Forum reset

[Benton]

(11-02-2015, 12:08 PM)djs7685 Wrote: Here's my issue, but I don't want this to turn into a bickering fest and I just wanted to talk about this publicly because I think it's good for the boards to be able to see the outcome of the quick back and forth. I don't post in PnR on a lot of subjects because, well, I'm not as interested in politics as most down here, but I do enjoy debating some of the topics.

Here's an extreme version of what happens down here sometimes that I've seen...

PosterA: "I believe gay people are mentally ******** and people from X country are *slur*."

PosterB: in response to the above.... "you're a dumbass"

Now, I honestly think that most people can see which one of these comments is more offensive and worse for the state of a message board than the other, but I believe the mods and admins on here actually think that what PosterB had to say is the issue somehow. I just think there needs to be a clear "line" of what can and can't be said, even though I'm sure that's easier said than done. I can't see how insulting 1 person is worse than insulting thousands and thousands of people with something extremely offensive. IMO, either both or neither of the above things should be tolerated, I don't think it's fair for one or the other to be okay yet the other not allowed.

You can delete this if you wish, I just think that it may be a good idea to discuss this openly so maybe the regulars down here can see what the moderating team deems appropriate going forward.

(11-02-2015, 12:24 PM)djs7685 Wrote: Did you read the end? I mentioned that I believe that BOTH or NEITHER should be allowed.

I merely stated that while I personally found 1 of them to be "more offensive", the mods/admins in the past have (in my opinion) shown that they didn't agree and actually allowed things such as my example from PosterA yet had an issue with my example by PosterB.

That was my entire point, I wanted to see how the mod team felt about that because it seems they may have changed the way things are operating in PnR. I could be wrong, but it was an observation that I feel the entire forum should be aware of if the rules are changing. Knowing exactly what is/isn't acceptable is obviously important in a forum where discussion gets heated and people have very strong opinions.

Generally, it's an individual basis on your two examples. Nothing is ever black and white. Given the nature of the topics here, leeway was given in the past as you can't have a discussion about a topic that evokes strong feelings from two different sides without one side feeling the other is being wrong in some way, whether it's perceiving them to be narrow minded, insulting, sexist, racist, etc.

Your PosterB leaves no such gray area. If you directly insult someone, it's obviously in violation of the CoC. In the past, PosterA was given some room as — provided there wasn't any other violation of the CoC in regards to language or something else — it was part of the discussion. As an example, if you're discussing racism, you're going to have a range of views as to what is acceptable and what is not.

As I've said (a lot) lately, we tried to give a long leash with that. Unfortunately, that has provided an atmosphere where people are just attacking one another instead of the topic. If you can't use this as a place to discuss ideas and view points rationally, then moderation will be heavy handed in PnR.