My Little Corner about STO Forums: Greats and Gripes

stardestroyer001 · March 2014

So yeah.

I felt like making this to relieve some stress, and also to help others before they get "sucked" into the same traps I have experienced. Yes, this is a bit of a rage thread. It's also suggestions, so others don't have to rage in the future. Onwards...

The STO Forums are a great resource for knowledge, tactics and updates about the game. Don't get me wrong, they are probably the first place I go to regarding specific questions or knowledge not covered in the STO Wiki. I've met some people who are not only masters of their field in STO, but are also knowledgeable, friendly, open-minded and diverse.

On the other hand, there's a danger. I'm gonna call this "forum addiction", for lack of a better term. I'm not sure if this is just me, or prolonged exposure to the STO Forums, but I have definitely experienced it. I accept I'm a "forum addict". And thus I'm writing this Corner tonight.

So basically here's how "forum addiction" works. You come into the STO Forums for the first time, and are immediately swarmed with people who know more and are more experienced than you. Which is perfectly fine. Then, as you spend more time, you get to know specific forum users, some of which somehow bristle your feathers. And this is where it takes place.
You feel the need to return to the forums to argue, correct, criticise, counterargue other people's posts. Eventually you lose sight of why you even bothered to post in the first place. You're addicted. A new forum addict created.

The cause: Other forum addicts. Yep, that's right. People, just like you and me, who live their lives just like normal people, but when they get behind a screen and a keyboard, they turn into another breed of monsters. A breed who fights for dominance, gets pseudo-pleasure from aggravating level-headed people, and believing they are the One True God to Drive Out The Many. (Double points if anyone gets that reference.)

So to those who are just starting out, I issue these helpful tips.

1) Don't post unless you have to. What do I mean by that? I mean, when you have a question in which you need legitimate help, only post then. Don't post for any other reason (Avoid posting personal opinion especially!).

2) Double check if anyone has answered your question before posting a new thread. Not only does it save you time waiting for a response, but it may also give you extra information you might not have gotten by posting the 1300th post on the same topic.

3) If someone is not straightforward/helpful/relevant with their responses, tell them to leave. Those people who post sarcastic or misleading responses are forum addicts. They are NOT there to help you, instead they are trying to cope with their addiction. Your thread isn't the place for that. People who try to derail threads are also forum addicts, and just want to steer the thread into something surrounding them; not helping you at all.

4) If someone is breaking the Terms of Service, report them immediately. I've had it happen once. Trust me, you don't want to give those people a chance to disrupt your question(s).

5) Keep a level head. Forum addicts are out to slowly whittle away your emotional control by diversions, irrelevant topics, etc. It's extremely difficult, but it can be done.

6) Don't spend any more time here than you absolutely need to. The longer you stay, the greater the chance you will become addicted.

(might add more tips as responses appear)
Forum addicts quite often use these tactics against you:

Shifting the argument to something absolutely/completely irrelevant.
Provoking an emotional response, either with the information they post or the manner in which it is phrased.
"Strawman" tactics, ie adding information that is also irrelevant or misleading.
Creating cyclical arguments or arguments that cannot be resolved... on purpose. Just to make you angry.
Responding with emotional text in order to provoke a response.

And a quick and concise word to the (other) forum addicts out there (including myself):
1) Leave your wireless devices behind, and get fresh air. It does you good. (At least it works for me)
2) Stick to the original argument, don't make your own. A phrase I use with addicts who diverge from the argument frequently is: STAY ON TARGET!
3) Do you have a stake in the argument? No? Go somewhere else.
4) Insults get you nowhere, except make you look like a child. Keep it respectful.
5) Be aware of the STO Forums' Terms of Service.
6) Do you actually know what they're thinking? Oh, do you? Do you really?
7) Use proof. Flapping your lips gets you nowhere. (Proof includes linking/quoting with link. Always use the link tool.)

My two cents.

smeeinn1t · March 2014

stardestroyer001 wrote: »

My two cents.

Two cents well spent.

drazursouthclaw · March 2014

While I do question what gives you the authority to make these calls (i.e. judging others to be Forum Addicts), I fully support your point of view. Just because I question it, doesn't mean I still don't agree with it 100%.

