Going There

How many times have you seen someone in DIY D&D blogville saying some cuh-razy thing and thought, "-sigh-I'm really not gonna get into this with you"? If you're like me, about a million.

But then occasionally you do--or I do, anyway. And why? It's on those rare occasions when the person saying the cuh-razy thing appears otherwise sane, reasonable and intelligent. And so the crazy thing spurs your desire to know some stuff you do not. How can this seemingly alright person think this seemingly psychotic thing? Am I missing something?

So then you go there. And maybe you even go all the way there, because you really really want to know.

Which then, of course, is when you risk offending the person, because your persistence is, in effect, clearly saying "I still think you are crazy, explain more or concede." And this makes the person mad.

Which is ironic, because if you just thought they were just like whatever some blogger blogging up some elfs you wouldn't have mixed it up with them in the first place. So you only risk offending the people you actually think are smart and interesting.

Someone will no doubt post a long comment under this concerning the benefits of respect, etiquette, and decorum in these matters, and they may be right. And then someone else will post saying "Hey man, I read your blog 'cause you say what you think" and they may be right.

But the real point is: hey, just know, the Ironic Punishment Rule is in effect for blogscraping.