SUGGESTIONS, Improvements, new fourms and the like

Been there, done that.

If you are going to have rules regarding what topics can and cannot be discussed on the board you should have those topics listed. I recently posted a topic with regards to Senator Obama's race speech last week that didn't criticize the Senator or his opponents but the way the media was covering it and was reprimanded for discussing politics on the forum and had the topic closed by the mods. Now nowhere in the forum rules does it say anything about restricitions on that kind of post. I understand that mods have to use their judgement on things like that but it's a little ignorant to jump on someone for breaking a rule that doesn't exist anywhere on the forum except in the heads of the mods. If you are going to restrict topics, please list those topics in the rules. It's only fair to the members and also makes the mods life easier so they don't look like they're censoring the member's discussions for no reason.

C

I understand where you're coming from and perhaps it makes sense to make a list of topics that can't be discussed. We'll discuss it and come up with something.

However, I would like to point a few things out while not getting into a big discussion about it. The first is that I myself had a topic closed which was sort've of a religious/political nature. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have posted the topic in the first place. The site is for fans of a tv show, to talk about that tv show and the extension of it through the comics.

Yes we get into it about overall themes and larger problems that the show/comic brings up which can get political from time to time, but in the end it's all about the tv show. Everyone understands that and knows enough to let it go, even if sometimes it's hard to do so. Topics about current events happening in reality however, are very real and can have a real impact on people's lives, therefore it's less likely to be let go in the same way that talking about a tv show/comic would be.

Your topic was generally by-partisan and did not endorse any one side or the other, however clearly given the tone and theme of the topic, you endorse the subject of the topic. How likely do you think it's going to stay about the media and not about the candidates though? I have had and listened to quite a few conversations of a political nauture and based on that I think it's reasonable to assume that the conversation would invariably degrade into something uncivil.

I would point out as well, that it was within our power to delete the topic entirely and not allow people to read it at all. That would've been censorship however and created a whole other set of problems that we'd rather not deal with. We support freedom of speech and people's right to feel how they want to feel about ANY topic, but this is not the place to talk about real life subjects that will invariably divide members and take them away from the point of the site.

People are welcome to post about anything they feel needs to be pointed out. But topics that will cause unrest and divide people (and it's naive to think that it won't) will be shut down to maintain the civility and generally good nature of the site. Discussions of that nature should be taken somewhere else where people actually want to discuss that type of thing, that's just good sense.

This post has been edited by Forgotten Conscience on March 23, 2008 01:56 am

And again, as my previous post said, all I am suggesting is that if you are going to restrict topics on the board (which is fine) then you should list that in the forum rules. That's it. Please refrain from commenting on me personally again.

Thanks

CP

I just wanted to ask why when i review there is this 10 words limit. Why is it important? It dooesn't allow me to review something like awesome fiction keep going
It seems a bit pointless limit to me so...
i am not trying to be rude just asking

The intent of the 10 word minimum is to avoid reviews and comments which are limited to the point that it doesn't have any real benefit to the author. As an author myself, I think it's important to be constructive in the feedback that I give to other authors when I read. Not that I don't appreciate all the reviews.