Religion and suicide discussion should still be banned, but the ban on politics should be partially relaxed. Social issues (such as abortion, gay marriage, anything which has an overlap with religion such as prayer in schools, evolution) should still be banned. Economic discussion, such as the discussion of fiscal and economic policy, should be allowed. Tribalistic support of political parties (for example, a post reading something like "Democrats are best, screw the GOP) should be banned, but explaining your opinion of a political party you support or oppose and providing evidence should be allowed (e.g. "The policies of the Republican Party regarding social and educational policies are concerning, but they have a solid economic policy. Both the Democratic Party and the GOP have things to learn from each other.) If a thread follows the rules but still gets heated, it should get locked. Insults should receive a swift warning (e.g. Stfu u dirty commie!!!). The rules of the subreddit NeutralPolitics (http://www.reddit.com/r/NeutralPolitics/wiki/guidelines) could be used as a model for guidelines on political discussion. I really feel like a blanket ban is stifling a lot of good discussion which could be taking place. What does ECC think?
I'm slightly confused on what issues you think should remain open. If the only political idea we allow to be talked about is economical ones, and financial ones, then I'm all for it.
Allow me to list what should be allowed. - Fiscal, economic and financial political topics. - A well explained, thought out point of view on political parties. That's about it, really. Just allow what won't get heated
No politics, shouldn't be a ban nor should the rest of them. They get a firm warning to stop then if it continues it should be a ban.
I understand and agree with Economic and Financial topics, but I don't think we should allow points of view on political parties. First off, most people aren't mature about it. I'd see a few dozen people on ECC being able to give you a "well explained, thought out point of view". And even those that could, I could see 80% of them get out of hand and lose their cool. There's not much room for argument on economic and financial topics. So all in all, I suggestion economics/financial topics, but not anything else.
I see no reason it can't be a debate club. That's the only way we expand the server. Bring up an issue, debate it, make a decision, and done.
Although this sounds silly coming from me, debating in the global channel isn't the best idea, it gets blown out of proportion at an astonishing rate and people misinterpret a lot of things being said. I would recommend using a town channel or something for being a debate club, global channels will just turn into a mess otherwise.
Yes I understand the global thing, I was there once during a debate before. It was crazy. But currently the rules say to not discuss these things, period. Being to able to discuss them in local or in a town chat somewhere would be nice.
The suggestion mainly pertains to discussion on the forums, chat is always so busy that debating would be impossible
Well....other then suggestions I could see the forums have a "debate" section. But it's kind of a lot for just one small subject on economic policies.
I am against this, simply for the fact that some Staff members (myself being one) don't really know anything about politics (in any sense), and it would be extremely difficult to moderate and understand. As well, not all of our Staff are American. Most of these political discussions would probably be based around American politics and economy. We will not always have American (maybe Canadian, or well-educated foreigners) Staff members online to keep track of things. Furthermore, any Staff member who does understand what is going on could have strong enough opinions that their judgement is clouded when it comes to the moderation of it. As well, even for economical discussions, in-game would be a mess... Even in town channels or PM. Our server is mostly users of the age 10 to 16 At those ages, most cannot hold a proper discussion, don't know what they are talking about, or get overly emotional with things like politics (that is why all political discussion is not allowed). Even though I understand allowing of the (probably?) least-touchy subject area(s) of politics, it would be difficult to moderate and will still cause high-strung emotions. Best to keep any "easily touchy subjects" from being allowed.
Is it possible to make a political chat..? I mean, +1 anyways. Make sure it doesn't turn into an elephant either.
I must admit that I hadn't thought of it from this point of view. But then again, how do you find staff members who know tons and tons of swearwords and ect so they can moderate? I also understand the age reasoning, it would make sense that most people would not be able to hold a discussion and that it would probably get too out of hand to do successfully.
I don't get why people think this "inch/foot" thing is true. If I have my four concrete walls, and I want to make the space inside bigger, I move my walls all out 5 inches, and cover the gaps. Those people inside aren't going to move 5 feet, I only moved my wall 5 inches. They "can't" move 5 feet. Same with the rules. I move my rules a tiny bit, the people cannot move further then the rules go, other then breaking them and getting punished.
I admit I might be a bit fuzzy on it, but I could equally say you don't understand science. These annoying human personality boarders
