DJFlare84

~RULES OF "CRITICISM"~
The suggestions forum is perhaps the biggest hotbed of arguments, by virtue of it being a birthplace of ideas people might disagree with. Unfortunately, when some people disagree with an idea, they tend to say things of or in a manner most would disagree with in a MORAL sense. We'd like that to stop. So to help out, I made a list of very specific and helpful guidelines on how not to be "inappropriate" in the suggestions forum.

... I don't think people actually need to be taught how not to be a jerk, but it would probably help if we outlined the stuff some of you used to do and thought you could get away with, and then told you not to do it, hm? Alright? Okay. Let's begin.

1. PURELY AESTHETIC SUGGESTIONS ARE NEVER BAD.
This is probably the most common complaint I see so I'd like to address it first.

Remember that the suggestions forum was opened to embrace all sincere ideas. While there may be "bad" suggestions, Aesthetic changes will never ever fall under that label because they are purely aesthetic, meaning they are literally all about opinions. If you disagree with an opinion about AESTHETICS, that NEVER means you are right. It just means you disagree.

And remember that you are not the developers, so you absolutely cannot make the call as to what ideas are "un-necessary". Don't ever state a lack of necessity as a reason for a suggestion to be considered bad. That's not your call to make.

2. IF AN IDEA IS BAD, OUTLINE EXACTLY, PRECISELY WHY. DON'T JUST SAY IT'S BAD.
This... is pretty much self explanatory. If you think an idea may actually be bad for the game, specify why. A suggestion may throw off the balance, a suggestion may break the smooth progression, a suggested item or weapon or armor may be too powerful. Tell us why! And more than that...

3. DON'T JUST POST TO DISAGREE WITH AN IDEA. SUGGEST WAYS IT COULD BE BETTER.
This one is really more of a suggestion than a rule, because if you've followed rule 2 you've already completed what I refer to as "the bare minimum required effort". But, if you really want to be super duper ultra helpful, you could take this idea you disagree with, and recommend some ways it could work better. That, my friends, is called "constructive criticism", and is generally liked.

4. IF YOU HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY, DO NOT SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.
A lot of people think that offering criticism is a free pass to bash an opinion. But I think, perhaps, that word does not mean what you think it means.

Criticism is not merely a nice label we can slap on our displeasure to justify our nasty words. Criticism is an art, and it consists of doing all of the above in a positive fashion. Why?

Because Criticism is meant to help an artist (or in this case, a suggester) improve. Criticism is MEANT to be positive by nature. Making it negative defeats the very purpose of the criticism and... actually makes it not criticism at all. If you're not going to contribute to an idea in any sort of positive fashion... don't post. How can you not post? Simple.

5. DON'T TAKE A SUGGESTION TOO SERIOUSLY.
For one thing, there is a LOT going on with Terraria already. It will probably be very rare that any suggestions from here get picked up to actually go in the game. More than anything, the suggestions forum is like a place where people go "What if?", and have nice little daydreams.

Does an idea seem "un-necessary"? Well, you remember what I said about that, and relax.

Does an idea just seem really really bad? If it's ACTUALLY really really bad, don't SAY anything! A really really bad idea won't get any support and will thus get overlooked after a while. Plus, if you POST on it, you're only bumping the idea to get more attention from people who might disagree with you and like it, instead. So, either way, your best bet is to move on. Relax.

Does a bad idea seem really popular? WELL guess what. YOU MIGHT KINDA BE WRONG. But aside from that, think about the likelihood of any idea (even a popular one) getting picked up. You're blowing this way out of proportion. Relax.

~IN CLOSING...~
Thank you for taking the time to read this excerpt on what not to do in the suggestions forum. Take these words to heart, because these are THE RULES. Members are encouraged to REPORT any posts that break these rules. Members. All the ordinary everyday forumfolk who also read your posts. That's a LOT of people able to bring the heat down on you. And this just gave them permission to do it. So, think about that.