The site rules (aka Guidelines) don't currently limit what subjects can be discussed on this forum. Just respect people's privacy and don't post porn, and it's more likely than not that if you keep things polite and civil the thread will not be locked.

The question is - would you like the site to start limit users to only discuss lighthearted subjects (as someone suggested on another thread), or should the site continue to favor Freedom of Speech and allow any subject to be discussed? I'm strongly in favor of the latter, but am curious to hear what other people think.

Freedom GA

6 years ago*

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Should threads about serious subjects (e.g. politics, depression, health issues) be forbidden?

View Results
Yes. Only allow discussion of lighthearted subjects.
No. People can talk about any subject. If I'm not interested, I'll just skip these discussions.
Dan Quayle: "You can't be seriously serious about this, can you?"

Should threads about threads about threads about threads be forbidden? is next.

6 years ago
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Polls too.

Where is potato option?

6 years ago
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It's right there. You need to look closer.

6 years ago
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Lol my bad. :)

6 years ago
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snickers

6 years ago
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-claps-
Well played

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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happy pudding day :)

6 years ago
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I tried to, but there's not enough room in the title and it's impossible to edit poll questions.

6 years ago
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Happy cake day!

6 years ago
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Happy cake day!

6 years ago
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Just ask cg to exempt the Off topic discussions from the main page and that's it. Off topics are "off" for a reason. And Americans are so allergic when public forums try to restrict what they can speak about as long as it confirms local laws anyway…

6 years ago
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i agree, if we could put the "off topic" outside of the 5 discussion that appear on main page that would solve the problem, not only for awareness or heavy subjects, but also troll ones etc. And this way people would still have access to them via the off topic

6 years ago
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this

6 years ago
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This suggestion needs a lot more love, as it's easy and effective. Along with a strict separation of topics that are not immediately and obviously related to gaming to off topic (and no sneaking in the back door by making up reasons why it somehow should affect gaming too). It should be easy to move topics, or at least be uncontroversial to immediately close-hammer threads that go in a category they have no reason to be in.

This is still going to leave a lot of wiggle room because a ton of things can be shoehorned into a discussion on gaming if you try hard enough (I don't think examples are necessary) but it would at least cut down on the biggest flamebait (whether it's intended as that or not).

You'll also get a ton of whining from people who think their Important Messages are being unfairly confined to the off topic ghetto, but I can totally live with that. If some people are to be believed, SteamGifts is the most important and relevant outlet for their opinions and we have to nourish all of it. It just ain't so.

6 years ago
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A lot of gifts come from Humble Bundle, which do bundle for charity, to raise awareness on some serious questions. No one boycott them because "hey it mixing video games and politics/health !"
But on SG, the mix should be forbidden ?

6 years ago
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According to this guy, yes. Luckily he's not in charge here.

6 years ago
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Some people think only with their wallet, it's crazy.

6 years ago
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Wait... if this thread is just a response to the another thread, then why make a new one at all instead of just discussing all this in the thread already about the same subject?

6 years ago
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Because his thread put politics and shitposts on the same plane, so people who vote in the poll against shitposts are basically voting against threads about politics.

6 years ago
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Once in a while when someone calls out to us for help and reaches out they should be allowed to.

6 years ago
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There's a difference between topics and tone.

6 years ago
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i suppose i should feel proud that my thread spawned ~20 more in 10 days.

i mean, now we know who are the real trolls and bullies of sg. or maybe not just on sg. i suppose they are like that in real life, since they laugh at real issues.

dan quayle knows.

6 years ago
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Your nobel prizes are coming in the mail any second now!

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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I don't mind them as long as they are civil.

So when people don't post troll discussions "as response" to other serious topics, or when someone starts topic just to shit on something. Be it users, religions, political party etc.

So like topic when people are happy that they can be officially married is fine. It's not fine when bunch of trolls starts topics "I want to marry my mug" or "I want to marry my hand".

6 years ago
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Co-signed.

6 years ago
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So much this. It's just gotten out of hand lately.

6 years ago
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Oh hey...uhm...is that hand married yet?
Asking for a mug.

6 years ago
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I agree. There's also no real way to check for this, I guess. I'd love for troll discussions to be locked, but I think there'd be major blowback from the people who do things like that to be '''''''''''''''funny'''''''''''''''. I don't know if cg would want to get tangled up in that.

6 years ago
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Yep. I don't care about people trying to be "funny" by making multiple parody threads, it's just obnoxious and annoying.

6 years ago
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If anything, I think threads on controversial topics tend to be a bit nicer here than on other sites, for several reasons:

  1. People don't want to get blacklisted.

  2. Your account has to be associated with an active Steam account, and making multiple accounts is forbidden, so no throwaways.

  3. Your account here is publicly linked to your Steam account. This hits a happy medium - you're anonymous enough that you can speak your mind if it's important to you and don't have to worry about people coming after you, but not so anonymous that you can be a complete jerk with no social consequences whatsoever.

