I'm Relatively New And Curious

[Gianni1122]

I have seen political discussions be removed from here. However, it says "off duty" talk about anything but KSP.  I HAVE ZERO interest in talking politics But I'm curious; What topics are frowned upon within this thread (besides the obvious)

[astrokerb]

Anything the rules forbid is frowned upon. Anything else will be accepted enough to not be removed.

The rules guide us when we cannot see, speak for us when we are mute, and teach us when we are ignorant. The rules must be trusted, for they are our saviors. 

That was fine because it did not violate the rules, but is still peculiar. 

 

[tater]

Even in the Lounge area, politics, religion, etc are bound to result in a locked thread.

[Superfluous J]

As to why, it's because they tend to spurn arguments and tempers and moderator intervention. Nobody wants that, least of all the moderators.

[tater]

There are plusses and minuses to the policy. The major plus is that some people become really irrational/hateful WRT politics and cannot separate rational political discourse from emotional nonsense. Actually, the same applies to religion, lol.

The only down side is that a topic that is really relevant to this group of people---space exploration/travel---is inherently political WRT all government funded programs, since money spent by governments is by definition political. 

[Dman979]

1 hour ago, tater said:

The only down side is that a topic that is really relevant to this group of people---space exploration/travel---is inherently political WRT all government funded programs, since money spent by governments is by definition political. 

Which is one of the reasons why, IIRC, the Science and Spaceflight subforum is probably the most moderated in the Forums.

 

As for the OP, fan threads aren't allowed. Neither is advertising, or lots of cursing. Necroing is frowned upon, but can be overlooked if the thread is still relevant.

The first rule about roleplay is don't talk about roleplay.

Those were the themes I noticed from December 31, 2015 to now.

[benzman]

I think it is a pity that discussion on religion is discouraged.  Religion is a fascinating subject but discussing it is usually banned because it tends to degenerate into abuse and name-calling.  If you look at the world today and see all the death, misery and destruction that is being caused by religion, then the 'respect' given to it has become an irrelevant anachronism.  I feel that there is a definite place for an intelligent, reasoned and civilised discussion about religion.

[Jonfliesgoats]

Effectively we trade some censorship for politeness.  Voluntary censorship always struck me as a form of intellectual cowardice, but, I have to say, we don't have online creaming matches that you see elsewhere.

Still, does censorship have desired effects?  In the U.K. there are well-meaning anti hate speech laws.  An unfortunate side effect of those laws was the Rotherham sexual abuse scandal and inaction by local constabulary.

I can't be that bothered by it because I spend my reserve assignments typing endlessly on here.

[ZooNamedGames]

4 hours ago, benzman said:

I think it is a pity that discussion on religion is discouraged.  Religion is a fascinating subject but discussing it is usually banned because it tends to degenerate into abuse and name-calling.  If you look at the world today and see all the death, misery and destruction that is being caused by religion, then the 'respect' given to it has become an irrelevant anachronism.  I feel that there is a definite place for an intelligent, reasoned and civilised discussion about religion.

Discussions within PMs can be exempt from the roles, that is; unless tempers and moods fly outside of those PMs chains. I actually was around when something along those lines happened in a subsection of the spacecraft Exchange (now gone). 

I have a few comments which we can take to PM as to your comment.

Edited December 4, 2016 by ZooNamedGames

[tg626]

For reference, necroing or necropost(ing) is the practice of replying to an old long dormant post.

 

(He/she did say they were new, and sometimes forums such as these could use a glossary, one of the few things I like about this software now is how MM or VAB will automagically have definitions if you hover your mouse over them)

 

[Gianni1122]

12 hours ago, tg626 said:

For reference, necroing or necropost(ing) is the practice of replying to an old long dormant post.

I actually just learned this a couple days ago but yeah a glossary of forum lingo would be nice. Maybe we could/should start a thread in The Lounge (or somewhere). Something like "Forum Lingo and Acronyms For Newbies"? (FLAAF'N or FLAN for short) haha

[Superfluous J]

18 hours ago, benzman said:

If you look at the world today and see all the death, misery and destruction that is being caused by religion, then the 'respect' given to it has become an irrelevant anachronism.

