Hello, folks. First-time poster, long-time lurker here. Allow me to begin my post with a request that everyone responding—including the moderators and board administrators—remain civil and snark-free. I realize that this is virtually impossible on the Internet, especially when discussing a heated topic, but I will make this request nonetheless.
And now, to the meat of things.
Either way, the negativity surrounding the 3e-4e divide causes immeasurable harm to our pastime—when some innocent soul joins the forums, asks a question, and is immediately assaulted by hordes of disgruntled fanboys, it is only natural for him to retreat from us and take up something less volatile, such as knitting or rocket surgery. Thus, this behavior must stop at once. The only way that we can make a difference is by changing our attitudes and hoping that others will learn from us, so this is a grassroots project. That means here, on ENWorld, and on other forums that you visit, you must be the change you want to see others adopt.
I blame no particular side for this, neither 4rry nor 3aboo can be blamed more than the other. (I use those terms in jest.) We have all had to fight our share of trolls and threadcrappers, yes? And like all war, edition wars wear us down to where we are scarcely ourselves anymore. However, I have noticed that these forums—our beloved haven of RPG discussion—have fallen victim to edition wars. There are several types of behavior that perpetuate this atmosphere of negativity, and I wish to enlighten you (all) on this, so that we might become better denizens of our forum(s).
As a final note: The examples that I will be using will involve actual examples of trolling that I have myself witnessed. Even if the example used portrays one group in a negative manner, rest assured that I am not blaming one group over another. The example is merely that—an example. Analogous situations can be drawn for either party.
EDIT: I should make clear that I am using examples of actual trolling, but they are not word-for-word citations. Calling out specific posters is bad for the thread itself. Rather the examples are fictitious examples of the behavior I have seen in action. If you wish for me to cite specific problem posters and examples, then I welcome you to PM me with your request.
Passive-Aggressive Trolling
This is the single-most destructive type of edition wars trolling that there is. If you take anything from my post, I would will you to take this. PAT involves one person making—as the name implies—passive-aggressive digs at other posters that are just civil enough to pass beyond moderator attention. Generally, PAT results in another poster outright flaming the PAT-er for his behavior, whereby the flamer is reported by the PAT-er and disciplined. The PAT-er, of course, goes unpunished.
Here are some fine examples:
Threadcrap Trolling
This one is frustrating but manageable. What it amounts to is that someone starts an innocuous discussion about a topic and someone makes a post related to the topic that purposely disrupts the thread and agitates the other posters.
Ad Hominem Trolling
This method of trolling is beyond exasperating. A poster says something and the troll insists on arguing about the poster himself rather than what is being discussed. A fine example can be found on our very own forums here.
Willful Ignorance Trolling
A misnomer, perhaps, but WIT is infuriating to deal with. (Much as I’ve noted with all the other forms of trolling.) One person makes a claim and backs it up with evidence. The troll denies the evidence. The original poster explains the evidence. The troll denies the evidence and restates his claim.
This could also be considered a form of PAT.
Militant Shill Trolling
MST is most often combined with another form of trolling, usually TT or PAT. MST involves a person “crusading” for a cause (usually coming off as a shill; hence the name) and disrupting any topics related to the cause.
Well, folks, those are the most toxic forms of trolling that I’ve seen on ENWorld or other forums. Again, this is not a critique of our forum; it is a call to better ourselves so that D&D can thrive—even if one does not like 4e, the D&D brand name is important because it is the single-largest name in the RPG industry. Once people try D&D, they will be more open to trying other RPGs—and that’s what we want, for the RPG community to grow and prosper.
Thanks for your time.
And now, to the meat of things.
The fractured D&D community has the potential to kill the hobby. In some ways, I think that this is a good thing—I think that D&D could use a fresh start from a smaller company, one that cares more about the quality of their product than their profit margins. (Not that making a profit is bad, mind you, but we have all seen the negative results of WotC’s “book a month” release schedule, particularly those of us who have played 3e.) On the other hand, this is bad because it threatens the D&D license as a whole, which could mean the death of my favorite game.William Tecumseh Sherman said:
Either way, the negativity surrounding the 3e-4e divide causes immeasurable harm to our pastime—when some innocent soul joins the forums, asks a question, and is immediately assaulted by hordes of disgruntled fanboys, it is only natural for him to retreat from us and take up something less volatile, such as knitting or rocket surgery. Thus, this behavior must stop at once. The only way that we can make a difference is by changing our attitudes and hoping that others will learn from us, so this is a grassroots project. That means here, on ENWorld, and on other forums that you visit, you must be the change you want to see others adopt.
