What happened to the religion & politics forum?

[dscross]

I've only just noticed that section has gone and now loads of people are posting politics discussions in off topic which I feel dilutes the other content. It this permanent? Do you all not feel it warrants it's own section because there is so much to say on politics and religion?

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I've only just noticed that section has gone and now loads of people are posting politics discussions in off topic which I feel dilutes the other content. It this permanent? Do you all not feel it warrants it's own section because there is so much to say on politics and religion?

I guess you missed the updates. After Defy sold the Escapist to our rescuers, they have updated the site to Escapist Version 2:

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/

They told us they were going to try to maintain the community and move the forum over as well and are in the process of doing that. In order to move the forums over they have top consolidate the forums to have them work within the new format so R&P, Pub Club, GID and possible others were being merged with Off Topic for the move.

More on that here:
https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/703.1056841-Religion-Politics-Forum-Closed-as-of-27-March-2019

https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/703.1056841-Religion-Politics-Forum-Closed-as-of-27-March-2019#24297434

 

[dscross]

They told us they were going to try to maintain the community and move the forum over as well and are in the process of doing that. In order to move the forums over they have top consolidate the forums to have them work within the new format so R&P, Pub Club, GID and possible others were being merged with Off Topic for the move.

Ah OK. I kind of understand their reasoning for wanting to keep heavy topics out of a place that focuses on games and other entertainment, but it's a strange decision to allow it to go into off-topic instead. Don't get that. Also, it will make users of both forums unhappy. I mean I've used both occasionally from time to time, but I definitely don't think they should be together.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Yeah, you're a little late to the party. I think there might have been a single person outside of management that thought it was a good idea, and they might have only been saying it out of spite for everyone else.

 

[DarthCoercis]

It was closed, much to the detriment of Off-Topic.

 

[Armadox]

What happened to the R&P forum? The cursed monkey's paw I wished on might have given me what I wished for, but not entirely in the manner that I intended.

 

[dscross]

With all the incessant, ad infinitum arguing it contained, R&P was like a mostly malignant tumor board that has now been transplanted onto another, healthier host board. With a hacksaw.

Perhaps more than any other board, it really needs its own dedicated space to contain all the unresolvable spitfire being launched to and fro.

 

[Agema]

It was rendered pointless after everyone there decided I'd won.

 

[Seanchaidh]

It was rendered pointless after everyone there decided I'd won.

Angling to become the Francis Fukuyama of the escapist?

 

[Pseudonym]

It was rendered pointless after everyone there decided I'd won.

And congratulations to you. You've earned it.

 

[Agema]

It was rendered pointless after everyone there decided I'd won.

Angling to become the Francis Fukuyama of the escapist?

First the Escapist forums, then the rest of the internet.

 

[Silvanus]

What do you mean? You're in it.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Someone somewhere decided to get rid of the cesspit that was R&P, which was a great (and long overdue) decision. Then someone else thought to continue allowing the same toxic sludge and bile, only in a previously decent forum. So now we have the worst of both worlds where the people who wanted R&P aren't happy and the people who wanted it gone aren't happy. It's like someone went out of their way to ruin the site even more.

This subforum is now as toxic and hate-filled as R&P used to be. Coming to the Escapist to talk about games and geekdom has been replaced by this. It's worse now than when R&P existed since at least then we could put a manhole cover on the place, but now Off-Topic is a horrible place to be.

 

[Red Sentinel]

Someone somewhere decided to get rid of the cesspit that was R&P, which was a great (and long overdue) decision. Then someone else thought to continue allowing the same toxic sludge and bile, only in a previously decent forum. So now we have the worst of both worlds where the people who wanted R&P aren't happy and the people who wanted it gone aren't happy. It's like someone went out of their way to ruin the site even more.

This subforum is now as toxic and hate-filled as R&P used to be. Coming to the Escapist to talk about games and geekdom has been replaced by this. It's worse now than when R&P existed since at least then we could put a manhole cover on the place, but now Off-Topic is a horrible place to be.

It's funny because the previous regime, for all their faults, realized this problem fairly quickly.

For instance, when it became apparent that 'that topic' (you know the one) was taking over the forum, they created GID specifically to contain it. At the time, threads about 'that topic' were in Gaming, Off-topic, and R&P, - basically all over the forum - but once GID was created all the threads about 'that topic' were moved there. People had to specifically go to GID to talk about 'that topic', and everyone else could be left in peace.

Eventually GID lost its usefulness, mainly because 'that topic' finally died and supporters of it either left or got banned. But GID did indeed serve its purpose for the short time it existed.

What we're seeing now is a reversal/repeat/reoccurrence of the very same problem, only this time it's been brought on deliberately by closing an active and needed subforum.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

It was rendered pointless after everyone there decided I'd won.

