Where has "General Talk" gone?
The answer is "to the dogs". So let me explain what has happened.
General Talk has been renamed "Geek Culture". More importantly than this, the Acceptable Use Policy of this forum has been significantly updated today. You can read the whole thing if you like, but the most important changes are listed at the end of this message.
Why the change? Simple - this forum is run by The Game Creators. Every single thing posted here reflects upon TGC, either directly or indirectly. The whole company is based around computer games, game making and the gaming culture. The discussion of such topics is what we wanted to encourage, and that is why these forums were created in the first place.
However we appreciate that there is a need for an "off-topic" area, and that is exactly what "General Talk" provided. The problem being, that things have gotten far too ‘general’.
We're seeing constantly reoccurring threads of similar flame enticing natures. Threads covering topics such as "God doesn't exist / God does exist", "Government X is useless", "We all evolved from XYZ", "Absolutely anything 9/11 related", "Abortion", "Anything election related", etc.
( In the wake of recent natural human disasters such as the Asian Tsunami I personally was utterly disgusted at some of the insensitive juvenile comments that came forth. )
You're probably thinking "why don't the moderators do anything about this?” The problem is, in most cases, they cannot. How do you moderate a "God does not exist" thread fairly, and with an unbiased attitude, if you totally disagree with it in the first place? How does a moderator who lost good friends in the 9/11 attacks act tolerate someone claiming "we asked for it"?
I don't believe it's possible. Furthermore, I don't expect the moderators to have to put aside personal beliefs and feelings either. I have always maintained that moderators here should be allowed to speak freely and not feel constricted by their status. The problem is most forum users don't know this. And when riled enough there have been instances of moderators locking or deleting threads out of sheer anger. This is human nature and I've done it myself. But it causes a backlash.
So based on the new rules our solution is to effectively halt discussion of such flame bait topics from even starting.
Controversial? Yes perhaps. Sounds dictatorial, doesn't it? But just because this is a forum, it doesn't give you a right to talk about whatever you want. There is no "freedom of speech" law covering our servers. So actually, if you do want to play here, you
will play by our rules, or you will go elsewhere.
That probably sounds far harsher than it's meant to, as overall the majority of threads in the old General Talk board would be permitted under the new rules. Equally the majority of forum users have nothing to worry about.
If you DO want to discuss controversial topics such as those I mentioned briefly above, then you will have to go somewhere else to do it. There are hundreds of thousands of forums on the Internet. It won't take you more than 5 seconds in Google to find a suitable alternative. Somewhere that would be more accommodating to such threads, somewhere that isn't run by a commercial company with interests to protect.
It's a wild, wild world out there, and it was naive of us to think that it wouldn't spill over into a forum so perfectly named as "General Talk", a name which positively encouraged such soapbox style rants. So in line with the new policy, in line with the new decisions, we've renamed.
Some of you may feel like your "rights" have been stamped all over, that you should be allowed to talk about whatever the heck you want and why are we acting so "Nazi" about this? That's fair enough, but we've explained the reasons and whether you agree with them or not, every post you make to this forum either adheres, or gets removed.
Sorry it had to come to this. The alternative was removing the General Talk board totally, and to be honest we came _this_ close to doing so, but the moderators talked us out of it.
Acceptable Use Policy for the TGC Forum
Follow the netiquette rules and be a kind netizen
Don't post just to advertise a website unless it is on-topic
Do not post spam or pyramid schemes
Do not post links to illegal software sites
Do not post serial numbers of ANY product
Do not post cracks for ANY product
Do not post software or crack lists
Do not post using someone else's identity
Do not involve or advocate illegal activities (including piracy)
Do not post anything considered "adult" material
Do not post messages debating or discussing any form of religious belief or anything to do with religion (including anti-religious opinions) at all
Do not post messages debating or discussing any form of pro or anti government sentiments, irrespective of which government you're talking about
Do not post messages that can be, in any way at all, construed as racist
Do not post messages debating or discussing any form of creationist / evolutionary theories
Posts made for the purpose of putting down another forum member or their work will not be tolerated without good cause
By attaching files to your forum messages you are giving The Game Creators automatic rights to distribute those files for free in any of their other sites / publications
You alone are fully responsible for the ENTIRE content of your messages
People don't quit playing because they grow old.
They grow old because they quit playing.
