Piratecat said:Speaking from the six years I've spent here, let me be the first to say that the way the initial question is posed has a huge impact on the tone of the discussion.
If the original poster appears to have an agenda or insults people's opinions when posing a question, I can almost guarantee that the thread will go south within half a page. The same question (even a negative one!) asked from a more neutral view does a lot better.
I think of EN World as a party at Morrus' house. I won't pick a fight with someone when we're both guests, so I won't pick a fight with other posters; I may disagree with someone, but that's as far as it goes. The rules of conduct in polite society still stand, so no matter what I may think of someone personally I can still share the space with them.
Some people, though, forget that they're a guest in someone else's house. They treat EN World as if everyone else is a guest in their house -- and that way lies madness.
I didn't say that the super polite threads were necessarily the best.rounser said:So....some of the best threads die quickly because everyone's in agreement?
big dummy said:"Reform" was the most diplomatic term I could come up with.
*snip*
To use your analogy, what I would see is that it would be like going into the baby ward in 1920 and discussing the possibility of a polio vaccine, or the possibility of using disposable instead of cloth diapers and having everyone shout you down!
BD
big dummy said:Appreciate the general advice, and it's well stated. I got a lot of this kind of response and it's been quite insightful for the most part, and applicable to any web forum as you said. What I'm still wondering is what it is about RpG's in particular and the idea of anything even in the ballpark of reform specifically which triggers such a violent reaction (why is the mere mention of 4E such a lightning rod for example?). I guess it's just a given that some subjects can't be discussed in some places. My next question then is, is there any other (public) place, and if not, what does this mean for the future of RPG's ?
BD
BardStephenFox said:But I do believe it is possible to discuss changes to the core system in a constructive manner. But much depends on your presentation and goals. I missed the thread you are referencing, so I cannot provide specific advice on how you might phrase something differently.