The "Meh" Generation

I am a frequent poster in the xbox.com fourms. I like to browse the Unanswered Posts or Active Topics to see if an interesting topic started or if someone has a question I can answer. I was browsing two nights ago and found this post:

"My friend recently purchased a Core "arcade" console from the retail store TARGET about a week ago. He purchased it with a 3 Year Warrenty. My console has lost the ability to read discs so we are going to take back my console to the same store he purchased his and do a return to get a new one.Has anyone tried this and not have it work?

Either at a Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc?

Do these stores have some way to monitor that the console we are returning wasn't the original one in the box?"

My faith in humanity was restored a little when the majority of the responses, including my own were negative towards him by telling him this was stealing, lying, fraudulent, etc. However there was one who suggested trying Wal-Mart instead and gave him her reasons. She is an Xbox Ambassador and I know in her heart she was only trying to help out her fellow Community member. *sarcasm*

I informed him this was in fact stealing and was akin to wearing old shoes into a store, putting them into a shoebox on the shelf and wearing out the brand-spanking new pair out the front door.

After some verbal beatings he responded with this gem:

"lol, you people are acting like it's the worst thing in the world. It is no different then, say, stealing cable service, and that takes a lot more effort."

And this one...

"You think everyone in the world doesn't lie or steal? I bet majority of the people you look up to has, but that is besides the point."

Keep in mind in this moderated, public forum he has asked for advice from the Xbox Community to help him commit a felony or misdemeanor crime. In his head, the ethics and morality meter was turned off and so were some who responded. For him, perhaps since the victim is a big-box store, where's the harm? He did some classic justification of his actions and blame-reflecting, while trying to minimize his future crime by comparing it to things like stealing cable.


We adult gamers see attitudes like young man's seep into the games we love to play nearly every time we log on. People online constantly looking for ways to glitch or cheat the system and give the rest of us a headache. It's funny when kids jump out the map Gears of War or teamkill in COD4, right? Or they disconnect in the 4th quarter of a sports game they're getting spanked in.



Fairplay often goes out the window in online gaming and probably will never change. People have found the anonymity of the internet allows them talk to and treat people in a way they most certainly wouldn't do if you were standing in the same room. That's why people find solace in sites much like this one. Chatting and playing with people with similar interests despite different locales, ages, social status help keep our online sanity. Happy gaming!