1. Have a reason! Some people often show immediate disdain for an idea, yet they don't even know why. It's often because it's change. And change is bad. Always. Always (note the sarcasm). However, change is not a reason (and neither is "No. Just no." wink , it's just an excuse to say no. If you're going to reject an idea, have a reason. Think about why the idea turns you off before you post that it just does.
2. Have a good reason. So you've got your reason, eh? "Yeah, it takes time." Sorry, no. Everything takes time, so if that was a good reason not to do something, then nothing would ever happen because everything takes time to do. Okay, I'll make this one easy on you, and give you some examples of bad reasons to reject an idea for and why:
It would be hard to code: I'm sure zOMG was hard to code, but that didn't stop the devs from making it.
It would take a lot of time: Hey, do you enjoy zOMG? That took several years to design and code.
You can go to other sites for that: Sorry to use zOMG again, but there are plenty of other mmorpgs out on the web, so using that reasoning, zOMG shouldn't exist.
It would cause more cybering: So? That doesn't affect you in the least bit, unless you see it, at which point you can report. Honestly, it's not as though suddenly a huge Gaian porno is going to open up on your screen depicting two cybering avatars, why worry?
I wouldn't use it: ... Therefore no one else is allowed to enjoy it? Yeah, it's fine if you don't enjoy it, but others would. I don't enjoy playing a lot of Gaian games very much, but others do, so I leave it alone and let them enjoy.
Fix things first omg!!: There are different teams; one works on bugs while another works on features.
3. Expand upon your bad reasons to make them good reasons. This is really quite simple, but I'll even give you some examples using the aforementioned list of bad reasons:
It would be hard to code --> The amount of effort it would take to code that feature isn't worth the outcome. That feature would not be very useful and the effort would be better spent on something that would benefit the site more. (Should probably include an example)
It would take a lot of time --> The time it would take to code that feature could be better spent on a different feature that would be more useful and beneficial to the site. (Should probably include an example)
You can go to other sites for that --> Gaia could possibly adapt it to be more unique to Gaia, and though they may come out with it in the future, you can play this feature on other websites for now. (This is a pretty weak reason, even with the elaboration, so you're best off not using it unless the person is asking for the EXACT same feature as another site).
It would cause more cybering Just don't use this reason at all, there's really no good argument for it. I mean, really, people cybering somewhere on Gaia is NOT going to harm you in any way. If you see it, report it, then forget about it. rolleyes
I wouldn't use it --> I don't foresee many users using this feature. (Best used in conjunction with the first two).
Fix things first omg!! Again, it's a bad reason. Just avoid it.
4. Point out ways an idea could be improved and why. Often, there's something good that can be salvaged from a bad idea. For example, if someone suggested getting married in a "temple of God", point out that not everyone believes in God and it would be more fun to get married in a "temple of Lanzer".
5. Avoid posting unwarranted insults to the topic creator. Unless the creator is suggesting something out of extreme laziness ("PLS FREE GOLD ALL DA TIME!" wink or they're being whiny ("omg i wus just postin mi feedbak u dun HAVE 2 YELL @ ME!!" even though people just disagreed), there's no reason to call the OP stupid for just suggesting something you don't want to see on Gaia. It's not necessary.
6. Avoid being hostile or angry with your response. There's really no reason to get pissy because someone made a suggestion. If you feel angry that someone made a suggestion, and there's no way for you to act calm in replying, skip over the topic and head to another one.
