Quote Originally Posted by Theodric View Post
Too many social media sites promote fly by commentary rather than deep discussion, unfortunately. I don't bother saying much on Twitter and instead use it for fan art/watching game trailers. I don't think the downvote function on Reddit promotes healthy discussion, either.
I don't disagree about Twitter, but Twitter is a lot less niche of a community than here. This place settles into its own division of cliques and echo chambers, doesn't allow people who aren't currently playing the game to comment, and has an annoyingly restrictive post limit system. And I'm not any more of a fan of upvotes than downvotes.

Quote Originally Posted by Theodric View Post
I'd say it was pretty relaxed back in ARR and HW. SB was a bit divisive and did Ala Mhigo dirty but I don't recall much vitriol being spewed at anyone who criticised the game. ShB and EW both have progressively more hostility aimed at anyone who suggests that something could be better.

On some level I think it's due to the game's age. It really should arguably be doing more to shake off the rust but we're still getting more of the same.
ARR and Heavensward were largely positive because people were "wow"ing over how improved 2.0 was over its predecessor, and HW was an almost universally-beloved expansion. That latter is also true of ShB to an extent, and Stormblood was nearly the opposite, with most people finding it lackluster.

EW's "problem" is that it's super polarizing. People either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it and revile anyone who doesn't agree with their personal opinion. I personally think the people who dislike the expac have more thought-out opinions than those who do not, but the hate train bandwagoning doesn't take long to go full steam.