This statement alone is proof that religion should not be discussed in this forum.

31 minutes ago, Gianni1122 said:

I actually just learned this a couple days ago but yeah a glossary of forum lingo would be nice. Maybe we could/should start a thread in The Lounge (or somewhere). Something like "Forum Lingo and Acronyms For Newbies"? (FLAAF'N or FLAN for short) haha

We have one, and actually we don't need it so much as common space related acronyms (dV, Pe, VTOL and the like) all get underlineed and if you hover over them it tells you what they are.

Any "lingo" dictionary that defines "necro" would need to define pretty much every internet term invented in the past 20 years. "Necro" is very common all over the place, not just here.

Edited December 4, 2016 by 5thHorseman

[tg626]

And yet, on another forum, I used necropost and got several "I've never heard that before" replies....

[Camacha]

3 hours ago, tg626 said:

And yet, on another forum, I used necropost and got several "I've never heard that before" replies....

Welcome to the internet. If someone walks in the street, he is expected to know some basic traffic rules. The same applies to the internet. The book that tells you about every convention will be impossibly thick.

[Red Iron Crown]

22 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Discussions within PMs can be exempt from the roles, that is; unless tempers and moods fly outside of those PMs chains.

This is not so at all. The rules apply to PMs just the same as posts that are publicly visible. The only difference is that moderators can't see them unless they are reported.

[Gianni1122]

I've just realized how this post is kinda meta (talking about what we can't talk about). It is a shame that we can't be trusted to talk about certain topics but its also a shame how we, as an internet community, have tarnished the trust and privilege to do so. Personally, I feel that the KSP community is one of the most respectable on the web. Seems like, for the most part, we all go out of our way to help each other.

Thank you guys for all the replies. I think I have a pretty solid grasp on what is accepted in The Lounge now.

-Cheers

[monstah]

7 hours ago, Gianni1122 said:

Personally, I feel that the KSP community is one of the most respectable on the web. Seems like, for the most part, we all go out of our way to help each other.

I agree, and I don't say that as a moderator but as a regular user - I've been here for three years, and my moderator status is still fresh from the oven. The level of politeness seen is this forum is almost unheard of on the internet.

And I am very grateful (now speaking as a mod) that you agree with that, and that we can have this meta conversation about what we can't say (and why) in a civilized manner  

Addendum: there are hiccups, sure, and when you become a moderator you notice them more. But I've always held the moderating team in great respect for the way they (now "us") handle things. 

[legoclone09]

5 hours ago, monstah said:

The level of politeness seen is this forum is almost unheard of on the internet. 

I agree with this 100%. I'm quite active on Reddit and people are way less nice there then here. As well a Youtube comments and such.

[Gianni1122]

21 hours ago, legoclone09 said:

I'm quite active on Reddit and people are way less nice there then here. As well a Youtube comments and such.

It's worth mentioning that there is a somewhat comparably good KSP community on Steam. Before I finally got here, I exclusively used the Steam forums and spent a lot of time helping players solve their issues and thanking others for solving mine.

Edited December 6, 2016 by Gianni1122

[Camacha]

On 05/12/2016 at 6:27 PM, legoclone09 said:

I agree with this 100%. I'm quite active on Reddit and people are way less nice there then here. As well a Youtube comments and such.

I fear I must disagree there. The size of the community matters a lot, just like the kind of people it attracts. This is not a huge game and tends to interest slightly more educated people. That fosters good quality discussion. In other smaller communities you tend to see the same. Reddit or Youtube, on the other hand, are as big as websites get. They attract people from all walks of life and, unfortunately, have a problem with discussions quickly deteriorating to the lowest common denominator.

Various forums I frequent have very pleasant and open atmospheres, mostly because they are communities of people who feel peers and have interests that are slightly outside of the mainstream.