D&D 5E Arguing, ideating and solution-seeking on the D&D Enworld forum

[Aldarc]

IME, there are a couple of pretty red flags that go up and generally mean that the productive portion of the thread is over:

1. Trotting out dictionary definitions. I'm sorry, but I totally agree with @Umbran here. Every single time someone trots out dueling dictionaries, that line of discussion is pretty much over.

2. Diving down into examples instead of engaging the idea. This is something I'm more than guilty of. Poster says X, poster gives an example of X, and then spends the next five pages trying to show why that example is a good example of X instead of actually discussing the idea.

3. Wall of Quotes: when the discussion devolves into a back and forth of line-by-line quotes that are clearly designed to try and score as many points against the other poster as possible.

 

[jmartkdr2]

3. Wall of Quotes: when the discussion devolves into a back and forth of line-by-line quotes that are clearly designed to try and score as many points against the other poster as possible.

My usual flag is the same two people posting for a dozen or more posts in a row.

 

[payn]

My usual flag is the same two people posting for a dozen or more posts in a row.

Yeap, you know the thread is reaching its expiration date. I dont start many threads myself, but when I do I try and be a steward and keep it alive. I dont mind a little topic drift but sometimes a thread can be saved by redirecting the convo.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah, but sometimes folks use the to dump a hot take that cant be discussed because that wouldn't be +...

Agreed.

I really miss the old Paizo sub-forums for the adventure paths. Folks did exactly this. If one of the writers goofed up an encounter, people offered solutions instead of crying about it. The community really came together and had some great supplemental material and ideas to take the adventures to the next level.

To be fair there ARE lots of great material threads as well as discussion threads here. If you search for stuff for any of the WotC modules, for example, you will come across lots of threads on how to add new stuff. But, that being said, there are now so many other venues for that sort of thing that probably get a lot more attention. Reddit is a fantastic resource for modules. All of the WotC modules have their own Reddit community and, well, to be honest, so far I've used the Saltmarsh and Candlekeep Mysteries ones the most, there is a MOUNTAIN of resources there.

You want beautiful maps for your VTT to go with a WotC module? Reddit is probably the best go to. Second is probably Discord.

I think that those two - Reddit and Discord communities have taken up a lot of the mantle of offering focused solutions for adventures.

I know that I personally come here for the discussions. But, not really for resources.

 

[Thomas Shey]

3. Wall of Quotes: when the discussion devolves into a back and forth of line-by-line quotes that are clearly designed to try and score as many points against the other poster as possible.

I dunno, man. I understand what you're talking about, but I've also seen people who don't do the line by line thing and then end up introducing a massive amount of confusion into a discussion because its not clear what part of a prior poster's post they're actually addressing.

I kind of think its a no-win situation.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I know that I personally come here for the discussions. But, not really for resources.

Well, it doesn't help that trying to have an extended discussion Discord with its limited threading can be a nightmare, and becomes more of one the larger the server population is.

 

[Thomas Shey]

My old communication instructor would disagree. Argument == discussion/debate of differing opinions, but most people mistake fighting (a desireto be right and hurt/anger the other person) as argument.

Well, it doesn't help that in common usage the distinction is often subtle (and honestly, unless you parse things carefully, the distinction between a case of the first that's gone off the rails and the second can be pretty subtle).

 

[Divine2021]

The reality is that the discussions here are boring, and quickly and constantly turn into everybody tone policing everyone else.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think most here are guilty of that. I know I am.

Yeah. There's a (sometimes benignly intended) tendency to assume if someone is disagreeing with you, its because they don't understand, rather than they have different basic assumptions or expectations, and that's leading them to different places.

 

[payn]

To be fair there ARE lots of great material threads as well as discussion threads here. If you search for stuff for any of the WotC modules, for example, you will come across lots of threads on how to add new stuff. But, that being said, there are now so many other venues for that sort of thing that probably get a lot more attention. Reddit is a fantastic resource for modules. All of the WotC modules have their own Reddit community and, well, to be honest, so far I've used the Saltmarsh and Candlekeep Mysteries ones the most, there is a MOUNTAIN of resources there.

You want beautiful maps for your VTT to go with a WotC module? Reddit is probably the best go to. Second is probably Discord.

I think that those two - Reddit and Discord communities have taken up a lot of the mantle of offering focused solutions for adventures.

I know that I personally come here for the discussions. But, not really for resources.

Thats great to hear! I dont run any WOTC stuff at the moment because I have found it to be a distant second to Paizo stuff so far.