Derailing threads isn't just rude, it's the height of arrogance. "I don't care about this topic, so let's make fun of it." So much lack of concern for our fellow players, on so many threads. It makes me sad.

I hope others can see the wisdom in your words, while still questioning their own thoughts - myself included.

jaguarskx · March 2014

The problem is that forums need to "self regulated". By that I mean that other forum members needs to look out for each other to a certain degree for the forum itself to be considered a good source of information and opinions.

While it is basically the responsibility of the moderators to ultimately police the forum, moderators makes up only a small fraction of the forum member base. Therefore, it is up to the forum members to police themselves to a certain degree. This could be anything from perhaps providing empirical proof to against possible false claims to ultimately reporting a user to a moderator for breaking TOS, trolling or simply just being an TRIBBLE.

I am moderator of Tomshardware (same user name) and I can tell you that trying to police a large forum is not easy and we rely on forum members to point out potential issues that we mods miss. Through our daily monitoring. The number of mods compared to registered forum members is but an extremely small fraction of less than 1%. I was invited to be a mod because the vast majority of my replies were to help others by providing the best unbiased advice I am able to provide or by disputing other forum members' so called "best BIASED recommendations by providing links, charts, benchmarks from several sources that proves otherwise.

The problem with STO is that advice is mostly opinions based on their experiences whereas at Tomshardware (THG) members can provide links to actual reviews with benchmarks to that demonstrates if an particular AMD CPU is better an a particular Intel CPU. The same can be applied to AMD and nVidia graphic cards. Actual data (proof) from benchmarks has more weight compared to empirical evidence since that is based on what the forum members observe while playing STO.

Ultimately the "good" forum members here in the STO forum must ultimately band together to bring order to the forums because unfortunately there are likely not to be enough moderators to police the forum. A forum is only as good as it's members.

lauscho · March 2014

I'm new here, and the only emotional response I aim to achieve is laughter.

If I ever derail a thread to tell a joke, it's cause I honestly feel like the laughter can contribute to a conversation. I'm too non-Vulcan to not enjoy a laugh now and then!

When I post outside of Ten Forward, though, it's business!

cptjhunter · March 2014

lauscho wrote: »

I'm new here, and the only emotional response I aim to achieve is laughter.

I like you already.:D
Some people take the forum way too seriously. There is a wealth of useful information, and many of the regular forum goers are more than happy to answer questions.
Avoid posting in the Nerf-Buff threads,jj trek threads, and my favorite faction needs moar stuftz threads,those are the entertaining read threads, that bring out the hard core nerd rage, and trolling.
Ahhh...good times.I look forward to STO Doom threads, and new content conspiracy threads as well.:D
Next month, will start the "OMG season 9 is gonna kill the game"threads.. those are the funniest ones of all.

mirrorchaos · March 2014

stardestroyer001 wrote: »

So yeah.

I felt like making this to relieve some stress, and also to help others before they get "sucked" into the same traps I have experienced. Yes, this is a bit of a rage thread. It's also suggestions, so others don't have to rage in the future. Onwards...

The STO Forums are a great resource for knowledge, tactics and updates about the game. Don't get me wrong, they are probably the first place I go to regarding specific questions or knowledge not covered in the STO Wiki. I've met some people who are not only masters of their field in STO, but are also knowledgeable, friendly, open-minded and diverse.

On the other hand, there's a danger. I'm gonna call this "forum addiction", for lack of a better term. I'm not sure if this is just me, or prolonged exposure to the STO Forums, but I have definitely experienced it. I accept I'm a "forum addict". And thus I'm writing this Corner tonight.

So basically here's how "forum addiction" works. You come into the STO Forums for the first time, and are immediately swarmed with people who know more and are more experienced than you. Which is perfectly fine. Then, as you spend more time, you get to know specific forum users, some of which somehow bristle your feathers. And this is where it takes place.
You feel the need to return to the forums to argue, correct, criticise, counterargue other people's posts. Eventually you lose sight of why you even bothered to post in the first place. You're addicted. A new forum addict created.

