The Way of the Forum

Personality Check
If there’s one way to ensure an enjoyable forum experience, it’s to maintain maturity and calmness during discussions. The following explains the appropriate action for common situations.

Fanboism – Don’t do it
No one likes a fanboy/fangirl. Swearing allegiance to a brand, either directly or indirectly, will ensure the title of ‘n00b’ by all who are experienced. There is a fine line between being happy with a brand, and being ignorant to what other brands have to offer. It’s important to recommended products and services based on fact as well as experience, and to keep an open mind whenever the market shifts to new products and brands.

Dealing with Stubbornness
Stubborn people, in collaboration with fanboys, are the natural enemy to enthusiasts. It becomes tempting to tackle the situation by slinging personal attacks in hope that they’d succumb to factual advice. In reality, this approach does nothing but escalate the issue, and forces moderators to take action. When faced with someone who refuses to accept fact, it is best to provide evidence in a calm and professional fashion. That way a position of overall maturity is maintained. If the user refuses to accept information, state that sufficient evidence has been provided, then cease posting in that thread to minimise a ‘flame war’ erupting. Even if that one user ignores what is offered, other users will opt for the mature user(s) amongst the argument.

Dealing with a Breach of Forum Regulations
This one is simple. Report the offense to a moderator. At no time should a user get involved in the matter, unless it is to inform the offender that they’ve breached the rules.

Differentiation of Opinion and Fact
When writing a statement which is based on opinion, it is important to make the nature of the claim clear. If an opinion comes across as a factual statement (or vice versa) it may cause other users to retaliate in defence. “This console, in my opinion, has uncomfortable controllers” is a better expression than “This console has uncomfortable controllers”.

Trolls and Immature Users
Trolls are users who make it their sole mission to disrupt a user (or group of users) for humour or vendetta purposes. Some make their presence well known, while others subliminally target user(s) to provoke a reaction – which they hope will put the victim offside in the community. Trolls often gather ‘evidence’ as ammo in their attacks, most of which are overblown remnants of past mistakes. Trolling can be likened to ‘bullying’ (for lack of a better word), and is an issue that must be dealt with in a proper matter. Retaliating will never solve the issue. Rather, moderators should be made aware so they can deal with it appropriately.

In the old days...
Yes, there are people who think time is a static phenomenon where society should be as they remember, and never change. A forum with heavy community influence will ‘evolve’ over time – such is life. If tradition, forum attitudes, and/or physical appearance shift, there is no use expressing anger over it. Instead embrace the changes, and suggest further alterations to find a common middle ground.

Grudges
Everyone starts off as a ‘n00b’ who is out of touch with what is to be expected of them online. During their time learning the ropes, it’s likely that they’ll be considered irritating to some. Unfortunately, there are users who keep grudges regarding said users, even after a substantial period of time. It’s best to keep an open mind and not hold grudges. If a user continually expresses her/himself to be incompetent, do your best to help them via PM. If they refuse help, they may be trolling, in which case moderators should be informed.