As someone with a particular interest in communication, and the way people express ideas, concerns and suggestions, I thought I would create a post giving my thoughts on the best way to get your point across on these forums.
I hope these don't come across as patronising or redundant - my intent is simply to offer suggestions that I believe may increase the odds of your message being understood and appreciated. This is all just my opinion, based on personal experience - seeing what works and what doesn't, basically.
First things first - I know people tend not to read forum guidelines, assuming that "Surely it's all common sense, right?", but here's a link anyway, because it's relevant - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/816711831
This is also an excellent sticky - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1622908149
Hopefully I won't cover too many of the same points, but there will likely be at least a bit of crossover.
Perspective
I can't overstate the importance of this one. You speak for you. You do not speak for anyone else. Even people who seem to agree with you probably have a slightly different take.
This does not mean your point should be dismissed. Obviously.
It does mean that it might be wise to avoid phrases like "everybody knows that...", "nobody cares about..." and (heaven forbid) "I believe I speak for all tanks/dps/healers when I say..."
By doing so you give the impression that you lack perspective, and a sense of the 'bigger picture' is pretty important when giving constructive feedback. As blues have often said, they love feedback -just as long as it's constructive.
No-one should feel like they are discouraged from describing a scenario that involves their very specific situation or playstyle - but an appreciation that not everyone else will be affected in the same way will really help get others on board.
Hyperbole
In the heat of the moment, words like "broken", "useless", "overpowered" and "worthless" seem appropriate. Seem.
In almost every case, they give the unfortunate impression that you have lost perspective (see above). This undermines your entire post - even if you have an excellent point, you've distracted attention from the good stuff with a fizzing display of hysterical exaggeration.
Okay, so perhaps your spec's signature ability is a little weaker than it used to be. That really doesn't mean your spec is now the equivalent of a chocolate teapot. It really, honestly doesn't. Even if it's not as strong as it should be - Blizzard tend to notice (they have a hell of a lot of metrics to define and test this stuff) and they'll fix it.
Derogatory language
This sounds obvious, and is covered by the general forum guidelines, but you'd be amazed how much more attention I am willing to give a post with a respectful tone, compared to one filled with explicit or veiled insults.
I get that you're passionate about this thing, whatever it is. I get that you're angry, disgusted, outraged. I can also get that sense without all the insults towards Blizzard, or other players. Trust me, it does more harm than good.
**Part 2 below**
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