General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
If you find that you're always arguing with the same one or two people, you might add them to your ignore list. There are only two people on mine, but since an argument with one of them got me the only warning from the mods I've picked up here ever (and I've been around here since Eric was running things), I think it was definitely a good idea.
I also only have 2 people on my ignore list and I agree - it has helped tremendously!
Edit - actually, it has 5 - I had forgotten about the other 3. (oops.)
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Last edited by DaveMage; 11th May 2009 at 03:52 AM..
Which makes me wonder; can you see on whose ignore lists you're on? So you can find out if your talking to a brick-wall or not?
No. And discussion of who is or isn't on your list in the open forum is considered bad form.
Quietly using an ignore list to help keep yourself from getting into arguments with some individuals usually works out well. But as a broad generalization, people take being put on such a list rather personally, and frequently react poorly. So making the lists public works out similarly poorly, defeating the purpose of the feature.
Which makes me wonder; can you see on whose ignore lists you're on? So you can find out if your talking to a brick-wall or not?
I don't think so. As I recall ENWorld policy even discourages telling someone you're going to add them to your list (at least, I saw someone warned by a moderator for it once upon a time).
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I put myself on my own ignore list. I annoy myself to no end.
More seriously though, I find it easier to NOT get into arguments with other posters. I just do not get upset with someone enough to do so.
__________________ "From the beginning, no one has ever stood in Heaven. Not you, nor me, nor God Himself. But soon, that unbearable vacancy on the throne in the sky will be filled. From now on... I will stand in Heaven!"-Sousuke Aizen-Bleach
Discussion is good. Debate can be good. These are exchange of ideas between people with different opinions.
Arguing is not good, as it does not include actual intellectual exchange - when things get to argument, the sides are only listening to each other in order to formulate counter-arguments, if they even listen that much.
When people argue, the point ceases to be so much to put forth your opinion and lean about the other guy's point of view, and becomes more about proving the other guy wrong, or "winning".
So, argument is still bad.
This is my opinion as well. Discussion is great. Debate is fantastic. That is one the joys of forum discussion. Beyond that, I find the other nastiness disheartening.
Last edited by alleynbard; 11th May 2009 at 04:43 PM..
If you find that you're always arguing with the same one or two people, you might add them to your ignore list. There are only two people on mine, but since an argument with one of them got me the only warning from the mods I've picked up here ever (and I've been around here since Eric was running things), I think it was definitely a good idea.
Yeah, the ignore list has helped immensely with my posting here. Actually, it was someone putting me on their's and then repeatedly telling all and sundry that he had done so that made me put him on mine.
And it was a good thing to do.
Really, if you step back and realize that you are having the same go around with the same people time and time again, the /I is a good thing. It just stops the whole cycle.
I do find myself starting posts and then trashing them more often now for that reason as well. I guess I'm finally just getting tired of flagellating the equine. ((Believe it or not ))
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I double-dog-dare you to make your game sound super cool without comparing it to other editions. - paraphrased from Umbran.
Message boards are a bad form of communication in many ways. They don't pass through tone, expression, or numerous other things and they don't always allow real discussion to take place because it's still just text messaging even when it's back and forth text messaging.
There are many people who you meet and are like, "You're X? No way! Let's have a beer!"
I'll second that one too.
As much as I love written words, even make part of my living by them, I'm the first to admit their obvious limitations.
Words are a very poor substitute for the truth.
Just like numbers are poor substitutes for things.
I do like the ignore function, and use it on occasion, though I usually take people off the list from time to time. Right now there is only one person on it, though a few more people are strong candidates for inclusion.
Arguing can be good, and I enjoy it to some extent, but there is a strong tendency for some posters to take their arguments (the smae old stale, dry arguments) and put them on every thread they can like a virus. That annoys me. How many times is it necessary to bring up the 3.x and 4E thing anyway? It has all been said.
I do hate to see threads derailed, and that happens far too much here.
Some days, it's not hard to avoid. ...In all my years online, I have only ever /ignored one person, ....
I'm with you here but I also like good, healthy debates. I also don't get uptight about general PoV words like grognard, powergamer, etc. because they are Points-of-View and generalities, not the sum total of anyone or anything.
