Polynauts Central: (10/8 Archived)

Posted by Shaun McIlroy on August 10, 2012 07:02 am 1827

Okay, last night I went to bed quite early, around 02:30BST this time and below are a series of key, unnamed quotes from the Polygon community. The general consensus is that our community guideline principles seem to have disappeared lately, specifically respect for both one another and regard for Polygons rules themselves. I'm not putting names to the quotes, because quite frankly its one of those things which we all should be thinking and from the looks of it, last night most of you were.

The above image shows Link being pestered by Navi - I think the key thing to take away here is that everyone has an opinion, you shouldn't feel the need to argue or force your opinion on others. We're all guilty of it. All of us, at one point, have crossed that line because we're human. I remember once being told by someone much wiser than I that:

"It's not okay to argue for the sake of arguing, but also don't be afraid to disagree with someone as long as you can express yourself without being insulting or demeaning."

Remember, we're not talking about individuals here, a community should have once voice made up of many, even if those voices have differing opinions. You're all a part of the Polynauts, our behaviour reflects on how everyone in the community is perceived by external viewers, new commenters and so on. With this in mind I give you last nights comments from Polynauts Central.

"Is it just me, or does there seem to have been a drop in civility around here?"

"It seems like everyone is just getting more hostile and the comments and becoming more and more like the average comment pools for sites (which isn’t a good thing)."

"We don’t have dedicated moderators yet, so yeah, we do need to make sure things are as civil as possible on our own for the time being."

"I think what we should do is that try to be more patient. Even if they are directly offending you, just try to keep a nice conversation with manners. The rude and hostile individuals will either be driven away or try to be more respectful in their next comment."

"I think that’s the only way to deal with. It goes back to the old saying; "treat others as you wish to be treated"."

"And, "if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all"."

"I think the key is to not get caught up on this, and allow for threads to be tarnished by folks just losing themselves a little."

"I’ve noticed this hostility as well outside of Polynauts Central. It seems there’s a bit of a schism going on between a few users and the community is suffering because of it. Then there’s the fact that we’re slowly getting more and more attention, this leads to very strange new commenters like that Russian guy in the Nintendo thread."

"I’ve noticed hostility in certain articles too. though .. really, I haven’t seen much hostility in this thread(Polynauts) but maybe from an "outsider" point of view we are seen as a unwelcoming users, rebels from Kotaku?"

"I’m not sure who is from where at this point. I see a lot of bitterness coming from our more opinionated users with certain mindsets"

"Sometimes it just looks like the topic being discussed is a challenge everyone will try to excel at it for "winning" the discussion, get that ego boost and awesome feeling of being right while looking down on others."

"I’m not interested in joining a discussion where people can’t be opened to accept the flaws on their arguments. As the discussion proceeds it becomes more obvious that it isn’t about the topic being discussed, but wanting to be right."

"Well said, this is exactly what I’m talking about and what we need less of. I’m sure most of us are old enough to know better than that, and those that aren’t well, we need to set an example. Discussion on the internet aren’t contests to prove to everyone how right you are about everything, they’re to get involved with something you’re passionate about and explaining why you love it so much."

I think we could use some more "positive" articles. Remember that "Most Disappointing Game"? Yeah, I think we need to tweak things around for a more "positive atmosphere."

"I've always avoided controversial topics like that, especially in gaming where everything is about preference which I translate to "waste of time, not worth joining to discuss" If you want me to dance and cheer about games being released be it, Diablo 4, TL2 I’ll do it! Celebrate the opening of some certain MMORPG or PS Vita games, I’ll bring the beers. Trashing games and bringing negative crap? Well.. see you later~"

"I think that there is certainly and unwelcoming element. There are some guys here who have been a part of the same communities for a long time, they know how each other is. But then there are people who may venture here for the first time and just get sent the wrong message."

"Oh, I agree. Overall everything here is still head and shoulders above most places, but I have noticed a ripple of change. Perhaps it’s natural, but it would be a shame to lose all the good vibes that have been built up."

"Most definitely, I see that too, don’t get me wrong (Plus, I’ve seen the worst of it behind the scenes on IRC and Steam), I’m glad we’re having this discussion as it’s a big ol’ elephant that needed to be addressed."

"If a person is pissed, step away from the keyboard."

"Yeah, that's what I said a couple posts down, but I don't want to name names because I think this "talking behind people's backs" thing isn't going to help. Let's just say there was a VERY heated discussion about this and it's turned into annoying internet melodrama. At this point I'd rather not see it infect the forums"

"I think we want this place to be the best it possibly can. So we're having this little discussion"

"It sucks ... Once Polygon hits it's going to be ridiculous here. Thankfully we can flag. Like Yoshi said, most of it is out of this thread (it feels safe here). Most of the other threads just come down to the "Your opinion is wrong" stuff and people get worked up."

"I just get riled up and argumentative when people start saying their opinions are facts or come in to Polygon to make a comment, but can't do it without being insulting or inflammatory."

"I've heard we'll have more moderation when Polygon hits (From what I've heard we've been mostly fine if a bit on the borderline when it comes to sexual stuff), but for now it's our job it keep things in check"

"Anyway, I can see getting involved in a community is daunting for a newcomer anywhere, but that's the thing, we're an internet community and it's something that should be embraced. How can we make this place more welcoming for others? I'm not saying that to be snarky, I genuinely want some ideas, obviously I spend a lot of time here because I like it and want to see it grow."

"As for what you said about the other threads, I'm beginning to see that now. I'm not sure if there's really more of it or if it's just more prevalent because the community here is smaller than before and it's not as easily drowned out. A little more moderation would fix most of that problem, though."

"it's just that this place is STARTING to get bad, it wasn't this bad a couple of weeks ago. It's just been building up and I think we all want to put a stop to the worst of it before it gets out a hand."

With all these thoughts in mind, take what you can from above and learn from it. I have, and will continue to learn from my mistakes here on the forums, in life and beyond. For clarity I will list the Community 'Rules of the Road' below. Please pay attention to them, they are there for a reason.

FROM THE VERGE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

Here are things that will get your comment or forum post removed and quite possibly your account banned. Note that this is not a comprehensive list. The Verge/Polygon moderators reserve the right to remove anything they deem inappropriate.

• Spam: Zero tolerance, of course! If it comes from a human or a robot, spam will be deleted. Any comments that are a reply to spam will also be deleted, so don't reply - just flag!
• Illegal activities: posting links to illegal downloads, ways to steal service, and other nefarious activity will put your account on the fast lane to bantown.
• Pornographic material: Nope, not allowed. Even images or links that could be considered borderline are not acceptable. A good rule of thumb is that anything beyond PG-13 will get you in trouble, but we reserve the right to remove any post we deem offensive.
• Personal attacks: Don't attack or insult another user. It's not helpful and it doesn't make The Verge a friendly place.
• Racism, sexism, and other discrimination: Harder to define, but we know it when we see it. Attacking entire classes of people is just like attacking a single person: we'll ban you for it.
• Foul language: Cussing, swearing, or just plain nasty: all of the above are not cool here.
• Trolling: "Trolling" is a big, messy term, but we know what trolls are and we won't tolerate it. If you're abusing the good conversations here at The Verge, we will take your comments and posts down. This includes taking a thread off-topic, by the way. The internet calls that "thread crapping," but we call it "frustrating and unhelpful."
• Multiple accounts: We don't allow multiple accounts per user.

Now we all know exactly what the deal is with the rules and our feelings on the current vibe, lets all get back to the business at hand. Games, fun and respectful conversation. If you see a new person on the forums, invite them in here warmly for a chat and hopefully our family will continue to grow. That's what we all want, right?