Check this out. I told them to shut the hell* up and they just keep bumping it.
The idiots. Why do they feel it necessary to voice their beliefs, ON THIS FORUM! Hey, when did they stop telling them to go Joeuser?

In closing, they should go to hell. (pun half intented)

*Pardon my French, I don't want to curse....besides, don't they talk about hell in all those threads any way?  

I don't get my religion and philosophy from my favoite gaming forum, and the discussion of how to handle the preservation of the main intent of the forum is appropriate. However, becoming offensive about the topics in question and the people who value them is counter-productive.

drrider

Actually, if the options of the forums area are modified, I WOULD like to have the ability to opt-out on a thread-by-thread basis, as well as by sub-forum. There are Off-Topic threads (usually short ones about, say, sci-fi books or some other closely related subject) that I like being alerted to and browsing from the main page for an evening or 2.
But something like "Is Ascension Possible?" with 300+ posts, many of them just bumps to keep it on the surface, on a rediculously unresolvable metaphysical issue - that I want to be able to hide permanently.

drrider

You know, if you don't click on an off-game topic, you won't have to read it.

Perhaps reading this thread a little better may have helped you before making a remark like that. Forget reading it, i shouldn't have to see it!

The fact is that the OT threads take up space on the recent post list, so when one wants to read or find a game related post, they have to sift through the inane bullshit spewing from the OT forum to find what should be the priority threads on the GalCivII site. Game related threads. Not crap telling me God does not exist or other religious drivel.

I should not have to even see these types of topics on a game site. Off topics they may be, but if i want to be preached to or engage in a discussion about God, i will go to church, not a website dedicated to a PC game.

Now if you are not one of the spewers of this rhetoric, and maybe you did not grasp this thread completely, then my statement will seem harsh, in that regard i will apologize to you. If though you are a breeder of these discussions and you are here to defend your position then my statements are not nearly harsh enough.

I and others should not be subjected to material that can be deemed offensive. No matter the topic. How would you like to hear my views on satanism and how Mephistopheles deserves to be worshiped by all????

You wouldn't and i would be banned for such offensive banter.

To me at least, i find the religious topics offensive and absolutely unnecessary and should be banned. At the very least hidden away and never to appear on the front page.

***I do not support any satanic themes or topics or religions in anyway. I use those only as examples and they are in no way condoned by me.***

you poor people two threads are destroying the forums.

can't read the 8 threads because of those two threads.

someone is standing behind you with a gun to your head making you read those threads.

I'm both an ardent free speech advocate and a believer that the purpose of any art, even the art of PC game making, is to provoke new insights and understanding, even if at first glance those insights seem wildly unrelated to the art in question. I also love digression for its own sake because you never know where a good chat will take you when folks feel free to express themselves.

That said, I think some of us, myself included, could do with more restraint when it comes to replying in an Off-Topic thread. Religious themes are not the only ones that seem to cause severe last-word-itis.

I feel a hidden message here   (oops I just did it)

I went to the beach the other day, and I saw a rather ugly woman trying to stuff herself into a bikini. I would rather not have seen it, so I have decided to start a petition to ban ugly people from wearing any less than a full suit/dress for all occasions. I had hoped you would be the first to sign.



Last time I checked, a much larger list of recent topics was one click away, in "Everything", so that if for some reason there were ten active OT threads, you can still check up, because I doubt there would ever be 25 OT threads at one time.



I should not have to see ugly people.



I would LOVE to read that! Just try not to get banned.



Good point, why stop at clothes? We should just herd all ugly people into caves and keep them there.


Personally, I enjoy a religious debate every now and then, merely for the sake of argument rather than a desire to convert people. If you don't, that's fine, but seriously, for one who is apparently without religion, what could possibly be so profane that the very mention of it causes you to cringe?

All that being said, I am always in favor of improvement to anything, like customization in a website for instance. But this problem has become way, way over exaggerated by the people in this thread, particularly you, neilo. Kyro already responded: you have been heard. The fact that there has been no change yet is evidence that they have more important things to do, like make the games we all enjoy. B*tching about it only furthers that which you claim to be opposed to: pointless threads taking up space in the "Recent posts" list.


