So we've got an interesting kettle of fish going on here.
I've just started spending time here again, and this isn't quite the place it used to be. People come, people go, I get that.
However, there is a lot of people on edge and ready to spring. When you have that going on, it puts other people on edge, and makes them ready to spring. It's contagious.
I'm seeing a few things, and you all can tell me I'm full of it if you wish, because if I wasn't prepared for that, why am I on the internet, eh?
I think there is one contingent on the boards that really takes the view that the Paizo staff are pretty much gaming celebrities. They have a tendency to defend everything they do, say, or create. That is certainly their right to do so.
However, I think this grates some people the wrong way. The Paizo guys are great game designers, by and large they are nice, personable people, but at the same time, they are human. They make mistakes, and they do things that might require clarification or call for a reply.
However, when the first contingent I mentioned see comments that question the Paizo staff, often times, they vociferously defend the staff, to the point of cutting the questioner to the quick. It is all to easy (and not right, I'll point out) to transfer frustration at someone unconditionally defending someone to the someone being defended.
There is also another contingent on the boards that thinks the only way to appear to be objective is to be a blunt and borderline (or not so borderline) insulting to point out when something doesn't sit right with them.
Unfortunately, said person from the above paragraph can pretty easily push someone that might be a fan, but not the first type of person I mentioned, into becoming the first type of unconditional defender, because they feel they have to balance out the blunt, rude, or otherwise insulting commentary. This then plays back into the frustration that some people have over people in the first category.
For all of the graciousness that the staff shows in posting regularly on the forums and being accessible to fans that support them, there are some times when some of the staff have made comments that are dismissive or snarky to people asking questions or stating negative opinions. Oft times this is due to someone with a dissenting opinion crossing a line, and oft times, people defend the staff member by pointing out that rude behavior.
The problem with this is that it sets a tone. Either you are saying that there is a double standard and the staff can be snarky and dismissive from time to time "if someone deserves it," or you accept that snarky and dismissive commentary is part of the overall tone of the boards.
I'm not a fan of that option either. The staff is really good for interacting with the fans, and I think it benefits the fans and the company for this to continue. However, I don't think even being snarky and dismissive of an overzealous critic is a good thing. If nothing else, people are far more likely to read a staff member's response than what led to that response, and without context, you only have negativity.
I will fully admit I have gotten upset at things other people have said. I've probably had a thinner skin than I should have at times. I hope that I have apologized any time that I have crossed a line, and if I have missed any time when I let my keyboard fly before I thought about the general thrust of my post, I apologize again now.
I think we all need to remember that we are all human. I think we would all do well to avoid responding in kind to snark, even if that means sometimes someone gets an unanswered snark in on you. If we want to change the tone of the boards, we have to model the behavior, all of us, or else it just becomes a game of one up, where we look for an excuse for why our snarky, insulting commentary is okay but someone else's isn't.
Don't assume the worst about anyone. If there is something in the rules that isn't clear to you, ask for a clarification, don't crucify the author or the editor. If someone does something differently than you, either ignore it or make the statement that you don't do things that way.
Try to be passionate about what you like, what excites you, and be clear and factual about what you don't like. It's too easy to come across the wrong way on the internet, so smoothing out those agitated, rough edges in your comments might actually make a difference.
. . . and I'm done! Good night everyone, make sure to tip your waiter.
Wha?
I tend not to get into flamewars and other heated arguments.
I love the Paizo boards, and I especially love when a developer or designer responds in the threads about a topic, especially if it's a topic of my own interest as well, but it drives me absolutely crazy to read the entitlement in some of the threads that demand an official Paizo response.
James Jacobs doesn't have to weigh in on every question about the setting. He does post in a lot of setting threads, and that's cool. Then, sometimes when he does, people argue with him, which is not-so-cool.
Sean K Reynolds doesn't have to weigh in on development and mechanics questions, or miniature painting questions, but he sometimes does, and that's cool.
What isn't cool is when someone demands such a response from James Jacobs, or Jason Bulmahn, or Sean K Reynolds, or Gary Teter (messageboard stuff, mainly). I've seen a few of those recently. When I do see posts like that, or people arguing with James Jacobs or Sean K Reynolds about something they made a ruling on (no Asmodean paladins, flurry of blows clarifications, clerics in Golarion must have deities, and so on) I get worried maybe the Paizo staff will distance themselves from the Paizo messageboards because of the attitudes of some customers they've engaged.
That, unfortunately, is part of the price of success though. Lots of different types of people buy the product, and, of those that come to the forums, some are going to approach the accessibility to the Paizo staff a bit differently. I just hope the staff don't get burnt-out on forum interaction because of stress from entitled customers.
Hear hear! *Raises mead mug!*