The cause: Other forum addicts. Yep, that's right. People, just like you and me, who live their lives just like normal people, but when they get behind a screen and a keyboard, they turn into another breed of monsters. A breed who fights for dominance, gets pseudo-pleasure from aggravating level-headed people, and believing they are the One True God to Drive Out The Many. (Double points if anyone gets that reference.)

So to those who are just starting out, I issue these helpful tips.

1) Don't post unless you have to. What do I mean by that? I mean, when you have a question in which you need legitimate help, only post then. Don't post for any other reason (Avoid posting personal opinion especially!).

2) Double check if anyone has answered your question before posting a new thread. Not only does it save you time waiting for a response, but it may also give you extra information you might not have gotten by posting the 1300th post on the same topic.

3) If someone is not straightforward/helpful/relevant with their responses, tell them to leave. Those people who post sarcastic or misleading responses are forum addicts. They are NOT there to help you, instead they are trying to cope with their addiction. Your thread isn't the place for that. People who try to derail threads are also forum addicts, and just want to steer the thread into something surrounding them; not helping you at all.

4) If someone is breaking the Terms of Service, report them immediately. I've had it happen once. Trust me, you don't want to give those people a chance to disrupt your question(s).

5) Keep a level head. Forum addicts are out to slowly whittle away your emotional control by diversions, irrelevant topics, etc. It's extremely difficult, but it can be done.

6) Don't spend any more time here than you absolutely need to. The longer you stay, the greater the chance you will become addicted.

(might add more tips as responses appear)
Forum addicts quite often use these tactics against you:
Shifting the argument to something absolutely/completely irrelevant.

Provoking an emotional response, either with the information they post or the manner in which it is phrased.

"Strawman" tactics, ie adding information that is also irrelevant or misleading.

Creating cyclical arguments or arguments that cannot be resolved... on purpose. Just to make you angry.

Responding with emotional text in order to provoke a response.

And a quick and concise word to the (other) forum addicts out there (including myself):
1) Leave your wireless devices behind, and get fresh air. It does you good. (At least it works for me)
2) Stick to the original argument, don't make your own. A phrase I use with addicts who diverge from the argument frequently is: STAY ON TARGET!
3) Do you have a stake in the argument? No? Go somewhere else.
4) Insults get you nowhere, except make you look like a child. Keep it respectful.
5) Be aware of the STO Forums' Terms of Service.
6) Do you actually know what they're thinking? Oh, do you? Do you really?
7) Use proof. Flapping your lips gets you nowhere. (Proof includes linking/quoting with link. Always use the link tool.)

My two cents.

basically you disagree with the way the moderators let some people get away with some actions you disagree with, so what? your not the first or last person to have an opinion on the subject, nor should this thread of yours considered any more or less important then any others. i suppose now you call me a forum addict because i dont believe your tripe? if anything this is nothing short of a potential flame fest. the ToS there for everyone to respect, read it. going any further is discussing forum moderation.

livinrtb · March 2014

the only thing that really irks me is the miss information and un accurate statements people make...check your facts before you post something inaccurate and waste our time...

Great read StarDestroyer thnx for the post...

noroblad · March 2014

#1 would keep me from writing this post to tell you that #1 prevents answering of questions asked by the people that followed your rules.

#3 violates #1

stardestroyer001 · March 2014

mirrorchaos wrote: »

basically you disagree with the way the moderators let some people get away with some actions you disagree with, so what? your not the first or last person to have an opinion on the subject, nor should this thread of yours considered any more or less important then any others. i suppose now you call me a forum addict because i dont believe your tripe? if anything this is nothing short of a potential flame fest. the ToS there for everyone to respect, read it. going any further is discussing forum moderation.

I never mentioned moderators or moderator action.
I never stated my thread was more/less important than others.
I never stated I was first/last to have an opinion on this topic.
I never stated that being a forum addict is synonymous with immediate disagreement.

Please read the OP again, I'm not sure you understood it.

On a side note, I'm glad that people agree with the points I mentioned. It's good to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. (Then again, I'm a forum addict myself... Paradox!)

My Little Corner about STO Forums: Greats and Gripes

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