***I do not support any efforts to quarantine ugly people, force them to wear clothes, or remove them from public view. I use those only as examples and they are in no way condoned by me.***

Another reason I don't like them is that they are much larger than any thread about Galciv2. (Exluding the Stickies) When is the last time you have seen a topic about galciv2 that has 100 replies, or even 300? Please do send a link millertime335 if you do find a recent thread that big. Maybe if people were as zealous with these god threads as they are with galciv2 threads, this fourm would be much better.

Respectfully, as usual.

You know, if the threads in question were actually about religion or even viable religious topics, I wouldn't object at all. Look at the "God is nonsense" and "how can we all be atheists" threads, for instance. Both of those threads start with an inflammatory title and proceed with a poorly-conceived ramble devoid of substantive content. These are not "religious" threads - they are nothing but asshattery and trolling perpetrated in the name of religion. That is what I find offensive about them.

If someone wanted to post about their religious faith, lack of it, or whatever, I wouldn't care. That thread probably wouldn't last very long, either, because it would lack the one thing those two threads do have: pointless inflammatory rhetoric designed solely to stir up controversy on topics completely unrelated to the purpose for which people visit the forum.

I'm not really sure what "fat people" has to do with "forum trolling", so let me make a new analogy. Let's say there's a community pool that everyone in your neighborhood can use. Four or five times a day, one of a small group of people comes to the pool, jumps in, takes a big dump in the water, and leaves. That's the pseudo-religious forum baiting.

People are disgusted by water being fouled and call the mayor's office. The answer comes back that there's no law about it, so the authorities can't take any action. That's the dev response to the request to change the forum structure.

Some people leave the pool and go swim elsewhere. Some people try to take on the dumpers head-to-head, but get carried away and are banned from the pool. Many others feel an attachment to their community pool and don't want to see it overflowing with fecal matter, but don't want to go overboard in their response. They even know that except for their one loathsome habit, most of the dumpers are good people, and don't want them to leave the community; just to go and do their nasty business elsewhere. So they get together to talk about it and try to persuade the dumpers to go and find a proper place to dispose of their waste. That's this thread.

while i think it's kind of silly to get worked up over what's being said on an internet website for a video game in general (though i admit to being guilty of it myself from time to time), as a frequent OT poster i feel that if it bothers you that much, your suggestions are fair and level-headed, and i support you.

WHAT! none of you want to join the flame it, grill it, if it eats vegies, then it is food church of booze, cheap trailer trash bimbo, smoke it every night is a smash what you can remember in the birthday suit, swimming pool YEEEEHHHHAWWW church? You sure

Maybe I'm missing a huge point here, but is it really that hard to self regulate your own forumn veiwing! You see a subject title (and most are pretty obvious from the titles) you don't think you'll like, then just don't click them. Its not rocket science. I seriously don't know how or why this became an issue. Reading forum thread titles even one you maye not like cant be that much of a burden. Even finding topics you'll be interested in, that aren't OFT isn't hard. Its a simple click to one of the sub forumns. Seriously, I fail to see what all the bruhah is about to be honest.

Daniel, read this thread properly before posting in here, no-one is debating about reading OT threads.

Millertime, your post actually made me laugh, i'm not sure if that was your intent but regardless it was more funny than intuitive. I have no idea really where you are going with the fat and ugly analogy as you missed the point entirely.

You went to the beach and saw an ugly person. VS I went to a gaming website and saw religious threads.

At least she was putting the bikini on at the beach, a place where one might expect to see such an event. Now if she were doing that at the local supermarket then you would have cause to be offended. If i was at gababoutgod.com and seeing these psuedo religious threads there everything would be fine, but i'm not, i am at a game site or if you like the "local supermarket".

You claim i am over reacting. I actually thought i have tried to remain as civil as i can and if you read the thread over i have stated that, personally i'd like to see these topics banned, but i accept your right to have your say and therefore wish only for these topics not to be on the front page of the site.

I'd say you were trying to mock me Miller, but as they say imitation is the greatest from of flattery.....i'll send you along a signed 8x10

Marshall has a better way with words than i and if you read his post i think you will understand our position, if not than your intent here is for nothing more than to incite a flamewar.

