Sage Advice:

How to Write Well in the Forums

By Darkgolem

When writing in the forums for any game, or, for that matter, for any setting, there are certain key methods you should use to get your views listened to and responded to.  There is a lot of enjoyment to be found in writing in the forums.  

You can not only contribute by providing information for other people to use, you can learn things that are hard to find out otherwise.  In some cases you can assist the developers of games to learn what their customers want.  You can foster a sense of community which can make games much more enjoyable.

It can be hard to get your voice heard when writing in the forums.  However, by writing articles using the tips given below, you can increase the likelihood that people will take your views seriously, respond to you, and hear your views.

Writing clearly is key:

If you write your views clearly, you are going to be better understood.  Pretty obvious in the face of it, but if your views are open to interpretation, the likelihood is that some people are going to answer things you didn't ask, comment on things you didn't say.

You should think about anything your write as not a single thought, but several thoughts at once.  Words that have multiple meanings can distort your message.  An example is the use of the phrase “care bear”.  In MMORG circles, care bears are people who don't like pvp.  It often is used in a derogatory way.  By using this term, anyone who feels they are being insulted will immedeatly start looking at your message in a negative way, or even stop reading and simply be looking for a retort to respond with.  This further response from the alienated person can divert your thread to something you don't want, or even start a flame war.

Ninety percent of communication is non verbal.  People look for the hidden meanings in your written words as much as they do in face to face.  So by writing in ways that lack a clear meaning, you give people the opportunity to find meanings you did not't intend.

Grammar and spelling count:

While it pains me to remember how poor my writing can be upon occasion, this point is very true.  The validity of your statements are going to be judged in part upon how well you form your sentences and how correct your spelling is.  Always run a spell check before you post, if possible, and take the time to review your posts for errors and poorly formed sentences before you post them.  By making your writing clearly understandable, you encourage people to accept your message as true.

Don't take it personally

When someone responds to your posts in a hostile manner, examine it to see if your reading it wrongly.  Just as people are likely to somewhat misinterperate your writing, you are likely to misinterperate theirs.  The reason you want to do this is because your goal with responding to others posts is to keep to the point of your thread.  If you allow the discussion you are fostering to turn away from that discussion, than you are not accomplishing anything.

As a general rule, you can bring a thread that is going out of control by answering posts that seem seditious with responses that are not.  The person who wrote in a way that inspires a negative response will often respond to a level post will allow the message to be diverted back to the subject at hand, sometimes because they never intended a negative response in the first place.

When someone does respond to your post in a truly negative way, you have to decide whether your going to take the bait and respond in kind, or instead ignore them and respond to others who are being reasonable.  Remember that no matter whether a response to a negative post is fair or not, you have lost… after all, you will get no more information, nor be able to give any good information  once a thread has devolved to a flame war.  Worse still, you can end up being banned.

Keep your points short and to the point.

Posts don't have to be short, but they should only contain the information you need to give, and be delivered in way that is delivers this information as quickly as possible while still being clear.  If you have so much information to contribute that it is going to be a very long post, instead explain that your going to post segments and have two posts.  Note in the title that a post is going to be long.

People don't care to spend a lot of time reading a post.  The longer they spend reading something, the more likely they are to stop reading, skim to the end, and respond to what they got from their abridged understanding of your post.  This just makes it less likely you will get a response that addresses what you were truly trying to say.

Organize your information

When you have lists of information or multiple points to deliver, try using bullets or numbering.  This makes your writing easier to read, both by burying your information among words which simply connect your pieces of information to each other, and by accenting your information for readers.

When responding to others comments, quote them and do the same thing.  Separate the key points of their comments (and make sure to be fair, not keeping what you want to hear, but what is relevant whether you agree or not), and use bullets or quotes to make those points clear.  Then respond point by point to their comments.

Be fair; you don't have all the brains on the forums

People respect that you show them respect, and they are more likely to listen if you complement them by acknowledging when they are right.  If you accept when you are mistaken, and note in your posts when you are wrong and someone else is right, they are much more likely to listen to other things to say.

This is really the point of a forum.. to reach an agreement by pooling the experience of many people.  You can make sure your point is understood by accepting the views of others as having as much value as your own.

There you go, it's actually not hard

The nice part about writing over conversation is that your not going to have to worry about taking back something foolish, if your cautious.  When you say something, it doesn't matter if you regret it… it's out there.  When your writing, you can reviews your points and change things before posting them.  So take advantage of this.  Follow the points above and review your writing before you post.  You will find that you get better information, be able to share information better, and find the forums a more pleasant place to be when your reading them.