A message from the moderators

[Snarky]

(This message is being posted on behalf of the AGS moderators)

For some time, the AGS moderators have heard concerns from a number of forum members: broadly speaking, that they don't feel comfortable around here because attacks against certain groups are tolerated, or because the level of conflict and the overall tenor and substance of certain discussions make it an inhospitable place.

We take those concerns very seriously. The AGS community consists of people from many different parts of the world, with different backgrounds, experiences, outlooks and views. As moderators, we wish for the forums to be widely inclusive and welcoming to new and old members of all backgroundsâ€"but that also means that some attitudes incompatible with that goal are not welcome here.

We are therefore, after considerable internal discussion, rolling out some new forum policies that provide broader and more comprehensive rules against things like hate speech, bigotry, and support for extremist causes. Check them out here. At the same time, we plan to more proactively enforce existing rules against harassment, personal abuse/bullying and thread derailment going forward. To help ensure rapid response, all moderators now have mod powers on the General Discussion and Rumpus Room boards.

We are acutely aware that rules against expressing certain political views or beliefs (even if only things like Holocaust denial are affected) are a form of political censorship, and we hope we will rarely have to resort to it. The forums remain open to expressing a wide range of political views, and within that scope we will strive to apply the rules against harassment, abuse, derailment and e.g. religious bigotry equally no matter who it concerns or what their position is.

We hope you'll help us out by, you know… just try to be nice.

Oh, and finally, we'll do our best to make some difficult calls, but we're not always going to get it right. Even the policy itself is something of a work in progress, and we are open to improvements. If you have concerns about specific moderator calls, with the policy or with how we apply it, please bring them to us. Thanks!

â€"AGS Forum Moderators

[Ben X]

This is great news! Thanks to the moderator team for taking the time and effort to do this. I now feel a lot more comfortable continuing to come to the forums and to recommend AGS as an engine to others.

[Mandle]

Am I still allowed to call Stupot a bloody Pommy?

Joking aside, this is a good call. I'm especially against people posting offensive claims about 9/11, the Shuttle disaster, mass-shootings, the Holocaust, and the like. It's great you now have a policy to shut that shit down.

[WHAM]

While I am always opposed to restricting the freedom of speech of individuals, it is still good to see a more clearly outlined set of rules, and to know that there is readiness in the moderation staff to take action.
Keep up the good work! The AGS forums have always been a great place full of great people, so the recent hostility has been a sad surprise to me. Let's hope these rules won't need to be applied too often.

[Ali]

Well, I agree with WHAM for once. I think these seem like a decent and pragmatic set of rules. Thank you, moderators.

[Kastchey]

Thank you for this.

[Matti]

Thanks for that!

[Jack]

( Í¡° ÍÅ"Êâ€" Í¡°)

[RickJ]

While I am always opposed to restricting the freedom of speech of individuals, it is still good to see a more clearly outlined set of rules, and to know that there is readiness in the moderation staff to take action.

I guess it depends what the meaning of "is" is.   One would hope that said rules would be applied equally regardless of political persuasion but that sadly has not always been the case.

[WHAM]

I guess it depends what the meaning of "is" is.   One would hope that said rules would be applied equally regardless of political persuasion but that sadly has not always been the case.

We are all human, and make mistakes and errors in judgement, as well as hold our own individual biases that can impact how we view certain topics and conversations, so it's not really possible to be 100% equal in applying such rules.
Let us have faith that the moderators will apply rules equally and fairly to the best of their ability, now and always.

[Ali]

One would hope that said rules would be applied equally regardless of political persuasion but that sadly has not always been the case.

Bearing in mind that these rules were only published on Monday, I think we should give the moderators time to apply them evenhandedly. I think conservatives should be welcome on the forums, and I don't think any reasonable conservative would have difficulty abiding by those guidelines.

[Blondbraid]

I want to thank all mods for their efforts in this, thank you all!

[Laura Hunt]