Attention Grabbers {When is it going too far?}

[ZombieKitteh]

So we all know those people in game who seek out attention. Sometimes it'll be IC for a roleplay sometimes OOC. It can range from simply cap raging, creating a sob story or having something super dramatic happen. But really.. when does it go too far?

Sensitive Possibly Triggering Topic

I was in Bonfire tonight simply lurking for entertainment as I worked on some adoptables I had to do. I opened the tab to see people in the chat flipping their tits over something so I scroll up to read and.. apparently someone was going to commit suicide over something. I couldn't find exactly what, but they weren't roleplaying at all so it was completely OOC. Now please don't think of me as a heartless person, but honestly it was obvious they were doing it for attention. Most (not all) people who do commit suicide or attempt it don't openly announce it. If they wanted to die and kill theirself they wouldn't tell anyone and risk being saved.. You know?

Anyways the screenshots of the convo are below, but I'll sum it up for you.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_020804246_zpsd4767271.png
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_020835762_zps0211a56c.png
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_020845661_zps65784116.png
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_020907761_zps35e234ec.png
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_020931061_zps7b6715b6.png
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_020956527_zpsf790ab68.png
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c106/Nay_B/screenshot_04182014_021019294_zps95d200a2.png

<Tom m wolf> it is true im doing suicide
<Tom m wolf> you do n=ow that i got ak nife right at my throat )':
<Tobby M> THERE IS SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR
<Adam M Gay> Dont do it man ;_;
<Adam M Gay> You have a life ahead of you!
<Tom m wolf> no one cares about me
<CAZZY FAN. DONT IM GOING TO CALL 911
<Adam M Gay> WE care about you
<CAZZY FAN> I WILLLLL
<Adam M Gay> nonononononono plz no no! ;_;
<Tom m wolf> i just get cyber bullied so much and all the other type of bullying
<CAZZY FAN> BRB LET ME GET MY PHONE WHERE DO U LIVE
<Adam M Gay> We want to be your friends!
<Adam M Gay> I want to be your friend!
<Adam M Gay> We can help you through this!
<Tom m wolf> Mala me tom is talking about suicide
<Tobby M> it will be ok with time soon those peep will be asking you for a job and can turn them all down
<CAZZY FAN> WHERE DO U LIVEEEEE
<Adam M Gay> Dont listen to them, there just stupid people who dont have lives! Please don't do it V^V
<Tom m wolf> im not telling you O_O
<Tom m wolf> and i live on a island
<Tom m wolf> no dont! i live in hawia
<Adam M Gay> Please, Don't do it, dont! what about all the good things that had and are going tohappen!
<Tobby M> i've never been there
<Tom m wolf> im not going to anymore
<Tom m wolf> I afk
<CAZZY FAN. DO U NEED A BED FOR THE RIDE
<CAZZY FAN> BECAYSE U WHERE BLOOM THE WHOLE TIME AND TOM I KNEW IT SO I TRIXED U
<Adam M Gay> Dont do it, please
<Tobby M> in the words of the side slauth " you can Lick this" mean you can make it through
<Adam M Gay> Please...
<Tomb m wolf> tobby adan crazy good baii
<Adam M Gay> NOOOOOOOO
<CAZZY FAN> NoNOOOoooooooo
<CAZZY FAN> omg is he gone ?
<Adam M Gay> i dont know V^V
<CAZZY FAN> tobby is he gone
<Tom m wolf> OMG
<Tobby M> okay back
<Tom m wolf> im his bro
<Tom m wolf> and he is not moving!
<Tom m wolf> he was telling the truth
<Adam M Gay> what?
<CAZZY FAN> WHO WAS TELLING THE TRUTH
<Tom m wolf> him
<CAZZY FAN> IS THIS BLOOM
<Tobby M> me?
<Tom m wolf> im his brother
<Adam M Gay> Tobby u on Tom?
<Adam M Gay> Where is he then??
<Tom m wolf> he is
<CAZZY FAN> HE DID IT
<Tom m wolf> gone )':
<CAZZY FAN> CALL 911
<Tobby M> what do you mean gone
<Tobby M>
<CAZZY FAN> DEAD GONE OR....
<Tom m wolf> the d word
<Tobby M> ...
<Tom m wolf> im just playing
<Tom m wolf> bye that i mean DEAD

I mean its fairly obvious the person is lying. I mean who realistically would walk in find a sibling or anyone dead and not moving and the first thing they do is hop on their computer to play a game and tell people they died? Like no people don't do that. ._. I had a similar situation happen on a Minecraft server I modded for. Some kid said he was going to commit suicide for being raided. He went on and on and a moment later his 'dad' came on and typed in on his account "Y IS MY SON DEAD??" like.. no dude stop. You're being so obvious.

