Quote:
Originally posted by Melusine:
Mirac and Epona, I think you are certainly right in saying that people who know they will be upset by what they read in the War forum should stay away from it (though Mirac, phrasing it as "it's their own fault" is too accusatory to my tastes - maybe you should try and imagine how it feels when you're in a heated discussion about things that mean the world to you) and I also tend to agree that everybody here reacts more strongly or emotionally than they usually do. However, you shouldn't do away with all of the current problems as easy as that. I think the people who left (including me - I am still not decided on whether it's actually worth the bother...) didn't leave only because their poor ovesensitive little nerves couldn't take it anymore, but because they recognise what's been going on on the fourms lately: in the heat of discussions, people just have lost respect for their opponents in an all-consuming fixation on pushing their point. Just look at the majority of the posts here and compare them to those of a few months ago - people have lost respect for eachother!
Hello everybody!!! This is your wakeup call!!! Moiraine, Bilqis, Slackerboy, Nick, Cloudbringer, me... why the hell do you think we got fed up?? Hell, even Sazerac says he's thought about leaving! I hope you feel proud of yourselves for almost losing one of the best moderators ever!!
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*sigh* Don't worry, Mel, and the rest...I'm not leaving. I'm too much of a dumb S.O.B. to leave here.
That's not to say I'm not contemplating a "break" for a bit. I don't know just yet. I probably won't leave GD, but I'm really thinking of giving the "War" forum a very large berth from hereon out, and sticking to the Gaming forums, where I can do what I do best: helping others with their games. I mean, come on, guys, that's what Ironworks has been since the beginning. A GAMING forum, not a political activism forum! If you want political activism, go find a forum dedicated to that!
The problem, BTW, with so many members leaving (and Yorick is also contemplating leaving as well), is that their religious beliefs are under attack by a select handful of people who seem to think that they have the right to disprove the others' beliefs or force them to prove that their beliefs are false. I agree with Mirac's basic point of "If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen", but when one is under attack (and seeming to come out of nowhere), it gets kind of hard.
Mel's point, and mine, and everyone else's all along has been that if people were being treated with respect, and only the points were being criticized rather than the people, there would be no problems. That's the only reason I actually considered "packing it in"...simply because I have said this over and over and over and over again and it's like talking to a brick wall. One begins to think that one is useless.
But I will keep saying it. It bears repeating, that EVERYONE here, regardless of their political leaning, gaming preference, religious creed, nationality, etc., are worthy of RESPECT!
One of these days it may actually catch on.
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