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People feel the need to be mean on message boards because many people are simply mean by nature, but have to hide it each and every day. Seriously, there are people out there who take pleasure in being mean; there are also those of us who find it entertaining to "yell" at other people on message boards every once in a while and aren't necessarily mean by nature, but who take pleasure in it anyway. After all, it's not every day that you can just go up to someone and say, "Shut up, you stupid newbie!" Some people just need to get that out every once in a while.

Additionally, people like feeling superior to others, and they often accomplish this by shooting others down. I know quite a few people with this type of personality, and I'm not surprised in the slightest that this type of behavior is carried out onto the message boards. When someone posts a derogatory message on a board that is meant to tell the last person who posted that he or she is an idiot, then the new poster is trying to make others, and him or herself, think that he is superior to the person he or she is attacking. It is truly horrible to put down other people to make yourself feel good, but it happens all the time on message boards.

Many bullies pick on others because they're insecure about themselves. Saying mean things on message boards is a form of bullying as well, so it is highly likely that the person who is talking down to you for pricing rune essence at 25 gold coins is living in his mother's basement at the age of twenty-eight and doesn't have a friend in the world. As blunt as it sounds, people with crappy lives often become bullies. Cyber bullying, while just as mean and hateful as real-live bullying, has one disadvantage: the victim can simply ignore it by closing the window and moving onto another topic page.

People on message boards may say mean things just for the fun of it. As mentioned before, some people take pleasure in messing with others by saying mean things, and if they can't face any real consequences, what's stopping them? To some users, the whole thing is just a game: to annoy others and mess up their feelings. Pitting someone against you when he or she feels as if the argument is actually of some importance to you is entertaining because it makes you feel like you have control over another person.

Then again, some people genuinely feel as if a level 23 shaman doesn't stand a chance against a level 26 warrior. Although you may not get the reference, my point is that

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