Better be careful, as some forums ban for such filter evasionz....0.o
And THIS is why I LOVE you(and this site) so damn much. +1

How is giving into a forum user request "giving into angry mobs" and/or automatically a bad thing?

IMO(if the request is a civil and fair one) it could even be used to generate positive PR for the site in the vein of "GOG.com listens to/cares about it's users". Heck, they do it all the time when adding new features/games users ask for in the wishlists.

IMO if people want to discuss issues they have with the site they should be allowed to do so(If they do so civilly/etc.) without people poking fun at them by calling them self-entitled or downplaying people voicing such concerns they have with phrases like "making mountains out of molehills".......but that's just me.

I also don't think people doing so warrants further moderation on GOG(As it's not harming anyone or truly disrupting the forums, imo.)
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GOG handled that incident very well, imo(Even without extra moderation in place at the time.), and it's not like massive amounts of similar events have happened multiple times since then. As such, I don't think this thread merits further moderation(Or even see why a sane person would think it would/should[No, the fact that some threads/users might bother you personally on here doesn't necessitate the need for more moderation on GOG.].) to be put into place on GOG.
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I never saw that thread(So I can't make a call on it perse.), but from your attitude/voiced views in this post(and some others) & the way you seem to get all "up-in-arms" over simple forum debate and arguments I can say that I am glad you aren't a mod.

I dislike most profanity in general, there's already too much of it on the internet and I welcome a bit of forced civility now and then.

You know what I have better things to do than to argue with you.

The OP is being incredibly self entitled and I think this thread pretty well demonstrates that he's making mountains out of molehills seeing as he hasn't yet been banned for starting a flamebait thread criticizing the mods and stirring up trouble.

BTW, I do moderate elsewhere and I wouldn't personally put up with this sort of crap over there. I'm not going to tell you where I mod, but yes I do indeed moderate.

The mods here are incredibly permissive in what they allow folks to post here. I'll trust their discretion, but I'm personally not so permissive about these things.

As far as other thread arguments go, that's cultural. I certainly can refrain from such arguments and I often times do just stop when it becomes clear that things aren't going to get better. But I'm hardly the only one that argues around here it takes two to argue and I generally stop before they do.

Hmmm...

Ahh - I see, that's fine, no problem at all. I know they way I put the whole non-issue was a bit provocative, but it was kind of the point do polarize it and provoke a response which I could try to deal with.

If it is personal, please do not feel pressurised, either take your time or completely ignore it. I have no problems with either.

You have an issue that I made a topic about something I thought was important, to let everyone on the forum have a say on the issue rather than the subset of people who happened to read the other topic (where this topic was off-topic), and made a humour-based wishlist item to track the people who agree that it should be reverted?

I think you'd have had an aneurysm if this wasn't a light-hearted way of highlighting something that I think is an issue we all need to consider (community and staff alike).

Is it self-entitlement if I argue for the freedom to post "kick ass" in a topic title.. a freedom I probably wouldn't ever use?

It's also quite possible that the only reason they haven't banned me is because that would make the situation worse. But seeing as none of the GOG staff have even asked for this discussion to be stopped (and when I say ask, I mean ask.. not locking the topic), I think that is unlikely..

I've already mentioned that a simple request or statement of preference is enough to stop me doing something..

I don't know.. did you miss my post where I said that people who continue to post profanity and such on the forums after being asked not to should be banned off of them? The odd use is fine (like saying something kicks ass for example, which is a common, positive phrase). Then we don't have the censorship or fear of being censored, but the uncivil people wouldn't be around for long. Changing the topic titles is treating the symptom and not the cause.. and it leads to "false positives" like this one (though I understand not everyone agrees it is a false positive).

On on small note, where is the flaming? No-one has said a bad word about anyone that I can remember (well.. maybe some people saying this is/I am moronic counts!). It's been a civil discussion of the topic.. isn't that good?

