The best thing that GOG could do is to effin nuke this place. Their "community" is broken beyond repair. Half of the users we have these days are people who perfectly know that they can do anything here, because GOG is incapable of stopping them. And I'm not only talking about scammers, trolls, downvoters and people who spam report threads to delete them (happened a lot in the past already, so this isn't about alaric). I'm talking about a huge percentage of regulars here, too! I've seldom seen a place where insults are part of the normal forum etiquette. On GOG, people basically greet each other with "Hey fuckface! Hope you die from cancer today!". Why? Because GOG can't do shit about it! No one remembers how their forum software works.

A single, powerless "I'm basically only responsible for Facebook and Twitter, but I'll see if I can do some forum-stuff along the way"-community manager won't be able to do anything here. Sorry, Fables, I'm sure you're a decent person and this is nothing personal. But it's a fact that you have even less "moderation power" than normal users that can't write in blue. At least we're able to silence users by deleting their posts and threads xP (<- which is a HUGE problem and utterly wrong) To fix this place, GOG would need a good team of seasoned mods and a working forum software. But all they have is one single person who's not even responsible for this and a broken piece of incomprehensible code-garbage.

Seriously... Nuke this place. Delete everything that's "General Discussion" and close the game specific forums. If someone has a problem, there's still the support button in the top menu. Get rid of this "community". And when you (GOG) find some free time, look into some proper forum software. Relaunch this place with some very clear rules and seperate GOG and forum accounts. Someone acts like a dick? Ban him. This is the support forum of a digital store and not the home of #gamergate, NES, Tauto and people who're looking for 4chan with less rules.

GOG's community is dead. Let's make sure the dead stop walking around.

Good news™! We're nuking the forum "soon"™! Get your "early access"™ nuclear shelter with "great regional pricing"™

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lmao

well, if you feel you aren't losing enough points in a day, let me know and i'll totes go downvote you. no probs, i gots your back!

I get perhaps the funnest ride. I go up and down and up and down from the negatives to the positives to a star and back again. Sometimes the tugging back and forth is so violent, I'm deadlocked at the same number for weeks at a time before it starts all over again.

ok, this sounds fun. i'm ok with my rep swinging now. i like roller coasters.

And there you go spreading your hate over a thread discussion. Once again, Gamergate the boogeyman getting the blame. It was a discussion thread about what was currently going on in the gaming industry. A movement grew attempting to shame and ridicule video games and its users. And the result, the haters, like real.geizterfahr show their hate for those they dislike.

I joined that discussion because some of the things I was seeing seem wrong. Claiming Pac-Man is sexist because it was a man coming first and Ms. Pac-Man having a bow supposedly "enforces stereotypes". Donkey Kong shows women to be weak because the object of Mario is a "damsel in distress". Evolving even today in attempts to call games like Witcher 3 which even have strong playable female characters sexist and racist. What a load of hooey. No one seems to notice that since the talk has started to stray from videogames and censorship, you don't see me there very often. It's because I entered that discussion to talk about video games, what they mean to me, and not talk about world politics where it didn't concern videogames.

For expressing that opinion, I have been called sexist, racist, homophobic and what not. It doesn't matter that I have had many gay and lesbian friends throughout the years including transgender. Doesn't matter that I get along with just about every ethnic person I've met throughout the years and have had healthy discussions about race and religion with them (Iranian, Iraqi, Egyptian, Muslim, Christian Arab, not to mention Black and Hispanic). I've been downrepped on and off for the last few years for months at a time until the downrep trolls forget about me for a bit. All because saying that I don't find videogames sexist and disagreeing with an ideological cultural critic makes me part of this "boogeyman" called Gamergate. The majority of those who posted there have very reasonable opinions on the matter. But here we are once again called names, called the problem by some of the intolerant people on these forums for stating our opinions and having our opinions equated with the worst posts made in the thread. I've told you before Real, you are a serious part of the problem. Not only with regard to Gamergate but your insistence with Hedwards that all the generous gifters on the forums "brought the scammers here" and other such nonsense. Blame the victims like you always do while sitting on your high-horse.

The Gamergate thread was never the problem. The problem was and is the growing group of people who want to remove any discussion that they personally disagree with. It seems to be a modern culture clash. Liberals and conservatives calling each other names and pushing each other to the extremes while those of us in the middle get caught in the crossfire. The thread itself mostly stayed contained. Things got heated when certain ideological trolls would join the thread and call everyone names without any intention of listening to what we actually were saying. What wasn't contained was the downrepping; the constant attacks on anyone who participated in that thread and the constant talk in other threads of how all Gamergaters should be banned and removed from the forums.

