Better Citizenship Through WoW?

I can't agree that the official WoW message boards are that hospitable.  It's filled with trolls, flamers and flamebaiters- just like any loosely moderated forum on the Internet.

I also think her analysis is flawed.  She is taking her numbers only from the people who actively participate in discussions- thus, she sees a lot of people willing to talk and listen: the evaluatives, with the only absolutists and relativists she's seeing and using in her study being the vocal ones.

She has to consider that those two latter viewpoints are likely to simply not say anything, especially on Internet forums.  For her study to be accurate, she has to follow up on those who only read through threads without posting anything and try to get their actual opinions.

Furthermore, an MMO like WoW is a naturally evaluative environment.  Most of the discussion is about gameply, strategy, tactics- what works and what doesn't in the game.  Most of the dissent can easily be empirically tested out in the game.  And since it's a computer game, there's also math that can be checked and followed to prove or disprove one's point.

This is a far cry from the full range of human opinion, which includes religion, politics, morality, etc. where such things cannot be determined by experimentation and objective analysis.

As a PC gamer and WoW player, it's nice to hear good news, but even that should be taken with a grain of salt.

As for Barrens and Trade Chat, I just ignore it as much as I can, trying to focus only on stuff that's relevant- helpful info or opportunities for commerce.  But it can be pretty hard not to notice the crap that usually goes on in there.  Even the serious discussions can be painful.