I've been here for 4 years, and we're all kind of a big dysfunctional family in some ways, so I don't feel right about leaving without at least explaining myself. Consider my thoughts to be just that. This isn't a boycott, a petition form, or an excuse to call a Congressman. It's just my opinion, and since opinions are now seen as here as razor sharp nuclear weapons, I'll be brief and diplomatic as possible so as not to offend the perpetually offended.

The recent hardening of enforcement when it comes to discussion rules won't cure any existing hostility, in my opinion. If anything it will only pour gasoline on the fire. Why was the Gamergate thread locked? Well, because Fables said it's demeaning and doesn't add anything constructive to the issue nor to the improvement of relationships here. I could point out dozens of other threads that the exact same thing could be said about. Why aren't those threads locked? Easy answer. Because Fables is the community manager and what Fables says goes. The higher ups here have caved on the issue of 'hate speech' and say that anything being interpreted to offend anyone else's views or values can and will be censored. Good luck with that. It's virtually impossible to impose those kind of objective rules on what is by nature a subjective matter, that being human communication. Think about it. There's thousands of gog members, and people here hail from dozens of countries. We have Canadians, Brits, Germans, Italians, Koreans, Japanese, and even a few idiots from that big crazy land called the United States of America. I can't tell you how many times a point I've made has gone over heads, or how many times a joke I've made has fallen like a lead balloon. I don't get bent out of shape about it because I know I cannot control how others will interpret what I say. Even if we were all from the same goddamn village it would still be so. Humans are individuals, not bees or ants. We all have different opinions, and applying rules that everyone must love vanilla ice cream or we must all like the same kind of music is foolish and impossible. Same goes for politics, sex, and religion. But when I see the mods locking threads like the Gamergate thread, I see exactly that. The mods are 'laying down the law' that we must indeed like vanilla ice cream or a certain type of music. It is entirely lopsided and arbitrary by its very definition.

I don't have to like nor vote for Donald Trump in order to support a person's RIGHT TO DO SO. Same goes for any other topic that may be pondered and debated by human beings. It is not necessary to support a view in order to advocate for a person's right to it. And from what I've seen over the last few months, a chilling atmosphere of manipulation and mob rule has infected the forum to the point where the forum mods are now getting involved with their ever-changing ruleset that is both hard and fast and at the same time totally subject to change. How can it be both and yet neither at the same time? From my point of view, speech in this regard has two levels of proper supervision. Option 1 is do nothing and let everyone speak their mind, making it an important note to mention that if someone gets offended at something, that's their problem. So long as no one is being personally threatened or hacked, everything else is a go. Option 2 is the hard sell, with ALL hot topics being banned with absolutely ZERO tolerance for anything of a political, sexual, or religious context being allowed. In fact, ditch the general discussion altogether and make it clear that the gaming website of gog shall only allow gaming-related conversations to be had. I've certainly seen this option being taken at other sites.

Sadly, Gog is taking that rare 3rd option, which is to say, 'have whatever opinion you want but if you say anything here that offends someone else, we'll take that hard line with you and either warn you to shut your mouth or just ban you outright.' That is probably the worst approach of all, because all you end up doing is stifling speech, the rational and adult types will just walk away, and all you'll end up with a small group of sycophants who constantly knife each other in the back for the privilege of saddling up to those in positions of authority. This is a big mistake on Gog's part, as far as I'm concerned.

I've seen this happen at other websites and forums before, so it's all the more disheartening to see it happen here, because I really have seen this place as one of those last few corners of the internet where all people can share all opinions. It's like a big virtual wild west saloon where virtually anything goes, and for the most part it's been fun. The internet can be a great place. It's like traveling around the world, only without all the overpriced hotels and lost luggage. I've learned a lot and shared a lot with people from all over the planet Earth, and now, like so many other places, it's being taken away from us because of a small group of professional victims who are perpetually outraged at everything they disagree with. No names need to be mentioned. YOU KNOW OF WHOM I SPEAK.

