i think people are just becoming more and more passionate - aggressive and defensive of their positions / arguments / beliefs.
when your freedoms, rights, beliefs, opinions, feelings, values etc feel like they are threatened or attacked, it is human nature to respond aggressively. even if it is supposed to be a civilized discussion.
additionally, being that there is a fair degree of anonymity on the internet, a person might be inclined to use a debate tactic or a string of words that they wouldn't ever really consider in a face to face discussion.
especially when the discussions involve politics, religion, core values etc
its not just a subsim thing either, the general topics of some of the other forums of which i am a member get just as bad if not worse. its come down to a point that discussion of politics or religion etc results in a warning, and eventually an outright ban of the offending individual. I personally think - speaking strictly as an American - that our nation is at a more divisive place in history than it has been since the civil war.
I had a former boss of mine turn away a man's business because of his political alignment. I have seen people disallow kids to play together because the other family was not the right political party for crying out loud. Thats just messed up.
so lets not go off thinking its a subsim thing, its just real life and its been that way for a long long time.
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