How to positively participate in the forums
By
coldfire_kaiser,
Posted on: 2006-09-19 03:01 in Player Guides
Good guide! Only hit is that regular forum users and posters can have "Forum Cartel" title by posting over 10,000 posts.
Golden_Ace, who has over 20,000 posts has "Cuppa Incarnate" under their name. I dunno of anyone else who has that title.
"I'm not scared of anyone or anything Angie. Isn't that the way life should be?"
Jack Hawksmoor, The Authority.
This is a good guide. It should be posted sticky atop each forum along with the rules.
yeah, I'm impressed. It's extremely informative and gives good advice on something everyone should know. Good Job Project_Robobot
Thor's Assassin has it.
And you forgot a rule, don't ever listen to cuppa_kaiser. He is an idiot and shuts out all the things he doesn't like, just like a five year old yelling, 'I'm not listening, na na na na na!'
I was about to reprimand you, but then I read your name
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I was about to reprimand you, but then I read your name
[/ QUOTE ]
teehee!
Regarding grammar, spelling, caps, and such: The only real 'must' is that you have to get it close enough so that people can actually understand what you've said. HOWEVER, there is a bit of advertising to do. If somebody asks a question on the forums but doesn't even bother to push the shift key at the start of each sentance, why should I spend five whole minutes bothering to answer it? If you don't care enough about your opinion to take the time to make paragraphs, why should I take the time to read it?
Now - about quotes. What the heck is up with this? I use quotes a TON myself but I use them so it's obvious what it is I'm reacting to in a previous post. I don't worry too much about quoting out of context because the context should be just a few posts up.
But I'm seeing a lot of people quoting entire posts just to react to a bit of it. Why? I can see doing that if the post you are quoting is weeks old but it's common to see entire posts quoted in the very next post! Do they think I can't scroll back?
Preview your post! It's well worth the extra time!
Also, forums have quite a bit of formatting power. This can be very handy but occasionally some folks just go nuts with it, putting all sorts of colors all over the place. It's terribly distracting, especially when it makes text hard to read. If I have to put sunglasses on to read your post then I probably just won't read your post. Please PLEASE don't do this! (Unless you're a hypocrit. Then you can do whatever you %#@ want. 
Some may debate whether or not this is ironic, but you misspelled both sentence and hypocrite.
Annoying, is it not?
(BTW, you are very correct about posts meeting the minimum requirement of legibility).
I guess if you come across a post you simply cannot comprehend, then either ask for a translation (because not all people can adequately use this language) or leave it be and wait for one.
And about quotes; if you want to respond to a post with a quote, then snip the relevant part without sacrificing context. If you want to respond to a post point by point, be careful to actually have a meaningful response to each point. All too often, point by point responses are nothing but tripe because people aren't actually responding to the points, or people aren't quoting properly by omitting IMPORTANT context.
Hmmm, I thought a hypocrit was still in the atmosphere and it becomes a hypocrite when it imacts the ground? <grinning, ducking, running> Yeah, my spelling has always been horrid.
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All too often, point by point responses are nothing but tripe because people aren't actually responding to the points, or people aren't quoting properly by omitting IMPORTANT context.
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There could actually be some psychology going on there. Whenever any person decides that they are right, they tend to ignore what doesn't fit into what is 'obviously true'. I suspect the important context just went in one eye and out the other. One has to try to approach things with an open mind as much as possible without becoming outright gullible.
Unfortunately, kinda like getting drunk, when you become close minded the very first to go is you ability to see that you've become close minded.
Not bad, but I do have to agree with Zloth.
Not everyone has English as a first language. For that matter, they may not have it as a second or third. So, minor spelling and grammar mistakes? OK, fine.
But please, *PLEASE* put a *little* effort into your posts. Punctuation. Line breaks. Paragraphs. Anything to avoid the giant wall of text that you see forming in some posts that gets to be as painful to read as someone sticking spikes in your eyes as you try to follow word after word hoping at some point it will end yet you follow it anyway unable to tear your eyes from it like its some sort of train wreck so bad you expect to see tiny news helicopters buzzing around the post with police cars and ambulances driving up to look for victims...
... of course that was intentional. 
It is, as was mentioned, "advertising." Does someone care enough about the subject to present it in a readable manner? Does it look like they thought it out? Or does it look like someone got drunk and found a keyboard?
