How to be positive and well spoken.

I made this thread so people can give other players tips on how to be the best on the forums. Post whatever you think is okay as a tip.
THIS IS NOT ME TRYING GET TO BE A PLANETARY VANGAURD, mods and members. Please don't say anything related to "Methinks he doth protest too much." To me.

Sorry for double posting... maybe somebody can learn from this....
Tip #1

Methinks you doth protest too much.

muahahahahaha.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

First tip: don't double post.

Don't derail threads. (I'm looking at you, mirror)

Don't turn threads into a 5 page argument between two people. (Still looking at you)

Don't make irrelevant threads that have no relation to the game in the general discussion forum.
I'm here for planet smashing, not an English lesson.

Quality > Quantity

Helpful/Kind > Rules Nazi



If you you really have time to kill....
Help to champion your favorite cause by collecting info, sorting info and gathering like-minds together
See my sig

I think a lot of people read extra emotion (especially anger) into text when that emotion otherwise isn't present. You should always try to read (and respond) to posts in a neutral manner to avoid any inappropriate responses. Often times people are seeing things that do not exist or interpreting something in the wrong way. I always try to give the author of a post the benefit of the doubt before I assume any malicious or angry intent in their text.

I also think it helps to put yourself in someone else's shoes. When you read something you disagree with, it helps to think through all the reasons that poster might think the way that they do, and how they lead to the conclusions that they have. This helps to promote more thoughtful discussion and less "I hate this idea, just because" type posts, which generally devolve into even worse things. It is also a much better way to convert people to your side if it is an argument of opinion (which it often is on most forums).

Also keep in mind that a person's post is just that, an opinion. It is okay to disagree with someone and just say "we disagree on this". You don't want to continue arguing with someone that obviously has vastly different views. You can't convert everybody to your way of thinking. All you can do is present your case and hope for the best.

So is this Secretly a planetary Vanguard Recruitment thread? Count me recruited.

haha,

I tend to follow "Do unto others, as you want others to do unto you." -Some golden rule somewhere

If someone attacks you in their post, they have made their choice in words, it doesn't mean you have to write an equally vile response. Be reasonable and people will remember that.

and remember,

This is just a forum on some video game deep in the Internets, don't be king kong when things upset you. There is to many good things in the world to just get upset about forum posts or things not going your way.

+1

wow i am the worst person on this forum can i have a badge for that

There is a very fine line between being helpful and being unhelpful when it comes to dealing with new players posting here.

They ask an overly common overly answered question:
-Asking them to do a search, it is helpful but not directly, and if they are as lazy as we think they won't anyway sadly.
-One-line-post linking the stickied resource, short straight to the point and does answer the question directly.
-Quoting from that link, short and even more direct, but more time consuming.
-A paragraph thread about the subject to answer it, it is what I do but it is really really time consuming to do that.

I am considering changing my approach to either 2 or 3 from above. Personally, one could believe that 1 doesn't solve anything and neither does 4 really considering the internet's short attention span.

Be polite, respect others' opinions and acknowledge that though you may disagree with something, it does not always make that person wrong.

I generally live by the Wiccan motto of "An it harm none, do thy will."

Always be open-minded, and welcoming. We're all here for a common reason, or multiple ones, so treat everyone well. We're all practically friends here.

Don't take things personally, don't lash out, don't be spiteful.

I could go on about this all day, really.

Whenever giving positive criticism, it helps to lie through your teeth.


That counts as a tip, right?

A better rule of thumb - if you're going to criticise an action, suggest an alternative action

If you can't counter the other argument attack their personality or writing errors instead

Take the others arguments to the ridiculous extreme thereby nullifying it

Acknowledge OP post with a short condescending statement but take the thread into an entire new topic

Make assumptional statements on the behalf of other posters and disprove them in the same post thereby destroying their integrity and image

Just act like a politician and we will get along just fine

you just explained how the forums nowdays in allot of games

What to not do:

Fallacies: for example making up poor arguments to support your personal opinion (eg. "In real life...", "You know feature X is horrible because *gives example of the worst and the most unbalanced implementation of X possible*"). Using rhetoric to trick people to side with you and to think you're right.

There's a sticky on every forum topic with proper conduct instructions. Just helpfully remind the OP of the search feature if they post a redundancy, than paraphrase a quick and concise answer. If it's an idea or suggestion incompatible with realistic projections for the completion of the project, just tell them why according to the reasons given by the creators (not everyone reads ever dev post and video like we do) , and don't attack the idea itself even if it is monumentally stupid, and even if you do cover it up with jest

Alright, bros, we gotta keep this forum on-topic. Hit me up personally if you have any problems or questions!