To A Healthier Gaming Community!

[Umo]

and I have to say I've been lucky in both SWtOR and TSW with meeting some nice people through random pickup groups.

That's not a matter of luck, but a matter of choice. You don't meet nice people: most of the times, you are kind enough to get the others be kind with you.
OT, I'm supporting Hestern's ideas. Absolutely.

[Hestern_Nestern]

I always enjoy these threads and you are right we should remember that we are talking to other human beings just like us and try to envision ourselves face to face, at least this helps me. However I grew up when forums first appeared and the forum warrior is pretty strong in me, it can be hard to resist a well placed flame or two, it's almost like it's part of the communication process. I can also say that some of my best online battles with people have resulted in lasting online friendships oddly enough. Maybe because we all enjoyed a good debate?

I'm not trying to excuse the behavior but just shedding some understanding on how it happens. :P I'm also a card carrying member of the Bioware network and to that I can honestly say that the social network was the worst thing to happen to our community. When it was just a forum like this one it was fine, and I've known a lot of the same old members from back then and they were all pretty mature intelligent people. Then ME2 blew up the community (or was it DAO?) and we've got too many people to deal with. Like the WoW forums... >.>

This is why a smaller community is a good thing in this respect.

Oh, believe me, I've made my own ifrit-charged responses back in my day. It is a rather amusing truth, I suppose, that IRL I am a very easily annoyed person, despite how understanding I try to be online. But, on the internet, it is so much easier for me, because I can ignore my stronger emotions and focus on giving meaningful responses to other posters. Of course, a mean response is so much quicker to write, as when I am being nice I spend twenty minutes OR MORE on most of my posts just to get the right flow to the thing and also the right intent crafted down.

I am trying to improve the way I approach everyday conversations IRL and I like to use the internet as a way to practice that technique. It seems to be working for me -- well, ever so slowly. Did I mention the ever so slowly bit? Teehee.

Thanks for your post and for allowing me to understand a few things.

Edit: I forgot to say that I have made a few friends through good "debates" as well. It's weird but - hey - sometimes it works. (insert laughing emoticon here)

[Altena]

emo stuff

I am the dead opposite.. I am a kind, gentle, caring soul in RL..

On here I can be a royal arse.

As for repeat threads, I would much rather a page full of threads about completely different topics, over a page full of threads whinging about beta not being out.. That is the sort of level we are hitting at the moment.

[SkyeWindbinder]

I've wondered about why people got so upset over a question being repeated for awhile now. Personally, it doesn't bother me for the most part (except those trolls that think its funny to announce they got an email from SE, that annoys me lol). I think there are some people out there who see a new post, hope for new information, and are so sorely disappointed that its a repeat thread, they lash out. Then, because those people have set a standard, we soon get the followers who want to elevate themselves above the crowd, and see a repeat thread and attack it because it has become "the thing to do". That's when we see the "LOCK THIS THREAD" and "SEARCH THE FORUMS BEFORE YOU POST" people spamming a thread.
Irony is, if they didn't post, or just answered the question, the post would soon disappear from the first page.

I'm glad to see someone else thinks this way.

I never had even a little problem with people repeating a question. Especially since sometimes SE just doesn't want to give an answer, lol. Who really cares? The only kind of people who really would are those with waaaaay too much time on their hands. Just my $0.02.

[Hestern_Nestern]

I've wondered about why people got so upset over a question being repeated for awhile now... [insightful words]

I'm glad to see someone else thinks this way... []

I believe Lady's assessment of the situation is right. I also like what you had to say on the matter. It is definitely reinforced to the point of not really thinking about it and just taking action. Also, and I know this is vapid of me, but I am extremely honoured to have you two in my thread, I just have to say.

I am the dead opposite.. I am a kind, gentle, caring soul in RL..

On here I can be a royal arse.

As for repeat threads, I would much rather a page full of threads about completely different topics, over a page full of threads whinging about beta not being out.. That is the sort of level we are hitting at the moment.

:O gasp! You quoted my post as "emo stuff"! Why you , I oughta rock'em sock'em robots, I oughta crispy creme doughnuts, I oughta let ma urban dictionary go nutz, I oughta... just kidding! I am a little emotional lalafell, aren't I? Even now, I am tearing up over the wasted beauty of the pistachio shells that I have picked apart while reading this thread: "OH, SO COMPLETE, YET MY SELFISH HUNGER BROKE YOU!!!".

