-task reading atm. (Nothing heavy right now, though I recently read some of Bocaccio’s “Decameron”.) I do admit, one Halloween my mom dressed me up as a cat. I was a very young toddler at the time, too young to pick out a costume.

4

There is “furry art” which does not, in fact, look like people dressed as animals, and some which does, in fact, look more like the images in your icon. While the lack of similar interests in your list should be a tipoff, it IS a click away and many people probably do make snap judgements.

5

People are going to make snap judgements and those’re usually going to be based on their own personality, preconcieved notions, and what they’re familiar with. For example, I’ve seen you use this icon for months now and until today had no idea it was from Everquest. Being more of a sci-fi fan than anything else, I automatically thought it was some alien species instead, like the Kzinti.

Not sure if that helps or makes any sense though. It’s 3:30am on the Left Coast and I’m going to bed.

6

Uh, it’s threads like this that cause people in the anon community to call you a furry. You react, they have what they want and then they shout out furry any time they want to amuse themselves by poking you. It’s really no different than a 5 year old saying “fuck” just to get a reaction from adults, and about on the same maturity level.

7

I don’t play Everquest and know practically nothing about it, but your very first pic looks like a tiger with big breasts in a skin tight shirt. I have no clue where that picture comes from but it certainly looks like some kind of anthropomorphized animal.

8

Yeah. AFAICT, in the physical world, a furry might (or might not) use a fur suit; in fantasy, it’s going to be anthropomorphized animals, as opposed to fantasies about humans in fur suits.

9

From a sociological perspective, it also appears that MMORPGers also care a disproportionate amount about what people “think” of their avatars.

In addition, people act in an online community in ways the’d never act in real life, because the online environment is for the acting out of fantasies. So they can be confident or brash (but, since they don’t know what these things are IRL, it mostly comes out online as “asshole”).

Add in the young demographic of MMORPG and the prevalent level of humor among that demo, and you have a perfect recipe for immature brats making fun of something that looks stupid to them but someone else spent a ridiculous amount of time selecting/creating and is hypersensitive about.

Decorum rarely ensues.

My advice? Chill. Who cares what someone thinks you look like on a damn computer game?

10

Yeah, trust me on this one, if you make a big deal about it, you’re just digging yourself a hole and giving these people more nonexistant ammo to throw stupid accusations around.

11

Your first mistake was posting on a forum filled mostly with adolescent males (that nameless place) doing what hormonal teens do. Namely looking to one-up each other and test their boundaries in a comparatively nice ‘n’ safe environment. It’s just words on the screen y’know.

12

Honestly? Zabali, you need to STOP taking everything anyone ever says to you so personally. Seriously, you’ll give yourself a massive heart attack before you’re fifty.

You seem to spend a lot of time worrying about what people think, and you tend to become over-defensive. Then, people start messing with you just to get a reaction. So stop giving them one.

13

I’m puzzled as to why you’re puzzled.

They’re calling you a furry…because your icon features anthropomorphic animals. What’s the mystery here?

14

Entirely off-topic, but I gotta say you have the best username I’ve seen in a long time.

15

Because she’s not sexually aroused by anthopomorphic animals, it’s just a character avatar or whatever in a game she plays, and if I understand correctly she’s made that fact quite clear to whomever is involved. People use icons of all kinds of crazy things, it doesn’t mean they want to fuck or be everything they choose to represent them. Furries are pretty widely ridiculed in a lot of places on the net (sometimes rightly so) so it’s being used and taken as an insult. Hell, some of them actually believe they are in reality part animal or have some kind of kinship with them, and if they try real hard they’ll eventually be able to turn into one. I’ve even encountered furries that honestly thought they could turn into dragons.

They’re just trying to get a rise of her, and she’s letting them.

16

I’ve also found that the more one pretends not to care-the less pretending you have to do. It becomes so that you truly don’t care.

My favorite response is just to own up to everything. “Yes, it is true. I AM a perverted furbert who fucks stuffed animals every night. I participate in fur suit orgies.”

It worked most of the time when I was in retail, if I just said, “Yes, sir, it is my fault. It’s all a part of my evil plan to control the world and drive everyone mad.”
I mean, what can they do?

Either that, or just don’t respond. The more you try to defend yourself, the more ammo they get.

17

Guinastasia, you’ve got it dead-on. When they accused me of being a 24 year old who still lives with his parents, I could have gotten all defensive and snarky, but instead I simply said that I was going through college while working 3 jobs, and I often get bent out of shape over little things which used to bleed over to the board. It’s a new year, I’m done wtih college, and I’d like to think I’ve grown up a bit.

They moved on. :smiley:

I really don’t care what they think, and neither should you, Zabali.

18

Is it the nature of the screenshots, or do those characters all look very long-faced? (I’m not familiar with Everquest.)

Yep. In other words, they’re yanking her chain. The more outlandish the statements, the better.

19

I guess so, though there are other ways to yank a chain, that don’t present you as an ignorant, prejudicial, immature personality. That’s the part that really puzzles me, that they are willing to put forth such an image of themselves, just so they can say things meant to sting another.

20

Might it be because they’re young and immature?

But (checks forum, chooses words carefully)…

YOU are screaming for attention.

Look at this icon of mine!

Look at this close-up of that same icon!
Look at this alternate view of the close-up of the same icon in a new costume!

Linky!

Linky!

Linky!

Shameless plug for my hosting service!

You practically throw yourself out there, looking for attention or notice.

And, when you cast such a wide net, you’re not only going to catch the fish you want.

While we at the SDMB are generally a tolerant and supportive lot, I don’t think that it takes a lot of deductive reasoning to figure out that a fantasy/swords & sorcery MMORPG will attract a different (read: more ragingly immature) group of people as its core constituency than a message board devoted to answering questions and discussing art.

To sum up (checks forum again, mutters “damn restrictions”), when you yell “Look at me,” you can’t then yell, “No, not you or you or you,” immediately thereafter.

Sorry, but someone had to say it.