Quote from: Willie the Duck;924569We sure seem to have about 0.5 blow-ups per day here, regardless. The reasons are different but I don't feel like they're better.

I'm not looking for a site that has no blowups. I see blow-ups as the natural result of discussion that includes disagreement, combined with the limitations of communication solely via the written word (and often a hastily written word at that).  

QuoteTBP - eh, I made my position clear long ago. There'll always be people you disagree with. If we spend our time talking about how anti-X we are, then we're nothing more than the negative reflection of the same thing. We do better by making this the best discussion site that provides useful insight into helping people game well. Living well is the best revenge and all that.

In general I agree with the position you state here. I seldom talk about TBP and I almost never introduce it into a thread and I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever started a thread about people's political views or about TBP. In this thread, I was responding to Black Vulmea's comments which are over generalizations. Mostly, because I'm sad he's chosen to absent himself.

Quote from: Willie the Duck;924569Feels like a weight off doesn't it?

Not at all! You're wrong:D!

(And for the irony-challenged, yes, it sure does feel better;)).

Quote from: TristramEvans;924563I think besides Pundit I've seen maybe 2 posters here use the term "swine" unironically.

What does that mean, anyway?  I've never understood that.

I mean, I know it was an insult from the movies and radio shows of the 1900's, simply because of the language laws in the entertainment industry, and often meant bastard, but other than that...

Quote from: Christopher Brady;924632What does that mean, anyway?  I've never understood that.

I mean, I know it was an insult from the movies and radio shows of the 1900's, simply because of the language laws in the entertainment industry, and often meant bastard, but other than that...

Pundit defined it in an old, stickied thread in his forum.

Quote from: Bren;924560Sure the paranoid monomania of some folks on this site about the eeevulh SJWs and Swine! is tedious and frequently annoying. But a big chunk of both the tedium and the annoyance can be avoided by staying out of the Punditry section of the site. And unlike TBP, here I don't have to read, re-read, and analyze to death every post before I hit the Submit button so I don't trigger a raging hyena pack or tick off some mod with a cause, a grudge, or poor reading comprehension. YMMV and all that.

Thats been my experience too. Sure you can post over there and never see a problem. I have for a long long time now. But its walking across a minefield and its beyond absurd even now. So I stay in one quiet little corner of the site and venture out on grounhogs day before scampering back into my safe little hole because the nuclear winter is gonna be long yet.

Its not much different that posting on BGG where you have to watch what you say and sometimes where you say it lest you get a ban just for calling out a troll or liar.

Back on topic.

err... what was the topic again?

Quote from: TristramEvans;924575My thoughts are that they are generally "better" because for the most part here we have the option of talking things out like adults, even if there's no guarantee anyone else is going to respond like an adult.

Agreed at times we bounce off each other because some one took some thing wrong or in a way it was not intended,but we do as a group tend to make are points clear by the end of the discussion, and no one is banned normally.
Where as with the big purple you are unlikely to have a chance to clarify your meaning if you are misunderstood.

Quote from: Omega;924642Thats been my experience too. Sure you can post over there and never see a problem. I have for a long long time now. But its walking across a minefield and its beyond absurd even now. So I stay in one quiet little corner of the site and venture out on grounhogs day before scampering back into my safe little hole because the nuclear winter is gonna be long yet.

Its not much different that posting on BGG where you have to watch what you say and sometimes where you say it lest you get a ban just for calling out a troll or liar.

Back on topic.

err... what was the topic again?

Frankly the reason I stopped posting on the big purple is because I got tired of the whole "when the cats are away the mice will play" dynamic. That's without all of the blatant mod favoritism.With the favoritism I frankly see no real reason to frequent the site.When every time a thread starts to make some real head way A mod comes in and either A: bans some one: or B: kicks one of the major posters out of the thread: there is no point.

Quote from: Omega;924642err... what was the topic again?

'Niche Protection' and why it's bad.  I will reiterate my position, and belief, that we humans do it all the time anyway so whether or not our like or dislike if our games do it, I believe is due to how 'in your face' it is in the presentation.

I just went over there and browsed through the infractions forum a bit.  As far as I can tell, nothing whatsoever has changed except that they are now openly banning people for supporting Trump and/or criticizing Clinton.

As for niche protection, it's my experience that players do it even in systems that don't include it.  People don't want their characters to overlap too much to avoid stepping on each other's toes too much and to avoid redundancy.  They do it in points buy systems like M&M even though they have no mechanical niche protection at all.

Quote from: yosemitemike;924882I just went over there and browsed through the infractions forum a bit.

Drama-filled forum is full of drama.

Also, water still wet.

Why give credence to the bullshit?

Quote from: Black Vulmea;925036Drama-filled forum is full of drama.

Also, water still wet.

Why give credence to the bullshit?

It's difficult to generate much drama in a forum where regular users are not allowed to post and topics all have zero responses.  It's strictly a forum for the staff to announce who they are infracting, why and how severe the penalty will be.  Why give credence to "the bullshit"?  Because it's coming from people with the authority to enforce their bullshit and it's the same bullshit I have been seeing there for years.

Niche protection is awesome. With the detail that every character should be able to attempt to do things outside their niche, only to be much worse at it than someone within the niche.  Every character can theoretically fight, including trying some kind of special maneuver, but the fighter should fight much much better than any other class. Everyone should be able to try to hide or climb, but the thief should get to do so with great advantages.  Sometimes this can also mean getting to automatically succeed at things that other characters should only be able to succeed with a difficult check.

Quote from: RPGPundit;925450Niche protection is awesome. With the detail that every character should be able to attempt to do things outside their niche, only to be much worse at it than someone within the niche.  Every character can theoretically fight, including trying some kind of special maneuver, but the fighter should fight much much better than any other class. Everyone should be able to try to hide or climb, but the thief should get to do so with great advantages.  Sometimes this can also mean getting to automatically succeed at things that other characters should only be able to succeed with a difficult check.

Great, but this is something that you achieve by point-buy as well;).

Quote from: yosemitemike;925058It's strictly a forum for the staff to announce who they are infracting, why and how severe the penalty will be.

In other words, drama.

Quote from: yosemitemike;925058Why give credence to "the bullshit"?  Because it's coming from people with the authority to enforce their bullshit . . . (emphasis added - BV)

It's their fucking site. Whinging about it, especially on another site, just makes you a member of the alt-Drama Club. Don't be that guy.

Quote from: RPGPundit;925450Niche protection is awesome.

Niche protection is for gobshites, players who need rules as their surrogate cocks to measure because they suck at actually playing the game.

I don't like rigidly limited character archetypes. I prefer to have flexibility in my CharGen options. But at the same time I think that the GM should protect niches for the PCs by reviewing the different players' choices of PC before the game and trying to predict whether each PC will have their own opportunities to shine. This can't be an absolute. If everyone wants to play a fighter, well... some of them are going to be shining in the same situations, and perhaps not equally. But at least have a look at the character sheets and ask yourself - is there a player who is going to be actively prevented, by the rules, from ever really taking the spotlight in mechanically rich situations? Of course, in more roleplay-intensive, less mechanically rich situations, anyone can grab the spotlight with the right roleplay. But again it may be interesting to look at PCs' social advantages and disadvantages (even if they are reflected only in "fluff" and not in "crunch") and seeing if there is too much overlap. Then again, in the final analysis, a game with a lot of overlap between PCs can work great - but may need more thought from the GM.

Some players enjoy making one-trick ponies for their character.