Return of the Edition War

[Plane Sailing]

Pfft. Paranoia XP is better than Paranoia 5th edition. Try finding someone who will argue the other side of that.

I wanted to play Paranoia Vista, but heard that it didn't work so well and I needed to upgrade all my dice...

 

[Piratecat]

Eh, I don't think the sides are neccisarily 3e vs 4e, or even other editions vs 4e, though. I think the sides came about from some people being fanatical about hating 4e and needing others to do so, and others being fanatical about loving 4e and needing others to do so. I think "edition war" is somewhat of a misnomer as it implies editions fighting each other; on the contrary, I think the whole thing is about and just about 4e.

So what's the solution? Is there a solution?

And Umbran, I'm in the northeast, as of course are you. Seattle can have its weather back, honestly!

 

[La Bete]

Topic bans, ala RPG.net.

"Hi (Poster X), we understand you're a big fan of (subject Y), but we've noticed you've been posting some inflammatory stuff about (subject Z). For the next (day/week/month), please do not post about (subject Z).

Thanks!"

Another aspect is that the most vitrilic threads tend to be "about the industry" you could shift them to a subforum (but I don't think that is the best plan) - perhaps you could topic-ban some posters from the industry threads?

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

I hate to say it, but Pelgrane's Trail of Cthulhu is better.

Oh, yes. I did go there.

Whatever floats your Lovecraftian (pirate) boat! I reach into the Oracle's aether and predict that Call of Cthulhu will be one of the last RPGs to go when the Dancean revolution succeeds!

Edition wars do no one any favours and are ultimately futile, they're just a vent. In capitalist societies, time and wallets matter most.

I'm not the world's biggest fan for D&D 4e, so what? I'm not teling you what to play, play what you like* as long as it's something you enjoy!

* you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu., you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu, you must play Call of Cthulhu and then Cthuhu wll eat you last. Other games are available.

 

[jaerdaph]

I wanted to play Paranoia Vista, but heard that it didn't work so well and I needed to upgrade all my dice...

You can still use your old dice, but you have to install them as Administrator, and in a folder other than Programs...

 

[Umbran]

Topic bans, ala RPG.net.

Would be, for us, rather mod-work-intensive. It is easy to ban a person from a specific thread, or from the boards. But to ban them from a subject of discussion effectively we would have to follow them around like hawks and police what subjects they choose to speak about. I don't think that'd be viable.

 

[jaerdaph]

Eh, I don't think the sides are neccisarily 3e vs 4e, or even other editions vs 4e, though. I think the sides came about from some people being fanatical about hating 4e and needing others to do so, and others being fanatical about loving 4e and needing others to do so. I think "edition war" is somewhat of a misnomer as it implies editions fighting each other; on the contrary, I think the whole thing is about and just about 4e.

I agree - and I think there is a "silent majority" who don't really care because they are too mature to participate and simply ignore the posts or threads in question like functional adults who know how to show restraint.

Someday I hope to be one of them.

 

[Mark]

So what's the solution? Is there a solution?

I get the feeling that some people who come and go and start a good deal of the trouble have come to accept the short bans as a tolerable cost of their posting routine. Perhaps it is time to consider that people with three or more short bans should take a year off.

 

[Arnwyn]

I agree with Mark.

Really, I certainly hope the moderators track who gets banned, and how many times.

People who have been banned in any way at all need to be more closely looked at, and on a constant basis. (I track a little on my own based on what I see, and it comes to no surprise for me to see the people who have been banned in some way on multiple occasions [read: more than once] are some of the most vile posters around.)

 

[LightPhoenix]

I agree - and I think there is a "silent majority" who don't really care because they are too mature to participate and simply ignore the posts or threads in question like functional adults who know how to show restraint.

*Raises hand*

Also, to me, it seems like there's never any room for middle ground in those threads. The opinion that there are parts of any game, not just 3E/4E, that are liked and disliked is anathema to those threads. Which is why I don't post in them... though I do read them from time to time.

I get the feeling that some people who come and go and start a good deal of the trouble have come to accept the short bans as a tolerable cost of their posting routine. Perhaps it is time to consider that people with three or more short bans should take a year off.

I don't know how the bans work here, but why not have a tiered system instead of a three-strikes system? For example, maybe three days/ten days/one month, and then a year-long ban (effectively a perma-ban). Perhaps it already works like that and I don't know.

Another suggestion may be some sort of internal "warning points" system. For example, every time a post gets moderated (ie, a mod needs to edit) they get a point, so you can tell who the problem users are more easily. This might be a little more work though.