Always there to lighten the mood eh Playjeff....

Ahh but once again, you, like others are missing the point. Of course if you don't wish to read it then don't click it, but that is not the point. It is when these OT threads take up all the space on the most recent list that annoys us. This is a gaming site and i would like to be able to see the most active game topics on the front page, not is god real or ascending.....

Sifting through all the crap is not what many, and i would hope, the majority of us are here for. It is to discuss the aspects of the game, and to have to then wade through a wall of religious (at times it is political too) threads just to see what are the main point of this site, game threads, is most annoying and tedious.

These topics are in no way related to the game, therefore there is no reason they cannot be simply put away in a corner for those that wish to find them and leave them off the most recent list.

Damn Bodea, either you type fast, or ( most likely) i am far slower than i thought

Ha just finished going to MY CHURCH. read back if you want to know what kind of church. Neilo I am sure if he lived in the land of ice and snow would love to join eh. er mate   

Just to remind everyone reading, on the point of this discussion:

There have been times, recently (cetainly within the last 2 weeks), when waay Off-Topic threads have occupied a third or more of the slots on the expanded, 'Everything' page of recent forum posts, thereby making it difficult for those interested in finding current GalCiv2 discussions to do so.

At the moment perhaps there are only two egegiously left-field topic posted, but increasingly recently it has been as many as 6-8. Even for those who are avoiding opening them, that is significant clutter.

I'll just add that many of the arguments made here for an 'opt-out' option for the forum 1st-page would in my mind apply just as well to the very many, usually 3-5, dedicated Metaverse Empire community threads. They could just as well be accessed only by bringing up the Metaverse sub-forum. Most of the postings to any one of these threads which keep them bumped up are really only correspondence between the handful of members of a particular empire, nothing material to the general GalCiv2 community.

drrider

There is a lot of smart people hanging around these forums, and i freely admit i think it is fun to discuss just about anything with smart people.

However: since this IS supposed to be primarily a game forum, i agree with the OP.


please remove off-topic categories from recent posts list!

Intriguing. They can talk about god, but lets just say for example you believed in that. Why couldn't you talk about your "god" and they could talk about theirs? It makes no sense!

I'm not saying that satanic posts should be allowed, just that one deity is considered offensive and another isn't. If they consider that deity offensive then they should also find god threads offensive as well. And yes, I do know that satanism is offensive....so let none of us talk about "it" anymore. Don't want to make this thread look like something that it isn't.

**Once again, none of us are promoting you-know-what threads.**

JubJub,

I don't think the original point was whether they should or shouldn't be able to talk/write about those beliefs. I think all here are generally agreed that they have every right to do so, and that its fine for them to post and debate those musings to the Off-Topic area of this forum.

The point in question is whether it is fair or appropriate or healthy for maintaining the interest of the GAL CIV GAMING community for multiple very-Off-Topic, not remotely GalCiv related, threads to monopolize a lot of the available slots on the 1st forum page viewed by everyone, the Recently Posted posted page.

drrider

Well said Drrider, and as for the dedicated Metaverse Empire community threads, i can see your point. I am one of many that would responsible for there constant spot on the recent list and i guess that too could be annoying for the non MV player.

As i am very entwined with the MV community i really like seeing those MV related posts as i see them as a bit of advertising for the MV, MV Council, MV League and the AltMeta as we wish to attract new players to the MV all the time and being seen is the best way to do that.

But i could see how that could be seen as clutter too, at least they are game related. If that could be addressed to the delight of both communities (MV and Non MV) i would not be opposed.

I guess that i am saying i acknowledge that i cannot have my cake and eat it too.

Sorry for trailing off. Sometimes you look back at the opening point of a thread and say "Man, I'm way off. Maybe I need to get back onto the topic."

That's one of the most awesome analogies I've seen in a while. Props to you, good sir.

As for myself and the ugly people, well, lets just say I was in an unusual predisposition at the time, and was finding it hard to, er, focus. Glad you had a laugh though, I am laughing now at what I wrote.


Onto the more serious matters at hand...

