Common courtesy
 

I don't post that much on the board; I've enjoyed mainly lurking, but sometimes posting, on the since the dom2 days. This community has mainly been a congenial and collegiate one, and the information I've gleaned from the board has been both invaluable and insightful. The community veterans have been particularly helpful, providing much needed tools, maps and advice. Thank you!

However, not to name any names, there has recently been a lack of common courtesy from a couple of veteran posters. I know that it can be exasperating to see the same sorts of posting errors (or pecevied errors in come cases) over and over, but just by changing a few words, you can make a post seem less like a lecture and more like a friendly suggestion. No one wants to be lectured at, told how dumb or annoying they are, or cursed at. When I see someone with less than ten posts get hammered by a veteran, it makes me wonder if new community blood is being run off.

Please consider being more polite to newbies. For example, use the word 'please'. Remember that in many cases the newbies won't be familiar with unwritten board protocol.

Peace.

Re: Common courtesy
 

yeah, what i dislike is when veterans use diminutives like SC, AoE, VQ, FB, etc and suppose that everyone must know what are they talking about.

Re: Common courtesy
 

I know the others but what's FB?

Thanks in advance of course http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Common courtesy
 

I'm not 100% sure... could be 'Fire Bless'?

The forum jargon I most dislike is 'Thug'- the image the word calls to mind fits a basic non-commander troll or giant much better than a champion or hero loaded with magic items... but I was lurking on the board when it was first used and said nothing then so I guess I have to accept some of the blame.

Re: Common courtesy
 

Super Combatant, Area of Effect (this one is universal to gaming, not just here,) Vampire Queen...

uh, i guess fire bless? I haven't seen that one used, at least out of context. (whereas it probably wouldn't even register in context.)

Re: Common courtesy
 

Something I try to remember is to use the full words the first time in a post, and then the shortened version after that in the same post (not the same thread).

Also, new people can help to keep the old timers in a friendlier mood by picking up the load on those seen-many-times questions. If you have seen the answer ten times then there is no reason that you cant start giving the answer when it gets asked again. That way the old timers can settle back and use their limited patience on asking rarer questions.

"Answers you receive upon Internet, you owe back ten-fold."
Gandalf Parker

Re: Common courtesy
 

Good point, Gandalf. I'll try to de-lurk and pitch in a little more.

Re: Common courtesy
 

Fordo Boggit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Common courtesy
 

off topic...i just saw him in a game for the first time yesterday but didn't have enough money to buy him. he was gone the next turn though. is he any good?

Re: Common courtesy
 

not without the "precious." http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Common courtesy
 

Deleted.

Re: Common courtesy
 

I don't mind abbreviations (use them all the time myself), but it can be overdone.

Re: Common courtesy
 

I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to look up jargon in the manual just to use the forum. That's quite cliquey and will make it harder for new players to get involved online. In fact, I think Actuarian's point is well proven by the fact that I've been playing since Dom1 and reading these forums since they opened at shrapnel, and I still couldn't guess what 'FB' was without context...

Re: Common courtesy
 

I think a FAQ like the one that can be found in one of the Dominions 2 forum would be a nice and easy to find ressource for newcomers or users that are not forum regulars.

And other good side effect, it would help lowering the amount of "repeated same questions" problem that seems to overwhelm the patience of some regulars if i understood all well in this thread.

Re: Common courtesy
 

As someone who has read and written a lot about dominions, I can vouch for never having seen 'FB'... closest I can think of would be 'FoB' for fountain of blood.

Re: Common courtesy
 

As for Fordo Boggit... The Hoburgs perform quite well, possibly due to their small size. They're good against most indeps and small AI armies, but poor against missile heavy troops or heavily armoured ones.

Re: Common courtesy
 

I think that for the purpose of the original post it was quite appropriate to come up with an acronym that even the elders of the forum would scratch their head over. Even if he didnt have an answer for what it was. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Common courtesy
 

As one of those people who have been mentioned without naming names, I'll pitch in with a few words.

I try to post informative and helpful things and most of the time I don't even say anything if somebody else has covered the issue already. I know I can be prickly a times and sometimes downright harsh and sometimes I do get annoyed.

Actuarian is right about there needing to be common courtesy toward new people, such as the veterans avoiding too much jargon or explaining things out once before using acronyms as per Gandalf's, but it isn't limited to that.

Common courtesy is a two-way street and on the part of the new people, that means looking at the first couple of pages of the forum to see if there is a topic answering questions they might have before they post a new thread. It is completely unreasonable to expect new people to read all of teh forum or even a sizable fraction before starting, but anyone who can't be bothered to scan the topic titles for two pages on the forum as preliminary scouting is clearly showing a decided lack of common courtesy to start with.

This sort of thing is, or should be, a basic part of etiquette on ANY forum: Scout the basic lay of the land out first. If it is an issue that is relatively obvious, starting with "Apologies if this has been covered recently but..." is likely to mitigate any possible annoyance quite a bit.

As always, this is a personal opinion formed over the course of membership in a variety of forums over the net and does not necessarily reflect the policies of these particular forums on all counts. I welcome new people to the Dom3 community. Just that common courtesy should go both ways. If anyone new to this place has felt hurt by what I have said, I apologize. It is NOT personal and I hold no ill will.

Edi