Commanders,
I have only been involved, to any in depth degree, in two subjects of discussion on these boards, those being the 3rd person view thread, (I was against the idea), and the various threads concerning the recent newsletter and subsequent fallout, (I was concerned with the decisions made by FD and the lack of communication, which has been addressed). Of course, I have posted in other threads but these discussions were fairly important to me and I enjoyed the debating, (mostly), in both cases.
What I did not enjoy so much was the way in which the community were communicating with each other in some cases. Now, I know I cannot control others or change the way they communicate but, nevertheless, I will try.
Despite my position on the two discussions I have been heavily involved in I will do my level best to be impartial and balanced in my kind of 'review' of said discussions. I will try to point out the errors on both sides, and even if this post/thread prevents 1% of the trash talking in future threads and posts I will be happy.
Discussions on all internet forums can get heated and out of hand, as I'm sure you are all very aware. It is virtually impossible for the mods and community to police these boards and others to such a degree that nothing bad is ever said to anyone, I understand this. That impossibility not only comes from the number of posts and threads involved but also from the possible perception of boards being 'over moderated' and a certain level of 'free speech' has to prevail to allow discussion and counter discussion. What is by no means impossible though is each of us, as individuals to police ourselves.
The recent discussions looked like virtually every other game forum out there, which saddens but does not surprise me. Those who were either concerned, (I'd put myself in this camp), angered, disillusioned or slightly 'put out' by FD's decision concerning the first round beta and insurance were accused on 'whining, 'whinging' or moaning for no other reason than to do so apparently. Those who agreed with FD's decision, or were not particularly bothered, were accused of 'being on high horses', being 'elitist' and the like. There were elements of people being accused of 'trolling' on both sides, as I said earlier, like virtually every other game forum out there.
What is the point of me stating the bleeding obvious? Well, the point is, why does it have to be this way? Why do people have to resort to the bog standard use of internet meme terms such as 'whining', 'whinging', 'elitism', 'trolling' and the like? Surely, these boards are the place to discuss not only the merits of this game, but also the decisions made and the future direction of the game. This is exactly the right place to debate decisions and the future direction of this game. We are all individuals, we are not always going to share the same opinion when a decision is made. Surely, we can debate these points without resorting to clone like internet meme phrases such as those listed above? I really, really enjoy a good debate, I concede when I am wrong and will debate my corner hard if I believe I am right. I try to avoid these internet meme phrases because, a) I don't like to sound like everyone else on the internet. b) I think it shows a lack of intelligence and originality if you have to resort to such tactics and, c) If you are using these phrases you are really bringing very little to the table of debate in terms of keeping things calm or progressing the discussion, indeed, particularly if you are the 30th person using the exact same meme phrase in the thread.
I really do not want to come across as all 'holier than thou' here, and if I do I'm sorry. But know this, I do not always succeed in avoiding confrontation as well as I should, neither do I claim to have never, (very, very rarely though), used these meme phrases. What I do try to do though, is if I have crossed a line, I apologise, almost straight away, ask Noodle!
Guys and gals, we were all championing the maturity and integrity of these boards just a few weeks back. There were threads, that I posted in. doing just that. I had tried to sound a bell of caution in those threads which went sometihng along the lines of 'a lot of pre-alpha boards are tranquil places due to the common goal, (the creation of the game we want), but as decisions are made and positions diverge then the s*** hits the fan'. Many did not agree, indeed a moderator posted in one of them saying these boards were different.
I think recent developments have proved otherwise, or maybe it's just a blip, though I doubt that. But it doesn't have to be that way commanders, we can fan the flames of debate without fanning the flames of confrontation. We are, (mostly), capable of debating with guile and intelligence without sounding like an internet clone with the I.Q of a 5 year old. We are not going to agree all the time, what we can agree to do though is debate with morals, keep our dignity, and act like we are, individuals. And what we most certainly can agree to do is to police ourselves, if we moderate ourselves then a repeat of what has happened in the last few days becomes less likely. I am not naive enough to say it will never happen again but we can at least make nasty, childish and unoriginal a rarer thing on these boards.
We are all here, for Elite, let's be here for each other too and show empathy, understanding and a little patience when applicable with each other.
Love you guys!
