It is of course a pity that such pleas are rejected out of hand so quickly, but that is the nature of (almost) every forum I've ever read (possibly bar Terra Nova, but thats the complete opposite at times). I also thought the quick run down on logical fallacy was really well considered.
The next thing to talk about here is logical fallacy. There are things that are
presented as evidence that are actually not evidence. Here's a short list:
Ad-Hominem Attack: "Well you're a noobtart who prolly clicks and keyboard turns, so ur opinion is invalid." If the player cited is good at
the game or not is irrelevant to the discussion.
Argument from
Authority: "I'm a game developer myself, and I say that this game will succeed
beyond anything rational." The poster's credentials are irrelevant to the
discussion. If they are correct, they should be able to provide evidence of
their claim.
Non Sequitur.: "Lol I'm a chicken and i am delicious." When someone completely changes the subject to something that makes absolutely no sense, they have lost the argument.
Straw-Man: "Just because the game has bugs doesn't mean it's going to fail."
This is oftentimes not relevant, as the poster being cited did not say the game was
going to fail. This one is a bit complex, its the act of changing your
opponent's position to one you can more easily attack.
Evidence that MMO forums are becoming more considered places? Not a chance, but the seven pages of comments (at time of posting) are themselves an interesting read. That said, there is an argument that while on the one hand the Community Managers may be happy to see rational critical debate taking place, theres a benefit to keeping the proles in an endless, pointless, irrational battle (whats the MMO designer saying? "when they're all screaming at the same level, you know you've got balance right..."). After all, the last thing you may want on your Community forums is articulate critical thinkers deconstructing your game, giving a rigourous argument against acceptance of game flaws and bugs, and generally analysing everything which is said by the designers with an evidence based, sceptical, lens.
Though, wouldn't computer gaming be different if the Community Forums were full of such comment?
They'd be worth reading for one thing!
