New Channel?

[Cristiona]

Since I'm apparently the only person who doesn't want to hear people yammer about politics while playing a game about superheroes, can we have a /politics channel so I can never go in there?

[Carygon Nijax]

instead of that.. we could have a /ignore command for "not listening" to some people for a while

[Satan]

I'm conflicted. I occasionally like to talk about politics, and I can keep it at just talking instead of arguing. I think, besides it just boring some people, alot of people instinctively avoid/dislike politics conversations because they think it's inevitably going to result in an argument. Which has rarely happened in practice >.> But I do think it's a viable topic just like any other. And doesn't really deserve discrimination or special treatment. If you don't like a particular topic, you don't talk. Or you leave. Why should it be any different with politics? (the obvious exception being when it /does/ get out of hand, but that can and does happen with other topics- it should still be treated the same way)

[Cristiona]

Guess I'll just go back to logging off the game for an hour or two when it comes up. Hate doing that when I'm the only active moderator in the channel, but I guess I have no right to complain.

Of course, I've had people ask me in private messages to stop political talk, and I know of at least one who stopped logging in for a week because they were sick of it, but hey, it never causes any problems, right? We should all just quit if we don't like it, right?

[Cristiona]

We cant control what people will and wont do. What we can do is how we react in those situations.

What does this even mean?

[Ryme]

First, mods wouldn't be allowed to /ignore anyone anyway, so an option for them not to listen doesn't help. (Might help other players, but that's not what started the discussion.)

Second, if topics are causing mods (or a mod) to leave a channel, making it unmoderated, that's bad for the game.

Third, we absolutely CAN control community guidelines. I'd rather err on being light handed than heavy handed, and I do like to talk politics myself, but I know it's touchy for a lot of people. I don't rightly understand why someone would stop logging in to a game over a discussion -- is the discussion really so horrible it outweighs the fun? That's got to be one downright awful conversation. And I do think developing the ability to ignore other people's useless, misguided, or wildly inaccurate crap -- especially on the internet -- is a skill that can't be overrated.

A politics channel would only make sense if we had one, perhaps a couple, pro-politics mods. I don't like the idea of a completely unmoderated channel. Gotta think of those children, ya know.

Was any of that an answer? I don't know.

Part of following the rules of the game is to try (despite it being inevitable) not to annoy people. If a discussion is clearly annoying people, those people have the right to ask someone to stop. Or to ask a mod. Anyone refusing to drop a topic that's making the group as a whole uneasy is definitely not following the spirit of the guidelines.

If a couple of people are enjoying a heated discussion, and the rest of the public is sick of it, it's VERY easy for the enthusiastic people to use /pm or even pick another non-game option -- IRC, email, whatever.

On the other hand, if a lot of people are enjoying a discussion, it's also very possible for a lone dissenter or a small group of dissenters to either temporarily stay out of a channel or simply tune out the uninteresting stuff. Newbie always needs more love, and there's no restriction on general conversation there.

[Carygon Nijax]

ok.. after all this "discussion"

can we have an /ignore command???

[Corrupt Shadow]

I know I get on my soapbox sometimes. I love politics... or at least my fanatical, right-winged version... HAHA!

But if Cris asks me to stop, I generally do.

DOWN WITH OBAMA-CARE!

[Hannahmaus]

I can readily sympathise with Cristiona on this one. Much as I am very into politics and discuss it a lot, I like fantasy games to be totally separate to that. More specifically because... it's easy to get on with someone when they're pretending to be a superhero/spaceship captain/dragon slayer etc, and it can really ruin that to suddenly be confronted with their offensive ill-informed political views. Their views on anything else don't have such image-destroying potential.

It's a bit like when a favourite great-great-aunt is discussing cake recipes at a family gathering, and suddenly segues into how they should bring back burning witches, and everyone else is left wishing she'd stuck with with cakes.

[Carygon Nijax]

DOWN WITH OBAMA-CARE!

dude. this is totally out of place.. we are talking about talking about politics.. we are not talking about politics

It's a bit like when a favourite great-great-aunt is discussing cake recipes at a family gathering, and suddenly segues into how they should bring back burning witches, and everyone else is left wishing she'd stuck with with cakes.

I agree with this.. so.. what do you do when htis happens? you ignore your great-great-aunt for a while...
I think this is a vote for the /ignore

[Satan]

Honestly, me, Cris, Malk, and Harry are the only mods that log in very often. Cris doesn't want in on it, obviously, and I somehow doubt Malk would. Dunno about Harry. But I just see it being very hard to moderate a channel like that if only 1-3 potential mods would be in it some of the time, and I can't do it all the time. There's probably not a whole lot of people willing to exert the effort to go into that channel, either. I still say it should be treated like any other subject... You can't be intolerant of them just because they have different views than you, regardless of how ill-informed they might be. But I figure no one's going to give it that chance.

