Thanks, Gregor. What do you mean by 'diversionary'? Not nitpicking, I just don't understand it.

No problem, Joe, here's what I meant by "diversionary" posting: posts that divert the thread for no purpose.

I'm seeing good posts that say "I have this thing here, can you help?" and I'm growing weary of replies that don't address that question and lead the thread off in another direction.

Sometimes it's a cruel, or unfair, aside. Hands up, my pop at Mongoose about double spacing would be an example of this. It's not needed and just generates a irrelevant discussion.

In other cases it can be failing to address the original post at all, and either answering a different question, wheeling out a well-worn grudge, or posturing for status and attention (which is similar to the "hollow post", really).

Hopefully that helps clarify my point.

I hope you're reading charitably ... let me begin.

I've pondered over a few of these threads we have had recently about posting and posting style and moderation and now posting less and I've come out at the end of those ponderings with a slack handful of thoughts.

1. Its becoming a tricky little minefield to negotiate when writing anything on this board. You have to think about a myriad number of things - and new ones seem to be being pointed out each week. I'll give an example - on the Conpulsion IGT thread I needed to reply to Joe about Hot War. Now I thought - hey, this would be better in an email but Joe doesn't have his email activated. Fair enough. I'll post. Hey, but is this contributing to the thread, is this in the right style, could this be done in some other way etc. Its a lot to consider and a lot of areas where someone new to the board could fall down.

2. If the board is open to everyone to come, sign-up and contribute then as more people join more people will post. I know that seems obvious but let me explain a little more. When I have posted on here I have told by playtesty buddies about it and they have wanted to come and see, so you get Andrew, Dave and Redben occassionally posting. One person will bring more - especially if they have a very positive experience. Those people might only look at the sub-board that their playtest is relevant to in the first instance but they might want to chip in elsewhere. Thats going to up your post count but those people aren't necessarily going to have taken the time to read about the whys and wherefores of the site and its culture.

3. As painful as it may be, we need examples of posts which are considered 'less than acceptable'. Otherwise we are constantly second-guessing our own contributions. Was it me that posted without thought? Which of my posts wasn't contributing? Without examples we will never really know and that just makes it harder to post confidently because you might be unwittingly perpetuating the same mistakes. It doesn't have to be public - a quick email or other communication to say 'hey look, that thread - could you have done it this way instead?' would do. How that leads me to...

4. The final thing - and possibly the most contraversial, so please up the charitable reading-o-meter to max - is that there seems to be a definite top-down passing of these posting guidelines which sometimes feels at odds with the very organic nature of membership of the site etc. It is akin to some people being more equal than others.

In many ways I would prefer it is there was one set of posting guidelines readily available, one set of 'how we do business' ideas and one group of people called - I don't know - moderators, directors, founders, old foggies, fathers of the revolution. It doesn't matter. However it seems a little strange to constantly have three or four people suggesting fundamental basics of the site and the group and not acknowledge that there is a reason that they feel able to do that with the confidence that others will listen and concur. Call it respect, charisma, leadership or whatever, but some people here have a voice that gets those results.

Cheers
Neil

Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/

Sadly I have to join the ranks of those who are now less keen to post here, because I feel that it has become too difficult and dangerous to know what or how to post without annoying someone.

I am well aware that I am one of those "new posters" with a "high posting rate" that Gregor mentions. I have the luxury of being online all day, and an eagerness to contribute and take part in something which I see as being very exciting. As such I have thrown myself into using this forum, both as a resource and as an avenue to offer help (where I can) to others.

Unfortunately I'm finding it very hard to do that now. Every time I am about to post I find myself second guessing what I want to say, and whether it is up to some standard of style or content that I am unsure of. The result is that I don't post at all, and I am paying less and less attention to CE as a useful forum.

I can't help but think that we would actually be a lot better off with less talk more action. Fewer agonizing and divisive posts on how we should post, and more actual posting, would probably be better for us.

http://www.solipsist-rpg.com/

...is that these boards don't work the same as most other forums, in terms of the functions of the software. Personally I find it a bit of a wrestling match sometimes. I wonder whether that makes people more inclined to post when they see a thread, because it's going to be harder to find later. Dunno.

If the software allows it, maybe it would be good to add some sort of strapline at the top of the front page to frame the way the site is supposed to work a bit more.

I think the minimum that should be done is to have easily accessible info about the original purpose of the site and how it is managed and moderated. This came up in an earlier thread.

Tim Gray
Silver Branch Games
www.silverbranch.co.uk

I seriously think we should all post in Administration much less.

We spend too much time talking about talking (myself included). I think we should post about playing games and making games rather than wrangling about the website.

Graham

Agreed :)

I'll go post some fiddly text I want someone else to re-write :)

http://www.solipsist-rpg.com/