ENWorld = whiners arguing ?

[Xombie Master]

I disagree. I can deconstruct just about everything you've put down, but that would be hijacking the thread a tad too much.

Okay,
I say most things with humor in mind. I don't get on a forum to get angry, nor do I advocate that anger need be a regular feeling on said medium.
My point is that when those "heated discussions" do arise, the people who are willing to admit when they're wrong, are the ones who stick around. I've never seen a single poster leave saying, "Well, you proved me wrong I can admit that, but I'm not posting here anymore."

 

[Acquana]

Debating about trivial manners is what I would define as "whinning". For example, having a newbie post his 1000th level character and yet having an 8 pages long "debate". That's whiners arguing IMO.

I do not go on many RPG related forums. I could count 3 of them, 2 of which I barely participate in. The other forums I go to are about other subjects. Among all the forums I go to, ENworld is by far the "whiniest"

Again, I don't really hang out in Rules. But I gather it happens a lot there from this thread. -_-;; I suppose I was thinking on it as a more general sense of whining beyond roleplaying itself.

But I guess if lots of people can debate about even a rule, then that's they're subject of debate. I know I would be frustrated by debates about that kind of thing ... But that's because I really, really don't care about the rules to begin with. If other people can ... I guess that's their "thing."

 

[Rel]

My usage of the ENWorld forums has certainly changed over the years but I've always seemed to be able to find a "sweet spot" for where I am in relation to the community.

I started almost exclusively hanging in the Rules forum because when I first came here I had a very poor grasp of 3E (it had just come out a few months prior). I found the Rules forum an almost endless wealth of information and clarification.

As time went on I got a far better grasp of the rules and began to see many of the same rules being rehashed over and over so I shifted to General. I spent almost all of my time there for the next couple of years reading about the different philosophies on gaming held by the various posters there. I rarely dabbled into the Off Topic forum much.

After meeting many folks here in person at the NC Game Days and at GenCon, I felt a far stronger sense of community and have posted much more in Off Topic than I ever have before. I find that the length and seriousness of my posts has declined a bit but I'm not sure that's a bad thing and I can still add substantive content to the occasional thread in General when I'm in the mood.

Through it all I've frequented the Story Hour thread and I've always found folks there to be very supportive and constructive.

I suspect everybody is going to have a different experience with the boards based on what is helpful and appealing to them in general. But I think there is little doubt that this is a far friendlier and more cordial place than is typical for an internet message board.

 

[Phaedrus]

I lurk more than post, but I love EN World, and don't see it as overly whiny. The flame wars here are much more polite than what I see elsewhere. I like the "Eric's Grandma" rule and think it makes EN World a very friendly place. Even when we disagree with one another, for the most part I see it as civil and (largely) adult. And when it gets out of hand, the moderators and members handle it well.

In some weird, geeky way I feel like I know a lot of you guys (and gals), even though we've never met. I'll stop now b/c I'm getting verklempt.

 

[mythusmage]

Sometimes people disagree about things that don't bother you, doesn't hurt you. Sometimes people need help with something you couldn't care less about, doesn't hurt you. Sometimes people get passionate about something, doesn't mean they're being whiny. You want whiny, try an over stimulated 7 year old at bedtime.

A thread starts getting you riled, walk away. You don't have to stay. 'Sides, you can always report a post to the mods.

Oh, and if the thought of people at ENWorld making fun of your stupidity bothers you, stop being stupid.

 

[andargor]

Oh, and if the thought of people at ENWorld making fun of your stupidity bothers you, stop being stupid.

Best advice I've read today! I'll try that.

Andargor

 

[Hussar]

Oh, and if the thought of people at ENWorld making fun of your stupidity bothers you, stop being stupid.

Lol. Hey, wait, I resemble that remark.

Recently I got to participate in a rather lengthy discussion about whether or not 3e rules stripped power away from the DM. Got my face handed to me rather succinctly a couple of times by various posters. Got annoyed, went back, reread, tried again, made a couple of points, had a great time. Sure, the topic may seem trivial, but a number of really interesting points came out of that thread (at least interesting to me) and it really illustrated the different mentalities that many DM's have about the game.

At no point was anyone really insulting. No one went aggro on anyone else particularly. People were very vocal in their positions (including myself) and certainly putting a fair bit of effort into the discussion, but, then again, isn't that what a forum is for? Putting an idea out there and letting it get beaten around until it falls over? Heck, I thought it was great. We even came to some points of concensus after a while.

On any forum I've ever been on before, after about the third page of posts, there really isn't any poing anymore. People simply entrench into their ideas and refuse to budge. Here, there was some pretty decent give and take between posters. I don't know about anyone else, but I was very impressed.

 

[Plane Sailing]

And I can't say I recall ever seeing negative postings in the Story Hour forum, but I've only read maybe a dozen or so threads there.

Hey, I'll accept even negative postings in my Story Hour!

How desperate can I be?

 

[KingOfChaos]

I can say that one of the reasons I don't post at the actual forums here (and at RPG.Net) more often is that there are simply too many people here at EN World and I feel I can't actually get a word in edge wise on most subjects because I don't have 10,000+ posts or that any of my posts really make a difference since 50 replies crop up right after mine and most people can be bothered to read that much. I feel lost in a sea of people, in other words. There is no intimacy of a community here, just a busy street like you'd see during rush hour in New York City. Its pretty overwhelming, actually. So instead I stick to being a Newshound where I feel I have an actual positive effect on the community as whole by providing the site with content.

That being said, I love EN World for what it does...provides me with all the latest gaming/fantasy/scifi news.

 

[Henry]

...I feel I can't actually get a word in edge wise on most subjects because I don't have 10,000+ posts or that any of my posts really make a difference since 50 replies crop up right after mine and most people can be bothered to read that much.

Heck, I have 10,000+ posts here, and people mostly STILL don't listen to what I have to say, unless it's something official. Sometimes, not even then!