Hmm, I didn't mean to suggest that I wasn't nice at all or that I eat people alive with my words IRL. It was more my meek attempt to dispel any notion that I thought I was or think I am some white angel of Yesterday's Nests. Teehee.

I can understand your irritation at repeat posters, given the lack of things to do in relation to FFXIV, and everyone's excitement. It's understandable. I wouldn't tell you to discard those feelings. I think the best approach to such threads would be to avoid posting in them, as a thread without posts is a dead thread indeed.

[ispano]

You think this is bad. Try somewhere like the Bioware forums if you want to see what a toxic community is really like.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

[Cendres]

Forum rules and nettiquette is something that has been really lax in the past 5-7 years or so. It used to be a lot more strict when communities were smaller and there were more volunteer moderators. You would not start a new thread if there was already an old one on the same topic, but then later on they introduced the necro thread, so you could not post in a thread that was too old and you had to begin a new one.

These two opposing rules have been the cause of a lot of annoyance in forums where the mods don't stress what it is that they want done. In here it's okay but there could be more enforcement on duplicate threads especially if they are hours apart...... >.>

[Radacci]

No, people are dumb, and i want to punch them!
You shouldn't talk to dumb people, so they don't get no silly ideas that it's ok to be dumb. Or if you do talk to them, you should point out how dumb they are, so they can become less dumb. But if they could be made less dumb, they wouldn't have been so dumb to begin with? Look at Bush for example, you think he could be made less dumb? i think not.
Cookies for all non-dumb people, and a punch in the face for the rest

I am the dead opposite.. I am a kind, gentle, caring soul in RL..

On here I can be a royal arse.

As for repeat threads, I would much rather a page full of threads about completely different topics, over a page full of threads whinging about beta not being out.. That is the sort of level we are hitting at the moment.

haha same here.
i'm the nicest guy, but on the internet, i'm fuming with rage ^^
but that's just cause of the sheer mountainous wall of stupidity that some people show, and i don't understand how people can be so dense and stupid
but then again, sometimes i look back on old posts i made, and i cringe, and wonder what the fck i was thinking. so i guess i should try to think more in line, that those stupid people are just having a stupid moment, and i should be more forgiving
it's difficult to know peoples intentions on internet; if they are serious or just trolling. but sometimes i feel like punching first, and ask questions after ;D

[Pwnagraphic]

I thought this was going to be a post about healthy eating, exercise, and when to know enough is enough for one day of gaming.. Hm.

[Dzian]

I think often topics get repeated because no answers ever surface. or the devs seem quiet about what we the player base. (generally speaking) percieve as important issues. yet occassionally information about things that we the player base consider insignificant surface.

this is all generally speaking. but to various degrees it can be fairly visible if you scroll back through various threads such as the live letter questions. you get some questions that feel like they should be more relelvenat than others. and often see questions that seemingly have a hundred likes get ignored and qustions with 4 or 5 likes get answered. some i've asked myself admittedly but there a questions others ask that i would rather see the answer to than some of those of my own.

I kind of feel that a lot of people are trying to put faith in ARR sucess but on occassions the lack of information on "hot topics" sometimes doesn't help fill people with confidence. but i do feel is a big factor in the sometimes dozens of threads about the same subject. while i don't blame the devs for this. ultimately they can only publish information they're given i do think it would help a lot if we the player base felt a little more heard at times.

for example discussions such as the item binding topic are pretty hot topics with 3 or 4 fairly large threads circling but there has been no clarification or information on the specifics or attempts to reassure the player base.

other topics in the past have been regarding ARRs loot system, content difficulty, Relic quests, and the infamous RNG.

all of which you could consider fairly major topics and critical to the games success. if contents to easy then theres no satisfaction in clearing it. if drops are impossible to get drop rates then people will likely give up. yes people spammed the hell out of dungeons for darklight but i wonder how many of those people would have stuck around if it arr wasnt waiting for them...

in short i guess being a little more forthcoming with answers and information would help the community a lot.