Spoiler:
After reading the initial post, and reading the follow-up posts by both players and developers alike, I have come to the conclusion that I need to make fifteen points about the initial post and subsequent posts. For point number one, I would like to say that formatting of posts is imperative to attractiveness when viewing as a reader. Having a post that is neither too long nor too short is the best way to post so that the most number of people and members on the forums will actually take the time to read the post. Secondly, the grammar and spelling within that post are likely the second most important factors for attractiveness to players, members, and readers when deciding if the content of the message being posted is of any worth or contains any information whatsoever useful to the reader. As a side not to the second point, but not inclusive of my third point, I will state that we all have an understanding that English is not the primary language of many and more of the members, readers, and people who frequent these forums. As such, continuing with my addendum to point number two, we all need to temper our distaste for improper grammar and misspellings with the personal experience and knowledge of the member, player, developer, or person posting. If a player, member, or developer is not a native English speaker, and writes poorly because of it, you may want to consider the entire depth and breadth of their forums post history in order to create a personal sliding scale as to how much grammar and misspellings are allowable based solely upon the non-English speaking poster's aptitude at analyzing aspects of the game in general and/or their level of experience in matter posted before; i.e. were they right more times than wrong? Did they propose something stupid or good before? With this personal sliding scale in mind, please take point number two under consideration as less important if the poster has a good understanding of the game, game mechanics, class balance, etc. but a horrible understanding of the English language. Point three stands as the use of color within the text. The original poster on this thread used no color (as I am also not using color) and as such, may lose some initial readers due to lack of diversity within the text colors. Some people, players, members, and even developers like colors and color diversity so much that a post without any color diversity within the body of the text will actually "turn them off" to reading the entire post. While not a forgone conclusion that color within the body of the post means great content, it does help to structure the post (see point one above) and may even forgive some issues with grammar and spelling.(point number two above)(tempered, of course, by our knowledge of the posters past posts as noted above) The use of color in a structured way is perhaps the best way to keep a reader following along with your points; using bold, colored text to denote sections and their headings will help draw the readers eye and focus the topic(s) at hand and allow them to easily bactrack to reference points or ideas you made earlier within the post. The fourth thing I'd like to touch upon is the fact that the original poster used ALL CAPS in his subject line. While many will not even really notice this or place any special meaning in the use of all caps in the subject line, I, for one, understand this as a direct assault upon the entire readership of the forums; players, members, developers and people who read these forums are being visually assaulted by the ALL CAPS subject line. It is well known and documented that all caps use denotes anger, yelling, and rage and the original poster's decision to use all caps in the subject line is a clear indication that he is unstable and perhaps has a feeling of superiority over the rest of the members, players, reader, developers, and people who read these forums. The use of all caps was in poor taste. The fifth issue I have with the initial post here on this thread is the poster's name. Deadpoet. It has not gone unnoticed, sir, that you have chosen the name made famous by the Robin WIlliams movie Dead Poets Society. I can only assume you subscribe to the rebellious and anarchistic life choices displayed within that film. The point is driven home by you use of all caps in the subject line (see point four above). On a personal note: I loved Dead Poets Society. Oh Captain, my captain. Sixth on the list was the overall tone of the post. I have often found that negativity cloaked in positivity is positively negative. Readers, members, players and developers need to hear the good and the bad, but do not play the holier than thou card. Enough said on point six. Seventh on the list is the time in which it is costing me to reply to you post with fifteen different items of critique is enormous. I feel that, as I think we all feel, you post was to long in its entirety and the whining about other players could have been done more succinctly. Eighth point: Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family moved to Indiana when he was seven and he grew up on the edge of the frontier. He had very little formal education, but read voraciously when not working on his father’s farm. A childhood friend later recalled Lincoln's "manic" intellect, and the sight of him red-eyed and tousle-haired as he pored over books late into the night. In 1828, at the age of nineteen, he accompanied a produce-laden flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana—his first visit to a large city--and then walked back home. Two years later, trying to avoid health and finance troubles, Lincoln's father moved the family moved to Illinois. After moving away from home, Lincoln co-owned a general store for several years before selling his stake and enlisting as a militia captain defending Illinois in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Black Hawk, a Sauk chief, believed he had been swindled by a recent land deal and sought to resettle his old holdings. Lincoln did not see direct combat during the short conflict, but the sight of corpse-strewn battlefields at Stillman's Run and Kellogg's Grove deeply affected him. As a captain, he developed a reputation for pragmatism and integrity. Once, faced with a rail fence during practice maneuvers and forgetting the parade-ground instructions to direct his men over it, he simply ordered them to fall out and reassemble on the other side a minute later. Another time, he stopped his men before they executed a wandering Native American as a spy. Stepping in front of their raised muskets, Lincoln is said to have challenged his men to combat for the terrified native's life. His men stood down.
