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All sides are equally as abrasive.The fact that some continue to push the above as true is only contributing to the problem.
All sides are not equally abrasive. All participants are not equally hostile. All arguments are not made equal.
The fact that YOU are claiming this is rather ironic.
Both sides are equally abrasive. 4E just has a lot less fans here...which makes sense given that this is the PAZIO boards. If you want over-moderation, then you can always visit the WotC boards.
The hardest part about being a fan of Paizo is having to reconcile being a part of the Paizo fanbase.
If that exchange doesn't turn some Paizo heads then something is seriously wrong.Its the main reason I stopped buying Paizo products a few months back. Would come here to see when the pirate and Numerian stuff was coming and get nothing but 4E/WOTC bashing...even in threads located in other sections of this board. There are better places to spend my money.
Rubbish. 4e threads here concerned with specific modules never get flame posts, or '4e bashing' posts - show me an example or two? They tend to be brief threads, but quiet at least.
Threads discussing the future (however limited) of D&D are a different ball game, that's a subject you don't need to like or play 4e in order to reasonably contribute to. Naturally that leads to clashes of opinion.
As to the alledged difficulties of being a fan of Paizo ... what utter rot! I can honestly say I have never experienced any negative reaction, of any kind whatsoever, for stating I like Paizo PF products.
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Funny thing about reality, it often upsets preconceived notions. Keeping D&D free from being lost in litigation was one of the cited rationales for the OGL according to Dancey and Adkison. And that means it did come from the point of view of the owners of the IP.
Well, OK. Doesn't, in the way things turned out, make it a sensible thing to do from the perspective of WotC. And WotC have backed away like mad since. You can blame it "on the lawyers" but seriously, as a company you have to protect the bottom line and the OGL didn't do that, it damaged it, so they have abandoned it.
Clearly they also had a certain amount of market dominance and mindshare in their intentions as well, but most people do have complex motivations behind what they're doing. Making money, taking over stewardship of the brand they loved, making a huge public relations splash in the industry, demonstrating bold leadership, and saving the game that started the RPG industry. Those motivations were pretty much all there with the acquisition of TSR, the publishing of 3rd edition, and making it OGL.
It was probably these complex motivations that got them into the whole mess of the OGL in the first place, and damaged WotC's franchise. "Bold leadership" is often corporate code for doing something that only proves to be stupid in retrospect. I still agree that, on balance, the OGL is probably good for the buying public but I don't believe it worked out so well for WotC.
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The hardest part about being a fan of Paizo is having to reconcile being a part of the Paizo fanbase.
If that exchange doesn't turn some Paizo heads then something is seriously wrong.Its the main reason I stopped buying Paizo products a few months back. Would come here to see when the pirate and Numerian stuff was coming and get nothing but 4E/WOTC bashing...even in threads located in other sections of this board. There are better places to spend my money.
Rubbish. 4e threads here concerned with specific modules never get flame posts, or '4e bashing' posts - show me an example or two? They tend to be brief threads, but quiet at least.
Threads discussing the future (however limited) of D&D are a different ball game, that's a subject you don't need to like or play 4e in order to reasonably contribute to. Naturally that leads to clashes of opinion.
As to the alledged difficulties of being a fan of Paizo ... what utter rot! I can honestly say I have never experienced any negative reaction, of any kind whatsoever, for stating I like Paizo PF products.
Customer perception is customer perception. The board is the main window into Paizo and used to be a huge strength, pre-polarisation, as you got to be quite close the management - it felt very inclusive. Now, it's more like insular.
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I still agree that, on balance, the OGL is probably good for the buying public but I don't believe it worked out so well for WotC.
I have to admit that I still disagree. The OGL helped immensely in bringing old and new players on board. 3E wouldn't have been half the success it turned out to be without the OGL so while it may certainly be true that some people used the license in a way not intended by its creator, at the end they earned much more customers (and therefore money) by the OGL than they ever lost due to it.
But I can certainly understand why something that prevents you from monopolizing the market in the long run can be seen as damaging your business.
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Now, it's more like insular.
Though I have to say that this is also due to the massive growth in Paizo's customership. I can remember a time when I was able to scan the whole messageboards for interesting comments and discussions. Now I have to concentrate on parts of the board and whith a lot of (new) people there also comes a lot of (not necessarily new) jerkism because all too often people mistake their opinion with "the truth".
That's not only a problem of the 4E forum but it certainly explains why some peoples' negative comments on the Paizo audience seem to be a bit exxagerated. There are jerks on both sides of the fence but people tend to be blind for the jerks on their own side (and their own contributions to the problem as well).
Removed posts, locking thread. Be civil to each other please.