Firstly, I did say (though perhaps understated) that I am not opposed to changing the forums to be more accommodating. However, I think that this thread has nothing left to accomplish. You have already alerted Kyro, so that's about as much as you can do as far as a hard solution goes. And now the purpose of this thread is to (as Marshall so eloquently put it) "ask the dumpers to do their business elsewhere". Surely you see the futility of this? Anyone who's purpose is to cause mayhem amongst forums is trying to get threads like this to pop up, to draw attention. The only way to defeat them is to simply ignore them, but if people don't, well, there's not a lot anyone can do. And continuing this thread is obviously counterproductive to your goals, at this is technically an OT thread and is taking one more space in the "recent posts" list.



I wasn't referring to any emotional writing, you were indeed quite civil. It's just that this is nitpicking here; it is only one or two more clicks to see the kind of threads you are looking for. You also say you are "offended" and "should not be subjected" to these threads, as if they were some form of horrible torture, which I just think is a gross exaggeration what is no more than a minor annoyance, unworthy of more attention than making a suggestion to the moderators (enter the ugly people; point being: not a serious issue).



Yes, mocking your "taking offense" was probably my intent when I wrote it, I just got carried away. Way away.



Well, I love GCII and all, but sometimes the game-related topics simply aren't interesting. Most of them are just simple questions people ask, and someone else gives an answer: this is how it works. And that's it, there's nothing left for the thread. The question has been answered. Some questions are sort of like polls: what do you like to do in the game? I go in, post my method, and I'm out. Again, that's it. There's only so many people, the threads can't get that long. Then there's the AAR's, that's just a one man show with about ten posts or so followed by a few "nice AAR" comments. The only game threads that have potential are idea threads: What do you think of this addition? But they are often quashed by mods ("yes, we're implementing that", or "no, we will not add that"), which is too bad, because I like those threads. It really all boils down to simply how much is there to say about GCII? Sure, there's a lot, but if its all segregated into topics, you'll never see any one get big.



I think drrider may have a case though. Is that the real complaint here? You guys think that not only do OT threads force you to click your mouse a few times, but they actually prevent a significant amount of people from posting in game topics? This still seems to be rather exaggerated. I certainly am not dissuaded to post in game topics by the mere sight of off-topic threads, and I would think that most people have no trouble talking about what they want regardless of other people's conversations, but I'm not a psychologist.

Ah, well, I hope I have made myself clear. I have an bad habit of cluttering my own arguments, be it with humor or rhetoric or unnecessarily large words, like 'unnecessarily'. For the record, I have only posted three or four times in the "far-left" topics. I do agree with many here that they really aren't that substantial, but there is occasionally a poster who says something with more than sub-simian coherence, which is precisely the type of thing I look for in those threads. I hope I haven't offended you neilo, I know you're kinda sensitive.

***woohoo, asterisks!***

No offense taken Miller, i think we both took each others comments as they were meant, rather harmless.

You do make a good point about this thread, 1) being at this point counterproductive and 2) being one of the OT threads in question and yes i do recall that you did not oppose any kind of solution the OP's problem.

I think all has been said that could be and whilst everyone is still happy with each other perhaps it is time to rest the issue, before flames ignite and we all feel the boot of Kryo.

Am i still offended at relgious threads, yes. As i am when the religious door knockers happen onto my front porch to sprout their perceived wisdom. Needless to say i am not nearly as civil in that regard as i have been here. I just feel these topics have no place on this site or at the very least not on the front page.



I can relate to this. More than once i have opened this site, looked over the recent posts on the front page and have simply closed the page in disgust, frustration and contempt. So their presence has absolutely affected the amount i post here. Could i be the only one? Possibly, but if that was the case then i don't think this thread would exist.

As for those that post in the OT threads, i hold no ill will to them just because they partake in those conversations. No doubt there are one or two that i am completely....Lost with, but the world moves on. If only those posters were as enthusiastic about GalCiv threads as they are with the OT ones then it might make for a more lively forum.

***I in no way endorse the use of asteriks at the end of posts. Doing so is a matter of choice and in no way means i am a loyal follower of the LEaGue of AstEriKs.***