Quote Originally Posted by SenorPatty View Post
Been here for 8 years and my way of speaking to people hasn't changed nor is it even being careful on eggshells: it's just a matter of being simple and getting to what the actual problem is and making your peace that anyone can report you for anything. That's all.

Thing is, there are people that think getting to the person first before the problem is the way to handle situations, then get confused that people accuse them of toxicity and go for reports because they spoke neutrally. Unfortunate because while speaking neutrally should be just taken as that and everyone is on their way, there's a big difference between saying "your tactic is bad" and "we need to change tactics". Same as "your messing up this mechanic" vs "this mechanic can be cleared by doing this". Nothing guarantees that the latter both cases is going to be well received all the time but their chances do go up significantly. Now personally, while I do use this, I don't stick to it all the time as there are obviously going to be situations where you're going to have to address directly someone but as usual, the key-in this game at least-is to always speak concisely as possible and more importantly, keep it at a one time thing. Don't push it. If it's rejected, leave it- another thing that some people also can't seem to do.
You might not believe me, but that's exact guidance I use, generally not pressing people after first thrown words.