A bare minimum of belonging to a community dedicated to a specific game is knowledge of that game’s basic rules. I seriously can’t count how many communities I leave based on nothing but “I’m too lazy to read” posts. I also concede that the line between basic rules and in-depth mastery isn’t the same for everyone.
#sundaycrabbysunday
I wonder if we’re thinking of the same community and the same poster…if so, it’s made me cross too.
Then again, maybe I (and I’d venture you as well) am unusual in seriously studying a new game and writing out some sort of personal quick guide. Though if we’re thinking of the same thing, it’s a rather frustrating case.
It’s the The One Ring community. Post after post of fundamental rules questions that are (IMO I guess) very clearly explained in the book.
Paul Beakley then yes, we’re thinking of the same thing. I’ve turned it off from my home stream out of irritation.
It’s not the first community I’ve dropped and it won’t be the last. Actually I think I’ve dropped them all eventually for the same reason.
The other reason is when a very small but busy/loud core of members dominate discussions. Bonus points if they have a terrible POV.
Me irl
If/when I ever publish my own thing, it will need to be such a huge breakaway success that I can afford to compensate a community moderator for the game. Because I would probably alienate everyone if I had a bad week.
If you publish a popular enough game, you’ll have fans to answer those questions for you: see BW, AW, DW, etc.
Paul Beakley, my method there is to be obscure enough that very few people care…
Glad I’m not the only one who noticed this. Almost all of my notifications this weekend were those posts. Thankfully, I was so busy I didn’t have time to post the “Have you even read the book, dude?” response that would likely have gotten me permabanned.
The same guy started another thread earlier that got so bad I actually had to block someone.
Blarg I made the mistake of dropping back into that community to see how things had shaken out.
So many questions. So many fundamental rules thingies that are right there in print if only you’d slow down and read.
But you know what? Maybe I’m being unfair. I have no idea what this person’s reading skills may be. He may have reading comprehension problems. Dyslexia? English is a second language? I don’t know. I can’t know. It’s really unfair, I suppose, to assume everyone is a careful reader. I guess I am just surprised that folks who aren’t careful readers can, you know, learn from a rulebook at all.
And yet the questions are so well structured, you know? Clearly written and direct, no misspellings, no odd grammatical things that might indicate a second-language situation.
I think the real answer is just to stay out of communities. Maintain my weird remote desert fortress. Hope the signs that I put up years ago still point folks in the right direction.
To be really charitable, studying is a skill in itself. When I was younger, I had no clue that one might want to, I dunno, re-read a text and take notes in order to understand it. Dude may simply lack these skills.
To really uncharitable, he could be a lazy doof who wants other people to figure things out for him, which is all too common.