Lots of good stuff in this thread, and..interestingly enough.. lots of examples of what to do and what *not* to do regarding maintaining a polite and productive discourse.
I failed my will save. I was going to simply avoid the rest of the subject.. after 3 pages of constructive advise on why threads degenerate into hostility, with an oft mentioned point of avoiding assumptions..comes this quote from the OP.
big dummy said:
We were talking about reform, about whether positive change can ever happen. I submit to you that that is inevitable. I'm sorry if it offends you that I say it so definitivley, but it's a fact.
Check.... What is positive change to you may not be positive change to me. As a matter of fact, your positive change may be the one key element of the game that keeps me playing DnD instead of {insert RPG here}. Defining your opinion as fact, as you have in the quote above, leads to pointless debates.
Other point, being offended when {insert RPG here} is recommended when a poster submits a suggegtion for reform {reform being used here as major changes to the basic structure of the RAW}. Its like the following conversation:
1 - I want a game that does X and Y. I can change DnD to do this by altering F, G, H, I, and Z
2 - Y'know, game S handles that pretty well
...
How to respond? either
- politely with a 'I have checked that out and it doesn't fit' or 'Hey, cool I will look at that..but still want to see how my reform works out'
- or you can go the road of pointless debates and vitrolic nonsense.
Take the time to examine your perceptions and assumptions...