[quote=Prince]However, most of the time, making polite requests instead of critique is a far better method of solving this error. Instead of saying, "to improve this aspect of your writing/roleplay/debate/painting/sketch, you should do X" simply saying "I have difficulties following your lengthy sentence structure, could you please avoid run on sentences?" or "I would be more comfortable if you had less detail in your posts for now" does a far better job.[/quote]

Oddly, I find the former to be more polite. I'm not sure why. I think it might be because, in the second, the critic seems to be presuming that the writer is writing for the sole benefit of the critic and so should tailor their writing to the critic's benefit. The request, by concept, seems inappropriate to me.

The former is more obviously constructive criticism, and, when such constructive criticism is politely given to somebody receptive to it (and sure, there are people that can't take it) - well, surely they'd welcome the insight if it's explained to them, and be more likely to willingly implement it to improve their own writing, rather than to please a nit-picking critic.