Readability helps.
The forum title just gives everyone else a notion of how long you've been on the forums or how much you participate (or how boring work is).
No real power is given with the extra titles. Other than the nice little ability to reduce some ones post count.
I guess it does mean you have some experience in knowing where to look. Take Zloth for instance he's been here forever, and is one of the first people I look for when I have questions about making movies from CoH. He has some great guides. And is always very helpful and knowledgeable from what I have seen in his posts.
He would probably be cartel now but I keep lowering his post count out of frustrations every time I try and make a movie. (Ok now you know what happened to those 5K plus posts from a few months ago). He also showed me a nice little program the other day (even though I let Chiefs loose in OT). 
Sorry Zloth I tried.
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Hey all. I'm aware that it's relatively arrogant of me to write a guide to judging people by their writing. The large majority of you probably don't need any help differentiating clear and intelligent arguments from informationless noise. But here are some guidelines I use to try and be a better forum-goer.
1) Don't get hung up on proper grammar, spelling, or even the correct terminology. Using someone else's errors in language as ammunition for attacking their position doesn't raise the level of the debate. This starts forum wars, and even though one person may emerge victorious, the whole forum is hit in the crossfire.
2) Don't feed the trolls. We've all done it. It's part of the urge to stand up for what's right and denounce wrong, for all the world to see. Well, guess what; your post doesn't have the truth font that you hoped it would, and is only an unimpressive arrangement of letters, very similar to the post you were attacking. Doubtlessly, the troll will reply. Trying to beat a troll at his/her own game only adds to the trolls post count and the misperception that the troll contains valuable information. If you consistently find yourself feeding trolls, find ways to ignore your adversary, and you'll soon find them gone.
3) Do your best to elevate the dialogue. Use facts, numbers if possible, to support your position. If other people have contradictory facts, do a little research. At the heart of every disagreement is a misunderstanding or an irreconcilable difference of perspectives. Facts can correct misunderstandings. The latter cannot be corrected, as there is no correct.
4) Choose your words very carefully. Say what you mean, mean what you say. Chances are, if the topic is hot enough, someone will mangle our post no matter how well worded it was, and quote you on things you never said, through clever editing of context. Careless language will make this activity very painful, as the butcher of your post may actually construct something damning because your words could be read in a way that you didn't intend. This is usually how forum wars work.
5) Don't pay too much attention to reg date and post count, but certain kinds of posters tend to follow patterns.
- The forum regulars will have high titles, the highest of which (under a redname of course) is forum cartel. These people know what they're talking about near 100% of the time. Their opinions are less flawless.
- Newcomers will obviously have a recent reg date and very low post counts. With any luck, this person has been READING (tm) and will not make foolish mistakes, claims, or suggestions. Newcomers will need patient (not angry) guidance, and will not benefit from being abused.
- Trolls love the sound of their own voice (or rather, the online forum equivalent) and will have high post counts, often with a reg date that dates back a few issues. Note that high post counts and none-too-old reg dates do not make someone a troll, but you tend to get more out of believing a reserved veteran than a loud-mouthed hotshot.
- The rest of us have all kinds of reg dates and post counts. Sometimes our words are gold, and sometimes it's just sound (or light) and fury. We are the ones who make up the large majority of the community, and as such our actions guide the forum towards good (a helpful collaboration of players sharing information and conducting debates in a civilized manner) or evil (an online jumble of meaningless "sentences" that good and decent people wouldn't dare visit or participate in).
6) There is no substitute for READING (tm). If you fail to absorb the whole of someone's communication, you are bound to be missing vital pieces of information. If you cannot clearly state what someone else was trying to say, you have NO BUSINESS TRYING TO REFUTE THAT PERSON'S STATEMENT IN A PUBLIC FORUM. This is how forum wars get started. Take these online discussions very seriously, treat people with respect, and READ (tm) what they are actually saying instead of what you think they are saying.
7) Don't jump onto the dogpile. 1 person posts something that is ill-informed, un-wise, or even beligerent. The community will strike back. There is no need to reiterate the previous 5 or more pages of posts with the same sensible reply. Say something new or leave. Not everything needs to be dealt with by you personally.
Thats all I got for right now. Please tack on helpful comments or criticisms.