Matt Colville's Community

[Scribe]

I feel as though that's a different question. Sure. One of the biggest problems with online discourse is it's easy to forget you're communicating with other human beings. We can't read one another's body language, put any inflection onto the words we write, and sometimes people read something and the message they receive is completely different from the one the sender intended (and it's not always the senders fault).

Sure, while this is fair and may explain some of what goes on, online, I would say that there has been an exponential increase in statements of opinion, being presented as outright fact, and disagreement is either shut down, or vilified.

At that point we are no longer dealing with opinions. I mean we are, but that's not how people present their positions.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

1) I mostly stay away from D&D topics on EnWorld.
2) Learning not to reply, was a great help.
3) I cast 'Silence' on individuals who stir the pot needlessly, using the ignore button.

I no longer watch Matt. I see his video is 1 hour long. From my experience all his videos could be 15 minutes long. I don't have the extra 45 minutes for him.

And like almost all YT persona videos, those 15 minutes could be made into a text with the actual essence that takes 30 seconds to read. I intensely mourn the death of textual communication, it’s like we as humanity take a big dump on all the advantages of written text and the progress it has made possible over 5000 years, and consciously move toward global analphabetism.

Yes, I’m angry, sorry for not building community.

 

[MGibster]

Sure, while this is fair and may explain some of what goes on, online, I would say that there has been an exponential increase in statements of opinion, being presented as outright fact, and disagreement is either shut down, or vilified.

And I think at this point there's nothing left to say. I'm not likely to change my position on this and I don't think you are either. That's okay. Sometimes communication doesn't result in changing anyone's mind. But I don't have anything more to say about this, so I'm just going to drop this line of discussion.

 

[definiteFreakyFishGuy]

I honestly don't believe my expectations are unreasonable because they're the norm (in my opinion). When someone tells me Starship Troopers is a terrible movie or the lunch special at the grill is horrible they generally don't don't feel the need to make it clear they're giving me an opinion rather than a factual statement. When some prissy Federation officer tells me there are four lights I don't need to follow up by asking if he's giving me a factual statement or an opinion because I already know.


When someone tells me Savage Worlds is too swingy, the initiative system is too slow, or all the characters are the same I don't feel angry or threatened. It's got nothing to do with me living on planet Vulcan and everything to do with me understanding the difference between an opinion and a fact. Anyone who feels angry or threatened by a negative statement made about a game they love probably needs to work through some issues with that. In my opinion.

Your expectations are in fact, unreasonable.

There was a time when I believed what you did. It made people unhappy. So rather than forcing my style of communication on them, I chose to change the way I communicate.

I think I understand that your position about adding things like "I think" or "In my opinion" is pointless in terms of exchanging information. Is this position more important than respecting the feelings of your fellow community members?

 

[Older Beholder]

I intensely mourn the death of textual communication,

Has that happened? Feels like we communicate through text now more than before.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Has that happened? Feels like we communicate through text now more than before.

I can make an overly long and highly redundant video to explain.

 

[SteveC]

I've noticed that there are certain turns of phrases that will put me on edge very quickly, and my interactions from that point forward are going to be much more based on the assumption that I'm dealing with a person who doesn't want or expect a pleasant interaction. I'm with Bae'zel - I put these people on ignore. I know some have claimed such behavior is because they are neurodivergent but I can't know if that's where their response is coming from.

I absolutely get where you're coming from (and Bae'zel too) and agree with the Ignore feature in that case. What I was trying to do was explain where some of it comes from. I have a daughter with Autism, so I see some of the common ways it can manifest itself sometimes, and I think people should be aware that gaming has a ton of folks who are neurodivergent in it (I've said that I really wish I knew about this when I was growing up, so that I could have been kinder).

That said, I'm not trying to excuse or justify this kind of behaviour, especially in a forum where we all come for fun. I'm merely trying to explain why someone who might be really frustrating to deal with might not simply be a jerk, there might be reasons for it. Or they might simply be a jerk. We just don't know where it comes from. It still doesn't excuse being a jerk.

Personally, I use Ignore in situations where someone comes into a thread angry, and manages to get me angry, too. I use Ignore so that the mods don't have to warn or ban me from things. Why something like how game elements can be applied to make D&D a more narrative game, or why gaming in the 70s was more diverse in terms of play styles than you might think, would make someone angry, I don't get. But I'm too old to deal with it. Now SteveC from the mid 2000s? He would have enjoyed a good brawl. I'm just not that person anymore.

 

[TiQuinn]

I absolutely get where you're coming from (and Bae'zel too) and agree with the Ignore feature in that case. What I was trying to do was explain where some of it comes from. I have a daughter with Autism, so I see some of the common ways it can manifest itself sometimes, and I think people should be aware that gaming has a ton of folks who are neurodivergent in it (I've said that I really wish I knew about this when I was growing up, so that I could have been kinder).

That said, I'm not trying to excuse or justify this kind of behaviour, especially in a forum where we all come for fun. I'm merely trying to explain why someone who might be really frustrating to deal with might not simply be a jerk, there might be reasons for it. Or they might simply be a jerk. We just don't know where it comes from. It still doesn't excuse being a jerk.

Personally, I use Ignore in situations where someone comes into a thread angry, and manages to get me angry, too. I use Ignore so that the mods don't have to warn or ban me from things. Why something like how game elements can be applied to make D&D a more narrative game, or why gaming in the 70s was more diverse in terms of play styles than you might think, would make someone angry, I don't get. But I'm too old to deal with it. Now SteveC from the mid 2000s? He would have enjoyed a good brawl. I'm just not that person anymore.

Neurodivergency is also much tougher to recognize or differentiate in a written forum than in a face to face or even over the phone conversation. Even if that isn’t a factor - people tend to be less confrontational in person, or these game differences are less of an issue.

 

[cbwjm]

I can make an overly long and highly redundant video to explain.

The number of videos on youtube that have a somewhat interesting topic which I've just ignored is too damn high!

So many times I think it would be easier to skim an article to see if it's interesting rather than having to watch a 15-20 minute video about it. I especially hate the "5 things that help improve your game" videos.

 

[cbwjm]

Personally, I use Ignore in situations where someone comes into a thread angry, and manages to get me angry, too. I use Ignore so that the mods don't have to warn or ban me from things. Why something like how game elements can be applied to make D&D a more narrative game, or why gaming in the 70s was more diverse in terms of play styles than you might think, would make someone angry, I don't get. But I'm too old to deal with it. Now SteveC from the mid 2000s? He would have enjoyed a good brawl. I'm just not that person anymore.

The older I get, the less I feel the need to argue with some rando on the internet. Life's a lot calmer now.