# (kinda OT) Is is just me, or...



## demiurge1138 (May 20, 2003)

...are the Wizards boards kinda rude?
I've been on them less than a week, and I've already had one of my ideas insulted (not costructively criticized, just insulted), and a fully statted PrC completely ignored (although I'm used to that on these boards).

Has anyone else had the same problem?
Demiurge out.


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## fba827 (May 20, 2003)

My _personal_ experience is that the members of the WotC boards are MUCH more diverse (in terms of general maturity) since it is the "main" board so it attracts more attention.  That being the case, I have found several people to be exceptionally rude and some people to be nice / constructive.  It's just that the rude people are so much louder/noticable that they are the more visible.

Because of all this (again, just my experiences -- your experiences may vary in total) I really do not go there for any "feedback" - just for general information on what the Wiz_O folks post (i.e. reading information, not posting looking for feedback).


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

The Intraweb, in general, is rude.  Find the places you like and do the best you can to keep them civil.  Your most precious comodity is time and can never be replaced.  Try not to waste it tilting windmills.


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## senodam (May 20, 2003)

That is the reason I'm now mooching about over here..after several months I just got sick of the loudmouths and boors over at WoTC's boards..so much comfier here


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

senodam said:
			
		

> *That is the reason I'm now mooching about over here..after several months I just got sick of the loudmouths and boors over at WoTC's boards..so much comfier here  *




I hear ya!  Not many places online as relatively friendly as this one.  Thank the Gods for Eric, Morrus, PC, all the mods and posters...


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## Celtavian (May 20, 2003)

*Re*

I think it is because this board has more active moderation. The moderators generally make good judgements about what threads to allow and disallow. This is one of the best moderated boards I have ever been to as far as being reasonably open to ideas, while filtering out the usual flames that occur on other message boards.


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

*Re: Re*



			
				Celtavian said:
			
		

> *I think it is because this board has more active moderation. The moderators generally make good judgements about what threads to allow and disallow. This is one of the best moderated boards I have ever been to as far as being reasonably open to ideas, while filtering out the usual flames that occur on other message boards. *




That's very true and there's also a sense of community that breeds helping one another that is rare on other message boards.  You find it in smatterings elsewhere but here it is the main focus.  Good stuff!


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## fba827 (May 20, 2003)

Mark said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I hear ya!  Not many places online as relatively friendly as this one.  Thank the Gods for Eric, Morrus, PC, all the mods and posters...  *




Let us not forget the often neglegected Smile emoticons.  They have single-handedly averted more than one possible crisis!


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

fba827 said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Let us not forget the often neglegected Smile emoticons.  They have single-handedly averted more than one possible crisis!
> 
> *




And yet, some emoticons have been villified...


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## ColonelHardisson (May 20, 2003)

Ironically, I've seen a number of other boards where EN World is considered the rude, unfriendly place. It's kind of an internet provincialism.


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## fba827 (May 20, 2003)

Mark said:
			
		

> *
> 
> And yet, some emoticons have been villified...
> 
> ...





As they should ... those jerks are just trouble makers...





(umm, something tells me this is about to get bumped to meta).  Sorry for the side-trek of topic here   Carry on.


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

fba827 said:
			
		

> *(umm, something tells me this is about to get bumped to meta).  Sorry for the side-trek of topic here   Carry on. *




That's a good point.  I wonder how long it will last in the Gen Disc Forum...

I'll guess no more thasn ten more posts.


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## Hypersmurf (May 20, 2003)

> *And yet, some emoticons have been villified... *




You know, I must admit... my first reaction to that damned |rolleyes| is usually an urge to punch somebody...

-Hyp.


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> *
> 
> You know, I must admit... my first reaction to that damned |rolleyes| is usually an urge to punch somebody...
> 
> -Hyp. *




You forgot to add a smilie... 

_Now back to the Rules Forum with you! (...where the "rolly eyes" smilie is used in abundance...)_


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## Hypersmurf (May 20, 2003)

> *You forgot to add a smilie... *




Oh, no, I bloody didn't 



> *Now back to the Rules Forum with you! (...where the "rolly eyes" smilie is used in abundance...)  *




Yeah, well... not by me, it isn't 

-Hyp.


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Oh, no, I bloody didn't  *




Hee hee hee 




			
				Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> *Yeah, well... not by me, it isn't
> 
> -Hyp. *




Too true, good Hyp.  Too true...


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## Sirius_Black (May 20, 2003)

demiurge1138 asked:



> Is is just me, or... are the Wizards boards kinda rude?




It's not just you.  I have visited several message boards.  WOTC is by far the rudest.  Every message board has problem children and bad moments. However, no board can come close to some of the immature posters you will encounter at WOTC.

Celtavian observed:




> I think it is because this board has more active moderation




Wise observation and dead on in my not so humble opinion.  WOTC has horrible moderation.  I've dealt with one of the moderators on the WOTC board trying to report a problem once.  It was...an enlightening experience.

Thus, I'm very appreciative of a board that has good moderators.  Thank you ENWORLD for having such people.

Of course, if you think the message board is bad, try going to a chat hosted by WOTC.   I've seen ****fights between monkeys at the zoo organized better.

ColonelHardisson revealed:



> I've seen a number of other boards where EN World is considered the rude, unfriendly place




Really? Which ones? Is EN World considered the snobs of the D20 community?  

D20 Player and EN World member #1: "Oh look over there, that's one of those Bastion Press posters."

Player and Member #2: "Oh, I hope he/she doesn't come over here. I cannot stand him/her mingling with us. Plus, can you believe he/she has yet to watch the Matrix Reloaded more than three times. What a cultural buffon.

