It all started in 2008, on FOnline:2238, earlier known as "Factions Mod". From the very start, this fan-made MMO had a very diverse player-base. There were players from Poland, Russia, the Americas, and many other places. This diversity caused quite a bit of friction between players, and eventually caused them to split apart into country oriented factions.
In 2009, there were factions made up almost entirely of Polish, French, Russian and American players. It was rare to see mixed ethnicities inside factions. By this time, there were already other FOnline servers released. The division of players was quite similar on these servers as well.
At some point, the Russian players had enough of the racism and intolerance on these servers, so they made their own. The server "FOnline: Requiem" was released in late 2010. This was a fully translated Russian server. This caused a domino effect of other servers popping up from the ashes. There was FOnline: Desert Europe, FOnline: Australia, FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix, and many others.
As time went on, FOnline: 2238 died, and the players realized that they had killed it. With all the separation, the server had no one left to support it. At this point, everyone realized that 2238 was the starting point, and they missed it.
With the realization of players, that separation is weakening the community, FOnline reloaded was released. Released in 2013, this server was well on its way to be the great melting pot. Factions of ALL races were born here. Not everyone got along, but at least it seemed there was not much more racism and racial separation.
2014, a new year, a new session. With a fresh wipe of the server, everyone seemed to be excited and ready to play together. About a week into the session, the Legendary Polish faction "Bang Bang Smash" appeared from nowhere. They began claiming all the towns, and were soon the faction in Power. This caused quite a stir up, because the Administrator of FOnline: Reloaded was once a member of BBS. Kilgore, the admin, was accused of cheating for BBS and helping them become stronger than they should have been that early in gameplay.
Not long after the accusations came the racism of Polish players. After everyone thought the separation and racial classifications had come to an end, it rose up like a Deathclaw on jet. Soon after that, another faction, "The Ultra Violence" rose up. And since they were made up of numerous Hispanic players, they were soon known as "The Mexicans". These poor souls were ridiculed and mocked for years, even though they were a decent faction.
As time went on, 2014...2015...2016, no one tried to make it better. The anger and hostility towards one another fueled the PvP and activity in-game. There was even a section on the forum created "Forum PvP". This kind of behavior became encouraged by even the developers of the game. A quote from one of the devs "It’s a post-nuclear wasteland, what do you expect people to act like?"
The racism and hostility towards one another is at an all-time high in 2016. The Community in all FOnline servers are equally toxic towards one another, and it seems to be accepted now. It's almost as if it has became part of the game itself. Like... You're SUPPOSED to act this way towards one another. It has became a natural feel to watch your back and prepare your best insults while playing FOnline. And as wrong as it may seem, hating each other is almost what makes the game fun. With the small community we have on Reloaded, everyone gets to know everyone. And we learn what makes each other tick.
This is why we find ourselves on this game. It's just our kind of neighborhood. When there are no rules, no filters, and plenty of ammo to blow people away with, what more could you ask for?
-Khan Overlord, Gimper
Topic: The Community of FOnline (Read 21946 times)