(Split from "Seven Misconceptions") Cult of GNS

[Christopher Kubasik]

Jeez, do I feel dopey for being all goofy now.

[Laurel]

Jeez, do I feel dopey for being all goofy now.

No way!  Goofiness is one of the best ways to release tension and remind people of life's priorities :)

[Valamir]

Matt did raise some entirely valid issues, and I have to agree that when I was new to the Forge I witnessed behavior (not directed at me as I recall) that I interpreted in much the same way as he did.

No matter how much we'd like to think otherwise perceptions do matter and are often based on reactions that have little to do with logic.  While we may not overly worry about an individual who storms out in a huff, I do somewhat worry about the reputation about the Forge he spreads.  Not so much because I care about reputation directly, but more as a concern of how many people who do have valuable contributions to make who don't bother coming here because of that reputation (unfair as it is).

That said, I think the Forge members today make a much greater and more successful effort to welcome people here than 8-10 months ago, so I don't think there is any real need to launch a major "kinder gentler Forge" initiative.  As long as we all continue to be aware of that the impression we give while saying something is as important to fashioning perceptions as what we actually say, I think we've done everything we can reasonably do.

After all, to be perfectly blunt about it, I'm not willing to see the quality of discussion at the Forge suffer in order to cater to an open base of posters.  RPG.Net is a very public type forum, they welcome all and sundry who care to post.  While I appreciate the egalitarian nature of it, it is a set-up guarenteed to to generate alot of noise.

The Forge adhers to higher standards.  We expect our posters to actually be contributors.  And sometimes that will mean, in the words of the Immortal Henry Higgins, that we need to "Throw the baggage out!".  Or more precisely, let the baggage throw themselves out.

I find myself adhering to this idea elsewhere on the internet as well.  Where one time I had joined 5 or 6 mailing lists, I am now down to one.  And that one is an invitation only list dedicated to Science Fiction Conflict Simulations (aka space games) and is filled with more astrophysicists and Defense Department research gurus than you can shake a stick at.  The atmosphere on the list is very similiar to the atmosphere here, and I find its an atmosphere I like.

As I get older I find that I'd rather eat at Mortons than McDonalds.

[GB Steve]

Sigh.

And no attempt whatsoever to say, "Ron, you're the content moderator dude at the Forge, and I think I'm being mistreated." No dialogue. No attempt to find common ground. No reflection on point A from you, then point B from others, and then how B relates to A.

Paraphrase: "They disagree with me, so I must not be welcome."

Amazing, isn't it?

Best,
Ron

P.S. Clinton does not delete messages except for double-posts and other glitches. All message-deletions have been performed by their authors, or with the permission of their authors. [Clinton, if I'm over-stating this, then correct me in Site Discussion.]

OK, there was perhaps some petulence on my part but half my post had been deleted. I never suggested that it had been done on purpose. Although the syntax was technically correct, the forum software objected to the mixing of HTML and BBCode and deleted everything after the quote. I entered the text at the top in desperation after seeing what a hash it had made of my post.

But, and I think this is a pretty big but, I have been trying to engage you in discussion. You fobbed me off with a pretty poor excuse and I didn't see that I was going to get a better explanation by another means.

I thought I'd better leave it there. If you fancy trying to reach some middle ground send me a private mail. If you don't see that I have any grounds for complaint, then please delete my account from The Forge.

All the best,
GB Steve

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

I have taken my discussion to private mail with Steve, if he desires to continue.

I do have some public observations to make about his last post.

1) Note the contradiction - he is willing to try to reach a middle ground, but only if he is agreed with.

2) Note the ultimatum - I (or whoever) is to agree with him that he is badly treated here, or else.

3) Note the unnecessary quality of the threat - if this issue were strictly about his comfort, all he need do is leave. What matters to him, evidenced by the use of that thread, is to make Forge members "feel bad."

#1-3 cannot be explained except in terms of the emotional need to strike back at a perceived slight (without any double-check to see whether there was indeed a slight). They were phrased grammatically and with decent vocabulary, but their content is precisely equivalent to a tearful "Fuck you!" and a slamming door.

As such, I consider them flames (see the thread in Site Discussion in which I define flaming at the Forge; it ain't the typical definition). I consider flames infantile. My solution to infantile things is to ignore them.

As I said, I've accepted Steve's invite to private discussion.

Best,
Ron[/i]