A problem with all forms of communication, but especially prevalent with with written English. Once you have a preconception about the behaviour of the other party, it is very easy to see evidence of it in nearly everything that is written
Indeed.
I would also say that though it is more easy to misinterpret written messages, preconceived notions can have a significant effect on your perceptions of people in almost all social situations.
A good rule that I try to follow, online and in real life, is to always assume that the people interacting with me are not purposefully trying to be !@#$%^&s. This way people don't feel like they're stepping on eggshells when having a conversation with me out of fear that I may misinterpret something they said. Because let's face, trying to have a "politically correct" conversation all the time is !@#$ing boring.
Was Anaris being short? Yeah probably, but that doesn't mean he was purposefully being "condescending". I can't say that Anaris' no nonsense response to some questions haven't irked me on occasion, but if you assume that fundamentally he's a nice guy, his personality (or at least the online aspect of it) actually seems quite colorful, and in most cases very appropriate.
