Is The Forum Getting More Antagonistic?

[Alzrius]

I don’t ‘serve’ you, Alzrius.

EN World is a community; this can't be disputed. The most important part of any community is the people in it; that's something which shouldn't be disputed, but sadly all too often is. As such, the ones who manage that community therefore have a responsibility to its people. To say that they're in service to them is, in other words, a recognition of that responsibility.

If you don't agree with any of the above, then there's really no basis for continuing this discussion. As such, I'll excuse myself from this thread.

 

[MGibster]

This is especially common when discussing any elements of the game that they think are bad for the hobby (instead of just being bad for their table or against their own preferences). So for some it's hard to tell when someone has an implied "In my opinion" in their post or are just going on a rant about how everyone else is having "badwrongfun" and their way of playing is the "One True Way".

I just assume it's there regardless of the poster's intention. They may post it as fact, but I know it's an opinion and I don't really care if they act like it's a fact. That's just me though, and it's okay if others handle such things in a different way. And there are some people with boorish behavior who treat other styles of play as "badwrongfun" which is unfortunate.

And, as a person diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, it's pretty difficult for me to tell the difference between the two. Three words can go a long way to tell whether the person is engaging in good faith or bad faith for me.

I understand where you're coming from. While I recognize it can be more difficult for those on the spectrum, it can be messy for those of us who aren't as well. I once got into a near shouting match with an Englishman over whether or not the American colonist were justified in breaking away from Great Britain. And believe me, I never really considered anyone could get into a serious argument about something like that but apparently we were both emotionally invested in our points of view. Communication is actually pretty complicated with subtle cues that are sometimes difficult to pick up on.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I once got into a near shouting match with an Englishman over whether or not the American colonist were justified in breaking away from Great Britain. And believe me, I never really considered anyone could get into a serious argument about something like that but apparently we were both emotionally invested in our points of view.

I am pretty sure the Internet had boards where people had arguments over whether the TRADE FEDERATION was justified in breaking from the Galactic Republic, so I am really not surprised by your example...

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

I've wondered sometimes what the web would be like if each person only got to post something like three things total each day.

rn, in its time the best of brand newsreader, reminded the user every time they were about to post that the act, summed over all the systems the post would be sent to, would cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars (which at one time was likely true). It didn't help.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Which is exactly why we don't have it, or the rolleyes.

Can we get rid of the shrug?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Can we get rid of the shrug?

i mean … ¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[JiffyPopTart]

That is true, but it seems like a separate issue, or at least a more extreme case than currently stated.

The stated problem was about being uncomfortable debating a mod. If someone is uncomfortable in discussion with one of us, using an alternate account should not make them comfortable doing so - we are still who we are, after all.

It is unclear how many people are so uncomfortable with the prospect of debating one of us that they want a safeguard against ever even doing so by accident. If that number were so large that it was affecting operation of the site, that might be an issue we'd want to address somehow. But we are unlikely to entirely change how we do things for just a couple of posters.

Just a data point for sosmething that happened to me.

I have, in two different threads in the past, been unfairly jumped by mods-as-posters in ways that were personal. In both of those cases I chose to not flag the comment...because why bother to do that against the mod who is going to review it?

I almost never flag a post. I'd be surprised if I have even flagged one post a year in the time I have been here. I would have had two more flags had I thought it would have even been considered fairly.

I accept all of us are humans and we can all sometimes have a bad day but it is true there are probably many members who don't feel like they can debate or call out a mod.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

You could,( but in my opinion), it's a bit silly to think adults need to clarify that they're stating an opinion. I don't know about everyone here, but when I was a wee lad in grade school we had lessons on the differences between factual statements and opinions. I had to take a test and everything and I'm not really bothered when I see someone make a blanket statement like, "D&D is a great rules set for a campaign featuring a lot of subtle political intrigue." I disagree vehemently with that opinion, but it doesn't offend me. You probably get a lot of pushback because we'd have to write "In my opinion" before almost every single post here, because, you know, most of what we discuss are just opinions.


Okay, well, forget about the imagination and just accept that people have different opinions and it's usually nothing to get upset about even if it's radically different from our own.

The problem being that I'm fairly certain not every poster here...

1. Realizes their opinion is theirs only, not everyone's.

2. Accepts others opinion as valid without federal courtroom level evidence provided supporting it.

 

[Zardnaar]

not for everyone

and this leads (because it doesn't just ignore one way) to whole threads having responses that make no sense... I have twice in the last few months responded to someone who I THOUGHT was responding to me since they were right under me, but they responded to someone who has me blocked, and as such I was 'picking a fight' I didn't need to.

there are pros and cons to both, and using either too much seems to be as bad as not useing them

Bad joke I know they exist I just don't use them.

 

[Morrus]

EN World is a community; this can't be disputed. The most important part of any community is the people in it; that's something which shouldn't be disputed, but sadly all too often is. As such, the ones who manage that community therefore have a responsibility to its people. To say that they're in service to them is, in other words, a recognition of that responsibility.

If you don't agree with any of the above, then there's really no basis for continuing this discussion. As such, I'll excuse myself from this thread.

Much as I enjoy semantic arguments (read: I don't), I'm not going to respond to that. I will merely reiterate what I said above. You're a guest in my house and are expected to conduct yourself accordingly; that's basically it. If you can't agree with that, you need to excuse yourself from the forum. This isn't a debate; I'm telling you how it is.