Have you experienced something similar? Suicide isn't a joking matter or a means to get attention so I'm fairly upset people do this at all as a 'excuse'. IS that even the right word for this..? It's like "Oh I'mma say I'll kill myself to get sympathy and my own way in the end." Not cool guys, not cool.

We've all had our share of attention seekers. What is everyone else experiences with it? When do you personally feel it goes from being simply annoying to going too far.

[PrettyReckless]

Attention seekers never manage to win my attention or sympathy.
It can get out of hand very quickly
The Bonfire people for example.
Though, I'm always there for those who need a helping hand..
Some people just come to you for attention.
Those who complain about their problems in public, and loudly, are uaually wanting attention drawn to them.
Yet there are people who talk about their issues and focus on that alone.. kind of not acknowledging that other people are there.
For me, it always depends on the situation. :I


----
Mentioning self harm 'n all is of course to cross over a line.

I was in a rush at work when I submitted my post.
I think it gets too far when people constantly complain about something. .
Or when they say they're gonna report a person for "bullying" them when they're only telling them to calm dowm etc.

[Vespian]

Suicide isn't a joking matter or a means to get attention so I'm fairly upset people do this at all as a 'excuse'. IS that even the right word for this..? It's like "Oh I'mma say I'll kill myself to get sympathy and my own way in the end." Not cool guys, not cool.

I agree with ye' Ms. Zombie 100%. Usin' the excuse of suicide just to get yer own way is not only brash but takin' it to the extreme. It's, to me personally, unacceptable and no better than jokin' about actual suicidal deaths. As if sayin', "I'm going to disregard how much it actually hurts others when talking about this subject, especially if there's the possibility that someone reading has attempted to undergo such a tragedy in reality or witnessed someone commit suicide, and use this to get my own way! Yay! Perfect plan! Now everyone will pity me and pay attention to my needs!"
I mean.. come on.. Nobody's gonna throw ye' a pity party. I know I may sound harsh but this offends me when members are so naive to not realize how severe and sensitive this topic is. Instead, I have witnessed this kind of subject, and many others sharin' the same severity, bein' thrown around like it's an everyday thing.

Also, I was there witnessin' that ordeal from start to finish, madam. I didn't realize ye' were witnessin' this as well. I whispered the individual who "attempted to commit suicide" askin' what brought all this up and why commence in somethin' so severe. Unfortunately though, they didn't answer me so I was left in the lost.

[Jango_Fett]

-Face Palm-

I swear this has to be the worst lying job I've ever seen.

Why in the name of the sane would you aNNOUNCE you are about to kill yourself in front of people you don't even know, and, As Kitteh Said, RISK BEING SAVED.

THERE IS NO LOGIC TO THIS, WHATSOEVER.
 
I've not directly Seen anyone do this, but I've seen other 'extreme' attention seeking deals, though I cannot and will not remember them.

And as Vespian also said, No one in el right mind would throw a pity party.

Only people who apparently don't read closely and pay attention(Not saying those people aren't smart, I'm saying that they were not observant.)

It's amazing what some people will do to grab attention.

 
-War

[wolfdog01]

When people do this kind of thing, I usually end up pestering them about it, asking why they are doing this? Why don't they just do it now if they're so set on it? Usually if I do this long enough they'll either snap and say they didn't mean it or they log off. I don't see it as a thing people should take that far, if you say you're going to do it, then do it, don't joke about it.

[Amefuri]

Oh my. What can we worse than unborn cubs wanting attention? Well, I think I know.

I remember roleplaying as a sexist, mean warrior cat. An then there was this she-cat, she was literate and seemingly intelligent. Well, I remember we were roleplaying near our camp and I said something along the lines: "You're pretty alright for a she-cat." That's a nice compliment considering my character's a bit of a meanie, but I think she took it too literal. It went downhill from there because she wanted to "be with me no matter what"... She made a huge fuss about it and joined our rival clan so she could kill me in battle ._.'' Some nasty comments followed and um, well, I wasn't even sure if we were roleplaying or not any more. Thankfully enough we've had a little discussion after our big battle and became friends (OOC) after both clans disbanded, but damn she sure was an attention seeker.

