Don't Be a Troll

On the internet, two things are unforgivable sins - not fully reading/consuming what someone has typed/produced, and not providing anything constructive (otherwise known as being a troll). Given that you can't make anyone click over to your content much less consume it in its fullest, and there's no real way to force someone to do so, there's not much you can do about the first one. Due to the anonymous nature of the internet, and the confrontational nature of humanity as a whole, being a troll is far too easy these days, but there are things you can do to curb the habit.

Before I get into the meat of this rant, let's talk about being a troll. I don't mind if you have a different opinion about anything than I do, that's what makes life interesting. I for one love fried okra, and you may not, but that's perfectly fine to have that opinion. However, if I say "I love fried okra", and you reply, "you suck, fried okra is nasty", you're being a troll. If instead you say, "I don't like fried okra, and here's why..." or even just, "oh, I don't like fried okra" without being nasty about it, that's not being a troll, that's just having a different opinion (and more yummy fried okra for me). The first part of that, being nasty just because someone has a different opinion than you, is downright silly because if you can't stand any idea that goes against your own, how do you honestly expect anyone else to accept your opinion on anything? Everybody's different, and if they want to believe whatever they believe in, as long as it doesn't affect your bank account, why do you care? The second part of that really only applies to the 'net - you can have a different opinion than I do, but as it takes too much effort to try and have a constructive conversation online, if you don't even try to explain your different opinion, why did you bother? Explain what you find wrong about my idea, otherwise you're not being constructive and should just keep your thought to yourself. I'll gladly discuss our differences, because I may be utterly wrong or may have missed something you've known all along, but just saying "you're wrong" full stop, is not going to change my opinion and is more than likely going to piss me off.

Here, I'll let Key and Peele work their magic on the subject:

What have we learned? You engage trolls, invite and encourage them to have an actual discussion, and you keep doing it. Either they open up and rejoin the rest of us in intelligent discourse, or they get scared and leave.

What brought all this on was I replied to a blog post by the Angry GM, which is very thought provoking, you should check it out. I'm not going to post my whole reply, you can find it in the above blog post, but in it I related one method I was already using, another possible method I vaguely remembered from a previous edition of the game, and another method that popped into my head on the spot. And someone replied to my comment. No, the names have not been changed, why anonymize those who already hide behind anonymity? Here's the replies to my comment.

Nerdsamwich - There are more elegant ways to take crafting out of your game, but I can think of few that would be as efficient at destroying player buy-in.

Angry GM - [[ Comment deleted as it was completely nonconstructive. Thanks for your input, Bill, but I’ll decide whether someone’s comments are useful or not and if anyone needs to be yelled at, I’ll do the yelling. This thread is done. Drop it. – The Angry GM ]]

Yep, Angry didn't reply to Nerdsamwich, I did, and Angry felt the need to correct me. From what I can remember, here is my original reply - Bud, don't offer up "constructive criticism" if there isn't any. If you have an issue with what I've typed, that's fine, but at least give some critique. What part specifically made you think I was "destroying buy-in"? Why? What would you have done differently? Because what you've done is the internet version of driving by and yelling at someone "you suck!"

Maybe I was a little harsh, but, well, you decide for yourself - who was trolling who here? Whose comment was useful and whose was merely noise? Whichever way you decide, I'll be glad to discuss it with you. Don't want to discuss it? Keep it to yourself. Please, give me discussion, but we already have enough noise on this information medium. Nerdsamwich, if you're out there, I'm still curious to hear where you think I "destroyed player buy-in".