OK, we're gettng a little annoyed here!

[Plane Sailing]

For years there....people would flame, people would fight, and yet it was cathartic. Posters would get the bile out of their systems, and then they'd be done with it.

This is an opinion that I've heard in many contexts (both real life and online) and I don't buy it. While it may work for some people, the majority of the time I see aggression begetting more aggression; it may or not prove cathartic for the person doing it, but other people can still end up hurt, which is not a good result in my mind (and this can include innocent bystanders and not just the subject to which the ire is vented).

Cheers

 

[MojoGM]

This is an opinion that I've heard in many contexts (both real life and online) and I don't buy it. While it may work for some people, the majority of the time I see aggression begetting more aggression; it may or not prove cathartic for the person doing it, but other people can still end up hurt, which is not a good result in my mind (and this can include innocent bystanders and not just the subject to which the ire is vented).

Cheers

Bold emphasis mine.

This goes back to what others have said about people needing to develop thicker skin. Nothing posted on a message board should really have the ability to "hurt" someone. And if it does, that person needs to get a little tougher.

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

Bold emphasis mine.

This goes back to what others have said about people needing to develop thicker skin. Nothing posted on a message board should really have the ability to "hurt" someone. And if it does, that person needs to get a little tougher.

Precisely.

Repeat after me, everyone: "There is no way nerd rage can hurt me. His/Her way of pretending to be an elf is not better than my way of pretending to be an elf. I can just ignore him/her/it."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It doesn't matter if people are right to be hurt, the fact is that they are, and to use loaded language that can be reasonably expected to cause a flamewar is a problem at this point.

"I can say what I want, because people freaking out in response is unreasonable" might be true, in theory, but at this moment in time (and arguably, at every moment in time) is just going to cause more hassle than it's worth.

Civility is not a huge imposition and it's a pretty minor thing for the mods to ask for.

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

I approve of civility. I don't approve of being able to be hurt by messageboard text. My god, what must these folks do in the outside world?

 

[MojoGM]

In a way I'm glad this all came up. I've been wanting to discuss it for awhile now, but could never think of a way to open the door to the topic.

But recently I've seen a trend where the Mods are a little heavy handed to shut down what they term as a "flame war" which is really just spirited disagreement. And 4E seemed to make it all worse.

Like I said earlier, I've seen many a thread shut down JUST as it was getting to be an interesting read, and one hint of a cantankerous poster caused it to be locked. Now, I can see shutting down out and out insult-fests, but come on! So people throw veiled insults at each other that flies under the radar and it all gets a little tedious.

I agree that we should all try to be civil to each other, but if your ego is so fragile that a post by some stranger on a messageboard can actually cause you one iota of distress after you've moved past the post then life in the real world must really wreck you.

 

[diaglo]

Judging by the past few months, some people's Grandmas are backstabbing bitter old women who cuss like drunken rock stars on a one-nighter.

yup. she was.

but keep up the good work admins and mods. youse guys stay healthy and hang in there.

 

[Sacrificial Lamb]

This is an opinion that I've heard in many contexts (both real life and online) and I don't buy it. While it may work for some people, the majority of the time I see aggression begetting more aggression; it may or not prove cathartic for the person doing it, but other people can still end up hurt, which is not a good result in my mind (and this can include innocent bystanders and not just the subject to which the ire is vented).

Cheers

Fair enough. But I believe a greatly relaxed moderation style is not only easier on the mods, but it's easier on the posters too.

Hypothetical question. What if we were allowed to say almost anything on the forums, as long as we didn't stray off topic for too long? What if we were allowed to flame each other, and fight over 3e and 4e? What would happen? Let's imagine a theoretical exercise in which, say one week from now, ENWorld STOPPED MODERATING. Well, almost.

Imagine the climate of the forums. If a thread was off-topic, it would be moved to the correct sub-forum. If someone spammed or issued racial epithets, then they'd quickly be banned. Sock-puppet accounts would be deleted. ENWorld does this already, right?

But here's where it gets tricky....

Let's pretend the mods say this:

"Hey, guys...new policy. Aside from the basic moderation listed above, as well as maintenance, and bearing of news, WE'LL STAY OUT OF YOUR WAY. You can use nasty swear words. You now have the option of saying that 3e is stinkier than old fish, and that all who play it are mentally decrepit. You wanna inform the 4e players that they have the mental fortitude of a brain-damaged chimp? Knock yourselves out! But be aware of the fact, that if you deliberately troll, other posters will NOT hesitate to call you out on the way you act, and the things you say. When you present ideas, you invite criticism and debate, and if you cannot handle THAT, then you WILL be mocked pitilessly until you lighten the Heck up."

"The reason for this astounding change, is that Eric's Grandma quite spontaneously travelled to Uruguay, met a cabin boy named Rodrigues, and is currently living in sin with said cabin boy on a houseboat on the South Atlantic Ocean. Amazingly, she has no Internet connection, so we are now free of the risk of offending her most delicate eyes."

So what would happen then? Utter chaos? Excitement? Laughter? Anger? Tears? Would the passive-aggressiveness be drastically reduced? All of the above? Would there be MORE tension in the forums LONG-TERM than there is now, or LESS? Would ENWorld be better for the change, or worse? Or would it be NEITHER better nor worse, but instead just....."DIFFERENT"?

 

[ThirdWizard]

So what would happen then? Utter chaos? Excitement? Laughter? Anger? Tears? Would the passive-aggressiveness be drastically reduced? All of the above? Would there be MORE tension in the forums LONG-TERM than there is now, or LESS? Would ENWorld be better for the change, or worse? Or would it be NEITHER better nor worse, but instead just....."DIFFERENT"?

Based on personal past experiences with that kind of thing, one side would push the other out, through sheer volume, after a giant flame war. The forum would end up either pro or anti 4e with little to no room for anyone of the opposing viewpoint. After that time flames would die down, but as soon as someone of the opposite view decided to post, they would be flamed so hard that they would immediately leave, rinse, repeat.

At least that's what I've seen happen with non-rpg related things.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

Also, since this site does draw revenue in the form of supporter account purchases, I would assume that you want to be as inclusive as possible. There will always be people who are turned off my rule A or lack of rule B, but in the end, what EN World does is probably what is best for EN World.