It's hard to avoid arguing

[Hussar]

That would be pretty handy. What I would really like, though, is the ability to put myself on someone else's ignore list! Some people should really just not ever respond to my posts.

Unfortunately I don't use the ignore list myself, as it simply doesn't work. AFAIC, a working ignore list should scrub the entire existence of said ignored poster from the website.

Heh. Adding myself to an ignore list might be handy. I'd probably get myself in less trouble.

All this talk about ignore lists has me feeling terribly self conscious though. But, the earlier advice of JUST NOT POSTING is something I'm really trying to follow. Heck, there were three threads today that I hit the quick reply button, started typing and then realized it just wasn't going to get me anywhere.

Self censorship is a good thing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

How about other people? Giving up on the arguements or keeping the "good fight" going?

Once upon a time, I was that guy: xkcd - A Webcomic - Duty Calls

...Especially when it came to matters dealing with protecting intellectual property- my profession IS Entertainment Lawyer, after all.

But when the firestorm erupted about WotC's recent change in pdf policy (preceded by a couple of heated threads about piracy in general), I stopped.

I went back over a couple of the piracy threads I'd participated in over the years.

I noticed I was seeing the same posters posting the same (erroneous) assertions about the law, posts defending questionable moral/ethical positions, etc.- even after I pointed out legal texts and court decisions to the contrary, or tracts from the giants of philosophy and other moral/ethical theorists.

IOW, my efforts changed nothing.

So in Post #43 (of http://www.enworld.org/forum/off-to...w-years-resolutions-2009-a-3.html#post4750699) I resolved to abstain from any and all threads about this area- I haven't even visited the temporary forum ENWorld has set up.

I won't say its easy, either. I see some of those thread titles pop up and I can feel my pulse and respiration quicken and my face flush. I can hear my blood rush in my ears, and feel my blood pressure rise.

I want to rush in. I want to rush in like a rhetorical Paladin championing the cause of the various creators of IP. I've seen 1st hand what piracy does to them.

Then I remember I'm not getting paid to do it here, and go post in a Hive thread, "Help me create" a character or campaign thread, or something else much more enjoyable than tilting at windmills.

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

There's no point arguing over personal preferences (game editions etc) except as a form of entertainment. As such you may as well be nice. I have my preferences and I vote for those with my time and my wallet.

As has been mentioned, forums are a poor substitute for face to face communication, so extra care is needed when you're missing vocal inflection and body language. A thing a lot of people miss.

Don't post when your tired or angry. If you can , walk away and come back another day. (Unless you're a Moderator, then indeed you can't really ignore what's said.)

If you're here because you love a game and want to support that game with your presence, may as well be constructive rather than destructive about it.

Live & let live.

 

[Jack7]

(2) Some people are hyper-literal to the point that they're incapable or unwilling to admit to ambiguity in anything.

(3) Some people post as if they're in a perpetual bad mood. Every post is snappish and sarcastic. "Terse" is a good day for these folks.

QFF (Quoted for funny). Because it made me laugh.

(As an aside, I wince everytime I hear someone say something like, "It's his opinion, and we have to respect it." That's so horribly, horribly wrong it should make your teeth ache. What we should respect is someone's right to have an opinion, not the opinion itself. Oh, and while I'm at it, there's a fundamental difference between an "opinion," and a "preference." The difference is truly worth learning.)

I'd agree here too, except that, people being people, sometimes when they say a thing, they do so informally. They might say, "It's his opinion, and we have to respect it" and then might (or might not) mean exactly what you said (What we should respect is someone's right to have an opinion, not the opinion itself) but have a looser way of expressing the sentiment.

With communications, people can be very different in method and yet very similar in content. And the reverse can be true as well. Which goes back to your point no. 3, or maybe, it is hyper-definitional in some cases, rather than hyper-literal. You know, assuming the other guy doesn't meet our "definitional qualifications" of how we'd say a thing, so he must not mean what we'd initially assume he couldn't have possibly thought, regardless of the fact that when it comes to words, at best they imply, but never fully contain.

In any case, in my opinion, sometimes you have to cut the other fella some slack until you can either figure out exactly what they are saying, or can get them to clarify it in some way. Then butcher their innards.

But to me two things would avoid most "getting upset with the other guy too much."

1. Most of the time people are arguing stuff about games around here. And entertainment, things like that. That's about all you need to say about that if you think about it awhile.

2. A little humor, the ability to laugh at yourself and the other guy, well it reminds you that laughing at yourself and the other guy is very normal. Cause I've never met a perfect fella and never seen one in a mirror either.

Though my wife did tell me that I came awful close to being a perfect idiot once. So that's something I guess.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Ignoring mods:

I was curious if it were possible to ignore mod posts and apparently it is. (Of course I unignored the mod immediately)

I do not think it should be possible to ignore mod posts.

Or do mods have two types of posts? Regular and unignorable?

Looks like a setting was missed when transferring to the new boards. It is no longer possible to Ignore mods. One can certainly ignore them (the old fashioned way), but at least everyone is guaranteed to be blessed by our opinions spot our warnings.

Cheers

 

[Rechan]

Another thing I've been trying to exercise for a while is, don't be the guy to go negative in a positive thread.

It's an inevitable thing, when you get a group of people together (especially on the internet) where the topic could be Cake, and what kind of cake everyone likes. And then some guy says, "I hate cake. I like pie." He basically just kicks the mood - generally positive feelings about cake - in the teeth and says the exact opposite.

His point may very well be valid, and I am not saying dude doesn't have the right to dislike cake or express that opinion. But, it's a downer. He may have better off finding a thread about dislike of cake, or love of pie, than kill the "I like Cake" vibe.

This isn't just about edition wars - it goes to far simpler things. Discussion of movies and music and things.

 

[billd91]

His point may very well be valid, and I am not saying dude doesn't have the right to dislike cake or express that opinion. But, it's a downer. He may have better off finding a thread about dislike of cake, or love of pie, than kill the "I like Cake" vibe.

Trouble is, some discussions turn into echo chambers and could benefit from an alternative viewpoint that tones down the frenzy of positive puffery. But there really is a fine line between this sort of viewpoint and a blatant threadcrap and it's a good idea to be sure you're doing the former rather than the latter.

 

[Dedekind]

I almost posted in the "Is D&D Sexist?" thread but stopped, thanks to this thread.