The political divide on this forum...

[fatty]

...is getting pretty annoying. I have trolled on this forum for a few years before I started posting and it seems to me that things have not been this bad in my time.

Yes, we all have our opinions about Islam, terrorism, Israel, left, right, liberals, conservatives, etc. etc. I enjoy friendly debate as much as any of you but some posts here have ranged from carrying subtle unfriendly undertones to being outright insulting. I am not posting this to present examples or point fingers; members from all sides have been tense lately, including myself.

So please, let's all step back, take a deep breath, and repeat after me: "there no place like submarines." What? You've forgotten the common thread that brings us here to mingle like civilized, friendly adults? Here are some pictures to bring you back to Earth/THE OCEAN:



SUBSIM.

[cobalt]

you're right

[Onkel Neal]

I agree. Seems like we have slowly gathered a collection of people of all political stripes who want to be provacative and stir stuff up. The General Topics forum is intended for Subsim folks to discuss general topics, not mainly politics. And to discuss these topics as friends, not rivals.

The understanding, a gentleman's agreement, has been it is ok to discuss political issues and world events, as long as everyone shows restraint and these topics do not dominate the forum. But over the last year, we've gotten more and more away from that. The more this goes on, the closer I am to making this a non-politics forum.

[Enigma]

Easy fix? Make a "Politics" forum.

[PeriscopeDepth]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Easy fix? Make a "Politics" forum.

I wouldn't have a problem with that "fix" if people just intelligently discussed politics. But don't think for a second that's going to happen on the interweb. A more aptly named poltical forum for here (or any simulation internet forum that has had a Current Events board) would be the, "Baiting, **** stirring/slinging, pinko lefties vs. fascist righties fight to the death corner". I for the life of me can't figure out why Neal pays the bandwith for people to smear this kind of stuff across his general forum as is. He's a far kinder man than I. I completely agree that SubSim should be a place for SubSim fans to unite, not facilitate divisions within those that play submarine simulations.

PD

[Mush Martin]

Well Hit

[joea]

I agree 100%, I enjoy debating politics...not fighting the verbal equivalent of [insert bloodiest historical battle you can think of here]...but could live without it. The problem is larger than just politics, it's people not listening (or reading) to others. I have had that heppen to me a lot lately with posts and points of mine ignored or misunderstood, on purpose or not.

I still love this site however and think it usually is fantastic.

[1mPHUNit0]

And to discuss these topics as friends, not rivals.

I disagree....nazi are nazi
fascist are fascist
criminals are criminals
Who make war for profit
and who support they
Who support criminals states
and who support resistance against them
and so on.
Divided...no respect
But yes, i enjoy debating politics

The problem is larger than
just politics, it's people not listening (or reading) to others

I totally agree

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by PeriscopeDepth

I wouldn't have a problem with that "fix" if people just intelligently discussed politics. But don't think for a second that's going to happen on the interweb. A more aptly named poltical forum for here (or any simulation internet forum that has had a Current Events board) would be the, "Baiting, **** stirring/slinging, pinko lefties vs. fascist righties fight to the death corner". I for the life of me can't figure out why Neal pays the bandwith for people to smear this kind of stuff across his general forum as is. He's a far kinder man than I. I completely agree that SubSim should be a place for SubSim fans to unite, not facilitate divisions within those that play submarine simulations.

PD

That sums up my thoughts exactly. I could make a "political" forum, even make it a "sub-forum" and bury it, so to speak, so only those determined to antagonize each other will dwell there. Problem is, after a period of time, we would have the same problem all over again. I would be getting PMs from Joe saying Bill is flaming, or Gus is calling people nazis, etc. and like to said, that's not the reason we pay $600 each month for servers and hosting. I prefer to re-use the feeble solution we've always used, which is when things get out of hand, we collectively agree to chill. Historically, most people in the Subsim forums agree, no kind of forum changes or enforcement is needed. We have people of all kinds here and the few who cannot get along will be asked to take their agendas elsewhere. Let them call Air America or Rush Limbaugh, or post on any of a thousand forums where people daily try to dismember each other. We don't want that atmosphere here.

[ReallyDedPoet]

When you have people from all over the world coming together with different backgrounds, beliefs you are bound to have disagreements, conflict.

There are many times I have seen posts where you say " wtf " , but you have to see the big-picture before judging ( where the person is from, read some earlier posts, context, etc. ) or making a comment. Plus if you don't like it or agree, you can go to another thread or ignore it.

When things have gotten out of hand the Moderators and Neal have done a great job of reeling people back in

Long live Subsim

RDP

[jumpy]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

The understanding, a gentleman's agreement, has been it is ok to discuss political issues and world events, as long as everyone shows restraint and these topics do not dominate the forum. But over the last year, we've gotten more and more away from that. The more this goes on, the closer I am to making this a non-politics forum.

Though this is one of a select few fora in which I seem to have taken up permanent residence, I have to say, Neal, it's the only forum where I exercise my prerogative to use the ignore list for those persons who I just cannot be doing with.

Moderating aside, I reckon members here ought to have enough wherewithal to judge for themselves where to draw the line (though this is not always the case) and if they cannot help but get annoyed by an individuals attitude or repeated comments... well, the mighty Ignore List awaits you!
In this manner, General Topics can become a quiet and tranquil place if you let it

It'd be kind of fun for admins to post who is on who's ignore list and tally up who has the most consistent 'ignorance' heheheh. Then again, perhaps not

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by fatty

Here are some pictures to bring you back to Earth:

All I see on those pics is not earth, but water!?

Originally Posted by jumpy

the only forum where I exercise my prerogative to use the ignore list for those persons who I just cannot be doing with

.

I've always thought this a bad idea. Ignoring or blocking the opinion of others diminishes your understanding of, not only the thread but also the mindset of those with whom you may disagree.

My modus operandi is to not block any view or member of the forum. This does not mean I have to attend every argument to which I am invited.

[fatty]

Originally Posted by Skybird

All I see on those pics is not earth, but water!?

Tsk, tsk. Please forgive me.

[robbo180265]

I totaly agree with every thing that's been said already in this thread(for what it's worth)
I got reeled in to some political threads a while back and found that it wasn't other peoples politics that annoyed me, it was the mud-slinging.

I made a decision there and then to stay away from it all, and just join in the genral - non political threads. I've since found the genral forum to be much more fun.