Why the need for confession?

[Rechan]

I personally feel that it's a need to state your opinion. You have an opinion, and you must share it so that it is heard.

It's the equivalent of going on a food forum and starting a thread only to say "I've had too much chocolate this week and I am sick of chocolate and I'm not going to eat chocolate for while".

It's nothing but the need to state an opinion. The OP of these threads never ask for advice, never look for discussion, it's just "I felt the need to start a whole new discussion calling attention to my opinion. Here it is. Thanks for stopping by".

Folks, we have things for that, they're called BLOGS. They are even on ENWorld.

(And for the individual who will inevitably make the comment that thi spost is just stating my opinion without looking for anything in response, my pre-emptive rebuttal is that I'm answering the question posed by the OP. This is my theory on what the OP is asking: the origin of these "Opinion Statement Threads".)

 

[ppaladin123]

I think it's part of how people do 'word of mouth' reviews in real life (Don't see X, it was crap!) and looking for some sympathy, but more importantly reinforcement. Especially in a place like this. They're changing groups, so they might feel the need for others to agree with them to reinforce their descision to ditch whatever game it is.

It's probably similar to how group therapy or support groups spend a lot of time commiserating and stating what they've done.

I think this is often true though I'll add that it isn't necessarily a conscious motivation and that people rarely have singular motives. Remember also that consensus builds community. When you state your like/dislike of something you create an in-group/out-group distinction. Positive, stable Relationships (e.g. friendships) and networks of such relationships often form on the basis of similar likes/dislikes. This is true in cyberspace as well. In this case enworld may serve as an "assumed community." Posters may a. expect agreement/commiseration thus strengthening bonds and b. be legitimately surprised when their post elicits negative responses from others assumed to be similar in tastes.

 

[ppaladin123]

I personally feel that it's a need to state your opinion. You have an opinion, and you must share it so that it is heard.

This reminds me of a favorite poem by Stephen Crane:

A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

 

[pogre]

For me it serves two purposes:

1. Lets everyone know my books are available for sale

2. A kind of review. I actually delved into a lot of these confessional-type posts about folks who tried 4e and did not like it. I personally struggled with why D&D 4e did not seem to suit me or my group. We really embraced it and played it through for an entire campaign and yet... something was missing.

Those confessional posts helped me to pinpoint why it did not work for us.

 

[JoeGKushner]

For me it serves two purposes:

1. Lets everyone know my books are available for sale

2. A kind of review. I actually delved into a lot of these confessional-type posts about folks who tried 4e and did not like it. I personally struggled with why D&D 4e did not seem to suit me or my group. We really embraced it and played it through for an entire campaign and yet... something was missing.

Those confessional posts helped me to pinpoint why it did not work for us.

How does that work for you? I ask because I generally don't see it always being the same issue with the game system on those posts. Sometimes it's against WoTC, sometimes it's against an element of the engine, sometimes it's against the use of miniatures/maps, etc...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Because if we didn't talk about our experiences on ENWorld, this place would be much less interesting?

It's a forum for airing opinions. "Confessionals" are opinions, too.

-O

This.

Spoiler

In lieu of XP I can't give you before spreading it around a little more.

 

[pogre]

How does that work for you? I ask because I generally don't see it always being the same issue with the game system on those posts. Sometimes it's against WoTC, sometimes it's against an element of the engine, sometimes it's against the use of miniatures/maps, etc...

I agree there are a multitude of reasons given. However, there is someone who is usually on the same page as me, but perhaps expresses it better. I'll often find a post that makes me say, "Aha! That's it in a nutshell." It is a given I will have to sift through dozens of posts that don't, but I find those reflections interesting as well.

 

[Jhaelen]

For me it serves two purposes:

1. Lets everyone know my books are available for sale

2. A kind of review. I actually delved into a lot of these confessional-type posts about folks who tried 4e and did not like it. I personally struggled with why D&D 4e did not seem to suit me or my group. We really embraced it and played it through for an entire campaign and yet... something was missing.

Those confessional posts helped me to pinpoint why it did not work for us.

I'd never have thought about 1. to be honest. Maybe it's because I've never sold any rpg book since I started buying them 25+ years ago.

Reason 2., though, is why I am very interested in reading them. Unlike most reviews those 'confessions' are (usually) written after having played the game extensively. Thus they can reveal a lot more about a system than is obvious at first glance or after a couple of test sessions.

In other words: Please continue to post public confessions, everyone!

 

[roguerouge]

Haven't you ever noticed that some people think out loud? This is the internet version of that. Some people go to their various friends and have the same conversation with each of them, get insights, but mostly they're doing their thinking verbally. It's the nonconfrontational conversational equivalent to learning via debate.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Haven't you ever noticed that some people think out loud? This is the internet version of that. Some people go to their various friends and have the same conversation with each of them, get insights, but mostly they're doing their thinking verbally. It's the nonconfrontational conversational equivalent to learning via debate.

I'd consider it thinking if it wasn't the same conversation with several different people and repeated several different times. In that case, it's usually preaching and a different opinion is rarely welcome. In my experience of course. Thinking, the process of thinking, of taking in new information, modifying current thoughts, adopting new details, etc..., rarely seems to go into a lot of these internet posts. I wish I could point out numerous threads where a poster has gone, "Wow, that changed my mind completely. Turns out I was wrong!" Mind you, I have seen them but they are like the vanishing food supplies of the ocean.