Should the OP give an opinion

[Caleb Sykes]

For big picture opinion questions, such as:
"Which robot was best this year"
"What can we do to make events more fun"
"Should the mentors work on the robot"
etc...

Do you prefer that the OP gives an opinion, or just poses the question and backs off, maybe chiming in later with their personal opinion?

I generally like it best when the OP does not give their own viewpoint right away. When I read the first post, I like to think about it myself for a little while before reading on to find out what others think. This is difficult to do if the OP gives an opinion since I am inclined to read the whole post before pausing to think.

What do you guys think?

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Interesting, since you stated your own viewpoint there...

But I think it depends on their own feelings. If they are just wondering and don't really have an opinion of their own, then they shouldn't state it. However, if they do have a strong opinion, it would be kinda weird to go back and reply to their own thread. So it depends.

[Pault]

I agree that the OP should leave his opinion out of the top post. It just seems proper that the top post should be for introducing the thread only. And also, it allows the OP, who sometimes is not thinking clearly when he/she makes the thread, to have a chance to see what other people think and possibly view the situation from the shoes of a "disinterested, benevolent spectator" (Utilitarianism). It could save a lot of hurt feelings.

On the other hand, I don't think negatively of an OP just because they gave their opinion in the top post. I just don't recommend it.