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So I asked this question and I feel (and feel free to tell me I'm just being paranoid) that the comments on my question are unduly critical while also being irrelevant to the question asked.

You managed to go that entire question without clearly stating how DW is fundamentally different from either D&D, Storyteller, or Fate. If you can't clearly state it here, you can't communicate it to Bob. It seems like you and Bob have different ideas about this system, and that's more a social issue than a game system question.

This just seems to outright challenge my communication skills without basis, it's not that I can't explain the difference it's just that I felt that doing so would add unnecessary bulk to an already-lengthy question. I have almost no experience with either of the three mentioned systems and I feel like my communication skills are being criticized without the suggested improvement actually being relevant to my question.

My question is indeed a social issue, but the social issue is that the GM doesn't seem to understand the game system.

If you can't say, here, in less than ten words what you think Bob did wrong, you may not be able to tell him at all. At best, you could complain about a lot of different things, and maybe if Bob knows you very well he could infer it. Maybe.

This just seems to be trying to hammer home the "it's your communication skills that are the problem" point without adding anything I can act upon, I don't think it's humanly possible to sum up the differences between a *World system and a system like D&D in ten words, nor do I wish to agonize myself trying.

The top answers so far don't seem to have had any trouble understanding the problem at all, so should I just ignore these types of comments or is this a legitimate concern I should try and address with an edit?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I think this is the first time in a long time that someone has complained on meta that comments are not deleted. \$\endgroup\$
    – C. Ross
    Sep 23, 2014 at 15:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @C.Ross This wasn't really intended as a complaint and I hope I didn't come across as abrasive. The mentioned question is the first I've asked that's received this kind of attention and I was unsure what the community considered a "best practice" so to speak. Thanks to BESW's answer I'm now aware that comment flags exist and will make use of them as needed. Nontheless your comment did make me chuckle xD \$\endgroup\$
    – Aiken
    Sep 23, 2014 at 15:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ My comment was for humor only. Your meta question was entirely appropriate. \$\endgroup\$
    – C. Ross
    Sep 23, 2014 at 15:38

2 Answers 2

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Those comments are out of line.

Not just because they're needlessly condescending, but because they're straight-up not Stack Exchange comment material regardless of tone. They aren't a request for clarification--though I think they might be trying to do that--but if so they doesn't actually make that request. Instead they're an un-actionable half-answer lecture masquerading as an equally inappropriate-for-comments discussion.

They should be flagged as "answer in a comment"/"too chatty" or "not constructive."

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  • \$\begingroup\$ 100% agree with this. The comments you've highlighted should be deleted imo \$\endgroup\$
    – Wibbs
    Sep 23, 2014 at 8:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the response, I've flagged them as "not constructive" \$\endgroup\$
    – Aiken
    Sep 23, 2014 at 8:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ A flag! Cthulhu rises from sunken R'yeh, destroys all the comments in sight, and sinks back to a dream-filled slumber. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Sep 23, 2014 at 12:50
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I think you should try not to be offended, even if they missed the point. Assume good faith. Even if the comments could be inappropriate, I don't think anyone had tried to purposely attack you.

I think a proper answer would be: "I don't think I have bad communication skills. I have done this and this, and therefore I think it's not a communication problem on my part".

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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure how productive it is to encourage people to use comments as a place to defend their actions. Following the advice of the first paragraph should probably result in a "do nothing, flag as not constructive" response: the comment is erroneous and so no edit is needed. \$\endgroup\$
    – BESW
    Sep 26, 2014 at 21:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BESW It's not about defending actions. It's clarification, he would be clarifying that communication skills are not the problem. I have problem A, you suggest the cause B, and I comment why I think B is not the cause. If the discussion proves that it's need, the question can be edited to show why B is not the cause of the problem A. \$\endgroup\$
    – Flamma
    Sep 27, 2014 at 0:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ Then shouldn't it be edited into the question in the first place, in the spirit of the first point in this post? \$\endgroup\$
    – BESW
    Sep 27, 2014 at 0:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BESW Maybe. But sometimes I think a bit of discussion can help decide if some clarification is needed or worth to be added to the question text. \$\endgroup\$
    – Flamma
    Sep 27, 2014 at 0:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think your answer here would benefit from expanding, along those lines, on the reasoning behind your suggestion. \$\endgroup\$
    – BESW
    Sep 27, 2014 at 0:30

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