RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Hi
I hope i am not contributing to the problem any more with this post, but something has been bugging me for the last few days: The forums are coming down with a nasty case of Troll lately. And not the kind you get rid off with a few well-placed fireballs.
I have seen quite a few off-topic discussions going off previously productive threads, and a general degradation of the usefulness of the forums. Seems to me that all too many posters trumpet their particular horn (be it the abomination gays in Sandpoint, the horrible presumption to print in china, or the *gasp* decision to make a certain NPC good) very loudly.
Now, i know some people are not as jaded as i am, and actually care deeply about these issues... but i guess these boards are not the best place to try and resolve issues that have so far resisted solving on a much grander scale.
What all this is getting to? Moderators, fire at will. ;) No, seriously. A good community needs policemen, and if some discussion gets out of hand, some intervention can often bring it back to more productive routes. Few (if any) unmoderated communities of any size do not sooner or later degenerate into permanent flamewars.
You may now slow-roast me over an open fire for being such a narrow-minded prick.
Agreed that unmoderated "flame wars" are no fun, but I'm not sure that banning all opinions on any topic is the way to prevent them. If someone feels that a "certain NPC" (I have no idea to which one you're referring) should be chaotic neutral or whatever, then hopefully a civil discussion can be had without the boards inevitably sliding into a pit of fire as you describe. Some of the posts on printing in China have been insightful; others crass, as you pointed out; but after a few days the fire died down and Paizo addressed the concerns on both sides clearly and fairly.
Personally, I think that Paizo's moderators have done a great job so far letting people know when they've stepped over the line.
Unfortunately, I think they're tied up trying to explain why they don't control the post office.
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I agree with Kirth. I have posted in (and moderated) quite some messageboards so far, but I've yet to see another one where people behave more civilized than here. There have been some exceptions, but the community has been quite able to handle those trolls in the past.
In my opinion people should be allowed to voice their opinion. It is much more clever to allow some healthy measure of thread-jacking than to tell people simply to shut up. Makes them angry and that garantees some people to develop from expressing overly voiced opinions to become agressive trolls.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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I've refrained from moderating so far, since i know i would probably not do a very good job at it. And i hate overzealous moderating as much as the next guy. Unfortunately, stricter moderating ss the only cure that stops the slide i think is happening.
However, since the majority so far seems to consider things alright, i'll just cross my fingers and hope for the best (I seem to be doing this a whole lot lately).
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I can think of only one solution:
BAN SEBASTIAN!
Edit: This problem cropped up briefly during the cancellation of Dragon/Dungeon. You couldn't throw a stone without hitting some ridiculous flame war. Hopefully, as the 4e dust settles, things will revert back to the regulars on the forum who, while prone to wandering off topic, are a good group of folks.*
*Plus me.
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This problem cropped up briefly during the cancellation of Dragon/Dungeon. You couldn't throw a stone without hitting some ridiculous flame war.
I think that this is the main problem, many people with the mag subscriptions are getting their first pathfinder, and many are criticizing anything that are not exactly like it was done before in the beloved magazines. While I loved the magazines as much as the next guy, this new world is much more interesting to me than anything done in the magazines beforehand. I think once people get used to the new format/price/product it will get back to where it was before the change.
Director of Sales
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What all this is getting to? Moderators, fire at will. ;) No, seriously. A good community needs policemen, and if some discussion gets out of hand, some intervention can often bring it back to more productive routes. Few (if any) unmoderated communities of any size do not sooner or later degenerate into permanent flamewars.
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Worry not, Terra, we are watching! Very little escapes the The Great Eye (lidless.. wreathed in Code...) and we have the tools to moderate and have used them when necessary.
However we prefer to use them with a light hand because, as several pointed out above, we have an excellent community here* who conduct themselves and police themselves exceptionally.
Thanks for your comments, and rest assured that we are and always will do whatever we can to keep these 'boards above par**.
Thanks,
cos
**And, as soon as the hit squad finds him, we will "take care of" our Sebastian problem, as well. Unfortunately, he's very wily.
:)
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Lol Thanks Cosmo, now I have an image of a bald, clean-shaven dwarf in a white gilly suit covered with various letters hiding amongst the posts.I picture same dwarf in the bushes outside sabastian's house with a straight jacket and a half-orc cohort around the corner to hold sabatian down....
lol, I was actually referring to Sebastian who's avatar is a dwarf (he is wily...)
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I'm not sure if it's that I'm wily so much as the Paizo assassins are incompetent. I mean c'mon guys, you've got my address, my credit card number, probably my ISP. It's not as if those are all elaborate ruses to disguise my true nature.*
*Which is a pulsing brain floating in a jar of brine and mountain dew.
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Which is a pulsing brain floating in a jar of brine and mountain dew...
Hmmmmm... a disembodied brain endowed with superhuman levels of sarcastic ability and a penchant for furiously defending the shining light of 4th edition? It seems as the identity of the mysterious GLEEMAX has finally been discovered!
*gasp*
Yay! More censorship. Sign me up.