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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4440547" data-attributes="member: 467">Okay, that thread title is a little over the top, but that's actually kind of the point.I was reading through some threads, long and short, and began to notice a pattern developing.  So I started looking at thread titles and first post contents versus numbers of posts and views, and the pattern coalesced: threads titles something contentious or divisive, and/or with a first post that is contentious or diviseive get the most posts and views (Gygax, R.I.P., Q&A threads notwithstanding).Maybe I am looking at it through rose colored glasses, but it seems to me that prior to the 4E announcement, ENWorld was a place where ideas were bandied about and traded and discussions could occur without necessarily being automatically vitriolic.  Since that announcement, though, the threads (in General at least) that "rise to the top" are those that turn into arguments and (to be kind) two or three people talking past one another, with a few others munching on popcorn and occassionally tossing a log on the fire.This got me thinking about my own reading and posting habits.  "hey look, 100 posts, it must be an interesting discussion." which leads to "Poster X is an idiot -- let me set him straight!" more often than I would like to admit.  Moreover, if I join or start a thread that is a good discussion, I get kind of irritated if -- no, when -- it disappears.  That irritation breeds a desire to keep it going and suddenly a vicous circle appears: say something contentious and the thread is more likely to live on, but the quality of the discussion is likely to drop, too.I don't know.  It is a strange thing.  Although i admit to occassionally being too short, or not being able to communicate myself with a short post made during a "breather" at work or whatever, I feel like a message board is the perfect medium for involved, complex, just plain "wordy" discussions about gaming.  But the reality seems to be that brief, easily misunderstood (or not), angry posts are the surest way to get a response.</blockquote>

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