Matrix Games Forums

Erik,

You say no politics in the forums. You locked the oil spill thread. Aren't a lot of Matrix games inherently political? I think that a lot of those Civil War games are and lord knows so are those WWII games. your signature contains this statement: "freedom isn't free". What is your opinion on speech and expression?

Respectfully,

Simulation01

P.S. I don't expect this statement will be received well by any that normally post here but, something should be said. Contradictions should be noted.

political threads can cause flame wars and general conflict....not good for the forum...there was a specific part of the forum for politics\religion etc but it got disbanded because of all the flame wars etc.

We tend to look at politics mostly through the lens of current events, where discussions tend to be hottest. Certainly history is full of politics, but being history much of the emotion has passed and the subjects can be discussed without the risk involved in discussing current political events. There are some historical topics that can still produce a flame war though and we do tend to tread carefully on those as well.

The point is to create a place where gamers can share their love of games and gaming rather than discussing issues that may divide us.

I firmly believe in freedom of speech as far as public expression goes. I also believe it's perfectly reasonable for a business to set rules for its own private forum and I think it's common sense that turning our forum into a place for discussion of politics or religion when there are many more suitable places for that on and off the internet would be a pretty bad move on our part.

My signature is actually a reference of respect for fallen veterans who fought to protect our freedom. It was just Memorial Day here in the US and I changed from my normal "Si vis pacem para bellum" signature to this one for the time being in honor of that holiday.

Regards,

- Erik

I also believe it's perfectly reasonable for a business to set rules for its own private forum and I think it's common sense that turning our forum into a place for discussion of politics or religion when there are many more suitable places for that on and off the internet would be a pretty bad move on our part.

I see. I appreciate the response. Though I can understand your logic my sense of liberty recoils.


Simulation01

Armchair General has a forum where you can openly discuss politics

To be fair to Matrix, they haven't locked the pricing thread in BftB unlike other forums.

I'm thankful for the rules against political "discussion". I would rather focus on what unites us as wargamers, rather than on what divides us in the always heated political realm. 

Rutkins is a tyrant. I've asked Princess Von Martial to have him flogged to no avail. You'll note he list his residence as Vermont, which is practically Canada.
Canadians are brutal savages who bludgeon adorable baby seals with boat hooks and force their women to wear quilted parkas as a badge of submission.

His foot is heavy because Canadians have huge hairy Bigfoot feet, which they use to stomp bunnies and kitties. Don't be fooled. Vermont is a refuge for Canadians.

So if Lincoln ran against Washington who do you think would have won? That's old history Erik so there shouldn't be any problems discussing that right? That's what you said [:D]

Certainly history is full of politics, but being history much of the emotion has passed and the subjects can be discussed

ORIGINAL: Doggie
Rutkins is a tyrant. I've asked Princess Von Martial to have him flogged to no avail. You'll note he list his residence as Vermont, which is practically Canada. Canadians are brutal savages who bludgeon adorable baby seals with boat hooks and force their women to wear quilted parkas as a badge of submission. His foot is heavy because Canadians have huge hairy Bigfoot feet, which they use to stomp bunnies and kitties. Don't be fooled. Vermont is a refuge for Canadians.

We do not stomp bunnies. That would bruise the meat. [:'(]

I'd say Eric and Matrix does a good job of keeping the forums "nice and orderly". Sometimes we need to be reminded this is not an open forum, but the Matrix forum, and that means that Matrix decide the rules, and also are free to decide what is OK to post or not.

As was mentioned, there are many forums out there where politics can be discussed, and Matrix/Erik is very clear that this is not one of them.

Again, moderating is not an easy/pleasant task! Kudos to Erik for doing a very good job and being clear about the rules!

I can remember way back when Matrix had political forums.  I for one am glad that they are gone.  The idea that one can't post whatever they want on someone else's board (private property) infringes on liberty is rubbish.

MATRIX Forum, Matrix home, And Mom (Matrix) runs the house.....so that should clear it up.

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm

I'm thankful for the rules against political "discussion". I would rather focus on what unites us as wargamers, rather than on what divides us in the always heated political realm. 

+1

I've seen countless political threads, and usually (as in always) they end up nowhere. Sometimes pages and pages filled with arguments, statements, statistics and what have you, many times they explode in insults and mud throwing. In the end I think it doesn't add value to a wargaming site, while it can be ... "entertaining" to read and follow on other forums, I don't miss it here.

It's so much better with them gone...though I never ventured in there...

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm

I'm thankful for the rules against political "discussion". I would rather focus on what unites us as wargamers, rather than on what divides us in the always heated political realm. 

Totally agree. I come here because there are few political discussions and I can enjoy the general congenial atmosphere and boy is it refreshing! [&o]

This place reminds me of when I used to just pop in to my dusty old wargame shop and browse the figures and rules, just chill out.

Sometimes I'd even buy something [:D]

That might explain why it went out of business....[:(]

I tend to buy more nowadays. [:)]

Sunshine Patriots.  You cannot separate politics from people.  They are one and the same.  Denying that is denying yourself.  If you really think that there is private property then you are deluding yourself.  I really shouldn't have said anything...there is nothing that can be done to regain that which we already gave away.  Take for instance the America that existed prior to the Civil War.  We were a completely different nation then, and I'm not talking about slavery.  Power is now firmly rooted in Washington and it will never be wrested away unless there is some kind of national calamity in which all leadership is destroyed.  We are becoming a surveillance/police state.  I recognize that much of this was accelerated by the onset of the war on terror, however we were still headed in that direction.  Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are much on my mind of late.

I know what you all are saying.  If we do not talk about current, politically charged issues then there will be peace among us, but I say that peace is phony.  A phony peace is no peace at all.  The only productive thing to come out of the not having a political forum is the space it saves on the servers and the positive feelings it lends to Matrix by not having such passion expressed in such a raw manner.  I hope the trade off actually helps Matrix.  I would like to see more quality games and improvements to solid games like Distant Worlds.

I'm not really warmonger, I just play one on the computer.

Simulation01,

No matter how strongly you feel about these things, this is not the place for it. I'm sure all of us have political views of one kind or another and some are no doubt quite passionate about them, but we don't bring them here. As I said above, there are plenty of other places for that, both on and off the internet.

We do intend to continue making great games and I would like to hear more about your preferences and passions regarding gaming though.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great



I'm not really warmonger, I just play one on the computer.

Ditto bro