Constructive Criticism (READ NOW, Instant bans Now In Effect)

[Millennium]

What I am posted here will be put into effect very soon. If you can not give constructive criticism from now on, you will be banned. This will soon be coming to our entire forum on OS, but with NCAA's release, you get it first.

If you feel the need to be degrading, unthoughtful, angry, or sarcastic with your posts, you will be banned. Period. That doesn't help anyone, and I'm not interested in your "e-cred" and ego being stroked on these forum.


CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM


Definition: Constructive criticism, or constructive analysis, is a compassionate attitude towards the person qualified for criticism. Having higher experience, gifts, respect, knowledge in specific field and being able to verbally convince at the same time, this person is intending to uplift the other person materially, morally, emotionally or spiritually. For high probability in succeeding compassionate criticism, the critic has to be in some kind of healthy personal relationship with the other one, which is normally a parent to child, friend to friend, teacher to student, spouse to spouse or any kind of recgonized authority in specific field. Hence the word constructive is used so that something is created or visible outcome generated rather than the opposite. Participatory learning in pedagogy is based on these principles of constructive criticism, focusing on positive examples to be emulated over precepts to be followed.

How To Give Constructive Criticism (via AskMen.com):

Omit character traits
If you want your criticism to get the best out of someone, suppress the urge to attach one of his personality deficits to your critique. If you do start to bring up personality deficits, it’s likely he will interpret your comment as an ad hominem attack, causing your point to fall on deaf, insulted ears. It isn’t possible to entirely separate a person from their work, but your criticism should make that effort.

Frame your criticism in appropriate language
The very words you speak can make all the difference. Using terminology germane to the issue keeps constructive criticism on a professional level, beyond reproach. Furthermore, you can thaw out even the most severe criticism by tenderizing your language. Opening with “It seems to me…,” or “I could be wrong, but…” makes it less likely that your point is compromised by arrogance or rudeness.

Get your facts straight
The efficacy of constructive criticism is in direct proportion to the credibility of its source. Conversely, few things can torpedo your authority more quickly than unknowingly basing your comments on factual errors. Facts in the form of criticisms that are impossible to dispute act as an arsenal of stealth weaponry. They can deliver your harsher critiques with surgical precision while never letting the person know that you’re launching them. Show a little empathy when giving constructive criticism

Keep emotions in mind and in check
Offering effective constructive criticism requires you to neutralize any unreliable elements of emotion in order to blunt their influence. To a certain degree, you must take his feelings into account; it may not be possible to spare him some measure of embarrassment, but overt humiliation is mean-spirited and counterproductive. On the same token, your own feelings need to be kept in check; they are susceptible to bias and can be used to discredit you.

Focus on what can be done, not what’s been done
Refer to specific opportunities for improvement and avoid singling out inadequacies. Keeping your criticisms positive is both tactful and essential. It’s less disparaging for the person to hear that he has overlooked an opportunity than it is to be told that his current ideas are incompetent or defective.
Empathize
One of the more potent steps you can take before delivering constructive criticism is also among the simpler and more compassionate ones: Stop for a moment and remind yourself what it’s like to be in those shoes. You feel vulnerable, under direct attack and it’s human nature to become defensive in the extreme.

Utilize reason, not personal preference
Criticism of any kind bears an innate bias, but you can overcome that by remembering that comments grounded on reason are less open to counter-arguments, both valid and otherwise. It’s difficult for anyone to defend nonsense against the stability of logic, but it’s easy to dismiss criticisms dangled on the capriciousness of ”like” and “dislike.” Your credentials fade the very moment your comments begin to drift from authoritative conclusions into whimsical preferences.

Allow time for a response
It’s to your psychological advantage to pause between criticisms and allow the person a chance to explain himself. The act of offering an explanation, however weak it may be, is intellectually satisfying: It helps keep his ego somewhat intact while preventing him from becoming overwhelmed. Furthermore, you’ll come across as both fair and open-minded, increasing your credibility while decreasing the chance that any of your constructive criticism gets overlooked or forgotten.

[RamblinWreck21]

Awesome, this is what I am talking about!

[aidanbox360]

constructive criticism towards the game, another poster, or both?

[23]

Both

[Danimal]

It definitely applies to both, bottom line if you're going to respond to a poster do so in a mature manner.

If you enjoy replying to someone in a sarcastic way, you're not going to be visiting these forums much longer.

[da ThRONe]

So does this mean we can't give opinions or make observations if they arent favorable to the product?

[fishepa]

Quote: Originally Posted by da ThRONe

So does this mean we can't give opinions or make observations if they arent favorable to the product?

No.

[convince]

So quick question, lets say for ex: Someone states that product X sucks b/c they keep leaving "Y" out for the last 5 years. Now is it complaining, if most of the people including some Mods don't agree that "Y" is even needed. Because that IMO is way too subjective. If one can only state opinions that everyone else agrees with or have stated before, that's almost like beating a dead horse, which would come off as complaining.