Theo
I have only been involved, to any in depth degree, in two subjects of discussion on these boards, those being the 3rd person view thread, (I was against the idea), and the various threads concerning the recent newsletter and subsequent fallout, (I was concerned with the decisions made by FD and the lack of communication, which has been addressed). Of course, I have posted in other threads but these discussions were fairly important to me and I enjoyed the debating, (mostly), in both cases.
What I did not enjoy so much was the way in which the community were communicating with each other in some cases. Now, I know I cannot control others or change the way they communicate but, nevertheless, I will try.
Despite my position on the two discussions I have been heavily involved in I will do my level best to be impartial and balanced in my kind of 'review' of said discussions. I will try to point out the errors on both sides, and even if this post/thread prevents 1% of the trash talking in future threads and posts I will be happy.
Discussions on all internet forums can get heated and out of hand, as I'm sure you are all very aware. It is virtually impossible for the mods and community to police these boards and others to such a degree that nothing bad is ever said to anyone, I understand this. That impossibility not only comes from the number of posts and threads involved but also from the possible perception of boards being 'over moderated' and a certain level of 'free speech' has to prevail to allow discussion and counter discussion. What is by no means impossible though is each of us, as individuals to police ourselves.
The recent discussions looked like virtually every other game forum out there, which saddens but does not surprise me. Those who were either concerned, (I'd put myself in this camp), angered, disillusioned or slightly 'put out' by FD's decision concerning the first round beta and insurance were accused on 'whining, 'whinging' or moaning for no other reason than to do so apparently. Those who agreed with FD's decision, or were not particularly bothered, were accused of 'being on high horses', being 'elitist' and the like. There were elements of people being accused of 'trolling' on both sides, as I said earlier, like virtually every other game forum out there.
What is the point of me stating the bleeding obvious? Well, the point is, why does it have to be this way? Why do people have to resort to the bog standard use of internet meme terms such as 'whining', 'whinging', 'elitism', 'trolling' and the like? Surely, these boards are the place to discuss not only the merits of this game, but also the decisions made and the future direction of the game. This is exactly the right place to debate decisions and the future direction of this game. We are all individuals, we are not always going to share the same opinion when a decision is made. Surely, we can debate these points without resorting to clone like internet meme phrases such as those listed above? I really, really enjoy a good debate, I concede when I am wrong and will debate my corner hard if I believe I am right. I try to avoid these internet meme phrases because, a) I don't like to sound like everyone else on the internet. b) I think it shows a lack of intelligence and originality if you have to resort to such tactics and, c) If you are using these phrases you are really bringing very little to the table of debate in terms of keeping things calm or progressing the discussion, indeed, particularly if you are the 30th person using the exact same meme phrase in the thread.
I really do not want to come across as all 'holier than thou' here, and if I do I'm sorry. But know this, I do not always succeed in avoiding confrontation as well as I should, neither do I claim to have never, (very, very rarely though), used these meme phrases. What I do try to do though, is if I have crossed a line, I apologise, almost straight away, ask Noodle!
Guys and gals, we were all championing the maturity and integrity of these boards just a few weeks back. There were threads, that I posted in. doing just that. I had tried to sound a bell of caution in those threads which went sometihng along the lines of 'a lot of pre-alpha boards are tranquil places due to the common goal, (the creation of the game we want), but as decisions are made and positions diverge then the s*** hits the fan'. Many did not agree, indeed a moderator posted in one of them saying these boards were different.
I think recent developments have proved otherwise, or maybe it's just a blip, though I doubt that. But it doesn't have to be that way commanders, we can fan the flames of debate without fanning the flames of confrontation. We are, (mostly), capable of debating with guile and intelligence without sounding like an internet clone with the I.Q of a 5 year old. We are not going to agree all the time, what we can agree to do though is debate with morals, keep our dignity, and act like we are, individuals. And what we most certainly can agree to do is to police ourselves, if we moderate ourselves then a repeat of what has happened in the last few days becomes less likely. I am not naive enough to say it will never happen again but we can at least make nasty, childish and unoriginal a rarer thing on these boards.
We are all here, for Elite, let's be here for each other too and show empathy, understanding and a little patience when applicable with each other.
Love you guys!
Theo
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