D&D 4E Why is this board so down on 4E critics?

[jdrakeh]

I actually met a lurker today who mentioned to me that a lot of the threads recently have turned into 4e flame wars--but, he didn't specify a pro or anti 4e bias overall.

The downturn is a very recent thing (occuring within the last week or so, really). Prior to that, the front page of the 4e forum was about 70% 'humor' threads or other deliberate trolling attempts.

[Edit: If he means the forums in general, it's worth mentioning that this is a D&D 3x/4e message board -- coming over here deliberately to complain about those games or to promote other games at their expense often (and understandably) creates flamewars. Something that the people engaging in such behavior already know, I suspect.]

 

[Lanefan]

[Edit: ... it's worth mentioning that this is a D&D 3x/4e message board -- ...

On a larger scale, though I'm aware this started as a 3e board I wouldn't mind seeing this statement eventually be able to morph to "...this is a D&D message board...", fully inclusive of all editions. It's partway there now.

Lanefan

 

[jdrakeh]

On a larger scale, though I'm aware this started as a 3e board I wouldn't mind seeing this statement eventually be able to morph to "...this is a D&D message board...", fully inclusive of all editions. It's partway there now.

Lanefan

I wouldn't mind seeing that, either (I primarily play BFRPG and OD&D) -- that said, many fans of older editions have made this very hard in the past. There was a time when two or three non-3x communities actually planned trolling expeditions to these forums with the express intent of causing editon wars and such. And, no, I'm not exaggerrating. They had actual planning sessions.

2007 was a much better year with regard to 'raiding parties' from other forums, though there has been similar activity elsewhere lately. The cynic in me suspects that just as soon as a fruitful dialog between D&D fans of different editions is established here, The Usual Suspects will leap from the shadows to stab it in the back and take its stuff. And, ironically, many such parties also claim to want a 'community for all'.

Togetherness starts with realizing that "X is crap! If you don't play Y, you're a moron!" is not the kind of dialogue that will unite the people

 

[Nikosandros]

I wouldn't mind seeing that, either (I primarily play BFRPG and OD&D)

As a player (and lover) of multiple editions of D&D I would really like to have a place where all editions are truly welcome and it is possible to engage in meaningful comparisons and discussions.

 

[Delta]

I wouldn't mind seeing "fixed it for you" posts outright banned around here. Maybe I'm just old, but it seems abusive to use the quotation tag in a way that reverses what someone actually said.

I also wouldn't mind seeing clarification on what the mods call "threadcrapping", which seems to be a new complaint that I only see levelled at critics of 4E in the 4E forum. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised to see the term used in public posts by mods, as I'm accustomed to the "Eric's grandma" policy and all that.

 

[Rel]

I also wouldn't mind seeing clarification on what the mods call "threadcrapping", which seems to be a new complaint that I only see levelled at critics of 4E in the 4E forum. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised to see the term used in public posts by mods, as I'm accustomed to the "Eric's grandma" policy and all that.

Scandalous, isn't it?

If somebody starts a thread called, "How will you use the Points of Light approach in your game?" and you reply, "I won't use it at all, because it SUCKS!", that's threadcrapping. Basically it's disavowing that the basic premise of the thread has merit.

 

[Crothian]

People have been accused of this for years. But the term has only been used around here for a little while.

 

[Delta]

Scandalous, isn't it?

It's not clear what you're trying to communicate with this. Are you saying that "threadcrapping" is generally heard in polite conversation? Are you saying that the prior guidelines have been relaxed or changed?

 

[Lanefan]

If somebody starts a thread called, "How will you use the Points of Light approach in your game?" and you reply, "I won't use it at all, because it SUCKS!", that's threadcrapping. Basically it's disavowing that the basic premise of the thread has merit.

So "the basic premise of the thread has no merit" is not a valid and expressable point of view? Or...?

Would just "I won't use it at all." be acceptable?

Confused...

Lanefan

 

[Xath]

It's not clear what you're trying to communicate with this. Are you saying that "threadcrapping" is generally heard in polite conversation? Are you saying that the prior guidelines have been relaxed or changed?

Well, "threadcrapping" isn't generally heard anywhere because it's fairly limited to internet forums. Are you saying that the word "crap" offends you? Because I consider "crap" to fall in the same category as "darn" or "shoot."