So the velvet glove has come off to expose the iron fist. I get it. You can tell me I don't have a right to express an opinion here, but you can't take that opinion away from me. You can tell me I cannot disagree here on your platform, and you can take that platform away, but I still reserve the right to disagree. Do you understand that? I reserve the right to disagree and if a platform to do so will not be allowed, then I must go where my opinions and views CAN BE expressed... even if I must go somewhere and create my own. That's how important I view speech and a person's right to their own views and opinions. To those here who label others as bigots or hate mongers, I only ask that you look in the mirror once in a while, because if you actually try and define what hate and intolerance really is, you'll see that you are acting as the worst kind of all. Certain people here smell blood in the water and are jumping at the chance to shut down others who they disagree with. If that kind of atmosphere is fostered here, then the only thing that will come out of it is a ghost town. People will flee with this forum in all directions, and the only people here who remain will be the sycophants, the kiss-ups, and their external foe will transform into an internal one, and they'll continue the same cycle of conflict and name calling, only by that point anyone with a speck of humor or intelligence will have long gone. That's not a fate I'd ask on anyone, but it seems to be the one that this place is moving towards.

So enough words. I've spoken my mind. 4 years of sharing, laughing, and learning, all comes to an end with a mouse fart's worth of silence. I'm not a drama queen. No petitions needed. No fucking bra burning in the streets. I'll leave that to you offendo-trons who think that he who yells the loudest has the most to say. Bull fucking shit. You're all acting like a bunch of entitled, selfish little children. And I'm not foolist enough to demand that the same rules for Never-Never Land apply to the real world. Want to chat? Send me a DM where those harsh things called letters and words won't befall the ears of the oh-so thin skinned ones that parade around in their own vicious circles. Until then, you can catch my ass down the road.

P.S. Don't see this as a plea for Gog to change anything. It's not. I know better. And I don't care if they lock the thread either. In fact, I kind of hope they do. It will only add emphasis to my point.

I moderated myself... what a mess.

I like myself some good forum moderation. I just stay out of those "critical" discussions by default in the first place, because they can never lead to anything good and usually end up with death threats if not moderated.

It a shame you decided to walk the road, but I see where this is coming through Emob78. Seeing that reason is mostly uncontrollable chaos damaging the family friendless on this part of GOG business, I have offered the something very similar what you call "2nd option" in rules thread. Realistically, I doubt the idea to turn community into international free discussion forum was part of GOG's vision anyways...

Hey buddy, dun need to take it so hard. Every1 is entitled to their own opinion, whether we like it or not is another matter. While i'm no advocate for hate speech, i respect their right to express displeasure. That's democracy which i'm sure u know very well since u apparently are from the US.

Although i do hope every1 (@ least those here on this forum) can show a little more civility when expressing dislike 4 a particular thing (either person or his post), i also uds that it's not realistic to expect every1 will do that so sometimes i guess sometimes all we can do is turn a blind eye or deaf ear to such posting. Do try not to take it personal but it also know it's easier said than done so just dun take it too hard.

Regardless of which Option GOG chooses to take, there will always be detractors & ppl unhappy over it. Personally, i wld go with Option 1 but with an additional rule that hate speech is not tolerated & perhaps a 3 strike rule can be implemented. In this way, ppl still hv the right to express their opinion but @ the same time it wld make them think twice b4 posting any overly negative comment.

Call me an idealist but i believe we can all treat each other with more civility especially on the internet. All we need is a little more restraint & respect for individuals opinions & agree to disagree w/o resorting to using uncivilized words. I know there are some ppl who hv an issue with how i type but i also respect they hv the right to not like them, just like i hope they can respect my choice to type the way i do.

Anyway, dunno if u'll still stick ard but i hope u can stay on to contribute here. Peace all. :)

Honestly, grow the fuck up. This is a private forum for a company trying to sell games.

This isn't, and shouldn't be, a battlefield.

The problem is that people are no longer capable of being civil and self moderating, and I mean that of both 'sides'.
This is bad for Gog. It is bad for their public image, it's probably bad for their sales. So they are stepping in and putting a stop to it, as is their right on their own private forums.

