Stop Player Bashing

[Shinjikoto]

So its a matter of the wrapping on the box, not the message itself?

I could swear at you and scream that you should not shoot yourself in the foot with a hand-gun and you would.

Alternatively I could ask you nicely and say the same message for your better good, both with the best intentions, and you wouldn't?

Being polite is free you know, its really not worth much when the substance is there regardless.
Sounds petty.

I'm not too sure what the word free means in this statement, but just because something is "free", doesn't mean it has no value. Giving people a certain amount of respect when you speak to them can go a very long way. Breaking through someone's ego to allow them the opportunity to consider they may be wrong isn't generally done by logic and facts, it takes a different set of skills to get someones barrier down first, then the facts can start to do their magic. However, if you are in the situation you set up where someone is about to shoot themselves in the foot, Dont be polite. Just run away.

[cidbahamut]

Giving people a certain amount of respect when you speak to them can go a very long way.

The thing is, respect needs to first be earned and can easily be forfeited if you behave poorly.

[Arcon]

The thing is, respect needs to first be earned and can easily be forfeited if you behave poorly.

Not according to the forum rules.

[cidbahamut]

Not according to the forum rules.

The forum rules do not change the realities of human interaction. If someone behaves like they are crazy and refuses to listen to reason then people are going to lose respect for them regardless of what the forum rules state. The only thing the forum rules do is determine who will get banhammered for being honest in their interactions with others.

[Shinjikoto]

The thing is, respect needs to first be earned and can easily be forfeited if you behave poorly.

I definitely agree that respect can be forfeited, and when it is, its up to the reader if they are going to stoop to the same level and engage in a war or just surround themselves with better company. But I don't feel respect should first be earned in order to be spoken to politely in an online forum. I feel that we should all be starting from a point of respect when we speak to one another to begin with. I don't know how you would go about earning respect online if you don't start by respecting eachother in the first place. We don't know anything about eachother. I post all of this assuming the goal is to actually change someone's mind about an issue such as the haste debate.