Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenRivet
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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No, it isn't just a SubSim thing, but I would like to think that we could rise above that sort of thing. We're a remarkably civil forum with very few chronic troublemakers. When we, as moderators, have to ask people to dial it back it is usually because that person happens to be worked up at the time, or even had a bad day.
Neal has said repeatedly that he doesn't want people's speech restricted in terms of giving opinions, only tone. In that sense I think it is really helpful to remember that (1) we are on a gaming forum and (2) that person who you are discussing things with didn't wrong you. He or she may disagree with you, but that is not criminal. You have to live and let live, at least as it pertains to the microcosm that is SubSim.
Oh, and if a moderator calls you out on your behavior just tone it down. It isn't personal. We're just fighting fires.