You beat us all with FACTS and LOGIC

Spoiler

 

[Marik2]

This site doesnt understand containment boards.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

This site doesnt understand containment boards.

It's why /pol/ and /mlp/ exist. Even The Wild West was a great forum for doing this sort of thing. Shame that it was taken out behind the woodshed and put down, 'eh?

 

[Marik2]

This site doesnt understand containment boards.

It's why /pol/ and /mlp/ exist. Even The Wild West was a great forum for doing this sort of thing. Shame that it was taken out behind the woodshed and put down, 'eh?

It was taken down, because me and arnox were semi joking about stuffing people into lockers, and how the wild west was turning everyone into bullies! That gave the mods PTSD and they just shut it off, but honestly it would have been deleted since two months later russ pitts bought the place, and he is not the type who would want the wild west on the escapist.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Someone somewhere decided to get rid of the cesspit that was R&P, which was a great (and long overdue) decision. Then someone else thought to continue allowing the same toxic sludge and bile, only in a previously decent forum. So now we have the worst of both worlds where the people who wanted R&P aren't happy and the people who wanted it gone aren't happy. It's like someone went out of their way to ruin the site even more.

This subforum is now as toxic and hate-filled as R&P used to be. Coming to the Escapist to talk about games and geekdom has been replaced by this. It's worse now than when R&P existed since at least then we could put a manhole cover on the place, but now Off-Topic is a horrible place to be.

It's funny because the previous regime, for all their faults, realized this problem fairly quickly.

For instance, when it became apparent that 'that topic' (you know the one) was taking over the forum, they created GID specifically to contain it. At the time, threads about 'that topic' were in Gaming, Off-topic, and R&P, - basically all over the forum - but once GID was created all the threads about 'that topic' were moved there. People had to specifically go to GID to talk about 'that topic', and everyone else could be left in peace.

Eventually GID lost its usefulness, mainly because 'that topic' finally died and supporters of it either left or got banned. But GID did indeed serve its purpose for the short time it existed.

What we're seeing now is a reversal/repeat/reoccurrence of the very same problem, only this time it's been brought on deliberately by closing an active and needed subforum.

You make it sound like GID was actually made in a timely fashion. As I recall, by the time they actually got around to making GID something like 8 months had passed and 'that topic' had worn its swath of destruction and had slowed somewhat.

 

[IceForce]

Someone somewhere decided to get rid of the cesspit that was R&P, which was a great (and long overdue) decision. Then someone else thought to continue allowing the same toxic sludge and bile, only in a previously decent forum. So now we have the worst of both worlds where the people who wanted R&P aren't happy and the people who wanted it gone aren't happy. It's like someone went out of their way to ruin the site even more.

This subforum is now as toxic and hate-filled as R&P used to be. Coming to the Escapist to talk about games and geekdom has been replaced by this. It's worse now than when R&P existed since at least then we could put a manhole cover on the place, but now Off-Topic is a horrible place to be.

It's funny because the previous regime, for all their faults, realized this problem fairly quickly.

For instance, when it became apparent that 'that topic' (you know the one) was taking over the forum, they created GID specifically to contain it. At the time, threads about 'that topic' were in Gaming, Off-topic, and R&P, - basically all over the forum - but once GID was created all the threads about 'that topic' were moved there. People had to specifically go to GID to talk about 'that topic', and everyone else could be left in peace.

Eventually GID lost its usefulness, mainly because 'that topic' finally died and supporters of it either left or got banned. But GID did indeed serve its purpose for the short time it existed.

What we're seeing now is a reversal/repeat/reoccurrence of the very same problem, only this time it's been brought on deliberately by closing an active and needed subforum.

You make it sound like GID was actually made in a timely fashion. As I recall, by the time they actually got around to making GID something like 8 months had passed and 'that topic' had worn its swath of destruction and had slowed somewhat.

Yeah, the way I remember it, they were way too late in creating GID. The damage had already been done, and most people who weren't interested in the topic had already left in their droves. By the time GID was finally created, the site was already a ghost town.

So we sorta had the following problem, but the other way around:

So now we have the worst of both worlds where the people who wanted R&P aren't happy and the people who wanted it gone aren't happy.

Back in the GID days, both parties were unhappy in a similar fashion. Those who weren't interested in the topic had already left (having it constantly on the website front page widget didn't help matters), and those who wanted to discuss the topic and keep it prominent/relevant also weren't happy because they complained about being segregated and quarantined.


I suppose this whole saga is a lesson in the pitfalls of staying 'neutral' on matters. Because in trying to stay neutral, you often end up pissing off both sides, and nobody is happy.