No, the Gamergate thread was never the problem. The problem has always been the intolerant people who think they have a right to control all discussion here. And when it comes to politics or other heated discussion, you better think like them lest you get downrepped and have your threads deleted, threatened with reports to GoG, called the problem of the forums. When the truth is, those making those threats and accusations are at least as responsible for the problems here. Personally, I think the problem is when people have a bad argument and lose, they try to win by banning those they lost the argument with.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but you seem to have been triggered by one thing he mentioned and are taking that and deciding to use much pent-up rage you have over the issue to talk about the GamersGate thread, which has long been lampooned as an example of how bitter the forum gets over political issues anyways (whether you or people you know have directly participated in it or not, you can't deny that some pretty bad trolling went down in there, as happens with most political threads).
Couldn't your purpose have simply been accomplished by saying "GamersGate does not belong in that list of problems"?
Do you have any opinion on the rest of what he said besides ad hominem commentary?

Sorry that's no evidence, but just a number of claims. And most of them are not even true. For example there's a great number of people who got rep-attacked who never had any issues with tinyE.

Don't want to say that tinyE is a saint, but your post is quite biased and the problem with this forum is far more complex (and most of it is GOG's fault, because they ignored the problems for a very long time).

Zeogold, do you even know what ad hominem means?

And there you go too. Because trolls entered the discussion, all Gamergaters are bad people. And how the heck is it a "political thread" anyway? It was about videogames and those who are calling for their change or ban. You don't like it, so here you are being just another "forum regular" engaging in shaming, bullying and harassment of opinions you dislike. And lets portray it as an off-topic political discussion rather than about videogames to enforce the point.

The rest of the post? My opinion. Crap. Nuke the forum, that is your plan? Really?
It's a great post if one wants to be on the "GoG sucks" bandwagon, but as it comes to an actual suggestion...I think it's terrible.

The forums can be fixed fairly simply.

Step 1: Remove downvoting and negative rep. These things have only caused trouble on other forums worldwide. Should cut down on the hard feelings because people get upset, if they express it or not, when they see their posts downrepped for no reason while "in-crowd" posts up-repped when they suggest something as silly is nuking the forums.

Step 2: Deal with the trolls. The hard part is keeping the trolls from coming back because the first step is warning, then removing if necessary, those people who are posting in every thread baiting people right and left. This may need to include rules that deal with serial derailers such as TinyE and others, but trolls who contribute nothing useful first. And remember, warnings first so people can change their behavior. But seriously, we are talking what, maybe 5-10 people max.

Step 3: Deal with actual harassment. Basically people who are repeatedly following and harassing another forumgoer. I'm not talking one post someone doesn't like. But the same rules should apply no matter which side of social justice one is on. Again probably just a handful of people max if any of these people aren't the same trolls removed above.

In other words, remove negative rep and downvoting. Then remove the most obvious bad apples if they do not wish to play nice.

Simple, besides maybe preventing the trolls from coming back part. But nuke the forum? A little drastic don't you think? Selecting all your enemies for removal because one person think he's should decide who stay and goes and why? Bad idea. It's back to the bullying and harassment by "forum regulars" again.

In a twist of irony I actually am.

I am Saint Abraham, the Patron Saint of overcooked asparagus.

Would you please learn to read and UNDERSTAND you brainless piece of shit? This isn't one tiny bit about your favorite cocksucker club. I don't even visit your little playground, let alone read anything of it! But the fact that it only takes one little mention of your sacred hashtag gang to tick you off is evidence enough that you nutters are just another reason why this place became so toxic.

btw: When I say "you nutters" I mean all "four sides": Gamergaters, people who say they're not Gamergaters, SJWs and people who say they're not SJWs. You're all idiots. One half praises diversity and really means that every game should be about a jewish, black trans-woman who kills straight, white men (everything else would't be diversive). And the other half loves to fight those nutcases, although they insist that their whole hashtag movement is just about ethics in journalism (I NEVER got what the one thing got to do with the other).




ps. I didn't even read your post. I never read them. I just saw your reply, hit ctrl+f, typed "gamergate" and immediately saw what your post was about.

pps. No need to reply to me, because I won't read it either. I never read anything of you since the day you said I'd support scammers, just because I think the "Known Scammers" threads were useless (since most scams were done with brand new Rep: 0 accounts). I just replied to you because I felt like insulting you a little bit. Haven't done this for a while. I feel much better now :D

And look, you prove yourself to be part of the problem again! Seriously, you show your true colors. I'm sick of assholes like you calling me cocksucker or brainless piece of shit. You are the perfect example of what I'm talking about. Someone so self-centered they don't see they are as much of the problem or more....

But hey, call me names while not reading what I have to say, makes you quite the fool. I read your post and explained exactly why its a crackpot idea. You show your blatant disregard for anyone else's opinions. Because you feel the shit you spew is pure gold, thus don't need to listen to anyone else.