gem trouble

[Bolty]

Yet the ridicule (however minor) of those who do not fit those standards (instead of polite education) only lessens the forum as a whole, and lessens those high standards that we aspire to keep.

Dyntheos,

Being asked about what the chat gem does is like a little kid coming up and asking you if you know where to find a left-handed monkey wrench. It's obvious that someone's playing a practical joke on the child. I gather that you're the type who would sit the child down and explain thoroughly that it was all a joke, and there is no such thing as a left-handed monkey wrench.

That's all and good, except that imagine there's a big sign outside your door reading "there is no left-handed monkey wrench," and the child walked in and asked you anyway. Would you still educate them, or else continue the joke and tell him/her that your buddy down the street might have one? (the "big sign" is the search button, easy-to-use and quite informative.)

Ridicule is practically expected for such a post. The poster wasn't flamed by *anybody* in this thread; it was all friendly ribbing. This is the essence of the gem and the Cow Level in Diablo 1. Are we elitist here? You bet we are. It is the only known way to keep jerks out - it has to come from the forum culture, because moderator intervention is equivalent to stopping up little holes in a dam. If the dam breaks, mods will get washed away. Do the forum regulars sometimes go too far with the policing? You bet. But it didn't happen here in this thread.

-Bolty