Friendly or critical? Which posts best?

[sitearm]

Many people have remarked that the "tone" of these Official CotN forums is friendly, helpful, positive etc. For me this is the first gaming forum I ever participated in and I have jumped in with both feet. Others more familiar with gaming forums state that these Official CotN forums are noticeably more friendly etc. than others they participate in.

So I ask a dumb question: is this a good thing? Is being friendly and positive better than being blunt and critical? Is there ever a time for both styles?

Personally I prefer friendly... but a nagging thought says that nothing NEW ever got built without REPLACING something old. And tearing OUT something that exists to replace it with something new COULD be construed as being, well, rather rude don't cha' know?

So maybe we need to accomodate multi-styles? If our goal is to help people use the AS-IS game, perhaps it is best to be friendly and positive. If our goal is to create TO-BE games, perhaps it is best to be blunt and critical. And aren't these two goals something we all share? We want a fun game NOW but we know eventually we'll be done with it. So we will want a fun game in the FUTURE that goes beyond what we've played before.

How can these forums help everyone with different styles and different priorities on the goals? How can a poor reader tell which kind of a thread she or he is reading?

How can these "official" forums co-exist with the excellent CotN fan forums now building and growing?

Heck, how can these forums help the &*#$ world be a better place?!

* 2nd career organization development facilitator really really wants to know! *

[Helle]

Its possible to be critical in a friendly manner. Theres no need to be rude.

[Helle]

Wasnt really refering to anyone specific. Was more the blunt and critical i refered to, most people cant be blunt without being rude.

Im just saying that its possible to be critical in a positive way. critical isnt nessesary a bad thing, and if you are positive and friendly when you deliever your critisisme people are more likely to listen to it.

[Maatkaamun]

In my opinion, criticism can be valuable, but should be constructive and polite. Our grandmothers were right when they said "You get more friends/cooperation/etc with honey than with vinegar."

Rants have their place, which is to vent frustrations and highlight something that is causing frustration, but (IMO) should be bracketed with a disclaimer (yay homegrown, whose example post has now evaporated from this thread :confused: ), so I know I can skip them and don't have to read something that will only depress or agitate me.

Forums, like most computer communications, are funny places. It seems like posters/emailers/etc, since they can't see the person they're talking to, forget all the socializations their parents tried to instill in them and become as rude, obnoxious, and petty as possible. The net seems filled with spoiled three-year-olds sometimes. :(

However, because we can't see eachother is *exactly* the reason to include emoticons, polite phrases, disclaimers, etc. So much of communication's content is non-verbal :cool:, but in text, verbal is all we have, so we need to augment as much as possible.

But whatever for? Why should I make the effort to be polite, welcoming, and friendly? Because it's attractive. We want people to come to these forums and stay. You want people to answer your questions. I want a pleasant conversational experience. This is what community is all about. :)

My 2-loaves worth. :p

[homegrown]

LOL, yeah, I'm having some caffeine deficiencies this morning so I'm self-moderating. :)

homegrown
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I swear, if TM doesn't release a random map generator script, I'm going to just scream.

[Innovan]

Several times already rude people have been "flagged". Every post has the exclaimation point in the triangle in the upper right hand corner. The moderators have usually been responsive, the post removed, and in extreme cases the offending person has been banned.

I myself am bored and annoyed so many posts in the technical forum start with ":mad:". I'll note in passing those that haven't paid a dime and are only playing the free demo are the most likely to be rude.

Forums are on-line communities.

"Communities" are not created by jabbering babies screaming their heads off while running around in circles with a full diaper. Nor is it very "entertaining" for people buying "entertainment software" to logon and see a forum of that caliber for the title they just bought.

[sitearm]

Homegrown: I liked your (now disappeared) post because of the (suggested) <rant> </rant> tags.

Fore-warning a reader is great! We all can be friendly vs. blunt at different times. It works, as you demonstrated with your sample rant, to give advance notice :)

LOL, yeah, I'm having some caffeine deficiencies this morning so I'm self-moderating. :)

[vic_4]

It looks like it is a carachteristique of city building forums. I must say all forums on citybuilding I have visited are friendly and pacate. It could be due to the kind of game which is set to achieve goals which are not competitive and the game is all set to build and not to destroy. Also probably to like this kind of game you must not be too aggressive.

[NumakNatut III]

Several times already rude people have been "flagged". Every post has the exclaimation point in the triangle in the upper right hand corner.

Does the little caution flag actually mean what you say it does? In that case we all got flagged. Is that a warning! OMG! Now I feel really bad. I am not rude. I'm not! Please! >sob< make it stop... :eek: :(


On the other hand, and for the record; I unequivocally concur that civility is paramount in the forum.

[NanaBanana]

There are bound to be a few disgruntled peeps showing up. It happens in all forums. Granted, the only forums I visit are the CB forums. Even in those, where Keith has been a moddie for years, I have seen him take rude peeps to task about their rude, obnoxious and bordering on vulgar posts.

Take it to heart that rude peeps will be dealt with in a swift manner. :D

The exclamation icon can be added to your posts by you. Just check the bar above the submit button. :p

[Bugsy]

I must have missed something horrible somewhere, I'm lost. It's been my experience here we've had a few small tiffs, but nothing like the wars you can find on aol. Lord those go on for YEARS! Best soap operas on the net! lol

As for the Exclamation mark mentioned, it's the one in the top right hand corner. It does not mean you HAVE been flagged. It is the link to REPORT a bad post. Everyone has the power to report a post to our wonderful moderator to take care of if he feels it warrants it.

I think it is good to be both blunt, and honest, but also civil and polite. It is posssible. A lot of times I think I come off much differently than I mean to, and I don't hesitate to apologize. But the devs who do read the forums with us, need us to be blunt and honest in what we like. They get a much better idea realistically at what the fans would like.

After all, the fans have to like what they make, or they go under. They have done so well with that so far. They have shown they hear us, they have shown they care. I've never seen a forum where the devs were as involved. It's a very cool, unique experience here for me. :)

[Boobootifi]

For the past couple years I've been an active Everquest player. Believe me, these forums are incredibly pleasant and civilized, comparatively speaking. I'm on a couple forums there which are very good, but there are a few where people take active joy in crapping on anyone who comes within sight of them. (Kind of like monkeys).

And frankly, good advice wrapped in poisonous paper is probably going to get ignored.

...Boo