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<blockquote data-quote="Scion of Vyshaan" data-source="post: 982926" data-attributes="member: 12120">On the nature of internet bulletin boardsAs a student of the English language,&nbsp; I have taken several courses on the nature of on-line communications, and while the theories are of little relevance to this conversation, I do think that something bears repeating:&nbsp; somebody does own this place.What I mean is that when we're surfing on our high speed internet cable, effortlessly and quickly communicating with people half a world away, we tend to forget that someone is paying for this service, and I don't mean our thirty dollar AOL bill.&nbsp;&nbsp; I mean the cost of hosting such a place, with which people such as Morrus, or companies such as WotC, are very familar.&nbsp; This is not a public forum, townhall, or local streetcorner.&nbsp;&nbsp; A better analogy is someone's office, desk, or living room.That said, WotC bulletin boards, like these or any other internet boards, are not under any obligation to let you say what you want to say.&nbsp; Its their boards, their rules, and their moderators are perfectly within their rights to guide a conversation the way they want.&nbsp;&nbsp; Considering the abuse posters over there tend to heap upon their friends and co-workers, I personally do not consider any of their actions to be extreme.Also, on the nature of WotC's responsibility to their consumers:&nbsp; they have none.&nbsp; Their job is to create and market a product, and as far as anyone who posts on these (or other d20 boards) they do an excellent job.&nbsp;&nbsp; While there are ethical concerns that any company has, these usually pertain to discrimination practices and dishonest advertising, and not nit-picks about news releases for other products.&nbsp;&nbsp; That said, even if WotC is a big evil corporation, that is no reason to level abuse at another person just because you don't have a PDF to play a game.&nbsp;&nbsp; The amount of verbal poison that gets leveled at other people through the faceless medium of the internet is (and get ready for some poison right here) immature, irresponsible, and cowardly.&nbsp;&nbsp; If one is truly dissatisfied with the performance of a company, a private e-mail, well written and personally signed, is better than a childish post bent on internet crucifixion.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Scion of Vyshaan, post: 982926, member: 12120"] [b]On the nature of internet bulletin boards[/b] As a student of the English language, I have taken several courses on the nature of on-line communications, and while the theories are of little relevance to this conversation, I do think that something bears repeating: somebody does own this place. What I mean is that when we're surfing on our high speed internet cable, effortlessly and quickly communicating with people half a world away, we tend to forget that someone is paying for this service, and I don't mean our thirty dollar AOL bill. I mean the cost of hosting such a place, with which people such as Morrus, or companies such as WotC, are very familar. This is not a public forum, townhall, or local streetcorner. A better analogy is someone's office, desk, or living room. That said, WotC bulletin boards, like these or any other internet boards, are not under any obligation to let you say what you want to say. Its their boards, their rules, and their moderators are perfectly within their rights to guide a conversation the way they want. Considering the abuse posters over there tend to heap upon their friends and co-workers, I personally do not consider any of their actions to be extreme. Also, on the nature of WotC's responsibility to their consumers: they have none. Their job is to create and market a product, and as far as anyone who posts on these (or other d20 boards) they do an excellent job. While there are ethical concerns that any company has, these usually pertain to discrimination practices and dishonest advertising, and not nit-picks about news releases for other products. That said, even if WotC is a big evil corporation, that is no reason to level abuse at another person just because you don't have a PDF to play a game. The amount of verbal poison that gets leveled at other people through the faceless medium of the internet is (and get ready for some poison right here) immature, irresponsible, and cowardly. If one is truly dissatisfied with the performance of a company, a private e-mail, well written and personally signed, is better than a childish post bent on internet crucifixion. [/QUOTE]

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