by The_TaTs » Wed Feb 10, 2016 6:06 pm
Hi there,
Lately there's been a bit too much tension to my liking in this place. People getting annoyed, people feeling that they can't have a conversation, or even disagree without things taking a bad turn. Some of that is my fault, since I sometimes stop these arguments because they become widely off-topic or derail the conversation. I'm super sorry if this causes frustration.
This is a Forum made by us, Ironhide, so that fans of our games could have a place to hang out, exchange tips, strategies and fool around. This changed a bit of course, since a Forum is made by its members and I genuinely feel that the forum now belongs to all of us.
However, the general idea hasn't really changed... this is a place to have fun. I'm not so naive as to pretend that we can all get along all the time, but I do believe that avoiding pointless conflict is a healthy approach to any environment.
The only way to interact in a Forum is by exchanging points of view. Therefore, debates and disagreements are completely normal.
I love friendly banter and debates. Trying to logically disarm someone else point is fun and a great exercise.
But debating is not the same as arguing. And even debates have a set duration and some ground rules to prevent it from becoming an endless exchange of retorts.
So... what can we do to make this a better place?
I think that there are a couple of things that I can do myself.
1- I will select 3 moderators in the next 10 days. The selection will not be open to discussion and those that wanted to be mods but were not selected will have to trust my judgement on the matter. (Sorry if that comes across a bit harsh).
2- I will reorganise the Forum in the next 15 days. Nothing drastic, though. I will also post the new layout before making the modifications, so that you guys can give feedback and we will implement any suggestion that makes sense.
3- I will cease to forcibly stop arguments.... instead, I will now first offer to split conversations so that these arguments can continue on a new thread (sometimes on a new subform). If the people involved in the debate are really interested in keep it going, then great, and if not then the debate is over and conversation can go back to topic.
And there's a couple of things that all of you can do:
1- Take the higher road.
There are no real winners on an altercation. Sometimes it's just better to walk away from a discussion than to be right... no one is going to pat you in the back for being tenacious over an argument about pixels killing each other. There's no score to keep and no final price... so... why argue endlessly?
2- Learn to read the mood.
The previous point can be hard to act upon... when is it right to keep debating and when it's a lost cause? I don't think that there's an obvious answer. But by simply asking yourself the question and thinking about it for a couple of minutes, you'll be on the right track for sure.
3- Don't take things so seriously.
Which leads me to this point. While we can certainly discuss politics, world hunger, climate change and racism... we usually don't talk about these things, instead we talk about lighter stuff. If the subjects we post about are not necessarily serious, why get all riled up about them? Say your piece, and then let go.
The forum is made by all of us. So I think that all it takes is a bit of collaboration to make it a good place to hang out.
Finally, if you want to reply on this post... please, please, please keep it positive and avoid accusing others of things that you didn't like.