[Rictor]

Kalfireth:

since most people seem to be opposed to a seperate forum, maybe just a special tag that can be attached to threads in the HLP general forum to indicate "politics/religion". That way, only people who want to participate in the debates can join in.

edit: on the topic of moderation. The very idea of a politics discussion can get messy for moderation. I think that minimal moderation should be used, since it is by definition a sensitive topic (eg 1)no personal attack 2)constructed arguements only etc etc)

[Petrarch of the VBB]

It is a good idea, but not for here, as it is a gaming forum. And also, my opinions would likely get me banned, so we can't have it.

[Stryke 9]

A tag? What, people can't read titles? If they see one post referring to any sort of world even they'll catch fire? Oh, horror, horror, politics thread.

Politics itself isn't the problem anyway. If someone wants to pick a fight in any subject, they can and will. We've had software threads that ended up much more a brawl than any politics thread.



However, I wouldn't object to a requirement for people to be able to provide some support for things they say, or at least be marginally informed before they express an opinion. Most really regular political posters scanning the headlines would do wonders as far as stopping the whole circular argument thing, since it generally only becomes "circular" when someone reaches the limits of their knowledge and resorts to a glorified form of "No it's not!". To which the only proper answer is "Yes, it is", followed by hypothesizing on their ancestry or sexual deviances.

[diamondgeezer]

Thought --> Most every forum I've ever seen has a subforum labeled "general - rant and rave all you like"

[Stryke 9]

This one has one titled "Hard Light".

[Slasher]

Why hard?

[Shrike]

Originally posted by Slasher
Why hard?

Because these forums are powered by vBulletin.

[Knight Templar]

and soft light is a type of bulb IIRC

[J.F.K.]

Hard light and soft light are both types of lighting (for an example, sunlight on a foggy morning or dusk is soft while summer midday sun is hard), but I suspect this place was named after the hard light reference in Red Dwarf.

Well, there goes that idea

[Tiara]

Light that is transmitted directly from a small point source results in coherent rays. This gives the light a hard, crisp, sharply defined appearance. Soft (diffused) light has the opposite effect.

[pyro-manic]

Stryke 9:
VOTE GREEN!

Right on!

Petrarch of the VBB:   
It is a good idea, but not for here, as it is a gaming forum. And also, my opinions would likely get me banned, so we can't have it.

Same here!

I don't think that a separate forum for this is justified, or even sensible. It will turn into an argument forum, and we might end up with a membership segregated by their political/religious/moral views. There are other forums out there for this stuff. The occasional topic in Hard Light is enough for us, I think.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Originally posted by pyro-manic


Same here!

Anarchist, eh?

[Shrike]

Actually, Anarchists where black if I recall.  Peasants (and now environmentalists) are green.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Anarchists wear whatever they want! they don't conform to your oppressive dress-code!:D

But yeah, the Anarchist flags and such tend to be black and red.

[Stryke 9]

There's no such thing as an "anarchist flag". The anarchist flag is a gun. The anarchist flag is a tree. The anarchist flag is any piece of cloth you wanna put on a stick.

Never mind that, despite the lack of need for flags (though they're generally cohesive groups), "anarchist" is not a proper group. There are tons of different varieties. It's basically just a label for anyone who still moons cops, sets fire to cars, and throws garbage. In short, a real activist, not one of those picket-circling pantywaists.

[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
This one has one titled "Hard Light".

But it doesn't say 'rant and rave all you like', and it never did (even before Shrike got bored). Ranting and raving in Hard Light tends to make the admins cross. What I said was that most every forum I've seen has a subforum speciafically for ranting, the point being that HLP does not. Thus, the ranting ends up allover the place, leading the admins to make this thread.

[Stryke 9]

[takes a quick look at the topics up one level]


Are we talking about the same forum here?

Outright spamming isn't allowed in excess, flamewars are (sadly) cracked down on a bit, and when a thread starts to curdle it often gets thrown out. But so? I think some political threads shouldn't be closed as soon as they are, but most do tend to peter out.

If the admins just ignored certain "political" threads, and let them run their natural course, I think that would be plenty. Not even all of them, just certain ones. A whole forum is completely unnecessary, and would probably end up killing political discussion here altogether. Which is a bit of a mixed bag, but hey.

[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
A whole forum is completely unnecessary, and would probably end up killing political discussion here altogether.

Explain

[Bobboau]

the big ass Iraq thread was long and circular but if I wanted to discus something even remotly related to the subject I wouldn't have to make a new topic, it kept it all contained

[Stryke 9]

DG: Because if people have to go to a separate forum to access the one or two politics thread that are made a month, they're just plain not going to. Hell, I wouldn't bother, and I shuttle between the forums like anything. Never mind that half of the politics threads don't start out as political argument threads, they're generally just updates on some news trivia or, in particularly strained times, anything with mildly pro/anti-US undertones, real or imagined. And, of course, those politics thread that just make themselves would stop happening altogether, since with a dedicated politics forum the admins would undoubetdly feel obligated to lay the smack down on political arguments in here more.