Censorship, the forums and the moat..
Dec 19, 2010 5:04:50 GMT
Post by GUEST on Dec 19, 2010 5:04:50 GMT
Hi all,
We have had a fair bit of drama the last week or so, most of it revolving around accusations that SBG is overly censored or that the mods are too heavy handed, etc, etc - so I wanted to take a moment or two to address this..
Anyone who has been around both the old and the new forums will know that SBG is extremely liberal when it comes to what we allow members to discuss. We rarely delete posts, ban members or otherwise take action unless it violates the rules of the forum, which I think are very clear and transparant - but it would seem that the main complaint is coming from a small group of members who take umbrage with our 'no politics and religion' rule in the cafe..
Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about - the rules of no discussion of politics and religion are there for a reason, namely these topics ALWAYS cause polarization. Everytime such topics come up it is inevitable that members who were once united by a common love of the sword turn on each other because of their core political or religious beliefs - so to try and pre-emptively stop these kind of situations from occuring, we imposed a blanket rule that forbids discussion of these topics.
Yes, that is a kind of censorship! When people violate these rules, their posts may be moved, locked or otherwise dealt with because - quite simply - it's going to end in tears and its not at all in the spirit of the forum. However it would seem that that once someone has crossed the line and a mod takes action, they get upset and now we have a (small) group of people requesting their accounts be deleted, even going so far and being so immature as to 'throw a curse' against the SBG forum.. (I won't glorify it with a link)..
My response to this is simple - the rules are clear and they are there for a good reason. Not to give the mods power trips or because we enjoy telling people what to do, (we DON'T, I assure you) - but it's like road rules, we have enough members now that without some basic rules and principles the mods would be spending every waking hour cleaning up after 'car crashes', putting out fires, and otherwise trying to keep the place friendly, open and an enjoyable place to visit..
Quite simply, if you don't like the rules - which are all explained very clearly here: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3 and ALL revolve around principles to ensure that members and staff are treated in a respectful, friendly manner - with the NO Politics and Religion rule in the cafe, then please, feel free to go elsewhere - no one is forcing you to stay here!!
THE MOAT
Now, one more point before I finish up, and where I would like to take some personal responsibility for this mess is - the moat..
The moat was originally designed to try to effectively isolate threads that spun out of control or otherwise violated the rules WITHOUT deleting them so that no-one could cry 'censorship' or 'where did that thread go'. Clearly it has not worked and instead has been likened to displaying 'heads on a pole' or singling out individuals, which was NEVER the intention, but I can see how it can be misconstrued that way..
For this, I would like to apologize to anyone who has felt singled out or upset by having their thread moved there, in hindsight it was a really bad idea.. Thus I will be making the 'moat' invisible to everyone but our moderators, if threads do cross the line and start getting really nasty, yes - they might disappear (more than likely, they will just be locked, either for a while or permanently).
Sorry if it came across that I was ranting, but I really do believe in both the rules here, as well as the fairness and hard work our volunteer moderator team put in to try and keep this place running as smoothly as possibly and hope that the vast majority of forum members understand why we do what we do.
I now return you to your regular program.
Thanks all,
- Paul
We have had a fair bit of drama the last week or so, most of it revolving around accusations that SBG is overly censored or that the mods are too heavy handed, etc, etc - so I wanted to take a moment or two to address this..
Anyone who has been around both the old and the new forums will know that SBG is extremely liberal when it comes to what we allow members to discuss. We rarely delete posts, ban members or otherwise take action unless it violates the rules of the forum, which I think are very clear and transparant - but it would seem that the main complaint is coming from a small group of members who take umbrage with our 'no politics and religion' rule in the cafe..
Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about - the rules of no discussion of politics and religion are there for a reason, namely these topics ALWAYS cause polarization. Everytime such topics come up it is inevitable that members who were once united by a common love of the sword turn on each other because of their core political or religious beliefs - so to try and pre-emptively stop these kind of situations from occuring, we imposed a blanket rule that forbids discussion of these topics.
Yes, that is a kind of censorship! When people violate these rules, their posts may be moved, locked or otherwise dealt with because - quite simply - it's going to end in tears and its not at all in the spirit of the forum. However it would seem that that once someone has crossed the line and a mod takes action, they get upset and now we have a (small) group of people requesting their accounts be deleted, even going so far and being so immature as to 'throw a curse' against the SBG forum.. (I won't glorify it with a link)..
My response to this is simple - the rules are clear and they are there for a good reason. Not to give the mods power trips or because we enjoy telling people what to do, (we DON'T, I assure you) - but it's like road rules, we have enough members now that without some basic rules and principles the mods would be spending every waking hour cleaning up after 'car crashes', putting out fires, and otherwise trying to keep the place friendly, open and an enjoyable place to visit..
Quite simply, if you don't like the rules - which are all explained very clearly here: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3 and ALL revolve around principles to ensure that members and staff are treated in a respectful, friendly manner - with the NO Politics and Religion rule in the cafe, then please, feel free to go elsewhere - no one is forcing you to stay here!!
THE MOAT
Now, one more point before I finish up, and where I would like to take some personal responsibility for this mess is - the moat..
The moat was originally designed to try to effectively isolate threads that spun out of control or otherwise violated the rules WITHOUT deleting them so that no-one could cry 'censorship' or 'where did that thread go'. Clearly it has not worked and instead has been likened to displaying 'heads on a pole' or singling out individuals, which was NEVER the intention, but I can see how it can be misconstrued that way..
For this, I would like to apologize to anyone who has felt singled out or upset by having their thread moved there, in hindsight it was a really bad idea.. Thus I will be making the 'moat' invisible to everyone but our moderators, if threads do cross the line and start getting really nasty, yes - they might disappear (more than likely, they will just be locked, either for a while or permanently).
Sorry if it came across that I was ranting, but I really do believe in both the rules here, as well as the fairness and hard work our volunteer moderator team put in to try and keep this place running as smoothly as possibly and hope that the vast majority of forum members understand why we do what we do.
I now return you to your regular program.
Thanks all,
- Paul