Bastion Press Poster: Hi guys!

Member #1 and #2: HI! Nice to see you again.


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## fba827 (May 20, 2003)

Sirius_Black said:
			
		

> *Really? Which ones? Is EN World considered the snobs of the D20 community?
> 
> D20 Player and EN World member #1: "Oh look over there, that's one of those Bastion Press posters."
> 
> ...




Umm.. Sirius_Black -- do you have conversations with yourself outside of rpgs very often?


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## Mark (May 20, 2003)

fba827 said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Umm.. Sirius_Black -- do you have conversations with yourself outside of rpgs very often?  *




Comes in handy while DMing, doesn't it?


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## Ranger REG (May 20, 2003)

For the Wizards' board it is pretty diverse as well as very populated. So you get a whole spectrum of behaviors exhibited. You just got to learn to develop a thick skin.


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## Thresher (May 20, 2003)

The Greyhawk forum there is pretty friendly, kinda like a lot of old drunk guys sitting around a pub reminicing about a line of cars or bikes that "arent made like that anymore".

Prestige classes, its not to bad as long as you can take some brutally honest critcism of your creation. Theres a few gems that pop up here which are quite creative.

As for the rest of it..

Well they renamed the MIN-MAX forum the "Character Optimization" forum, fact remains its still just full of rules lawyers.

Then theres the 'Mature think tank' section, which is about as mature as a pre school full of Bevis and Butthead clones full of amphetamines who giggle every time someone mentions 'bo0bies' while sad, lost little cases ask questions like 'Is Incest Evil?' amidst the bo0bie posts.

BOVD section, if ever there was a reason for Monty Cook to cry tears of blood its this place. (No really! It is THAT BAD I swear!)

Other places to avoid
Forgotten Realms Boards. Um, just do NOT go there ok, trust me.
I was sort of warming to FR, then I went here. Now I just want to move a Spelljamming Deathstar off planet and crack the sucker right down the middle.

Savage Species, where the people from the min-max forum go to grow bastards of 1000 maniacs by cross breeding paragon trees with half Drow dragons. 
then apply a vampire template.
then inflict it on their GM...

Whats a Player to Do?
A: Dont go here
B: Ask their GM

Whats a GM to do?
A: Dont go here
B: Slap their PC's about the face and get some guts

Races Forum, well if you ever wanted to know if the race your playing is a gimp or broken then they'll set you straight.

Deities and Demigods 
"MY GOD IS MORE H4RDC0RE THAN YOUR GOD!"
Throw in +5 AK47's and its a jihad waiting to happen 



(The above is sort of joking, sorta like poking someone in the eye type joke, except with a sharp stick covered in poo, type joke...)


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## Hypersmurf (May 20, 2003)

> *Well they renamed the MIN-MAX forum the "Character Optimization" forum, fact remains its still just full of rules lawyers.*




You say that like it's a bad thing...?

-Hyp.


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## Gez (May 20, 2003)

Yeh, but their rule-lawyers are silly. When you compare the min-max combos to EN World's very own smackdowns, you'll constate that smackdowns are both more rule-legit and more powerful...

This may have changed now, but yeah, I've been there once and it was enough.

These times, I frequent the Web, Monster, and FR general forums, sometimes peeking in the MotP, OA, or Psionics forums.


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## Carnifex (May 20, 2003)

Thresher said:
			
		

> *
> Deities and Demigods
> "MY GOD IS MORE H4RDC0RE THAN YOUR GOD!"
> Throw in +5 AK47's and its a jihad waiting to happen
> *




Curse you, Thresher! I was drinking tea when I read that and narrowly avoided redecorating the keyboard in it; instead I ended up snorting it into my nose  

Another reminder to always be carefuly of drinking while reading these boards


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## KenM (May 20, 2003)

From what I understand, the people at WOTC don't even look at they're own fourms. I think it would be a good place to look and see what the gaming public wants, and as a company react to it.
  I was very critical of WOTC on that fourm,for not getting etools fixed fast. I posted my thoughts intellegently IMO and all I got was insulted/ flamed by the WOTC fanboys. It is pretty bad over there, but thats one of the reasons I like ENworld better. Also I have broadband and some days the fourms there are so slow its unreal.  Its not the worse one, that prize goes to the offical battlefield 1942 fourms. When you post over there asking a simple question, 95% of the time the first few replies are insults/ flames.


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## arwink (May 20, 2003)

ColonelHardisson said:
			
		

> *Ironically, I've seen a number of other boards where EN World is considered the rude, unfriendly place. It's kind of an internet provincialism. *




Heh, I can still remember holding that opinion, a little over a year and a half ago.

Of course, that was before the board in question exploded in a flurry of short-lived negativity and I was lured here long enough to avoid going back


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## Henry (May 20, 2003)

Regarding rudeness quotients, it's a matter of personal preference. Mark's advice is sound - find a place (or two) you like, and contribute all you can.

Many times on other boards I've run into others who have described examples of rudeness or intolerance from these forums, and most of the time I can neither prove nor disprove the claims. The examples I get are usually "not on my watch," or they are ones I missed totally. As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle between someone's negative account, and what people on the boards say happened.

All humans are jerks at some point in our lives - it just depends on what day you catch people on.


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## Dismas (May 20, 2003)

I tend to stay around the d20 boards (Modern, CoC, General) and Meta and tend to stay away from the DnD ones. 

On the whole I haven't found a problem with rudeness or raving fanboys and as an added bonus Charles Ryan is very active on the modern boards helping out with any questions people might have.


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