fine line - rant or rave [all off topic]
Mistwell,
I understand where you are coming from. I have been at sites where the entire site either trolled or flamed, probably to get attention. It is not a fun time. It also ends up that everyone focuses on such negative things.
It is also not a fun time when I think that someone is pushing something on me. My wife does that to me a lot. What I have found, though, is that after doing what was pushed on me, I found I enjoyed it. Obviously, your mileage will vary.
The problem is that email, internet, IMing, etc. are all TERRIBLE ways of communicating. No matter how many times I use
s, *grin*s or IMOs, it still doesn't convey how I am saying something. And therefore, I think the reader's mood will fill in the blanks of all of the non verbals, which make up most of our communicating process.
When I asked you to have an open mind, it was in reference to your particular response. I did not see in your earlier responses where you said you had watched them and didn't like them. All I knew was what you had said, which was to talk about ratings and how not everyone would get those references. Therefore, I interpreted that as you had not watched them before.
So, my suggestiong to have an open mind, then, was to suggest that you might like them since I was reading (albeit between the lines) that you hadn't seen them before. Perhaps my wording was poor, and if that is the case, I apologize. That was not my intent.
I know that what I like, most people don't. The shows that I like and watch are rarely in the top 20 ranked shows. I have always liked the more fringe or syndicated shows, compared to mainstream stuff.
What I didn't appreciate is that fact that you are ranting at me for things that others said. I didn't suggest you leave this thread. I only suggested you try a couple of TV shows that I liked that I thought you might like. In that, I think I was following the good advice of Thoreau, who said, "to think that what holds true in your own heart is true for others, that is genius." I think that is a very nice way of saying that assuming that someone will like what I like isn't a bad thing. It is more positive than assuming they won't like it and reacting that way.
Now, this is a bit subjective, but I think a discussion of how ANY character from TV will fit in the d20 Modern rules is just fine for a discussion of the generic classes. I will say that it is too bad that a show was chosen that you don't like. To that, I would merely say that I think you could have jumped in with your own example from any TV show you watch, rather than ranting, as your original post did, about something that others enjoy. I personally don't want to be seen as stopping someone from having fun. I will express my opinion, as I am doing here, but my intent is to be positive and not to put down anyone else as I do express my own opinion.
As my title says, there is a fine line between rant and rave. I don't know where this falls. Again, it could be based on the mood of the reader. I will just ask you this:
Is it better to say something negative or something positive? And which did you do with your original post?
I am not asking you to change anything about yourself. THAT WOULD be arrogance. I am just asking you to look at what you posted and ask yourself if that is how you want to be perceived.
I will also say this, I will accept any constructive criticism people have about my own posts and will gladly ignore flames! *grin*
Thanks for reading! Good discussion!
edg
