General Discussion Subforum: A Proposal

[Gormal]

Obviously there is a large gap between what the majority of active posters want, and what the staff deem is appropriate. I have made this proposal to Shevarash directly and now am proposing it to the Toril community at large: A new General Discussion subforum with different standards from what have been implemented in the parent forum.

Why do we need a new forum? Its a valid question and even I concede that it could stand some scrutiny, and regardless of what the playerbase says it still rests with the forum owner to make the final decision. However, I can't think of a good reason why not. The only argument that has been made against allowing us a less restrictive venue is to help Toril's image. We've gone two and a half years with the main page touting the return of Tiamat, a year with a broken news link, and just as long without an update to current staff- how is another forum going to affect our image.

All communities are comprised of different groups of people who enjoy different things, and don't necessarily see eye to eye on how their personal experience should be. In a time where we struggle to gather enough people to play the game itself, I don't see how alienating any segment of the population contributes to the game. You need the carebears, you need the elitist jerks, and you need the complacent casuals. The BBS is far more active than the actual game, and as such requires a greater amount of effort than historically required.

What would this new subforum entail? Well, rules for one:

-No nudity
-No racism
-No portrayals or endorsements of illicit behavior/activities
-No senseless flaming

Wait, why don't these rules look at all like the bright red forum rules at the top of my screen? Cursing, heated discussions, and possibly offensive material would be fair game just as insulting someone intelligently would be green lighted. The forum would be treated like a group of adults sitting around conversing; insults and sensitive topics are going to come up and they will be dealt with appropriately. The guy who keeps saying "NO YOU" will be censured, as will the lady who continually makes arguments that "BLACKS ARE UNEDUCATED".

What does Toril gain from this new subforum? Traffic.

What does Toril lose? Nothing.

Who should moderate this new arm of the bbs? Personally, I would trust Lathandar and Ragorn to moderate it. While they have their opinions, they are consistently fair-minded and would allow even those they disagree with to voice their opinions. The same cannot be said for myself or the current BBS administration.

So I put it to you, TorilMUD BBS community... lets hear some thoughts on why you think this is a good or a bad idea. Criticism of anyone who posts in this thread is fair game, don't post if a callout is going to deter you.

[Kifle]

Love it. It would be nice to have a place where I could act like a realistic adult and not have to watch my p's and q's as carefully as I do around my children. When I come here, I like to talk to adults as adults, not talk to adults as children.

[Gormal]

More pointless discussion please.

[Kifle]

THIS IS NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION!

[Yasden]

Neither is your sexual preference, evidently.

[Kifle]

Neither is your sexual preference, evidently.

We can discuss that all day if you'd like.

[Corth]

May I suggest we discuss Unicorns instead?

[Yasden]

Only if you don't show both horns.

[Silverast Rubicyn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W0DXUJUZJk

[amena wolfsnarl]

I feel stupider for having watched that. Seriousely what the hell.

But yeah the idea of a more open forum sounds great.

[Kifle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus

[Gormal]

Maybe if we had a forum like this, the admins wouldn't take 2 weeks to respond to in game player concerns since they're apparently too busy moderating this one.