FireStorm_ wrote:I think a moderator should facilitate understanding between two parties, not cut them off from each other and leave them in ignorance.
this is all well and good when dealing with objective topics such as mathematics/programming/game design
how could a moderator possibly approach a subjective topic like politics or religion where there is no right answer? it just isn't possible. having an unmoderated forum is really not an option when "serious" members would like to legitimize the community to be acknowledged by other communities and things like GSOC
BUT WAIT
an un-moderated spring players forum already exists
http://springrts.com/springnetwork/foru ... m.php?f=20
have a look, there's clearly no moderation whatsoever. it's a forum specifically designed for spring players to go (rather than devs) and talk about whatever the hell they want.
and as i've stated... i've had enjoyment from political threads on here, but i just can't see the benefits outweighing the drawbacks of allowing possibly inflammatory threads to exist in an environment that is primarily intended as a development resource ESPECIALLY after someone took the time to create an area specifically for beef/flames/unmoderated discussion.
Give me one solid example of when the hostility spilled over to the rest of the forum. I call bull on that, people keep citing it but even during the US elections and other big issues like that i cannot remember any big flamewars in other parts of the forum because of that.
as soon as someone says "it is" instead of "i think it is" in a subjective argument you're going to have problems; a basic mistake of confusing fact with opinion; and if you look across arguments within the threads, they generally stem from people doing this exact thing. it's painful to read, and disappointing that people are that poorly educated and/or unable or unwilling to properly participate in a debate.
of course, part of the problem is people using this forum as a "hangout." it's fine to have people interested in the projects who don't actually do anything, but when they are the ones being the loudest and most obnoxious in politics/religion threads, one must question their involvement in the forum in the first place. not always but often it seems like the people with the least invested interest in any spring project (or at least find the forum to be of questionable value as a resource) are more likely to go out of their way and say something unfortunate or rude; they have nothing riding on their active status here and therefore have nothing to lose.
specific examples of thread rage spilling over? i can for sure remember some denmark guy being banned for carrying an argument over from one anti-muslim thread into another.
perfect example of a more passive case of the same effect... picasso above me says
i disagree with Forb nearly 85 % of the time
and this is a perfect example of "spillover" regardless of whether it is negative or not. they're disagreed in the past, and regardless of whether they take it seriously or not, those prior contacts still exist and will possibly color future communication
and my point stands. how can a moderator possibly maintain order in a heated argument over such subjects?
if you guys are really serious about wanting these discussions back... create a rubric by which moderators can judge political/religious comments. it's not an easy thing to do (and frankly not a fair thing to expect moderators to do. i'm here to work on projects mostly and to chat a little bit, not to read poorly worded political arguments and ban/punish based on their validity)