Curse

Jenosavel · Oct 03, 2005, 08:15 PM // 20:15

I have noticed that in the online world there seems to be a great divide between people over issues of reading comprehension. One side of the isle reads everything meticulously, thinks things over carefully, and types up responses with attention to grammar and spelling to the best of their ability. The other side often times scans things or only reads a few points before tackling the whole issue at hand. They write their responses quickly and impulsively, saying what they believe to be true and backing it up fiercely (with or without facts).

Now, neither side is perfect. The intellectual side can easily develop a superiority complex over their counterparts (and thus become jerks), while the casual side can completely miss the point or rehash things that have already been discussed (driving to insanity those who actually do read thoroughly).

Usually an online community such as a forum quickly establishes which crowd it favors, and the other side is driven away. Whether or not it's intentional, it almost always happens. When I first came to Guild Wars Guru, it seemed as though a majority of the posters where of the cautious variety. They fact checked often, read threads through, and replied at great length. However, as time has moved onward, I've seen an increase in number of the more light-hearted variety of poster. Replies come quickly to threads, often times with the posters even going so far as to say that they haven't read what they're replying to. While this makes for a more friendly and jovial environment, it tends to bury knowledge quickly. It drives away the people who know the answers to the questions, since their one well-thought-out reply will quickly be covered by 20 or more one-liners of people restating the original question (exageration to prove my point).

The question I pose to you is this: which type of forum to you prefer? Which type do you view Guru as being? Do you think there are too many people parading their "facts" around and using too many big words in an effort to stroke their own ego? Or, do you think that most of the forums' problems could be solved by a healthy dose of "read more, post less"?

Please, if you feel the need to flame take it elsewhere. I believe I kept my post civil, and I'd like to see others follow suit. This is to be a thread about an honest question and discussion of what kind of community has developed and is continuing to develop here on Guru. We can agree to disagree, and I expect those replying here to do so.

User Name · Oct 03, 2005, 08:17 PM // 20:17

I don't have the time to read that

Alone) · Oct 03, 2005, 08:21 PM // 20:21

Well then don't bother to post then.

Honestly, I prefer to read with ease. But hey, if people prefer to type in short, that's their choice, no one is stopping them. But it WOULD be helpful to others if they took the time to revise and reread and thus, lessen the confusion. It WOULD be better if people took the time to read more. There have been a lot of reposts of asking questions that have been answered before. Would help if people took the time to use the search.

Eet GnomeSmasher · Oct 03, 2005, 08:27 PM // 20:27

It's tough nowadays when most people type like illiterate monkeys, especially with the netspeak. If most people can't bother typing "you" instead of "U", I'm not really surprised that they don't bother to read and comprehend or maybe they simply aren't capable of doing that.

Racthoh · Oct 03, 2005, 08:30 PM // 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by User Name

I don't have the time to read that

Let's just hope you're dripping with sarcasm.

Well I find this site from the Guild Wars mainpage, and it had it listed as an elite fansite. I assumed this indicated a certain level of maturity, offset by the occasional joke here and there. It is a great place to get the facts, and the guru mods know them inside out. Heck just play with them and chat on vent.

Prehaps the original intention was to be a site of facts and a hardcore database of knowledge. But everyday you'll come here, login and read the most recent complaints and flames against Anet. Some, meaningful don't get me wrong, but most of the time they're written with little respect towards english language. Shortcutting by removing letters from words, it makes it harder to take the person seriously. Given that in the guru outlines I'm pretty sure it says not to do that yet it is rarely (if ever) enforced.

LifeInfusion · Oct 05, 2005, 02:21 AM // 02:21

Well, all I have to say, is not all of us have time to be posting 24/7. I seldom go back to threads that aren't on my priorities.

Eet GnomeSmasher · Oct 05, 2005, 02:42 AM // 02:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeInfusion

Well, all I have to say, is not all of us have time to be posting 24/7. I seldom go back to threads that aren't on my priorities.

No one is saying you have to post 24/7, this is about reading comprension and the general lack of it. People tend to post replies without reading and compregending the post that they're replying to....sort of like what you're doing.

Alone) · Oct 05, 2005, 02:46 AM // 02:46

Hehe "compregending." ^^^^^

What he posted isn't really showing that he never read the other posts in this thread, just that he stated he only goes to threads that seem to be worth this time, which I can take as he rarely has to see this:

omg hax0rs sum gee jst lyked pwnd me wit his rnger nd ima badd asswarrirs nw ima g0 complan to anet an w8 fer rngers t0 be3 nerfedddddd hehehehehe ftw. now u dun aint got no hope

Eet GnomeSmasher · Oct 05, 2005, 02:55 AM // 02:55

Haha. Darn typos.

But I still dont get what the "posting 24/7" and only going to threads worth his time is in response to.

Alone) · Oct 05, 2005, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Maybe overexaggeration. And posts that he can actually reply/relate to. Maybe threads that also have sensible titles. ie. What is a good place to farm? vs. omg help me be the rich3st p3rson

smurfhunter · Oct 05, 2005, 06:29 AM // 06:29

i dont really get what the point of this thread is. i mean its a bit obvious isnt it? duh people want the readers, not the heavy talkers. gwg has some of both, as any large forum does. did you just want to throw out that you knew these people exist or..? i dont really get it. anyway its seemed a bit random to me.

Sister Rosette · Oct 05, 2005, 08:33 AM // 08:33

I'm just old fashioned I guess. I still believe in spelling, grammar, and
punctuation. I type here like I type in game. Because 1 more person
who resorts to 'H0W IGT ARMR??' is one more too many.

aron searle · Oct 05, 2005, 08:59 AM // 08:59

I have to say that of late i have noticed more and more pointless flames, or half arsed arguments on the forums.

Also I think its annoying when i quite frequently see english writers bash non english people on spelling, assumption is the mother of all muckups.

For myself i try and make sure my spelling is all ok, but not to the point of making sure all the full stops, and commas ect are all present and correct. In game though i do use u instead of you and similare for good reason. Im a fairly fast typer, but not super fast. And by the time i have typed out my waring in full instead of short, its too late. But then maybe thats all the damn rushing aggroers ive encountered of late.

Jenosavel · Oct 05, 2005, 10:40 AM // 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by smurfhunter

i dont really get what the point of this thread is. i mean its a bit obvious isnt it? duh people want the readers, not the heavy talkers. gwg has some of both, as any large forum does. did you just want to throw out that you knew these people exist or..? i dont really get it. anyway its seemed a bit random to me.

Perhaps it is a bit random. However, in a normal thread about any old normal topic there is usually quite a bit of needless conflict between the heavy talkers and the readers. It gets discouraging after awhile, and some begin to wonder what's wrong with "everyone." The point of this thread was that we talk about the issue and see that maybe there are a lot less of the one-line-posters than all of the other threads would seem to imply.

Also, for those who do post perhaps too quickly, this could be a chance to explain themselves to everyone else. I'm not saying that they need to defend themselves or something, merely that maybe some of the hostility we see around would disappear if we realized each other were human more often. ...and hearing someone explain why they do something you don't agree with does bring back a human face to it. Just seeing the action done might make you feel contempt, but hearing that there's a legitimate reason behind it has a chance to change that. ...that's provided of course that there is a legitimate reason and people feel inclined to share it with us.

And as an aside note, I feel the "the stupid people are closing in!" syndrome a bit less after reading some of the replies here. It gives you a glimmer of hope that people are trying, no matter what a quick look around might make you think.

FrogDevourer · Oct 05, 2005, 12:50 PM // 12:50

I wholeheartedly agree with the original post. I mainly belong to the cautious type.That's why I'm hardly active on these forums anymore. Because I'm tired to see one good post/thread buried under 20 posts/threads of inane chatter about topics which have been discussed to death. I don't have much time to waste and I'd better learn from 3 intelligent posts than sigh in front of 60 pointless rants. Too many posters feel entitled to spam junk without reading the whole thread or using the search button.

I migrated from TGH to GWG because it was the most intelligent and educated GW forum out there. I'm slowly leaving these boards because it's no longer true. Sorry to sound excessively elitist, but posting in what used to be a place of knowledge should be a privilege, not a right. There are many 'social' GW forums where you can find one-liners and l33t/aol speakers. I hoped GWG wouldn't become one of them.

That said, I think you're preaching the converted, and that you're bringing up this argument too late. Many of the best players and of the most active contributors have deserted these forums for new havens.

Unik · Oct 05, 2005, 01:33 PM // 13:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrogDevourer

I wholeheartedly agree with the original post. I mainly belong to the cautious type.That's why I'm hardly active on these forums anymore. Because I'm tired to see one good post/thread buried under 20 posts/threads of inane chatter about topics which have been discussed to death. I don't have much time to waste and I'd better learn from 3 intelligent posts than sigh in front of 60 pointless rants. Too many posters feel entitled to spam junk without reading the whole thread or using the search button.

I migrated from TGH to GWG because it was the most intelligent and educated GW forum out there. I'm slowly leaving these boards because it's no longer true. Sorry to sound excessively elitist, but posting in what used to be a place of knowledge should be a privilege, not a right. There are many 'social' GW forums where you can find one-liners and l33t/aol speakers. I hoped GWG wouldn't become one of them.

That said, I think you're preaching the converted, and that you're bringing up this argument too late. Many of the best players and of the most active contributors have deserted these forums for new havens.

Have to say that you are dead right on target, I'm also a long time member of GWG and actually moved here for the same reasons at the time. Sadly I find today that the type of intelligent and useful posts that attracted me here originally, are getting more and more sparse.

Unik