Should the clown emote be changed?

[Capybara Jones]

Hey everybody!
Recently, I have started to notice that the jester reaction is used in a disrespectful way. In this context it is often used to ridicule people for their views and to spam it onto community contributions to shame the creator. Needless to say, that is pretty toxic and probably not the intended use of the award. I like the design and the idea behind it comes from a good place. So, it should probably only be changed fulfill a more encouraging, positive function.

[Start_Running]

Obvious award-bait thread is obvious.
Try again.

The clown award can mean many things and what it means depends entirely on the mind of the person using and viewing it. I see it as a show that i gave someone a little something extra to laugh at. And that makes me feel happy. Pluss free points which makes me even happier.

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Ignorance is bliss, or whatever.

The jester is fine, if for no other reason than these threads identifying the lowest fortitude among us all.

[Bee🐝]

Oh, did you miss it, OP? This is a jester farm-free zone now.

But good on your for trying.

[Nx Machina]

Jester - "A valued member of the King's Court" plus free points.

Secondly you cannot "know" the intent of the person giving the award instead you "assume" it is negative, malicious etc.

(INTENT: Something that is intended) - "No one is a mindreader to know the giver's intent".

In turn this leads to:

(ASSUME: To make a supposition; suppose or believe:) - As in, it fits your narrative to have it be negative malicious etc which goes back to "No one is a mindreader to know the giver's intent".

And finally you have to "prove" the intent of the giver but you cannot unless they actually state the reason why.

Free points - Thank you.

[MBK]

No, I won't give you anything

[Capybara Jones]

Originally posted by Bee🐝:

Oh did you miss it, OP? This is a jester farm-free zone now.

But good on your for trying.

All I am saying is that it's dumb that someone in the community works on a certain artwork and a few people spam this clown award, it ridicules a lot of good work. I don't even spend that many hours on steam, as you can see on my profile. I just honestly think that being able leave a pay-to post reaction on posts opens a lot of avenues for harassment and toxic behavior.

[Capybara Jones]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Jester - "A valued member of the King's Court" plus free points.

Secondly you cannot "know" the intent of the person giving the award instead you "assume" it is negative, malicious etc.

(INTENT: Something that is intended) - "No one is a mindreader to know the giver's intent".

In turn this leads to:

(ASSUME: To make a supposition; suppose or believe:) - As in, it fits your narrative to have it be negative malicious etc which goes back to "No one is a mindreader to know the giver's intent".

And finally you have to "prove" the intent of the giver but you cannot unless they actually state the reason why.

You're right to an extend. But if you look around the workshop and other places you'll find that it's not entirely uncommon to see that certain contributions have been spammed with jesters. I think it's not a stretch to associate it with the clown emoji going around social media these days.
Also, a jester is generally not someone to contribute anything of value (jester's privilege) and because of that I believe that if there is a positive intend, a person will probably not react with the jester. Out of all reactions, it is the most negative one out there.

[Capybara Jones]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Obvious award-bait thread is obvious.
Try again.

The clown award can mean many things and what it means depends entirely on the mind of the person using and viewing it. I see it as a show that i gave someone a little something extra to laugh at. And that makes me feel happy. Pluss free points which makes me even happier.

I probably should have expected a few comments like this with a title such as this. I see where you're coming from.
I am serious, though. If I was to go with your first sentence, anything can literally mean anything, but this is not how language or symbols work. Sure if I was to post a joke or something and someone else was to react with the jester, that'd probably be meant in a positive way. However, it is rare that one sees it used in such a way. When I see the jester, it is mosty used to ridicule those who the person reacting disagrees with. A great example for this are steam reviews holding unpopular views. The latter draws a comparison to the usage of the clown emoji in discource.
I think the jester is pretty well-designed and kind of cute even. I'd hence prefer if the reaction would be changed to be more positive generally.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by Capybara Jones:

You're right to an extend. But if you look around the workshop and other places you'll find that it's not entirely uncommon to see that certain contributions have been spammed with jesters. I think it's not a stretch to associate it with the clown emoji going around social media these days.
Also, a jester is generally not someone to contribute anything of value (jester's privilege) and because of that I believe that if there is a positive intend, a person will probably not react with the jester. Out of all reactions, it is the most negative one out there.

