A few words to some postersFollow

You know, there's always going to be "those" kind of posters. I think it comes with popularity: when a site such as this one attracts lots of people, it is pretty much guaranteed that a certain percentage of aforementioned people will be "special." Special as in creating topics such as "0Mg WTF?" or "I need gold wer 2 farm" and so on and so forth.

I don't mind "special" threads. I can easily ignore them, usually based on the thread title alone. Makes things easy.

A lot of people who flock to Allah, however, have originated VERY useful threads and interesting topics and guides (myself not included, as I'm more the kind of person who chimes in opinions on existing subjects rather than writing guides and initiating discussions).

And this is where we come to my personal problem with these boards:

What really grates on my nerves, and what will usually rile me up is when typically GREAT posters believe that their opinion on a matter is the only correct one and all other contrary opinions are ****, and will not only inform you of this but will insult you in the process. This first happened to me several months ago, perhpas even longer back, when I stated my opinion in a particular PvP-oriented thread. Mere moments later, a usually awesome poster quoted me, informed me that I was "ignorant" and "selfish" among other things, that should he ever come across anyone in-game that shared the same opinion as myself that he would be /spit on them... and to top it off, an entirely new thread was started in which the opening argument was why the opinion I (and a number of others) held was completely stupid and absurd and that we all essentially suck at both life and WoW.

That's when things on Allah started going way downhill in my eyes, and when my outlook towards this site became heavily skewed towards the negative.

Add this to the times where I've been straight-up told that my postcount sucks and therefore so do I, and that I deserve in no way shape or form to be a Sage (although I could care less what my title is as it makes absolutely no difference on these boards so long as you're over Default; after all, I didn't rate myself up) and have had posts rated down strictly for that reason (as though rating is a weapon of some sort), that I should simply stop posting here, etc, and all the many, MANY times I've seen regulars on here "critique" and rate down other people's posts as if they have a degree in the literary arts... and, well, it's a bloody wonder I'm still here to bother y'all with what I think. Yet here I am, for better or for worse.

Anyway, I think that "special" posts by "special" people are unavoidable, much like moths are unavoidable when it comes to bright lights. This is not to condone "special" posters, mind you, but they comes with the territory. It'd be a waste of energy to target these people. Simply ignore or rate down and keep going.

My point, and I'm pretty sure I have one in here somewhere, is I believe that if you really want to make a difference in these boards, if you really want to improve the quality of life here at Allakhazam, then we all should work on turning the negative, aggressive, holier-than-thou attitudes of some of the regular posters around. After all, these people with the high post-counts (which apparently count for a alot) and the lordly titles are the same people that new and old users alike are supposed to be looking up to. It sets a bad example when someone with 6,000+ posts and the title of Scholar or even Sage is telling average users who're merely sharing their thoughts on a subject that they're wrong, and that they suck, or are infantile, or are peons, or are stupid, etc., and that they really shouldn't be making posts on this site.

Who the hell would ever want to come back after experiencing something like that?

Except for myself, of course, because I seem to be a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, that's my 2c.

Well: beat me to the punch there I think Krystalmyth....

Honestly, I give mazra credit for it too, honesty is a wonderful thing if done properly.

Let me just say, I am one of those people in the background generally. I will rate you (or anyone) down and not speak up if they really make me mad.

Generally this is because, If you cant say something nice, dont say anything at all. Thus i dont or try not too.

But if you only make me slighly mad, or do something stupid I always speak up and let the person know why im giving the rate down.

Im not rating this whole entire post, for one good reason. It doesnt contribute to the main wow forums board. If it did, everything pertinent would get a rate up. But honestly it doesnt, and I try to limit when i hit that rate posts button.

Removed because I'm not getting through.

Let the thread die.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2007 7:15pm by Mazra

Bang your head! Metaljeff will drive you mad!

Let's see what Jeffy's quality looks like, shall we? Just a small sample, mind you:

From your first post, Uhh BG is lame now, you had the following gems to share:







And that's just in the first thread you ever made. Yeah, you're a real keeper.

Edit: Oh, it takes a few people to get you to sub-default, Jeffy. Maz is one, I'm another, whenever you spout crap like that. Obviously there are other people that feel the same way about your brand of "personality" posts.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2007 2:45pm by Wondroustremor

Watch, in a week there will be a post about some posters being condescending. Seriously, you call people out and then get upset when they take a swipe back at you?

These threads are best left for the sandbox.

Constructive criticism is hard enough to take in person where you have the advantages of voice tone, facial expressions and such but it is almost impossible to give it in a text-based forum such as this and have the advice taken as intended.

After perusing various threads in this forum, I really don't feel that some posters rate or deserve any warning or helpful advice meant to help them become better posters because some posters really just post things in an effort to get other people mad at them. I don't see any point in trying to help someone who obviously has no interest in becoming a useful member of the community.



I also feel that while there are people who will rate down any posts that disagree with their own view, most of us do appreciate intelligent debate and will even rate-up a dissenting but well-presented opinion. BUT, there is a big difference between making a post that disagrees with another poster and making a post that simply flames another poster with name-calling, profanity, and other personal attacks.

Personally, I don't really mind if people disagree with me or show where I have made an error. I do mind if people attack 'me' instead of the ideas or opinions that I post.

I love homosexual insinuations, but I'm not a premium member and I didn't start this thread... so the best I can do is give you a super-special imaginary gold star! ;-)

Nononono. That's equivalent to saying my tv remote is a tool of totalitarian media control, when it isn't. It's simply a device that allows me to watch what I want to watch (be the choices ever so limited :P), and not see all the mindless, boring, uninformative, specious and badly thought-out waffle that makes up 95% of the tv schedule.

I like this analogy, even though it needs a little work.

Edited, Jan 3rd 2007 3:33pm by Eschatologist