Why'd you get all political on me, mang?

Sully

Hiya,

I haven't been able to hang around the Ville to much these days, so it was quite a shock when I perused these forums and saw a buttload of politically charged topics, sigs and avatars.

Allow me to voice a word of caution. I have been a regular here at these forums for quite a while and I've seen a lot of stuff. Usually the stuff I've seen has been enjoyable and fun, but every once in a while it gets ugly. When we get ugly around here, it reeeeaalllly sucks. I don't want it to suck around here, so I hope you'll consider what I have to say.

This is not a political site, this is not a religious site, this is not a goat secks site (yes it is, no it isn't!). This is a gaming site, populated by intelligent, excellent people.

Everybody here has a brain and convictions. Not convictions like "Yes your honor, I did touch myself suggestively in front of that barn" but convictions like "This is what I believe. This is why I support this belief." That is a great thing, and because we have such a dynamic collection of people we've remained a strong community for a long time.

That being said, there are topics that probably don't have a place in this forum. Topics that polarize our group onto different sides and that are emotionally charged tend to create problems within the community. Now sometimes this is OK, because some of the topics that have divided us were about the games we play (scripting, for example) or about the groups that have played here (Ep clan). Even though we battled over these topics, they were in this sites arena and had to be resolved, or at least discussed.

On the other hand, this site is not the place to debate politics or religion or anything of that nature. Consider the nature of the group that this gaming site creates. We have a huge age spread, both genders are represented and we have people from many different walks of life, from several different countries. That is a wonderful thing in many ways, but it is a negative when powerful non-gaming topics come up.
Consider this example:
Intelligent 13 year old voices political opinion, but does not have the world experience to fully understand the implications of what he/she is saying. More experienced 22 year old reads opinion but doesn't know that the opinion comes from a much younger person and, full of 22 year old cockiness, verbally blows the 13 year old away. 13 year old is hurt and responds emotionally and the whole thread goes to hell. World wise 48 year old attempts to resolve conflict and ends up pissing both of them off. Who wins? Nobody. Who suffers? EVERYBODY.

Also, in the above example the imaginary thread is littered with joking responses posted by people who are either bored, annoyed by the subject matter, or just can't keep their mouths shut when an argument is raging. (<------ I'm guilty of some of this. I'll work on it too.) This is not beneficial.

I am all for opinions. Believe me, I have a few myself. But there is a time and a place. There are plenty of chat groups debating politics or religion or any number of topics not suited to this forum. The people who go to these sites expect to see those topics and are prepared to post comments directed toward the subject matter. I would recommend going there if you would like to discuss those topics.

I would guess, somewhat ironically, that there are opinions that differ from mine on this topic. I'm sure there are people reading this that are thinking "Sully, you're wrong. I want to discuss these topics with the people that I've grown to respect and like. I don't want to discuss them with strangers that I don't know. That's why the discussion has to take place here." Other people may be wondering, "Did he really do that at that barn?" Still other people may have other opinions that differ from mine. That's OK. This is just a caution. If I'm wrong then I'm wrong.

In the interest of having the community's thoughts, I'm not even gonna mess with the poll. This is a very hard thing for me to do, so you know I'm serious.
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Sig courtesy of K.R.G.

The Nanite · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:10 am Post subject:

Politics and Religion = flame war = bad
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Verman · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:29 am Post subject:

A wide range of ages, ideologies, and opinions are present under the Ville umbrella. Maybe those threads that could be considered political in nature should have their own forum.
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Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell.

Turbo! · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:55 am Post subject:

Thats what I was thinking Verman. But then again, Sully may be right. Scary huh?
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Violent Pacifist · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:05 am Post subject:

I've always felt that the ville should be open to political debate. We all know the rules here, I don't see why they would suddenly change in a political topic. If Mr. 22 year old loses his cool and starts to be an ass, Mr. 22 year old gets warned, temporarily banned, etc. I think we can all accept the fact that we have differing views on just about everything (Heil Hitler!).

I don't care much for religious debate though. The world has and is showing us that differing religions = war. The people that take their religion seriously seem to be easily offended when discussing some of it's shortcomings or problems. People that don't take religion seriously might stay away from the topics, but also might crack jokes in what should be a serious thread.

Religion = nono
Politics = fun happy yay!
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We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.

Blown · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 11:21 am Post subject:

`RaphX · Registered User Joined: 24 Mar 2002 Posts: 1556

The recent threads appear not to have ended up turning into flame wars. The ones that did were Greebo's fault - he always pissed everyone off by using rationality and reason

Speaker's Xeno · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:14 pm Post subject:

i would have to agree i think we are all old enough that it would be just a nice discussing but on that same level there are many ages in tv that it could also be a bad idea. i like the oppinion of a seperate area for politics but i would feel that if we brought religion into it the ville would just become chaos. then again taking the great words that my father told me. there are two things you never discuss in public. 1 politics and the other is religion. with that said i think that this should be up to jd and rob.

those are my oppinions and im sticking to them
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Sully · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:42 pm Post subject:

Please understand, the example that I came up with is just one of hundreds. I am not drawing on any specific thing that I witnessed. I also totally agree with the observation that everyone has remained fairily civil during the most recent posts. My point though, is this; the potential for flame and general poopiness is much greater when dealing with these types of topics. At websites devoted to these types of subjects, flame is probably expected. The Ville is not a site devoted to that type of discussion, so it may not be appropriate.

I'm intrigued with Verman's suggestion. I don't know if the powers that be would be interested.
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Sig courtesy of K.R.G.

ApacheEyes · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:43 pm Post subject:

Just great... We don't hear from brother Sully for months and then he posts a whole chapter....

But, his chapter in my opinion, is right on the money. Like Sully, I've been here for over 3 years (that's scary), and for all of that time, political and religious debates have been discouraged and the threads usually locked instantly. There are reasons for the ville surviving all this time and one of them was the unwritten rule of avoiding politics/religion debates.

There has to be a billion sites to go to and discuss such things, I play here to get away from the like. I read the posts for the gaming side and to keep in touch with a few friends, because that's why almost all of us are here.

Some threads on politics and religion may well have been debated in a civil manner, but its only a matter of time before one blows up into a major argument...

Just an opinion of an ol' timer...

Ap.
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[HALO]MasterChief · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:47 pm Post subject:

I don't really think that they belong here on the ville. We see enough of it on the news as it is. Although the post here havn't really turned into flame wars i think that we dont really need to discuss them. I think the only way that you really need to voice your opinion on the upcoming election is to vote. As much as i love the ville, i dont think that things discussed in a thread here will make me change who i will vote for.

The ville is supposed to be a place for fun and games. So lets just leave it at that.

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Bright Red Nipples · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 4:10 pm Post subject:

Kahlan Amnell · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:46 pm Post subject:

Bright Red Nipples · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 6:21 pm Post subject:

Kahlan Amnell · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 7:02 pm Post subject: