The Politics Section of the board is provided by the admin staff as a service to our players as a forum to discuss news and political issues outside of the game. Because this board is comprised of a diverse group of people of many nationalities, races and faiths, the admin staff expects players to be courteous, civil and respectful of one another and their opinions in discussing various issues in the Politics Section. Quite simply, this is what’s known as the “Civility Rule” and it’s not new. The large majority of our player base grasp the reason for the rule and with them, it’s satisfactory to stop right there.

On the other hand, we have a small minority that seems to have a problem grasping the concept, so at the risk of repeating ourselves, we’ll expand on the Civility Rule here slightly and also announce some minor changes we’re implementing to deal with violations and continued problem behavior.

Sheltered behind the anonymity of a computer screen and many hundreds of miles of cable, people sometimes have the disturbing tendency to communicate in a manner that they’d never consider in a face to face environment. Over the years, we’ve seen this sort of behavior carried over into the game and conversely, in game disputes carried over into the Politics Section. That sort of conduct is unacceptable and is unhealthy for the game itself. As we’ve also said many times, flaming, baiting and offensive personal remarks are prohibited here. The Board Content Standards and Terms of Service also apply. Finally, it is as unacceptable to make broad, sweeping and offensive remarks about religions as it is to make racist remarks. We fully realize that people have strong opinions on various political topics. That’s fine, but if you feel the need to call people names or act insulting toward others and their views, take a break and walk away or go elsewhere before you post.

In the past, violations of the Civility Rule have been handled via issuance of warnings and temporary suspension of privileges to the Politics Section. While that’s helped somewhat, it obviously hasn’t eliminated problem conduct. Because resolving problem conduct takes time that could be spent working on in game issues, the staff has discussed a number of alternatives to address continuing problems, including closing the Politics Section permanently, a move that would no doubt be unpopular, especially with the majority that has dutifully complied with the Civility Rule.

In order to avoid closing the Politics Section, we are therefore making the following change effective immediately. While we will continue to issue warnings and suspensions from Politics for violations of the Civility Rule, the policy is no longer necessarily “three strikes and you’re out.” The staff will continue to consider all violations on their face and reserves the right to make any suspension from Politics, and possibly General Discussion, permanent effective immediately. For violations warranting removal, players will be suspended from the section until the discipline admins meet to decide whether the suspension shall be made permanent.