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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8944810" data-attributes="member: 2629">A separate thread in opposition gives you a separate discussion.  It does not, however, prevent false conceptions about the degree of support a concept might have in the community for people that only see one of thr two (+) threads.I do have concerns about false conceptions created by some (+) threads.  I'm not saying things need to change, or that I have a better approach to offer - just that I have concerns.  When you see a thread with 200 messages supporting a topic and no opposition to it, that creates a perception of unanimous support when - without the plus - there might have been 800 posts opposing the concept.  When it comes to something as trivial as a game mechanic discussion, I don't think that is too big of a risk.  However, my concerns arise when the issue under discussion has ramifications outside the game.For example, if someone were to do a + thread with a title saying, "Wyrmwood is a high quality product and we should support them 100%! (+)" and a bunch of people who like Wyrmwood product posted their support for the quality of the products, their stories of use of products, Critical Role's use of their products, etc. ... but we didn't allow any posts that oppose Wyrmwood, including that that address recent news, we might create a false perception that there is no concern in the community for the accusations  that have recently been in the news (involving firing someone for reporting a sexual assault, stealing IP, etc.) Potentially, it could even create a perception of support for Wyrmwood by Enworld.  What would we think if that thread were used to show that 'a large number of people in the community' doesn't believe the accuser and supports Wyrmwood, and that there were dozens and dozens of posts in support of Wyrmwood without a single opposition posted in the thread?  Having a plus thread for a gaming mechanic doesn't seem terribly problematic to me.  If someone wants to have a plus thread for talking about how Bards are the best class - more power to them.  However, having a plus thread for a concept with ramifications outside the game has higher degrees of risk - and drawing a line to determine when different treatment would be appropriate would be difficult at times.Would it be ok to do a (+) thread supporting the use of explicit images in RPG artwork?  Or (+) for using historically accurate and detailed depictions of heinous acts of slavery, sexual assault, etc...?  Or a (+) thread encouraging DMs to use questionably moral techniques to trick or manipulate their players to help the DM get paid to DM?  How would we have felt about a (+) thread that supported the new TSR through the last couple of years?  Would a non-discussion based 'downvote' tool be a reasonable way for people to show an opposition to a + thread topic without 'trolling up' the discussion?</blockquote>

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