"You" is directed to EO as well as other Devs and DMs.
In short - i am as well worried about the way devs and dms tend to answer to posts they do not like (and that does not only include my own ones). It really takes great efforts to bring a discussion to productive results once such a posting has appeared.
That's actually what we -always- do. Unfortunately, even after explaining logically to these players, they push on and on and on.
Bluntly said - that may be the way you want it to be - but it is not as i perceive it. Especially with the word "always", which excludes any exceptions.
I remember way too many threads in which the logical - in fact, ANY - explanation never came before the thread got locked down or died. And many of those threads included one or more troll-postings from a dm or dev.
They create more topics about the same subjects.
Is that so? Is that the case for all or eben most of the threads that escalate? Or may it be that the initiators differ and they all have the same, not yet resolved problem (may it be due to poor communication or in fact a system/mechanism)? However, a person that previously started a thread usually happily participates in later threads on the same topic.
As i see it, this very sentence is a polemic example of the kind of postings that derail threads. Players that read such generalizations and know that it is not true can't help but being provoked by it.
Essentially, they can't take "no" as an answer and want things their way.
Well, i know who's server this is... but can you imagine that THEY can answer with that same sentence? That's the downside with people that got too accustomed to the principles of democracy.
And they resort to insulting posts and negative feedback to do so.
Ouuh... yes, i can see why you think some postings are considered insulting. Granted. but that does not make the point invalid. Negative feedback is feedback as well, so be gratefull for it as well - it can't always be "great change man, go on!"
But here comes something that distinguishes you from the player base and which has been written as well.
As devs and dm, you have another responsibility here - and if you post a rude response (which in fact happens as often as Illy-Dan implied - the results are way worse than a player who posts in a overly agressive way. Your statements HAVE more weight - and if some of you answer in the same way, that does way more harm than you might imagine. It radiates to the whole teams - and then you should not be surprised if the tone gets more and more rude. In some postings i have the impression that the author of an agressive posting already braces in that way for the impact of anticipated answers of certain devs/dms.
It's only natural that after a point, people will snap back and lose patience.
And here you have the explanation for at least SOME agressive postings directed at you - those players snapped as well.
Perhaps their opinion doesn't matter.
Brilliant. This is the best example of a posting that this thread is all about.