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M2TW: A case study in professional forum whining

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M2TW: A case study in professional forum whining

from GalCiv2 Forums
I have been loosely following the development saga of CA's new game title, Medieval 2: Total War. I found a post today on one of their allied forums that I want to share. Normally I just ignore trolling, but having just posted about egregious whining in the Metaverse forum, I felt compelled to share this:

CA/Sega Bit Off More Than They Can Chew?

Note how the OP sets you up beautifully with an abrasive title and then launches straight into a loosely-themed multi-paragraph rant. Next, people start to agree with him, then there is an attempt to voice a reasoned opinion; but blood is in the water and the mini-rants keep rolling on. Unlike this forum, there seem to be few people on that board willing to try to rein in the trolls.

There's been some nasty whining in the GalCiv II forums, and I hate to see it here. But after seeing the level of trash that goes on elsewhere, I have to conclude that our local whiners are amateurs by comparison.

I post this in hopes that it will illustrate how much better the GalCiv 2 forums generally are than others, and also the level to which a forum can sink if people let it do so.

Side note: Interestingly, Stardock gets a nice shout-out in that thread where somebody writes, "If you ever have played Gal Civ II that dev group seems to be the best ive seen yet."
off-topic
201,173 views 39 replies
Reply #26 from Stardock Forums Top
So who was the bigger idiot? The guy who started the thread, the guy who agreed with the dumbass/sarcastic strategy, or the guy who wasted his time writing up that dumbass/sarcastic strategy?

The guy that started the thread was a cheater as Wheel pointed out and Kryo confirmed. So I would go with the guy that started the thread. The guy that wasted his time writing the strategy was using humor which is never a bad choice. The guy that agreed with it just appreciated the humor.
Reply #27 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The guy that agreed with it just appreciated the humor.


We're talking about shadowmaster here. Don't overestimate him. That, and he was already being stupid enough to believe he might not be cheating.
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #28 from Stardock Forums Top
We're talking about shadowmaster here. Don't overestimate him

Actually, I had agreed with at least the first 9 steps of nova's "strategy". They were facetious in that they were an obvious statement of the normal progression of the game. However, even though sarcastic, they were a nice summary of the phases of the game and could even be helpful to the new player. That and because I thought it was funny was why I agreed.

As far as believing that the OP wasn't cheating, it was obvious to anyone looking at his games that he'd cheated. I was willing to "believe" that he wasn't cheating simply to allow him to save face. I'd give anyone the same chance.

As far as Shadowmaster is concerned, I honestly haven't paid that much attention to him. He seems to me to be a mischievous kid. I haven't seen anything overtly hateful out of him. I know you and he like to snipe at each other. All in all the interchange between the two of you seems mostly in good fun.
Reply #29 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
. All in all the interchange between the two of you seems mostly in good fun.


No. I actually find him annoying.
Reply #30 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
No. I actually find him annoying.


Is there anyone here you don't find annoying?
Reply #31 from Stardock Forums Top
Of course you do. What I meant was that it didn't appear to be a hateful thing. Simple annoyance isn’t so bad. I often find my wife annoying.
Reply #32 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Quite a few people. But shadowmaster tops the annoyance list. I'd bet that he's really lord pinko and is just pretending to be that utterly obtuse.

EDIT:

No mumble, I really actually dislike him. I never did like him or find him not annoying, and he's a pain who refuses to argue logically, and generally trolls threads I'm in. I'd guess you at some point found your wife not annoying.
Reply #33 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'd guess you at some point found your wife not annoying.


At the risk of pissing off any female viewers...

Annoying girls can be fun cuz you have to give them something better to do with their mouth
Reply #34 from Stardock Forums Top
  @n0v4k4n3

Back to the professional forum whining thing.

If you can whine with it hidden in constuctive comments and or compliment or two, you might be able to hide the fact that it's a whine at all.
Wouldn't that be the true "art" of Professional whining.  
Reply #35 from Stardock Forums Top
I'd guess you at some point found your wife not annoying.

Yes. Generally for about 15 minutes a week, sometimes even 20. Mostly joking here.

I don't think he's Lord Pinko but you never know. I guess there will always be folks that for some reason or other just rub you the wrong way.

I'd still rather try to get along and failing that, try to ignore them. But if you're bound and determined to actively dislike someone that's your prerogative.
Reply #36 from Stardock Forums Top
Annoying girls can be fun cuz you have to give them something better to do with their mouth

Of course you're refering to kissing them.   

Actually, all interesting women are annoying almost by definition. They're annoying because they have a mind of their own and most often they don't do what you want them to. It's the few occasions that they *will* do what you want them to that makes up for it.   

As to the whinning thing, one man's whinning is another man's constructive criticism. It's all in the eye of the beholder. Therefore all my whinning is constructive criticism and all your constructive criticism is whinning.
Reply #37 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
As to the whinning thing, one man's whinning is another man's constructive criticism. It's all in the eye of the beholder. Therefore all my whinning is constructive criticism and all your constructive criticism is whinning


Excellently Stated  
Reply #38 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Whining on game forums has existed for as long as game forums have existed. This is not necessarily bad. I find that reading the forums of my favorite game can provide as much entertainment as playing the game itself. Whiners and the responses they generate are great comedy. I would post a few links to threads supporting this theory, but I'm sure you know where they are.

I say, "Whine on, whiners!" Whether we give a sht or not, we're still reading.
Reply #39 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
from this I logically deduce that a person by himself is not stupid, but when he is with someone he becomes stupid.


I often find my wife annoying.


I would suggest that I was not stupid until I got married, which is why I find my wife to be annoying!