Jester - Free points.

Workshop - and there are plenty of mods which are worthy of been downvoted etc because others do not share your opinion of them.

As for "most negative one" - that is your opinion BUT as stated you cannot know the intent of the giver unless they tell you, therefore you assume it is negative, malicious etc because it fits your narrative.

[Xhoas]

No.

[Capybara Jones]

Originally posted by Shoas:

No.

I appreciate this detailed insight into your opinion. Your contribution has brought great value to this discussion.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Just for anyone seeing this just now, the OP was completely change.

It was originally a post saying that the award should be completely banned, not changed. It was only recently change to what is shown below.

Originally posted by Capybara Jones:

Hey everybody!
Recently, I have started to notice that the jester reaction is used in a disrespectful way. In this context it is often used to ridicule people for their views and to spam it onto community contributions to shame the creator. Needless to say, that is pretty toxic and probably not the intended use of the award. I like the design and the idea behind it comes from a good place. So, it should probably only be changed fulfill a more encouraging, positive function.

To answer both the original post and the new version, no.

The award is free points and if someone wants to give those away in an attempt to rile someone up, let them.

[Capybara Jones]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Originally posted by Capybara Jones:

You're right to an extend. But if you look around the workshop and other places you'll find that it's not entirely uncommon to see that certain contributions have been spammed with jesters. I think it's not a stretch to associate it with the clown emoji going around social media these days.
Also, a jester is generally not someone to contribute anything of value (jester's privilege) and because of that I believe that if there is a positive intend, a person will probably not react with the jester. Out of all reactions, it is the most negative one out there.

Jester - Free points.

Workshop - and there are plenty of mods which are worthy of been downvoted etc because others do not shate your opinion of them.

As for "most negative one" - that is your opinion BUT as stated you cannot know the intent of the giver unless they tell you, therefore you assume it is negative, malicious etc.

Downvoting is one thing and part of valuable discource, but I think spamming certain reactions does create an unneeded air of humiliation. As I said, jesters are not taken serious in any context, making any of the things they say worthless, which is where I get the opinion that the jester can rightfully be received pretty negatively.

[Capybara Jones]

Originally posted by SlowMango:

Just for anyone seeing this just now, the OP was completely change.

It was originally a post saying that the award should be completely banned, not changed. It was only recently change to what is shown below.

Originally posted by Capybara Jones:

Hey everybody!
Recently, I have started to notice that the jester reaction is used in a disrespectful way. In this context it is often used to ridicule people for their views and to spam it onto community contributions to shame the creator. Needless to say, that is pretty toxic and probably not the intended use of the award. I like the design and the idea behind it comes from a good place. So, it should probably only be changed fulfill a more encouraging, positive function.

To answer both the original post and the new version, no.

The award is free points and if someone wants to give those away in an attempt to rile someone up, let them.

I appreciate how you didn't read either post fully. Even the original version said that the basic design in endearing and that it should be kept but changed up. Also 'banning' was not really a good term to use in this context as it would remove past contributions fully, which would be pretty sketchy. That's why I changed it as well as the fact that my initial post was a bit harsh. I still do believe it should be changed as it is often used to 'clown on' people for sharing views others don't agree with,

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by Capybara Jones:

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Jester - Free points.

Workshop - and there are plenty of mods which are worthy of been downvoted etc because others do not shate your opinion of them.

As for "most negative one" - that is your opinion BUT as stated you cannot know the intent of the giver unless they tell you, therefore you assume it is negative, malicious etc.

Downvoting is one thing and part of valuable discource, but I think spamming certain reactions does create an unneeded air of humiliation. As I said, jesters are not taken serious in any context, making any of the things they say worthless, which is where I get the opinion that the jester can rightfully be received pretty negatively.

Receiving a mass of down-votes can create the same air of unneeded humiliation. It is something that happens consistently on sites that have them, a big example being Reddit.

Historically, jesters are highly respected. They were not only the direct entertainment for the king but also acted as a counsel since they were considered part of the common people. Not anyone was chosen as a jester because of how close they were to the king.