I guess the moral of the story is that bad things happened to us and we sure do have our differences, but hey, if she wasn't such an attention seeker, I don't think she would've been half as great as she is.

As for other types of attention seeking, I try to just roll with them and roleplay as I normally would. Who knows, maybe I'm the only one having problem with it? If more than one person has any issue with those people, that's when we have a dilemma. If it's just me, I don't really do anything about it. Yolo.

[ZombieKitteh]

Ah yeah I was there hiding on a alt. Actually that Lanie person was me. I ended up whispering them and got told off for it. What I gather though I think it was about a relationship maybe? Or something a long those lines.

When people do this kind of thing, I usually end up pestering them about it, asking why they are doing this? Why don't they just do it now if they're so set on it? Usually if I do this long enough they'll either snap and say they didn't mean it or they log off. I don't see it as a thing people should take that far, if you say you're going to do it, then do it, don't joke about it.

That's the way I feel about it too, though I'd never want anyone to do it. x: Not going to lie in the past I've done things similar when it was obvious they were lying about it.


I just don't get why they think it's ok to use this as a means for attention? It's ok to do it when in roleplay, but completely different to actually saying OOC you'll commit suicide or to joke about it. I've also seen various people with 'emo' in their name slicing their wrist in the game sometimes. What bothered me though is that they roleplayed it out so detailed in local chat and everything. Like do people not understand they could seriously be upsetting someone? What if someone who had someone they knew commit suicide or attempt it was there to witness that? And then they just joke about it and take something seriously so lightly. I don't get what's wrong with people sometimes x-x

[wolfdog01]

I just don't get why they think it's ok to use this as a means for attention? It's ok to do it when in roleplay, but completely different to actually saying OOC you'll commit suicide or to joke about it. I've also seen various people with 'emo' in their name slicing their wrist in the game sometimes. What bothered me though is that they roleplayed it out so detailed in local chat and everything. Like do people not understand they could seriously be upsetting someone? What if someone who had someone they knew commit suicide or attempt it was there to witness that? And then they just joke about it and take something seriously so lightly. I don't get what's wrong with people sometimes x-x

Agreed. That's why I never talk about things like that out in Local or anything unless I know the person I'm talking to is okay with it, there are a lot of sensitive topics that people use to their advantage. All because they feel 'unnoticed' or 'unloved' with their heads hanging low and the sad emote on. I don't understand why these people can't just learn to try and be friends with someone instead of getting the whole map aggravated or tricked into thinking they are for real about any of it.

[Arkayy]

It very much irritates me if anything if someone says something like this.

I used to hang out with a group of friends that did this ALL THE FRIGGIN' TIME! x.x It got to the point where the users started to make other accounts, threaten the one that wanted the pity or screaming at me for not pitying them. I'll give you a little example of what would happen.

Me: Finally managed to get on so we could rp lol.
User1: Yay! I'll go ahead and start then.
User2: Hey....
Both of us: Hi! How is your day?
User2: Fine, I see I'm not wanted here....
Me: ? Uh... I never even...
User2: I bet I could kill myself and no one would care...
User1: No stop it! We want you here to rp!
Me: Erm.... No one was even ignoring you. All I we said was hi.
User2: *Inserts generic overused vulgar putdowns aimed towards me before loggng off.*

[The next day]
Me: Can you believe what happened yesterday?
User1: Ik. He left me a large pm complaining that i don't want him around. I think he's jealous of you.
Me: >.< He really needs to grow up...
User3: He can't cause he's dead! I'm User2's brother!
User1: w-what?
Me: Oh for heavens sake... its the same person! They talk the same, they are 'related' and even make the same spelling mistakes!!!

I had to deal with that kinda drama for a year or two because i was sadly really into the rp that was in the group at the time. Its also happened a few random times to me on wolfquest.

And is it me, or are all of these people mate beggars? O.o

[WildWolf#1]

Oh my... I completely agree with everyone here. Suicide is not a joke and that Tom wolf was going way over the line.
I've been across many attention seekers before. Yesterday, in Bonfire someone came in with a character named "Emo Wolf" and said they were committing suicide because someone was constantly speaking in caps... and they were sick of this mad world or something. It went way OVER the top and I was really surprised that there were actually people pleading them to not kill their virtual character... Oh mai lord.
The army of people then went to bag the person who was speaking in caps and said they were horrible and that they were making someone commit suicide.
I had no idea if that Emo Wolf was being serious or just playing, but all I know is that it was the worst attention seeker I've come across in my entire time playing this game.