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Anitra · 04-02-2006, 03:52 AM

Ilkidarios @ April 01 2006,18:51
With all due respect, Ilkidarios, a Discussion Forum is for discussions. If everyone had the same opinions, or just politely agreed to disagree, there wouldn't be any discussions, and what would be the point in having a Forum at all then?

I agree that the tone here could be a bit more civil at times. I also agree that some of the mega threads are sometimes drawn out to the point of the ridiculous.

But that is because some of the questions in these threads are important to many of us. And since certain opinions, and even very constructive suggestions for improvements, are constantly treated in a condescending way or, worse even, ignored or deleted, people do get frustrated. This is one of the reasons why certain subjects pop up over and over again, to a point where most other topics are drowned. It is because those subjects are important to many people, and until something actually is changed, they will keep popping up.

But if only the subjects and opinions that coincide with those of the moderator will be allowed on the Forums in the future, then we are heading down a very slippery slope. Suppressing free speech is usually the beginning of something much worse. It may be possible to suppress certain opinions, but as a result the discussions will eventually dwindle and die.

I agree with DonathinFrye that matt is not objective. He only cares about the Mud community and this List insofar that it offers a potential source for him to get more paying customers for his games. His main interest is to promote the IRE games and to defend the position of those games on the list. Anything that even remotely threatens that position is against his interests, and he acts accordingly.

As for the other two moderators, Valg and KaVir, they too have strong opinions and express them frequently on the boards. But in all the years that they have been moderating here, I have never seen either of them delete any posts or close any threads because criticism was aimed at them or their games.

Matt has done both already, in less than two weeks. He certainly has not made a good start as moderator, and I fear that it won’t improve in the future either. With him as moderator censorship has entered the boards. Personally I prefer the flames, as long as free speech is allowed. Without it the discussion boards could just as well be closed down.

04-02-2006, 03:52 AM	#27
Anitra Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 123	Ilkidarios @ April 01 2006,18:51 With all due respect, Ilkidarios, a Discussion Forum is for discussions. If everyone had the same opinions, or just politely agreed to disagree, there wouldn't be any discussions, and what would be the point in having a Forum at all then? I agree that the tone here could be a bit more civil at times. I also agree that some of the mega threads are sometimes drawn out to the point of the ridiculous. But that is because some of the questions in these threads are important to many of us. And since certain opinions, and even very constructive suggestions for improvements, are constantly treated in a condescending way or, worse even, ignored or deleted, people do get frustrated. This is one of the reasons why certain subjects pop up over and over again, to a point where most other topics are drowned. It is because those subjects are important to many people, and until something actually is changed, they will keep popping up. But if only the subjects and opinions that coincide with those of the moderator will be allowed on the Forums in the future, then we are heading down a very slippery slope. Suppressing free speech is usually the beginning of something much worse. It may be possible to suppress certain opinions, but as a result the discussions will eventually dwindle and die. I agree with DonathinFrye that matt is not objective. He only cares about the Mud community and this List insofar that it offers a potential source for him to get more paying customers for his games. His main interest is to promote the IRE games and to defend the position of those games on the list. Anything that even remotely threatens that position is against his interests, and he acts accordingly. As for the other two moderators, Valg and KaVir, they too have strong opinions and express them frequently on the boards. But in all the years that they have been moderating here, I have never seen either of them delete any posts or close any threads because criticism was aimed at them or their games. Matt has done both already, in less than two weeks. He certainly has not made a good start as moderator, and I fear that it won’t improve in the future either. With him as moderator censorship has entered the boards. Personally I prefer the flames, as long as free speech is allowed. Without it the discussion boards could just as well be closed down.