solarz
Brigadier
I think we've mostly been skirting around the real issue. It's not politics in general that this forum has a problem with, it's more specifically Country A vs Country B.
Most of the time it's China vs USA, and sometimes it's Russia vs USA, or India vs Pakistan, or Israel vs Palestine.
In a military forum, it's pretty much unavoidable to make such comparisons. Especially when hot conflicts flare up, such as the case with the Ukrainian and Syrian civil wars, it's inevitable that forumites supporting different sides will start arguing about their beliefs.
More recently, in the Trade War issue, some pro-Chinese forumites have expressed their anger at the US for its recent actions, and fellow pro-American forumites took offense at this, prompting Deino to step in as moderator.
I don't think we can ever avoid this. We all have our beliefs, and we're all passionate about them, and sometimes tempers flare up and people need to cool down. I don't mind some threads being closed for a while, so long as they will be re-opened when everyone has calmed down. As it is, I think we've tried to keep things civil in the three spin-off threads, but it did take the closing of the main thread for that to happen.
I've been here for, damn, 10 years now. I've seen my share of hot topics, and took part in my share of back-and-forth. I remember back when BD Popeye was still moderator and cracked down on any political discussion at all.
Personally, I don't think any changing of current rules are necessary. I think we just need more mods. I understand the frustration of newer members when hot threads get closed, I used to feel the same way. This forum is different from others, and the moderation here can take some used to. However, with the perspective of years, I feel this is really for the best. Our forums are not littered with pointless ideological bickering, and our members are knowledgeable in their respective domains. This is only possible thanks to the efforts of the moderation team.
Most of the time it's China vs USA, and sometimes it's Russia vs USA, or India vs Pakistan, or Israel vs Palestine.
In a military forum, it's pretty much unavoidable to make such comparisons. Especially when hot conflicts flare up, such as the case with the Ukrainian and Syrian civil wars, it's inevitable that forumites supporting different sides will start arguing about their beliefs.
More recently, in the Trade War issue, some pro-Chinese forumites have expressed their anger at the US for its recent actions, and fellow pro-American forumites took offense at this, prompting Deino to step in as moderator.
I don't think we can ever avoid this. We all have our beliefs, and we're all passionate about them, and sometimes tempers flare up and people need to cool down. I don't mind some threads being closed for a while, so long as they will be re-opened when everyone has calmed down. As it is, I think we've tried to keep things civil in the three spin-off threads, but it did take the closing of the main thread for that to happen.
I've been here for, damn, 10 years now. I've seen my share of hot topics, and took part in my share of back-and-forth. I remember back when BD Popeye was still moderator and cracked down on any political discussion at all.
Personally, I don't think any changing of current rules are necessary. I think we just need more mods. I understand the frustration of newer members when hot threads get closed, I used to feel the same way. This forum is different from others, and the moderation here can take some used to. However, with the perspective of years, I feel this is really for the best. Our forums are not littered with pointless ideological bickering, and our members are knowledgeable in their respective domains. This is only possible thanks to the efforts of the moderation team.