If I wanted to stir up trouble, this would have been very different. There would be more than one topic, there would be cussing the topic titles etc. etc.
I wanted to stir up discussion and that's exactly what this thread achieved.
It's fine. We all have our methods of debate and I quickly learned that around here, things can come across as very different to intentioned. It's why I don't hold "grudges" against people I end up arguing against because they simply may not have had the opportunity to explain what they said or whatever.

I'll send you a PM.

If you have better things to do then why reply to me to begin with, and why choose such a snide sounding introductory line when doing so?
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You are free to think that way, but I don't think OP is being self-entitled in the slightest(What about this thread proves that Xyem believes he has the right to get his way [In this issue or in general.] on the forums?).

Also...."flamebait thread"? Do you mean you think OP made it to cause trouble on the forums? From what I read I don't think it is, or was made for such reasons. Can you prove that OP created it to cause trouble/troll/flame anyone? (Because unless you can then your pseudo-claim that this thread is such a thread or was made for such purposes is baseless.)

Also just because other sites(Like the one you mod for, for example.) dislike/discourage criticism against staff and site policy in the open doesn't mean it's a bad thing for forum users to do and/or that other sites should/have to/need to follow that policy.
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That's just it.....this is GOG.com, not X/Y/Z forums. Every site is run differently, and you (seemingly)complaining that this forum(Or parts of it) is(are) somehow worse because it isn't run like the one where you mod just seems "silly" to me.

(As for you moderating: Well just because you mod for a website doesn't automatically mean you do any good at it, or know best how another site SHOULD be run/modded.)
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And i'm glad they're that way(And not for bad reasons, btw.). It's alot better than a forum being overly heavy handed and taking offense at/punishing every (Actual or imagined) minor slight, at any rate.
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I think the main problem isn't censorship but the lack of consistency.

I agree with hedwards when he says that on other forums this topic would have been closed in an instance and the user instructed to discuss his issues directly with the mod team via PM or email, BUT other forums have clear moderation guidelines that are respected.

GOG.com so far is lacking in these moderation guidelines, or better said, user conduct guidelines on the forums; and no, "don't attack people, post porn or swear" doesn't make a user conduct/moderation guideline, I'm sorry.

It's this lack of transparency and consistency in the moderation activity which makes things like this title change the more annoying, because you don't know what goes and doesn't any more.

If they said that there aren't to be any swear words in forum titles (and ass counts as a swear word on all the forums I visit) and they enforced this on all forum titles then I'd be totally OK with it, as it's something you know and agree to by posting on the boards.

As it is now, it's a total black hole when it comes to the rules users must adhere while posting.

Gluteus Maximus is better. However, I must say, forum moderation on here is unheard of. Not that it's a bad thing, but I always remember GoG to have the forum that never is moderated (or, it is, but no action is ever taken)

I disagree. I find that the approach taken by GOG towards moderating with common sense is the best way that they could go about it. We are a multicultural forum. I couldn't give a shit about swearing, but then I'm from Germany, a country where words like fuck, cunt, bitch and slut are spoken with aplomb on daytime television. You're British. Saying fuck on pre-watershed TV for you is a taboo.

I personally find the way the GOG forums are generally moderated - intervene only when there's a risk of an argument getting out of hand - is the best way to go.

Contrast it with the Steam forums, where they have clearly laid out rules, and yet they are hardly enforced correctly. Each mod on the Steam forums interprets the rules in their own way and some of them mete out bans and timeouts far too liberally. I've seen quite well established and sensible members of the Steam forums get banned for quite literally no other reason than the mods didn't like what they said (recent case in point - crunchyfrog555 - in my opinion one of the most civil and nicest regulars on the Steam forums).

The more specific rules you have, the more risk there is of their being enforced improperly.

Privately owned forums are not a place for free speech rants and whining about cuss word usage. And I cuss like a motherfucker, so when I think you're whining about something stupid you KNOW you are.

I mean Christ man, go to cnn.com and realize the world has real problems.

I do agree with you, but on a related note, I think the current trend towards worrying about the free speech implications of moderation on forums is a clear sign about how people do worry about corporate censorship these days in addition to political censorship.