ENWorld Edition Bias

[Morrus]

There was a very strong pro 4E/anti 3.xE bias on ENWorld some months back and I felt the moderation was also biased. It got so bad, I was essentially driven away from the site coming back only occassionally and not posting anything. Moderation improved dramatically pretty fast though and pretty quickly ceased being biased at all (at least in my eyes).

Moderation hasn't changed one iota. What has changed is the nature of the threads. There are less arguments about it.

 

[Roman]

The funny thing there is that the mods aren't all pro-4E or anti-4E. What I think is really going on is that those that are most adamant about their edition choice are also least willing to accept that someone else might prefer something else. That's human nature.

They are no longer pro or anti 4E that is true. But in the immediate aftermath of 4E's release (or perhaps it was just before 4E's release - I no longer remember) I do recall a bias. I was reading several nasty threads and it was generally the pro-3E people that got banned/reprimanded/whatever even when their behavior was not as bad as that of the pro-4E people who got off scott free in the same threads. Luckily, that situation with moderation didn't last long, but the bad atmosphere on the boards lasted much longer and to some extent still exists, but it has diminished substantially.

Moderation hasn't changed one iota. What has changed is the nature of the threads. There are less arguments about it.

You are Morrus, the owner of the site, and furthermore I like you, so I am not going to argue with you on this matter, but I remember what I remember... In any case, I don't want to dredge the topic of this brief period of what I think was bad moderation up any further - it only brings back bad memories (even though I wasn't directly affected) and in general (excluding this brief period) the moderation on ENWorld has been excellent, so this is my last post on the topic.

But yes, the number of arguments has thankfully greatly diminished as has the vehemence. It was so bad with the vicious arguments that at one point, even though I have been a gamer for most of my life, I was considering leaving not just the boards but also what had previously been a relatively friendly hobby if I ever had to move far away and thus lose my gaming groups (the atmosphere at my groups was luckily not affected by the edition wars). Luckily, this is no longer an issue, as the heat has gone down to an acceptable level now. I feel it is still more hostile than it used to be before the edition schism, but nowhere near as bad as in its immediate aftermath.

 

[Plane Sailing]

the pro-3E people that got banned/reprimanded/whatever even when their behavior was not as bad as that of the pro-4E people

Just wanted to say that it was unlikely that any pro-3E or pro-4e people got banned or reprimanded.

That tended to be reserved for the anti-3E or anti-4E people...

Cheers

 

[Mark]

(. . .)

Welcome back!

 

[Ginnel]

I hid in the Hive its so comfy there, well I didn't hide exactly my enthusiasm for reading the general boards drifted

Things seemed to have died down a bit now but people are still being asshats as demonstrated in this and other threads, the site itself is not pro or anti anything, a logical unbiased look at the site can show that.

Chill out, enjoy the discussions and stop being an asshat about things

 

[Morrus]

Just wanted to say that it was unlikely that any pro-3E or pro-4e people got banned or reprimanded.

That tended to be reserved for the anti-3E or anti-4E people...

Cheers

That's a fairly succinct summary. Anti-people usually end up on thw wrong end of moderation; pro-people do not.

 

[pawsplay]

I think because many 3e people were unhappy about the change-over, criticizing 4e was a real dry thatch plus match issue. So I will put forward that I feel, for a time, pro-3e, critical of 4e people had to endure a certain level of stifling. When I say stifling, I mean only that certain lines of conversation were not as free, not that I think any person was ill-treated. I remember the moderation being fair, even patient. It is unfortunate that 3e fans were not able to be as vocal as they might like, but I do not think that was caused by the moderators or even necessarily by anti-3e posters. Rather, I think it was a function of the context (edition changeover), the politeness level this board calibrates for, and the topic flammability.

While it is not possible to be rude to a game, frank discussion is more likely to cross the lines of politeness, as experienced by any given person. So I can see what frankthedm is saying, to an extent. But I think 4e can be criticized strongly but in a fashion that is respectful to other posters, and I have faith in the moderation team to respond fairly to people posting in good faith.

I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly the boards have returned to normalcy.

 

[JoeGKushner]

There was a very strong pro 4E/anti 3.xE bias on ENWorld some months back and I felt the moderation was also biased. It got so bad, I was essentially driven away from the site coming back only occassionally and not posting anything. Moderation improved dramatically pretty fast though and pretty quickly ceased being biased at all (at least in my eyes). The site was still hostile to 3E/3.5E due to some vocal posters, but this tendency tended to diminish over time and things are much, much better now - hence I visit the site more often again, though not as much as prior to the edition schism.

(Note: I did not vote on the poll, because it is closed.)

I'll have to go the 180 route and say that I was reminded (wisely) by moderators severlal times on the anti-4e crowds that if I didn't want to be involved in the wars to just not read those threads so I'm going to completely disagree with you.

 

[Lanefan]

3e? Bah!
4e? Bah!

The poll has no option for "too pro-3e *and* too pro-4e". It needs one; not that it matters, seeing as it's closed now anyway....

But where's the love for 1e, other than right here?

Lanefan

 

[Rel]

But where's the love for 1e, other than right here?

Lanefan

Dragonsfoot?