I blame no particular side for this, neither 4rry nor 3aboo can be blamed more than the other. (I use those terms in jest.) We have all had to fight our share of trolls and threadcrappers, yes? And like all war, edition wars wear us down to where we are scarcely ourselves anymore. However, I have noticed that these forums—our beloved haven of RPG discussion—have fallen victim to edition wars. There are several types of behavior that perpetuate this atmosphere of negativity, and I wish to enlighten you (all) on this, so that we might become better denizens of our forum(s).
As a final note: The examples that I will be using will involve actual examples of trolling that I have myself witnessed. Even if the example used portrays one group in a negative manner, rest assured that I am not blaming one group over another. The example is merely that—an example. Analogous situations can be drawn for either party.
EDIT: I should make clear that I am using examples of actual trolling, but they are not word-for-word citations. Calling out specific posters is bad for the thread itself. Rather the examples are fictitious examples of the behavior I have seen in action. If you wish for me to cite specific problem posters and examples, then I welcome you to PM me with your request.
Passive-Aggressive Trolling
This is the single-most destructive type of edition wars trolling that there is. If you take anything from my post, I would will you to take this. PAT involves one person making—as the name implies—passive-aggressive digs at other posters that are just civil enough to pass beyond moderator attention. Generally, PAT results in another poster outright flaming the PAT-er for his behavior, whereby the flamer is reported by the PAT-er and disciplined. The PAT-er, of course, goes unpunished.
Here are some fine examples:
PAT is insidious and corrupting, and it’s enough to bring anyone’s blood to a boil, especially if you’ve been the victim of it. I must reiterate myself: this is the number one form of trolling that I see on these forums and other forums (RPG.net, WotC’s official forums, and so on), and it is one of the things perpetuating the 3e-4e edition war. (Because one cannot have civil discourse, one cannot make progress in understanding another edition.)
Threadcrap Trolling
This one is frustrating but manageable. What it amounts to is that someone starts an innocuous discussion about a topic and someone makes a post related to the topic that purposely disrupts the thread and agitates the other posters.
TT is fairly easy to deal with—ban the persistent TT-ers. It does, unfortunately, usually cause the entire thread to break down, which puts a halt to intelligent discourse.
Ad Hominem Trolling
This method of trolling is beyond exasperating. A poster says something and the troll insists on arguing about the poster himself rather than what is being discussed. A fine example can be found on our very own forums here.
As with PAT, AHT is difficult to root out because it results from a groupthink mentality: “This guy disagrees with us, and we don’t like him! He’s wrong! Yeah, he’s wrong and we don’t like him! Yeah, he’s wrong because we don’t like him!” Unfortunately, the only way to deal with this problem is a fundamental attitude realignment. Again, this must start with us.
Willful Ignorance Trolling
A misnomer, perhaps, but WIT is infuriating to deal with. (Much as I’ve noted with all the other forms of trolling.) One person makes a claim and backs it up with evidence. The troll denies the evidence. The original poster explains the evidence. The troll denies the evidence and restates his claim.
Technically, the troll in question is doing nothing that violates the rules, and that’s the genius of the trolling technique—the WIT-er works to anger his opponents into lashing out and then reports them for rules violations. There is little that can be done to solve the WIT problem without resorting to drastic measures (such as banning those demonstrating an inability to reason).
This could also be considered a form of PAT.
Militant Shill Trolling
MST is most often combined with another form of trolling, usually TT or PAT. MST involves a person “crusading” for a cause (usually coming off as a shill; hence the name) and disrupting any topics related to the cause.
The MST-ers may have their reasons for their petty crusades, but their bottom line goal is to eradicate any discussion of the positive merits on their chosen topic.
Well, folks, those are the most toxic forms of trolling that I’ve seen on ENWorld or other forums. Again, this is not a critique of our forum; it is a call to better ourselves so that D&D can thrive—even if one does not like 4e, the D&D brand name is important because it is the single-largest name in the RPG industry. Once people try D&D, they will be more open to trying other RPGs—and that’s what we want, for the RPG community to grow and prosper.
Thanks for your time.
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