14 minutes ago, scandinavian13 said:

Because I noted that the paintkit is unsupported? I'm failing to see the issue here.

Obviously you're free to moderate your forums as you please, however perhaps:

On 07/08/2017 at 10:25 PM, scandinavian13 said:

This forum isn't the official avenue for support, and even then, the paintkit is unsupported.

Could've been written as:

"Sorry Paul, because you're modifying textures that are not meant for modification, we cannot support you. Had it been paint kit textures we could have provided guidance, however we do not support the paint kit."

The same message is put across, I guess just slightly less abruptly?

4 minutes ago, PMDG777 said:

Obviously you're free to moderate your forums as you please, however perhaps:

Could've been written as:

"Sorry Paul, because you're modifying textures that are not meant for modification, we cannot support you. Had it been paint kit textures we could have provided guidance, however we do not support the paint kit."

The same message is put across, I guess just slightly less abruptly?

It's because of Kyle's upbringing and where he is from. People are a lot more direct there, and what we may find short or "terse" goes unnoticed or they are totally oblivious to. 

1 minute ago, PMDG777 said:

"Sorry Paul, because you're modifying textures that are not meant for modification, we cannot support you. Had it been paint kit textures we could have provided guidance, however we do not support the paint kit."

Except that this contradicts both itself and my point.

The paintkit is unsupported, itself. If you're going outside of the paintkit, then you're definitely on your own. I think all of you have seen me spend quite a lot of time here in the forum supporting people in their endeavors to learn more about the products, and the theory behind them. All the same, any time I see an expectation outside of our official provisions, I won't be unclear about where the line is. I don't see that as unreasonable.

3 minutes ago, Angelo Cosma said:

It's because of Kyle's upbringing and where he is from. People are a lot more direct there, and what we may find short or "terse" goes unnoticed or they are totally oblivious to. 

Definitely some truth here. While I do try and tone it down, a lot of this stuff slips by me (and I even went to finishing school, surprisingly). Doesn't help that I write like I speak, and a lot of my communication seems to be in intonation (and facial expression), which is obviously lacking here.

Still, I find that being blunter than not makes the line clearer. Beating around the bush just blurs the line. As you can see in Chris' response, while it's definitely more craftily worded, it also somewhat implies that we'd offer some tips/tricks/guidance/support for the paintkit. This is not the case.

Perhaps just :

Quote

Hi Paul, unfortunately we cannot offer support for the paint kit, nor in the modification of proprietary textures that are a core part of the product.     Best, Kyle.

Hardly any difference, is there?    But a reply with an underlining tone of respect would not have provoked the offence from Paul (which I think many of us can empathize with).

People aren't challenging any of the content of your message Kyle, but rather that you perhaps don't realize just how abrupt some of your communication can be.    There is a value to communicating any message in a respectful and friendly way.  It's not about being "soft and mushy";  it's a value that provides a return on investment.

I say this as a big fan of yours, who is never less than impressed with your knowledge of the product line and responsiveness in the forum.