Is The Forum Getting More Antagonistic?

[Blue Orange]

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.

Nationalism (and most identity-based things--race, sex, etc.) are common sorts of violent disagreements, I can tell you from experience (as a spectrumish person who made a similar mistake a while ago). Especially if you were American and he was British, so there was more of a personal stake in it.

 

[Irlo]

What, nobody's thought of the obvious answer, given the nature of the forum?

Your D&D characters fight!

I'll be the halfling with subtle spell, shield, silvery bards, and 20 strength. Who wants to be Vecna with dread counterspell and a DC25 padlock?

 

[Lanefan]

I'll be the halfling with subtle spell, shield, silvery bards, and 20 strength. Who wants to be Vecna with dread counterspell and a DC25 padlock?

Silvery bards?

You're packing a glam-rock band with you?

Interesting strategy...

 

[niklinna]

You're packing a glam-rock band with you?

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[TheSword]

I’ve been the recipient of red text a couple of times, and no doubt skirted the line a few times as well. Not too often I hope but, it does happen. There are a couple of stances the site has taken that I don’t agree with, but as has been said it’s Morrus’ house, and you don’t get to go into someone’s house and tell them what they can and can’t do. Sure the initial feeling is to throw toys out of the pram, but inevitably when I stop, go to sleep and read it all back the next day, I rarely think that red text was outrageous.

Thousands of people brought up in a thousand different ways, with different pressures, outlooks, experiences and ideologies. In many different countries are never going to agree on everything. At the end of the day we all like talking about gaming. That’s what holds us together. The mods just try and keep it from being nasty.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Thousands of people brought up in a thousand different ways, with different pressures, outlooks, experiences and ideologies. In many different countries are never going to agree on everything. At the end of the day we all like talking about gaming. That’s what holds us together. The mods just try and keep it from being nasty.

This is a very good point. ENWorld is one of the few places on the internet where I feel like I can have real discussions with people who have very different perspectives than I do. The reason for that is moderation. We get to talk about the things we have in common, even when our political, religious, or cultural practices are different. I know there are folks on here with whom I disagree strongly about real-world issues... But because politics and religion are off the table, we can still agree or disagree civilly about gaming! It's a real relief.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Sure the initial feeling is to throw toys out of the pram, but inevitably when I stop, go to sleep and read it all back the next day, I rarely think that red text was outrageous.

I can only applaud what is written in red text. Also, as Beaumarchais wrote, without freedom to criticize, there can be no genuine praise.

Maybe a good thing would be to remove the ability to put supportive smileys to mods posts in red text. When I see 10 "thumbs up" to a thread-ban, I am not reading them as support for the moderation team for policing the forum but as "Yeah, go pound sand" message to the thread-banned people (especially if the red text message is even slightly snarky). Those smileys are certainly a contributing factor to the general hostility.

 

[TheSword]

I can only applaud what is written in red text. Also, as Beaumarchais wrote, without freedom to criticize, there can be no genuine praise.

Maybe a good thing would be to remove the ability to put supportive smileys to mods posts in red text. When I see 10 "thumbs up" to a thread-ban, I am not reading them as support for the moderation team for policing the forum but as "Yeah, go pound sand" message to the thread-banned people (especially if the red text message is even slightly snarky). Those smileys are certainly a contributing factor to the general hostility.

Well sometimes it just is support for the moderation team. I wouldn’t read too much into it.

 

[Umbran]

I can only applaud what is written in red text. Also, as Beaumarchais wrote, without freedom to criticize, there can be no genuine praise.

Folks are always free to drop moderators a PM, or report posts in which we make comments you have an issue with.

Maybe a good thing would be to remove the ability to put supportive smileys to mods posts in red text.

The board software does not support this - the red-text posts are just normal posts with color set to red. They aren't something the system can pick out for different treatment.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think things get a bit more spicy anytime an edition change-over is on the horizon. I haven't particularly noticed it this time around but maybe I missed those conversations. The editions wars between the 3E to 4E change and the 4E to 5E change were pretty ferocious. I am mostly seeing the normal levels of feuding here lately (which is to say, not zero, but for the most part nothing like prior edition changes).

My advice is try to pull back emotionally from these sorts of discussions if you are noticing patterns of behavior that bother you, and to lean on being kind to other posters as much as possible. I think a number of things happen during edition wars but something I usually sense is some of the meanness and sniping, can come from stuff in peoples lives that have nothing to do with gaming at all (and the gaming discussion seems to be a conduit for the sadness, anger or frustration they are feeling). Don't get me wrong, there are also posters who just love a good edition war. But I found in most circumstances, certainly not all, being nice to someone who is behaving that way has a much more positive effect on their posting style than when I meet angry post with an angry response (and I am certainly not guiltless when it comes to bickering over edition minutiae myself). But definitely pull away from discussions if they are stressing you.

Also like others have suggested the ignore button an be useful (even if you just need it for a day). The worst thing that can happen to you in these discussions is you see a post, it makes you angry, so you post something worded in a way you wouldn't have normally worded it, and then feel bad later. If you can, its best to either ignore those posts or wait a while before responding so your brain is cooler when you write.

Does anyone actually use the ignore feature as a temporary measure? I wish it were possible to know who was actually ignoring you. It would make it easier to parse out responses where you don't see who a poster is responding to, which can make a conversation confusing.

On topic, I know I get hot sometimes when new official stuff comes out, particularly if it's setting based (I don't really care for most of WotC 5e's setting material). Couple that with being extremely skeptical of the upcoming new edition, and most of my positive thoughts tend to be reserved for Level Up.