Hey all,
I don't know if you noticed or not, but Mike Mearls himself posted in a thread in the new Rules Questions forum. I, for one, would like to see him continue to post here, so I'd like to ask that we all make a concerted effort to make this as welcoming a community as possible. I reckon it's a good idea anyway, not just so the devs will feel comfortable posting here, but also so people new to D&D feel comfortable posting as well.
Who's with me?
Cheers,
Jonathan
Who is Mike Mearls?
hah, just playin
Definitely with you pukunui! As a resident lurker (mostly), I'd definitely welcome a friendlier environment on these boards.
Miladoon wrote:
Definitely. Post with respect and try to be constructive. Understand that there is no "right" way to play.
Advice for hot heads or whenever a person feels upset or maligned, take some time to breathe, type your message, proof-read your message, breathe, then decide if your message will help or hurt. If it will hurt...don't post it.
Count me in!
I absolutely agree with the other posters - everyone, including new players and WotC staff, should be welcomed. Thanks to pukunui for creating this thread to help ensure we settle into our new digs with grace and class!
Hear, hear!
Mearls once peed on my wheaties. NEVER AGAIN, MR. MEARLS! NEVER! AGAIN!
I am with you! I will quest with you to drive a stake through Teraptis's heart...oh wait... 
I heartily agree though. And if I recall correctly, there were a number of posters that had as sigs for a while; "WWWD, What Would Wrecan Do?" I think he would fully support this call for civility in the fledgling 5E Shrine.
Happy gaming everyone. Tomorrow is the day to slay some dragons. (That is, if you are incredibly ingenuitive and lucky).
Strongly agreeing here! Optimism was always better for your mental health, anyways.
Luciender wrote:
I agree. Many of us get caught up into our stuff. Sometimes too much.
Making this a welcoming place to post for anyone and everyone should be important.
When I first got into D&D, it was because I liked the cover art, and my mom was cool with buying me books. It was a year later I actually played with people. We got made fun of enough back then for being 'nerds', 'dorks', not-athletes; whatever.
Now I have a wife, no kids, but I do have a few friends with kids who are just now getting into things like D&D during family game night.
No one should feel scared or intimidated to post, ask a question, or state opinion about D&D.
After all, we're all here because we do have something in common. It might not be everything (like politics, religion, favorite food, favorite ruleset, etc.) but we all like D&D enough to stop by here several times a week; read, and comment. That's something.
Glad to hear it, everyone! For the record, I'm not advocating all unicorns and rainbows in here. What I'm advocating is civility and politeness and friendliness. If a newbie asks a question that's been asked a million times already, don't get all snarky or rude. If someone posts something you disagree with, politely disagree with them; don't get personal. That sort of stuff.
pukunui wrote:
Thanks Ramzour. One way in which we can get started is by getting to know each other better. If you have the time, feel free to introduce yourself in the thread I started (see my signature below for the link).
Hats off to Mike, for getting the download finished on time yesterday and still being here posting in the middle of the night (his time) 
And, guys, be polite to everyone on these forums. Especially the people you don't agree with. Just assume that every noob posting here just might be a WotC sock puppet sniffing out trolls to ban. 
Paranoid? Moi?
The most important aspect of any community, friendly has my vote.
Count me in 
BoldItalic wrote:
pukunui wrote:
While I am hopeful that this forum can remain polite, I am not holding my breath. The level of angst, agression, vitriol and downright animosity continues to amaze me. I give Mike Mearls and company great credit for perservering in the face of so many hateful and personal attacks. This is a game afteralll, let's have some fun with it.
pukunui wrote:
Its nice to see R&D staff posting here again. Let's keep it clean and nice and they'll came back again...
My name is spelley and I approve this message
My name is Matt. AKA seti, AKA goblin-puncher, AKA elf-lover.
And I also approve this message.
PS: I hope the Devs actually talk to us here too. That's pretty damn cool.
Worth a try. The biggest effort will have to come from the 5e fans though. Some of those disappointed with 5e are going to be complaining all over the Internet shortly and we'll have to do our best to let them morn the loss of their favorite RPG.
A lot of disagreements were over differences in what people wanted 5E to be. Now that it's set, there isn't much use in arguing for what someone hopes to be part of the rules to try to influence the release, so I'm hopeful that will curb a lot of the negativity that was directed to forum members.
So friendly
The boards HAVE gotten better recently, with many of the worst saying goodbye. I understand the new rules aren't for everyone. When the playtests were going on, certainly there were debates that need to be had but all too often these devolved into hostile arguements for their own sake. There are still some with negative things to say about EVERY 5e reveal. While I admire their fortitude, I don't get it. I don't like opera and I don't surf society boards slamming someone when they express admiration for a certain aria or saying Wagner was a no talent hack...
pukunui wrote:
quindia wrote:
+1
Count me in!
Alright, I'll try to play nice with others.
I agree. D&D communities of the past have been far too toxic. Let's all help usher in a new era of forum peace and friendliness.
Felorn wrote:
I am all for being nice to each other.
How about a rule: "only quote people you agree with"? Would that work?
BoldItalic wrote:
I am down with reinforcing the friendly atmosphere of our little corner of the interwebs.
I don't think we all need to agree on everything either, but we should be able to debate topics without resorting to 'you're ideas are stupid and you don't know how to play the game'...
I think the best thing to do is simply not responding to trolling by BOTH sides. I stop visiting a thread when I see the same two or three people trading comments and parsing each other's sentences for three pages.
Yeah, it would be great if those long posts filled with post quotes that take up 75% of the thread, though it's only 2 people, were met with some "calm it down there, guys..."
quindia wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Exactly. That's why we mustn't feed the trolls.
pukunui wrote:
LOL. Good idea!
Signed. Sined. Cosined.
Wheaton's Law and all that. Or Wheaton's In-Laws.
My sister shared this cool quote on Facebook:
If more people keep that in mind, perhaps discussions around here will be a bit more civil.
I'm onboard for this. I already didn't post like 5 hateful things tonight even! One of 'em took a loooooong time to type too! 
TheZigZagist wrote:
pukunui wrote:
It depends on the intention behind the snark, I think. Sometimes it can just be harmless teasing, but other times it can be malicious.