@Cap'n:
I often prefer to use less words because it has more impact and is more informal than paragraph long answers that essentially say "no."
Can single word answers provide more impact? Yes, but that's all they do.
Say that somebody asks… let's say, "how many people have the letter D. as a family name"?
The short answer is "Four". A more substantive answer is "Four; Luffy, Ace, Roger, and Teach". The question is not only answered with more than twenty characters, but provides a list of who the three are, thus forestalling somebody asking "Well, who are they?" An even more substantial answer would be giving their full names.
This is the same problem I had with that silly "4 words" rule on the old forums, it's just absurd. This is the only forum I've ever been to with such a rule. If the post is relevant and helpful, who the hell cares how many words this is?
Out of curiosity, just what is the problem with having to write twenty characters? Hell, just writing out numbers instead of using the digits usually reduces the quota by an extra three to four characters.
Go ahead and list the various ways that having to type twenty characters hurts you personally.
This isn't grammar class or a 20 dollar a plate dinner, it's a goofy internet anime message board. Come on, guys.
Wow, did a twenty character limit run over your dog when you were little? Again, how does this harm you personally?
And how often do we get a spam attack? I've seen Fullmetal fatso or whatever spam like twice (with a lot more characters than 20), and one time someone flooded the boards with digusting pornography pics, but your silly 20 character limit won't protect against that.
Again, I just can't see that the cons of this system outweighs the pros.
Cons
You have to type twenty characters to post.
Pros
People cannot post single word responses and have to put a modicrum of thought into what they post as a result.
The typing practice could come in handy for some people.