[Harry Dresden]

I completely agree with Cris on this one. I used to be into politics, and was always stressed out about something or other. Now I completely ignore it and don't ever talk about it, and my life is much better.

As for moderating it in chat, I view it just like any other conversation I have no interest in (*cough*anime*cough*). I read over it just to make sure no one's being obnoxious or rude enough to need a reminder to keep it polite, and then forget it.

[Corrupt Shadow]

But it's become such a huge topic lately, that it's going to come up more and more frequently.

And some people don't have other outlets to express their thoughts on the matter, so they do in chat (for those people, I highly suggest getting a Twitter account). Maybe a channel to talk about wouldn't be a bad idea. We have a channel for RP and it's not like that channel is inhabited that often.

[Strlikecrazy]

As for moderating it in chat, I view it just like any other conversation I have no interest in (*cough*anime*cough*). I read over it just to make sure no one's being obnoxious or rude enough to need a reminder to keep it polite, and then forget it.

That's what moderating is about, sifting to check for inappropriateness! Go Harry!

[Ryme]

And some people don't have other outlets to express their thoughts on the matter, so they do in chat (for those people, I highly suggest getting a Twitter account). Maybe a channel to talk about wouldn't be a bad idea. We have a channel for RP and it's not like that channel is inhabited that often.

I'm going to argue if you're on the internet and already know how to find your way to one chat room, you have an INFINITE number of other outlets. There are political websites and discussion boards everywhere. Honestly, it's hard to avoid. Politics is more in your face than porn these days.

That's not a reason to ban the topic outright; but I don't think it's a valid excuse for pushing a topic onto a bunch of gamers if they're clearly being bothered by it.

[Corrupt Shadow]

True. So when people start talking about KoL, I can tell them to shut the hell up?

[Cristiona]

DOWN WITH OBAMA-CARE!

dude. this is totally out of place.. we are talking about talking about politics.. we are not talking about politics

I'd like to think that was his point. It's out of place in this situation and, regardless of your opinion of the content of his comment, the presence of the comment is odious.

I think this is a vote for the /ignore

/ignore is all well and good, but remember who brought up the idea of a separate channel: me. Even if /ignore was coded, I wouldn't be able to use it. Furthermore, adding a channel is easier than adding /ignore.

But I just see it being very hard to moderate a channel like that if only 1-3 potential mods would be in it some of the time, and I can't do it all the time.

I wager that, at least for now, it would be like moderating /RP. If things get way out of hand, someone fetches a mod to come in and throw water on the situation. I would be fine with that, especially since I would be intruding on it, not it intruding on me.

I completely agree with Cris on this one. I used to be into politics, and was always stressed out about something or other. Now I completely ignore it and don't ever talk about it, and my life is much better.

To be honest, I do enjoy politics. In person. The anonymity of the internet makes such discussions pointless for the most part. There's plenty of other reasons I prefer to debate in person, but that'll suffice, I think.

Politics is more in your face than porn these days.

Ba-dum-pssht!

[malk-a-mite]

In general I prefer the chat to focus on things related to the game. I realize that as a matter of building community the discussions will range all over the place.

I for one suggest sticking to a workplace decorum. No politics, no religion, no sex. All three often wind up causing problems.
Can they be discussed? Sure. We've managed it in the past.
But as Cris has pointed out the nature of the internet makes it so people tend to dehumanize their opponent in topics that they themselves hold closer to the cores of their belief systems.


.... or as someone else has put it.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/


As to most of what Blink posted, both as a player and as a moderator I have a responsibility to help the community find its voice and to make sure that voice is welcoming to all that want to play.

Suggesting that there are those that should but won't use the proper channel is a correctable behavior. Just ignoring problems is not a solution.

Lastly, don't look to technology to fix human behavior problems, humans often are the problem and the solution.

[Strlikecrazy]

That image is awesome And true.

[Carygon Nijax]

I think /ignore will be a great feature. There are several people (who I will not name) that I DO NOT want to listen to. >.>

I bet I am one of those.. right? riiight??

[Carygon Nijax]

I don't think you are talking about Harry or Lulz...

[Harry Dresden]

Hey, I can be just as annoying as the next guy. When I decide to actually say something. >_>

[Carygon Nijax]

don'¡t be fool.. it is not on your nature.. you can't be annoying.. it would be like asking me to be smart... it is impossible!!