I'm sorry to have to post this, but I just cannot take it anymore. I come to this forum to discuss and read news about Galactic Civilizations. Increasingly, though, I find the list of recent posts saturated with threads that have nothing to do with the game; topics from religion to politics to songs to console games, everything except what I come here to read.

Right now, if you click the 'More Recent Posts' link, you get a list of 25 recent posts, seven of which (that's almost one third) are completely unrelated to Galactic Civilizations. This was not always the case. I have held my tongue for a few months,
but I feel that it has gotten completely out of hand. When I sign off of this forum these days, I feel like I've just been stuck a dank closet full of somebody's unwashed socks.

Almost all discussion forums in existence have an off-topic area where people can go to blow off steam or talk about topics that aren't related to the forum's primary subject matter. I think this is a great thing, but normally it is something the reader has to "opt into", i.e. go into the off-topic area to see what's new there, rather than having heaps of unrelated material scattered throughout the main portion of the forum.

I have refrained from expressing my opinions about the contents of the posts in question because I mean this request seriously. I don't want to disrespect anyone, or stop anyone from expressing themselves. What I do want is a place to go for news and discussion about Galactic Civilizations where I don't have to wade through a bunch of extraneous topics on which I don't care to read people's opinions.

Yes, I know the Galactic Core forum is such a place, and I am thankful that it is there and that it keeps off-topic posts separate from other topics. This forum, though, is the primary landing place for new players and remains an important information source for many of us who have been involved with the game for a long time. I want to see it remain relevant and informative, and it does not currently feel that way to me. I can't imagine what new players must think when they see so much time and space dedicated to non-GCII topics. I know it would make me feel that the game was probably getting old and people were losing interest.

I'm not trying to start a petition or anything, and I don't mean this as a rant. It is just a shout-out to the powers that be that I feel that the forum structure needs to be tweaked for the good of the community. I posted it here, rather than in a PM to the moderators, because I am curious if others feel the same way. Please add your opinions below, and try to keep it at least as civil as I have.