There's plenty of intelligent conversation to be had that doesn't contradict the forum rules.

For example, discussing the mechanics of a video game, like how the game calculates damage or how to clip out of bounds. Or, examining the definition of some game genre (though this does sometimes lead to some heated discussion). Or, complaining about an accessibility issue with a game ("why can't I remap the F key?", for example). Or, talk about some aspect of a game's design that you (don't) like.

Some users here(likely the same ones that low r8 me and others) seem to not like when the mods are criticized in any form.
(well unless they are the ones criticizing them for something, than it's seemingly ok in their eyes)

True, but sometimes I want to discuss various topics civilly with others here without having to go to other sites, needing to possibly signup to said sites, and having to keep track of said sites. It's much easier to discuss thing with people in one place than to go to a different site for every other topic.

Also(as you've likely seen) they delete topics even within the tos here as well.

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Imo it's more to do with the fact that not many of the user base use the forums....the company might even want to discourage forum use over time.
(due to it being not used much and also the fact that it's likely a pain to maintain and moderate)

There might be other forums around the net(haven't check much as of late).

(btw: even CHANS are more open when it comes to what one can talk about, and they have a few dedicated game discussion boards)

It's been pretty clear for a couple of years now that GOG is actively trying to moderate the forums now, and as people become increasingly resistant to moderation, GOG is moderating more.

Thing is, these forums are milquetoast (minus the occasional spammer like bah bah jee) compared to other forums.

Imo the main reason they're doing so is to help GOG save face(pr wise) from those on social media/etc, and also to possibly discourage people from using the forums as much(possibly so they can eventually replace them or remove them, as not many of the userbase use them, and they are likely a drain on resources & hard to maintain).

Also your thing about GOG modding more holds up a good amount less when you take into account that there are threads/posts and posters here that go unmodded for tos breaking content every day(sometimes entire threads, right out in the open), while others get modded quickly for even borderline content.

If GOG were serious about modding to keep a clean & civil forum, then we likely wouldn't have such lopsided modding.

My comment about that was due to GamezRankers post here, older posts from GamezRanker (which I cant find anymore due to the bug although not sure if I would anyway) and GOG staff comments - I dont know if posting more is within the forum rules.

Would like to know how much they delete. If they delete important posts like mine and have a strong bias then out of the spectrum of user posts there are probably big censored holes. Reason I used to go here was to have an undistorted input over a wide spectrum of user opinions/interests.

Isnt it the other way round? They want to discourage using it and thats why users go away. And its not 'shiny' enough for their new target audience anyway.

Not sure what exactly you mean but I am looking for an uncensored forum for gamers (not one limited to games).

Sadly I feel those days are long gone.....most users that remain have to watch their wording lest they get modded for this or that, and a good number of forum users have either left or don't post as much anymore due to the overmodding.

Well said, and sadly you're likely right.

Chan sites are sites with boards(subforums..some sfw and some nsfw) for various overarching subjects(like tv and film, or cooking, or games), where people can create various threads that fit each board's topic....with pictures/text/etc.

They have modding as well, and some things are forbidden to post, but they are a lot more tolerant of various topics than GOG seems to be atm.

Regarding the bug: I vaguely remember some thread in this forum about a workaround. I may even have posted there - dont remember for sure. Unfortunately somehow I cant find it in my posted topics list...

Are those "some things" well defined? Do they include complaining about moderator actions? (Censoring complaints about censorship.)

I posted a very similar thread to this and it got me suspended.

i can't blame them you know.... especially now with the corona and all those near to depression kids :-p that seem to roam around the internet mindless.... adults need to take such care with their wordings, before you know it, they've ran off again with the part where you said ' idiot ' making schemes to file a rapport with their local police force

Not really well defined, no....and that's likely on purpose(so it's easier to mod when they choose to).

As for mod actions....yeah questioning them(at least in the forums) is against the tos/coc here.....users are supposed to send all such text to staff themselves via PM.
(criticizing mod actions a bit seems to be within the rules, though, but they may sometimes mod it anyways....as I said a few times before: they can mod for anything, as that's also part of the tos/coc)

The bug is still there so it seems bad GOG has permanently destroyed most of my history to my own posts/threads. Anybody knows what happens if I post in enough topics to get the deleted thread out of the 'first page' of the "Topics I've participated in" list? Will the list still be truncated in the same manner or is that a workaround?

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Thx for answer.

No problem

Btw: I reported some trolls in another thread, and got essentially scolded for my efforts. :|
(the trolls are as yet unmodded)

I wonder why I even bother trying to help them clean up the forums.

Update about the bugginess: The 'Topics I've participated in' list is still truncated even after the deleted topic goes off the first page. So it appears that the deleted topic causes all topics (other than the ones fitting into that page) after it to be permanently banned from the list.

Also to mods:

Hey mods, gaming related politics is allowed with the rules/COC. Even if y'all don't feel this is "the place" for such.....unless the COC is changed those posts are allowed on the forums.