...what constitute acceptable standards of behavior. As I read your post, you believe there aren't any. That's fine, even though I think it's a little bid sad...
Any?
I wouldn't take it to nearly that extreme, first of all. We're only talking about two very specific behaviors (Hoing and ganging) sometimes separately, and sometimes in combination. Personally, I believe there are more behaviors than that at play in AH. Also, just because my standards may not match yours on these two items, that doesn't mean we don't agree on many other facets...
And while I find both behaviors (even in combination) acceptable, doesn't mean I find them favorable, or desirable. It simply means I won't condemn them off-hand.
My personal sense of sportsmanship is quite high, and as such I don't allow myself to partake in many of the "normal" behaviors of the MA. That still doesn't mean I condemn the behavior; merely that I consider it "beneath" me.
but the fact that the HO and ganging discussions arise every few months - and have done so since way back in the AW days - suggests that there is a very large group of people in this game who have a sense of minimum sportsmanship standards.
No, it doesn't. It just means that these two topics don't pass away for long before they resurface. That could be explained by a vocal minority... How do you arrive at a "quantity" from a rate of recurrence? One person could bring a topic up once a day for the next year, and it wouldn't mean there was a "large group" involved, just a high rate of recurrence.
And how does a vocal group equate to a level of sportsmanship? I consider the vocal "non-HO'ers" to be showing a
lower level of sportsmanship than the rest of the populace... Similar (but not quite the same) to the athlete that whines at a refs call. To your point of these two arguments popping up repeatedly, doing a search on those topics would reveal my arguments as to why (if you were that interested).
I'd also point out that I feel many of the non-HO group are playing along to gain favor of those they look up to, or due to peer pressure, or simply because it's easier to follow than to lead, etc... Do they know "why", or do they follow because they're easily swayed?
And the "large group" may very well
seem vastly larger than it is, simply because those who have no issue with the HO aren't as adamantly (and vocally) defending their stance, so seem smaller by comparison. Loud group vs. quiet group, which is larger? (This would be one of those questions from school, where the answer is "not enough information").
I could toss in that the non-HO group as a whole has also seem (IMO) more disrespectful and confrontational than the "pro-HO group". I see derogatory comments slung at those who are accused (rightly or wrongly) of HOing every single time I log into the game. How does that equate to a higher level of sportsmanship?
