BonesMcCoy
Explorer
ENWorld Thought Police
Is it customary to recieve a private email saying one is posting incorrectly? Just because the email in question is phrased politely does that make it any less wrong? I am being told to post differently; 'non-offensively'. The obvious insinuation is that if I don't, further 'official' actions will be taken. Is that typical for these forums?
And is it right?
Well, IMO, I would have to say it all depends on the initial posts in question. Just how bad were they? If they were terribly offensive, extremely insulting, rude and vulgar, full of curse words, threatening, etc. then sure, I think censorship is called for. But take a gander at my 'offensive' posts and see if they are just that offensive:
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24754
Now this is supposedly a thread about Todd Lockwood getting laid off from WotC. But look again:
"As of the end of this year, I will no longer be employed by Wizards of the Coast. The powers that be at Wizards and Hasbro have determined that an art staff is unecessary. Whatever."
Here it is September and he is getting 'let-go' on Dec 31. He is thus not currently in any dire straits. Furthermore he expresses his views on the situation by saying "whatever". Which is generally accepted to mean "I don't care". Thus he is not 'all busted up' about this.
"I will be seeking work primarily in the book trade, but am willing to entertain all offers"
Aha! Here we see the real reason for his post: he's looking for work; obviously, since he posted to the d20 publishers forum instead of this board. And he has 3 months to find that work. Far from a desperate situation. Far from a delicate topic. Not something that needs to be pussy-footed around.
So why then do all the posters act like somebody just died and jump on my case when I don't follow suit? In the ensuing posts, nowhere does Todd reappear to call me rude or insulting. He does not ask me to stop posting. Why? Because he couldn't care less! His post was to the d20 publishers to let them know he is available for work as of Dec 31. He couldn't care less what I think of his artwork, nor do I expect him to. I was posting there to let the d20 publishers know that if they hire him there are some of us out here that do not appreciate the 3E look and maybe they would ask him to tone it down a bit. Or maybe not. Whatever.
The point is this was not a delicate topic, Todd did not seem to care about my posts, and I was not particularly insulting or offensive to Todd or anybody else: so why the Thought Police?
Is it customary to recieve a private email saying one is posting incorrectly? Just because the email in question is phrased politely does that make it any less wrong? I am being told to post differently; 'non-offensively'. The obvious insinuation is that if I don't, further 'official' actions will be taken. Is that typical for these forums?
And is it right?
Well, IMO, I would have to say it all depends on the initial posts in question. Just how bad were they? If they were terribly offensive, extremely insulting, rude and vulgar, full of curse words, threatening, etc. then sure, I think censorship is called for. But take a gander at my 'offensive' posts and see if they are just that offensive:
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24754
Now this is supposedly a thread about Todd Lockwood getting laid off from WotC. But look again:
"As of the end of this year, I will no longer be employed by Wizards of the Coast. The powers that be at Wizards and Hasbro have determined that an art staff is unecessary. Whatever."
Here it is September and he is getting 'let-go' on Dec 31. He is thus not currently in any dire straits. Furthermore he expresses his views on the situation by saying "whatever". Which is generally accepted to mean "I don't care". Thus he is not 'all busted up' about this.
"I will be seeking work primarily in the book trade, but am willing to entertain all offers"
Aha! Here we see the real reason for his post: he's looking for work; obviously, since he posted to the d20 publishers forum instead of this board. And he has 3 months to find that work. Far from a desperate situation. Far from a delicate topic. Not something that needs to be pussy-footed around.
So why then do all the posters act like somebody just died and jump on my case when I don't follow suit? In the ensuing posts, nowhere does Todd reappear to call me rude or insulting. He does not ask me to stop posting. Why? Because he couldn't care less! His post was to the d20 publishers to let them know he is available for work as of Dec 31. He couldn't care less what I think of his artwork, nor do I expect him to. I was posting there to let the d20 publishers know that if they hire him there are some of us out here that do not appreciate the 3E look and maybe they would ask him to tone it down a bit. Or maybe not. Whatever.
The point is this was not a delicate topic, Todd did not seem to care about my posts, and I was not particularly insulting or offensive to Todd or anybody else: so why the Thought Police?