Is ENWorld getting less friendly?

[pogre]

You know, this cycle of nastiness seems particularly long. Nothing worth reporting, but a small loss of civility generally that's troubling. I guess I'll stick to the Story Hour and Art Areas

 

[barsoomcore]

...visions of rhinestones...

I always have visions of rhinestones....

What?

Oh, nothing. Never mind.

The boards get happy, they get unhappy. I get cranky sometimes, too, and I've certainly been guilty of taking out crankiness on fellow posters. I'd say the last little while has been sorta cranky generally around here, but it doesn't look like a trend to me. Just a passing fad.

You know, Piratecat and Eric and Morrus probably sit around adjusting their Atomic-Mood-Synthesizer and cackling at the results.

That's what I'd do, if I possessed the power they do. Mm, mood synthesis.

 

[Drifter Bob]

The general climate on ENWorld definately does go in waves, as Piratecat mentioned earlier in this thread. Threads that concern "Low magic, grim and gritty", rollplaying versus roleplaying, alignment, and the pros and cons of various RPG systems, and the merits of various campaign settings are the ones that seem to be the most likely to start heated arguments.

However, even when it is at its most argumentative, ENWorld is easily the friendlist and most civil public message board I've ever been a member of,

I think I'm guilty of starting a few of those threads, and I apologize, because I really appreciate the friendly atmosphere on ENworld. It was the only place which gave a welcome to my first D20 book. I guess my interest in reforming D&D is a dangerous concept, but I was in fact surprised by the degree of viciousness in some of the responses that I got, even though it was just from a relatively small percentage of the posters.

Some people take D&D very, very, very seriously, almost like it IS a religion. I think maybe this is because so many of us have had to defend our participation in D&D as a hobby to non players, often in formative periods of our lives. I know my teeth set on edge and a cold blooded retort is quick to my lips if somebody mocks my hobby today I was glad to see one thread in particular die down, some things I feel are just not possible to discuss in an open forum with D&D fans.

For what it's worth, I bit my tongue hard enough to need surgery... and I'm glad for it, because I want to continue to be part of this community, I have learned a lot of valauble things here and made some good contacts. It's a great place to float ideas if you are reasonably diplomatic, but I just don't think the forum exists where you can really discuss reforming D&D rules...

DB

 

[Camarath]

It's a great place to float ideas if you are reasonably diplomatic, but I just don't think the forum exists where you can really discuss reforming D&D rules...

Did you try the House Rules Forum?

 

[Drifter Bob]

Did you try the House Rules Forum?

I'm sorry, I should rephrase that, it's impossible to discuss reforming D&D in a general philosophical sense, as to which direction it seems to be going or which direction it could or should go. If you have specific rules to tinker with that is always acceptabe.

DB

 

[Destil]

- I think summer is worse than winter for some reason.

But... summer for whom, you boston-centric egoist! I swear, I should get a mod in here. Try and be more considerate thoes in the southern hemisphere in the future.


DriveThroughRPG fiasco? *sigh* Guess I missed some fireworks during my year-long FFXI induced near absence from the boards.

 

[diaglo]

For what it's worth, I bit my tongue hard enough to need surgery... and I'm glad for it, because I want to continue to be part of this community, I have learned a lot of valauble things here and made some good contacts. It's a great place to float ideas if you are reasonably diplomatic, but I just don't think the forum exists where you can really discuss reforming D&D rules...

do like i do. i point at the screen and laugh my arse off. i mean some of this stuff is just way too funny.

i picture talking to a volleyball with a bloody handprint on it. that is as much of a decent response as you will get from some of the people on the other side of the net/web/screen.

 

[Camarath]

I'm sorry, I should rephrase that, it's impossible to discuss reforming D&D in a general philosophical sense, as to which direction it seems to be going or which direction it could or should go. If you have specific rules to tinker with that is always acceptabe.

DB

Actually what I meant was that the House Rules Forum might be a better place than General RPG Discussion to talk about changing the game even if one wants to change it on a basic level.

I personaly do not think the game needs to reformed in a general philosophical sense. I would resent any real attempt to change the game from the one I am currently enjoying to one which I do not believe I would enjoy as much. And I do not appreciate other people telling me how the game should be. If you want to run something in a certian way you are more than welcome to but to say that I should run the game that way is frankly insulting to my dignity and freedom as an arbiter of my own gaming environment. I think a good number of people feel as I do. So I do not think you will not get a good reaction if you start with the premise that there is something inherently wrong with the game and the way other people are playing it. That sounds like you are saying that you know better than us and that we should conform to your preconception and whims because your ideas and aesthetic sensibilities are superior to ours. I know that this is not your intention but I do not know how you can avoid this without voicing your concerns in a forum that is already focused on changing the game. If you talk about changing your own game you may be able to get feedback without threatening or insulting the way other people play.

 

[Drifter Bob]

I would resent any real attempt to change the game from the one I am currently enjoying to one which I do not believe I would enjoy as much.

Well, like I said...

This kind of attitude has discouraged me from ever trying to discuss that particular issue again, in any forum.

Having said that, In a probably fruitless effort to discuss the discussion, if you will, I feel I should point out that you are making some incorrect assumptions.

1) By suggesting a change in the core rules or marketing strategy or d20 license or whatever, I am not necesaarily telling you how to change how you run your own campaign. As all the anti-reform advocates point out, you can house rule the game any way you want.

2) D&D is not static, it is changing with every new WOTC release, even third party d20 material changes the game, with every conversation on these boards. Version 4 will arrive, like it or not! If I chime in on some ideas on what direction I think those changes should take, it doesn't mean I'm trying to ruin or sabotage the game.

3) Similarly, if I'm suggesting that the percieved course of certain ongoing changes in D&D may be potentially leading to or causing some problem, I am not ATTACKING you, how you play your game, or D&D in general. I am either wrong or right or partially wrong or right, but thats as far it needs to go.

Imagine we are all on a cruise ship, and unlike most cruise ships, the toilets are not backed up, and we are all having a great time, going from one idylic carribean isle to another. If I happen to be looking at a satelite image on my laptop computer which seems to bode for the possibility of a hurricane coming, and I mention that we might want to consider a course change, that doesn't mean I'm out to sink the ship. Quite to the contrary.

4) the reactionary, hyperconservative attitude a lot of fans have toward D&D does not necessarily bode well for it's future.

DB

 

[Umbran]

I would resent any real attempt to change the game from the one I am currently enjoying to one which I do not believe I would enjoy as much.

Aye, and here's where we get into unfriendliness - resentment.

The thing folks tend to encounter is not just resentment of real attempts to change the game, but resentment even of discussing the idea. And that's a little much. There's something so holy about the thing that we should resent folks even talking about changing it? Is it healthy to become so dogmatic about gaming that one resents discussion of different possibilities?

Talk is just that - talk. It isn't something to get dander up about. Discussions of topics you don't like still broaden the mind and keep the mental processes rolling smoothly. Discussion of alternatives (even distasteful ones) can keep you evaluating what you do, so that you don't fall into a rut.