In my experience, these things tend to discourage people from being as nasty as they are in other environments. It's not perfect, but the tone here is usually all right.

6 years ago
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This is actually called self-censorship and is generally viewed as an issue, not an achievement

6 years ago
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Maybe instead of restricting thread subjects, CG and support should restrict the very, very cheap and resident SG trolls and that would not take much effort as most are already known by support and a lot of SG users. You just follow the trail that's littered with rude and crude manners, insults and foul language and you'll find them so easily.

6 years ago
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Not cool. Put down the torch and pitchfork.

6 years ago
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Naah i would say lit those torches and start lynching... for greater good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUpbOliTHJY
On a serious note he is sadly right, there are some... let's call em "special snowflakes" that seem to be nurtured here for some reason doing shit that would get any normal user banned long time ago.

6 years ago
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I've been here 3 years on SG and being fairly active during that time, including the SG discussions and you're so right, Nerka, unfortunately...

6 years ago
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Naah i would say lit those torches and start lynching... for greater good.

The official policy is to keep intervention as low-key as possible. We don't "nurture" any of them, but as long as they don't cross the red line, we don't toss them out, either. If there's an ugly fight threatening between two people, you appeal to the reasonable one.

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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I was talking about appeals for calm. Suspensions are something else entirely.

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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While my previous comment was poorly written, do not confuse intervention with disciplinary action. People get suspended when a Mod determines they have "crossed the line," regardless of how reasonable they may be. Sometimes, that includes both parties.

6 years ago
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I really wanted to vote "no, allow all", but since moderation is biased and only allows certain points of view, I'll have to pick "yes" as this is the fairest choice. That's what equality is.

Edit: actually I don't think depression & health issues should be treated the same as politics, it doesn't seem right to forbid cries for help... Those are fine IMO, and imagine the potential disaster if someone creating a thread about their current distress gets in trouble for their thread on top of that :s

6 years ago*
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+1

6 years ago
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I don't mind reading them. Freedom of speech is a wonder if you don't like something then don't look at it...

6 years ago
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SG has literally talked me down before and without that support I don't know if I'd be here right now. I love everyone here so much. It doesn't hurt anyone so I don't see why it should be forbidden. That is why it gets put in Off Topic.. SG has probably saved some peoples lives and they may not even know it..

6 years ago
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💖

6 years ago
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Dunno.... Then again there is no down vote functionality as such so free speech might be fine... As long as it's truly free...

6 years ago
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Personally I think people should be allowed to post about anything they want. That's what the off-topic section is for, isn't it? There have been many posts on this forum which were anything but related to gaming which were very interesting in my opinion.
People should learn to ignore posts they're not interested in instead of bitching about them as "spam".

6 years ago
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nah, just press eject button like I did. there are WAY better places to stay.
I only see threads that is on top because I can't avoid my peripheral vision and switch to the deals section.
I report a experience improvement doing what I decided to do. Just let rotten things naturally rot.
Just skip will be my choice.

6 years ago
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In other words: "Should snowflakes be prevented from melting?"

6 years ago
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It's always going to be something.

6 years ago
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Just give option to hide threads from blacklisted users and everyone will be happy.

6 years ago
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The "Don't Like, Don't Read" clause should be applied liberally to any ~decisive topic, I think. If you add more layers of what is and is not allowed in the forums, it just increases the workload for moderators :/ And you'll never manage to quite stop the deluge of shitposts and in-fighting anyway.

I'm personally using the latest batch of awareness threads to blacklist anyone stating that the onus of rape is on the female's shoulders for how she dresses or acts, so ofc I'm coming from a biased place of benefit, but still.

6 years ago
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I think topics should not be banned, however, I have no problem with moderating the tone of the discussions so that things do not get out of hand.

6 years ago
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Censorship is bad, mmkay.

6 years ago
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Personally I like the freedom to post what we want (to an extent). If we stop posting about politics, depression, or serious issues then what stops more and more issues from being banned from the site because some people don't like it. Then it would be somewhat subjective about which threads are "light hearted" and which threads get too serious for steamgifts. For example, if we banned threads about depression, would great threads like you're not alone be considered to serious?

I don't think the ideas behind the threads are an issue. It's the behavior of the thread creator and the replies on it. Maybe it would be better to crack down on the tone and wording.

6 years ago
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I don't think an outright ban is a good idea. I have often come looking to see what the good people of Steamgifts think of world events, and found far saner threads on Trump, Brexit, Catalonia etc here than elsewhere. However, I do think Steamgifts is generally a lighthearted place, and that people don't generally come here aiming to be saddened, angered, set against one another or even 'educated'. I would like an option to hide this sort of thing from my homepage, and possibly the main discussion page, unless I choose to go looking for it.

Put a bunch of people from a wide range of countries and cultures together in a videogame arcade for an hour and they'll mostly come out liking each other a bit more. Add a large blackboard by the entrance with the words 'feminism', 'gay rights', or 'immigrants' scrawled on it, and half will probably come out hating each other.

6 years ago
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