Gog didn't do this, we did. By bitching and infighting and taking every little discussion to the political extremes. You may like to blame this solely on those who you claim get offended at everything, but those purposely winding them up and attempting to cause offense have to take their share of the responsibility too.
I have been one of the voices calling for moderation here, not because I want it, because we need it. I would much rather things could have stayed as they were, but we pissed in the pool and spoiled it and now something had to give.
I'm not here to talk about Trump or LGBT rights, I'm here to talk about games. And if the only way to do that without every thread turning into a flamewar is to crack down on political threads then so be it.

Good to see the moderation working. If having to be civil in expressing your views is too hard for you- leave, and good riddance.

It wasn't "anything being interpreted to offend anyone else's views or values", it was one thread specifically dedicated to a violent hate movement.

If the OP of a thread asks you to lock it, will you do that? Because that was always a thing that could be done in the past, since this forum software does not support closing threads yourself if you opened them. So in the past if you asked Judas about it, he normally locked a thread if you had opened it and felt like it needed to be closed. Just want to know if that still is possible.

Alright :-)

I don't think this can be emphasized enough. Whenever a professional company maintains a general forum that's not directly related to the service/product they're offering, it's usually done for the same reason stores like Wallmart set up those little coffee shops on their premises. It allows the customers to hang back and relax before or after doing some shopping, increasing the likelyhood of them becoming or remaining repeat customers and be around when the latest sales are announced over the speakers.

Imagine being an enterpreneur approaching the main store with a business proposal to build a coffee shop that'll be like "a big virtual wild west saloon where virtually anything goes". I'd say the odds of that proposal being given the green light are virtually nil because the main store doesn't benefit from such an environment.

As a little tidbit, the "wild west saloon"-thing isn't based on a realistic depiction of the old west, but rather the popular hollywood exaggeration. In the actual old west, it wasn't uncommon for local law enforcement to impose some strict rules sometimes even going as far as to stick up "no carrying guns inside the town limits" signs at the town entrance. The reason behind this is the fact that local sheriffs were trying to attract settlers to their towns, not scare them away and a saloon where there was a bar brawl every other night was guaranteed to do just that. In real life, usual folk wouldn't willingly risk injury by hanging out at that kind of bar and the only people hanging out there would be the kind who enjoy bar brawls; the kind sheriffs don't like having around town to begin with.

Same with threads like the Gamergate thread. What are the odds of a casual visitor posting a GOG-related question, checking out the Gamergate thread after seeing it in the what's popular section and being like: "the atmosphere's so friendly and welcoming I feel like sharing my own input"? (going along with the "ordinary joe risking injury by visiting a brawl-prone saloon"-analogy, why would a casual visitor risk a mass de-rep of his account by jumping blindly into the fray?) The majority of posters (meaning participating members) a thread like the GG thread actually attracts are the kind that enjoy virtual bar brawls.

Imagine the guy wanting to set up a "hollywood wild west saloon" on Wallmart premises arguing that it's important to have a place where people can let loose without worrying about social restrictions. The Wallmart manager will likely reply that that's not the kind of places they want their coffee shops and diners turning into because in the end they're a store whose purpose is selling stuff, not a political forum whose purpose is celebrating free speech.

Professional companies create general forums so customers can exchange casual chatter with other customers and read the announcements of new products or sales while surfing from the "best RPG combat system of all time"-thread to the "worst Star Wars character not named Jar Jar Binks"-thread and they prefer to keep things light-hearted so both the activist left customer and the hard right customer stick around to read those announcements. (most companies discourage political talk because of that)

Someone making the "people who are offended by my remarks should just shut up and respect my free speech"-argument is essentially telling GOG that the business purpose of their general forum is less important than the principle of them giving him a free soapbox for his political opinions. Just because the forum became exactly that doesn't mean it was ever meant to be.

If anti-virtual bar brawl measures being passed is all it took for someone to walk out, it's not unlikely the frequent bar brawls were the main thing keeping him here to begin with.

Anyone arguing against stricter moderation shouldn't quote the US constitution or talk about how important an "anything goes"-environment is to them as an individual, but should make a convincing case to GOG how such an environment would benefit them from a business perspective. If one's only argument involves "my individual rights", he auto-fails on top of displaying a raging sense of entitlement.