Taking a Break

[GoodKingJayIII]

Rule 12 for retaining sanity on the internet:

Thou shalt not care what a random stranger on the internet says or does.

I can agree with that. But here's the rub: I'm already doing it. Specifically, I don't visit websites and forums unless I care about the content. If I have a succession of negative experiences, I back off because it's not worth my time or energy getting embroiled in debates where hordes of people talk around and over each other, and neither seems to realize that they are trying to force the other to alter their opinions, which is a difficult thing to do in real debates, let alone on web forums.

I come here because I (mostly) do care. But lately I find myself caring less and less. So why should I bother?

Obviously I haven't cut off all connections. I'll still hang around. But I'm wanting to read fewer and fewer threads lately, and if that's the case, what's the point?

 

[Dragon Snack]

It can't all be laid at the feet of "edition wars", that's just the latest thing...

I feel much the same way as the OP. There are a couple of things that I come back for, but I ignore 99% of what's here. It's pretty sad that when I do report a post that nothing seems to be done about it (and this is a board where mods will post warnings in threads).

I have one player who used to post here who makes fun of "the boards" being stupid, something must have happened to give him that attitude. I have another player who had over 20 people on their ignore list, but I haven't seen them posting here lately so they may be gone as well (we don't bring up "the boards" at game because of the first player).

ENWorld isn't a friendly place, but it's got some good info if you dig around or it. I considered buying a community supporter account (and one for the other player who posts/posted here) when they had the "sale" a few months back, but then realized that I wouldn't actually pay for a place like this.

Not that I think this post will help any. Probably the opposite...

 

[Schmoe]

That's too bad. I'm surprised you don't find the posters here friendly. For the most part, I think people here are courteous and helpful. Perhaps there's been some impact with an influx of new players, hence new to the boards, and hence not familiar with conduct here as opposed to typical internet forums.

At any rate, it sounds like you might have (drums please) forum burn-out. Especially if you're not interested in the hot topic, which seems to be edition controversy these days, you just might not be interested in what people are talking about right now. Take a break for a month or two (or six, like me) and maybe you'll be interested in peeking in again to see what's happening. If not, don't sweat it. There are bigger things in life than an internet forum.

 

[Maggan]

I'm not a founding member. I don't have an absurdly high post count. I often don't get to threads until they're well under way. I don't have an awesome story hour. I don't grace anyone's signature. I'm not gaming with any of the mods. In short, I'm a pretty average member, and generally go unnoticed around here.

FWIW, that's something I could put in my sig.

/M

 

[Rel]

I'm not gaming with any of the mods.

Yeah me neither. That should change at GenCon though!

But seriously, I hear where you're coming from. It's undeniable that ENWorld is having a bit of an identity crisis lately. It's not entirely unexpected but that doesn't make it more pleasant to live through.

If it makes you feel any better here's a couple things to consider:

First, you may think that you are "nobody of note" but that's not entirely true. I know and recognized your username and what springs to mind is "solid contributor". In other words, it's having folks like you here that makes us willing to deal with some of the other, more horrid, posters that require wrangling by us mods. *Rel stops short of singing Wind Beneath My Wings*

Also be assured that, while we're going through a rough patch, this is not the new status quo. There are some discussions going on behind the scenes as to what can be done to make ENW the friendly, civil, informative place that we all know it can be.

I really hope you'll hang around to see those efforts come to fruition. Because we need people here for whom that is a goal. Regardless of your decision, you've been a welcome member here and I thank you for that.

 

[Urbannen]

I agree with the OP somewhat. I always thought ENWorld was pretty positive overall, and debates fairly objective. Recently I've been reading threads and seeing more nasty arguments where before I would have expected all interesting posts. I think the mods are trying what they can to reverse the trend. I used to go on the MonteCook.com boards (early 2000's), and it was like that most all the time (if you know who Carhien is, you know what I'm talking about). Of course, back then I think I wanted to be involved in nasty debates...

This is a tough time for the hobby. Factions are inevitable in this Microsoft age of mass conversion. I think ENWorld is trying to deal with it as well as they can. I play 3.5 and am neutral about 4E.

Personally I would like a "General" forum in the 3E section, since right now it is only rules and house rules.

 

[MadMaxim]

I still enjoy the community here even though it's seriously split because of the arrival of 4th edition, as Rel mentioned, the community is all over the place from extreme optimism to extreme pesssimism. I still think you can discuss anything rpg-related with the friendly people around here, even though I'm not what you would call a solid contributor. Many people respond to wildly different topics and I'm really glad to hear other people's opinions even if they don't mesh completely with my own, because that's how you get a discussion going about pros and cons of different things and seeing topics from another point of view. I'm sorry to hear you go, though, GoodKingJayIII. We'll save a seat for you when you come back

 

[Varianor Abroad]

If you feel that you are getting kicked in the shin from a messageboard post then either you are being attacked personally (which shouldn't be happening here thanks to great mods) or its possible that you are very sensitive about criticism of game that you enjoy.

Here's where it's tough to draw observations based on the internet. Knowing Jay in person, I can say that he's the most laid back guy in history. (Okay, maybe not all history, but recent history.) I'm still hanging around, but Jay's observations are spot on.

 

[helium3]

it's not worth my time or energy getting embroiled in debates where hordes of people talk around and over each other, and neither seems to realize that they are trying to force the other to alter their opinions, which is a difficult thing to do in real debates, let alone on web forums.

I agree with this part wholeheartedly.

But, I also think that this is how web-forums tend to roll.

Taking a break is always a great idea. It's not like perusing a web-board is important work or something.

 

[the Jester]

First, you may think that you are "nobody of note" but that's not entirely true. I know and recognized your username and what springs to mind is "solid contributor".

Agreed.

Take a break if you need to, mang, but know that you are noticed and will be missed.