The one thing that gets me is junk terms like "RaW" being used as some sort of definitive proof. EVERYTHING can be interpreted. If you have an opinion and can back it up I can enjoy reading it even if I don't agree. But I have a hard time not responding when I see junk terms come out as 'gospel' .
I also hate using "ignore" functions and don't ever really use them. I've noticed I can vehemently disagree with one opinion by a poster then agree with another.
My approach to ENWorld most of the time is that I'd much rather spend my time talking up the stuff I enjoy than tearing down the stuff that I don't. That's not because I don't think that there are bad ideas or poor designs out there. But the beauty of RPG's is that they can be tweaked and tampered with to achieve a better balance for your particular game. So I'm allowed to excise the stuff that I don't like.
Thus, I don't gripe about game systems I don't use. I don't grouse about feats that won't be in my game anyway. I don't complain about the price of a book I don't plan to purchase.
Instead I tend to discuss things that are working well in my game, why I think they are working and whether I would recommend them to others. Because I'm not talking about how terrible I think something is, people are not so put on the defensive if they happen to like it. Now they may not like the ideas that I'm talking up. It has happened plenty. But who cares? I mean I'm willing to discuss it with them to a point to try and get across what I see as the upside. But, ultimately, the people that don't like these ideas and think they won't work for them are not my target audience. And so I tend not to get too bogged down in those discussions and instead focus on the positive.
I'm with you here but I also like good, healthy debates. I also don't get uptight about general PoV words like grognard, powergamer, etc. because they are Points-of-View and generalities, not the sum total of anyone or anything.
The one thing that gets me is junk terms like "RaW" being used as some sort of definitive proof. EVERYTHING can be interpreted. If you have an opinion and can back it up I can enjoy reading it even if I don't agree. But I have a hard time not responding when I see junk terms come out as 'gospel' .
I also hate using "ignore" functions and don't ever really use them. I've noticed I can vehemently disagree with one opinion by a poster then agree with another.
Pretty much sums up my take on this as well.
I don't use ignore. Further, if I've been ignore-d by someone I give my full and unfettered permission to anyone who knows about it to inform me of this, so I don't waste time talking to thin air.
And, I don't mind things getting a bit rough now and then, provided there's something intelligent coming out of it. I might be in the minority, but I loves me some good ol' edition-warring with those who are willing to defend their edition of choice with reason and sense; as I hope I can do in return.
Lan-"all will kneel and pay homage to the awesome that is 8e"-efan
Can someone quote Lanefan for me? I think he might have said something!
Okay, it's an old one. But I still like it.
I never wanted to use the Ignore function. For years it worked fine without it. But something changed, a year and a half or so ago. Maybe everyone has something to say that has merits, but: They don't necessarily do it in the threads I am interested in.
Let's face it - if someone is constantly talking negatively about a game they don't play and denigrating things I like, why should I keep listening? I have more experience with the game, and he or she never says anything that will improve my game. Maybe it would be great to read some of his or her posts about a different game. But if I am not interested in that game, it's still irrelevant to me, and I have to put up with non-constructive posts in threads I am interested in. If there is any gems hidden in what he said, someone is bound to refer to it and possible quote it anyway.
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I never wanted to use the Ignore function. For years it worked fine without it. But something changed, a year and a half or so ago. Maybe everyone has something to say that has merits, but: They don't necessarily do it in the threads I am interested in.
Even if a busted clock can be right twice a day, you're better off getting a clock that works.
For me at least, there are certain people that - if I wasn't ignoring them, then every time I saw their name my hackles would raise, my blood would pump hard, and I'd snarl "THAT GUY" and gear up for a fight. Even if all he did was post smilies, I'm still viewing it in a negative light.
That guy might very well have valid points and be a very nice person, but I am so biased against them that I'd never see the point through my crimson-tented glasses. So, it's better for both of us that I can't see his post.
... Boy, I seem to be the only guy confessing their horrible natures in this thread.
I do like the ignore function, and use it on occasion, though I usually take people off the list from time to time. Right now there is only one person on it, though a few more people are strong candidates for inclusion.
Same here! Just one person, right now. I've had half a dozen of more (last year), and three (very recently), but one is just fine now.
Of course, the ultimate in irony would be. . . no, never mind.
))
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