We know that Twitter is a forum rife with negativity, just as surely as we know that Xbox Live contains the same. But it's still sobering to look at the kind of venom that was spewed in the direction of Robert Bowling, who recently resigned as the public face and "creative strategist" of lead Call of Duty development studio, Infinity Ward.
Here are some of the nastiest messages Bowling (@fourzerotwo) received on his Twitter count after he resigned, as gathered by a member of the NeoGAF message board:
ItsHawza
@fourzerotwo bye fking noob eat some lagRobbertTheDutch
@fourzerotwo So you ruin everything, and just LEAVE? Pussy.MythAttach
@fourzerotwo Your a dumb mother fucker i hope you become homeless fucking faggot go to hellNice_Guy_Jay
@fourzerotwo I hate you so much man, its hilarious, if you ever get another job, i hope its at the dump, cleaning up shit like yourself.JamesMcMullan5
@fourzerotwo Today I go out buy a sniper rifle kill you and your family sell you're body to a convicted rapist that is also a necropheliac!
Robert Bowling was paid, in part, to Tweet and keep Call of Duty gamers informed about what was going on. Most of the time he told them about new content, tweaks to the game and fielded fan questions.
He seemed to be polite on Twitter and, in person, has always been professional and courteous to me. So I'm glad to know that amidst all that nastiness we've got KingJamesBallin. He's a kinder soul. Who is he? Just some random gamer. Today, he Tweeted at Bowling: "I like to thank u for being one of the best Com Managers We have had. You are thee man, Wish U the best on ur future endeavors".
There's more, actual positivity (!) trickling in by the minute, but, wow, some people sure like being awful.
Let's give Bowling the last word.
Some more words of wisdom from the CoD crowd... [NeoGAF, via Twitter]
