Okay, I'll see if I can post something that can stand out among all the noise that's being thrown around in the forums here.
Let me start off by saying this: To those of you who are spamming the forum and acting immature, cut it out. If you want change, whining and throwing tantrums is
not the way to do it. Provoking the moderators and admins is more likely to harden their stance than cause them to listen to you. I've seen a small amount of rational discussion drowned out by a cacaphony of people crying bloody murder.
Now, since I was the one who implemented most of these changes, let me use this thread to clear up a few things. I'll keep this thread locked so it doesn't devolve into another Padded Cell candidate.
General Comments1) This change was not implemented unilaterally. On the contrary, various threads on change have been posted periodically over the past two years and more frequently in the past few months. And the option of rearranging the forums was discussed with several people over IM before it actually happened. And the discussion is still continuing, in both the Meeting Hall and the admin forum.
3) This is not a democracy. It's an oligarchy. The admins try to keep it a benevolent oligarchy, and we welcome your input, but in the end if we make a rule, the forum has to abide by it.
4) Learn a little patience. These changes are only a few days old. Wouldn't it be better to see how they pan out before demanding that they be changed back?
5) Learn a little diplomacy. Stop annoying the poor moderators, who themselves have expressed irritation at the attitude they have to face, and stop spamming the forum with threads and polls. Keep the discussion organized and orderly.
6) Nothing is set in stone. There's no reason we can make a few tweaks to the existing changes.
Rationales1) Our focus is "bringing modders together". We are primarily a gaming site, not a debate site. Therefore, our gaming and modding and art and coding should take priority. That's why those forums are at the top.
2) Posts no longer count in the off-topic forums for the same reason. For better or worse, a member's postcount is the de facto measurement of his representation on this forum. That reputation should be derived from site-related work, not off-topic work.
3) Here is how the Off-Topic split is supposed to work:
- The Pub is for general, friendly chat. Hanging out and talking about the latest movie, or how messy your room is, or what kind of test you're studying for, etc. No debate is allowed. Civilized debate would be distracting, and raucous debate would be disgraceful.
- The Meeting Hall is for debate. Civilized, reasoned debate. No insults, flame wars, etc. are allowed. This is an opt-in forum, which means that if you would like to participate in a debate, you can request a Meeting Hall membership. If you don't, you can remain blissfully ignorant of its existence. Furthermore, if you prove yourself unable to debate properly, you can and will get kicked out -- sort of like a reverse-monkey system.
Incidentally, if you want access to the Meeting Hall group, all you have to do is ask an admin for access. Nobody who has asked has been denied yet.
EDIT: I've reworded the announcement to be a little more diplomatic. Lots of people (on both sides) are frustrated, but we should try to keep it out of the newsposts.
