The role of the GM

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

As the Something Awful guys note, that doesn't cause any actual harm to anybody, except (possibly) some hurt feelings in someone you don't really know and will likely never meet.

I find that attitude about the internet disturbing. Because people _are_ harmed by things that happen on the internet: online hate campaigns, griefing, doxxing, and swatting, for example. I'm not saying the Something Awful guys are engaging in that behavior, but seeing the internet as a consequence-free zone and seeing no problem in harassing other humans just because you won't meet them in person leads to people thinking it is okay to call the police and claim there is an armed person holding hostages at someone's house in order to get the SWAT to burst in while someone is streaming. No one has been killed yet, but unarmed people do get killed during SWAT incursions. It is only a matter of time.

I have a hard job, but I don't feel the need to tear other people down and maybe put their lives at risk to "blow off steam."