On Things That Aren't Gay

The forum descriptions could probably do with updating because of how old they are, but I don't think they were created with the intention of being taken so seriously. Threads don't need to have a precise criteria before they can be posted on the site, and the staff aren't that bothered whether threads are gay related or not. If anything, my issue with the Chit Chat forum description is that it mentions a sexuality. I don't think a chit chat forum even needs to have any reference to a sexuality, and it appears to exclude anybody who may be pansexual, straight, asexual etc. There is no real reason the LGBT part has to be there, so perhaps a revamp of forum descriptions is needed.

As for the debate forum, this has been something that has been brought up numerous times. I'm going to be completely honest here (which may be unpopular), but some members are not mature enough to debate sensibly. Don't get me wrong, the vast majority are able to, but the sites support system cannot be jeaporadised by that small minority making other members feel uncomfortable. The owners created EC with one purpose: support. It would be very difficult for us to offer support when certain members are at each others throats because of disagreements in the debating forum, and it's not them who then have to explain to the owners why EC's credibility is being jeaporadised and why they shouldn't pull the plug on it.

As a support forum the staffs number one priority *has* to be ensuring that EC offers support to all members equally and fairly. We cannot afford to be distracted with argumentative and stubborn members, nor can we be expected to deal with EC's day to day maintenance, monitor support and deal with any potentially explosive situations in debating threads. The reason staff are so against debating threads is because they're the ones who have dealt with the repercussions of them and dealing with the backlash of it. It would be an idealistic world for all members to debate with each other in a respectful way, but past experience has shown that some members are just incapable of that and have to ruin that experience for others.

That's not to say that the staff will block any discussions. If a discussion is started then that's fine, and it's even better if it stays friendly and respectful, but the moment it appears to turn sour then we jump right on it and defuse the situation. Sadly, past experience has told us that happens before it even reaches the "debating" stage, which is why we are so against having a test on such a forum.

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Oh, and I should probably point out that I wasn't referring to anybody in particular with my immature members comments, so if anybody feels directly targetted then you're the only person calling yourself immature.

 

I think giving special permissions to certain users would create the idea of favoritism with others. We already have to deal with the negative effects that the Full/Regular system has, so I think going one step further and creating a forum only for approved members would just increase the gap between usergroups. One of my main priorities, besides making sure EC offers support, is that members are able to interact with each other without feeling second best or not as important to the site. It was my main reason for introducing the arcade because I felt it offered an opportunity for members who are silent to get involved with others, either by tournaments or competing for high scores. Sure, it doesn't guarantee they'll socialise, but it makes a good starting point for discussion should they want to talk to anybody. Unfortunately, the same cannot occur with a 'special' forum. If anything, the only problem we would see is that members who do not have access don't feel as appreciated as a member.

Also, it would be very difficult to create a criteria for who would qualify. It's not necessarily in the staffs best interest to be looking at members and judging them (so to speak). Sure, that happens in the Full Member process, but that's due to personal safety rather than giving special access to a forum. A large percentage of problems that have to be dealt with will come from established members, so the idea that we can choose who accesses it doesn't necessarily work still. We have approved full members before only to find they're troublemakers and need demoting, so our judgements could easily cause just as many problems.

For what it's worth, I think it would be best keeping all discussions in Chit Chat. It's open, it's accessible and most importantly, it's friendly and civil. The forum is not really at a level were debating is a popular activity, so a forum dedicated to it is not entirely necessary. If demand for it increased then we could look at introducing an informal debating forum, but at the moment I don't really see were the demand for one comes from. I look at the Chit Chat forum and I hardly see many debating threads that are active, and I don't think creating a debating forum would increase that much (It may for the first month, but once people get bored with creating so many threads it would just slow right down). At the very least, there needs to be more activity in discussion threads before any serious consideration can occur for a debating forum.