1) There's times you're not going to be in chat. During those times, people could probably safely talk about alcoholism without it bothering anyone, as with any number of issues that could be triggers for a specific person. If someone is there and it bugs them, and you ask, people are willing to stop. Politics (and religion) are that way for such a vast group that there is almost always going to be someone in chat, so rather than asking for constant subject changes, it makes more sense to do a blanket ban anyway and just have a separate chat.
Also, chat regulars can be in both chats. They don't have to choose one or the other. I definitely agree with politics being a separate chat, and I don't really like politics discussion in my funtimes, but that doesn't mean I don't like political discussion at all. There's a lot of times I take it to PM, and on some occasions, if I'm in the mood, I might be over in the politichat. You can ask any other long-timer here, it's not as if I never participated in political discussions before the onset of the rule, and it's not like I stopped PMing people to privately have them after (I had a huge one with Shae over the first responder's bill). It's just that I think it should be a choice rather than something forced on people who don't want it, considering this a game and the chat, even if it goes OT sometimes, is still usually geared towards fandom and gaming. Political discussions can get intense and heated, even if they are polite, AND spammy, and are a lot harder to cut into to be like "Okay, guys, so about that plot right now!"
I know I find it far easier to cut into a discussion about Gundam with "Hey, guys, haha, look at this crack meme that got posted," than with intense discussion about political protesters getting fired on with metal pellets and tear gas. It seems wrong to cut in on that discussion with talk of gaming, and disrespectful to those people, like someone will say "How can you think about RP games at at time like this?" But then it's still a gaming chat and some people game not because they're oblivious to reality (I'm following the protests in Egypt too) but because they like to have fun to try to offset the worry.
Political stuff is intense even when it's polite, and it's spammy, and if you want to talk game or fandom stuff, it's alienating, and for all your talk of two separate chats, I'm not sure how the "Let's talk politics" side feels alienated by being forced into a chat devoid of people who don't always want to talk politics, but that will sometimes have people who don't always want to talk politics in there when they do actually want to talk politics.
And if you keep the politics in the game chat, you're getting a split chat anyway. Someone would inevitably make a "politics-free" chat just to compensate, or leave chat altogether, leaving you alone in the room that'd be the politics people anyway.
3) Considering we're supposed to be severely limiting ads, that's...actually not a bad thing. We're not supposed to advertise anymore, and honestly, for invites, if someone doesn't like the rule, they shouldn't app in, just like at any game where you don't like the rules. Also, as someone who has ragequit before and thinks it's a severely dramatic thing, even if I didn't even do it all that ragily and had to leave because of mental health stuff, I'm not sure people who ragequit over stuff are the kind of people I'd want to play with. It's immature. It's unreasonable. I think this even after doing it myself and were I ever to freak out or something and do it again, the mods wouldn't let me back in, and I think they'd be very, very right to.
Talking about this maturely and voicing concerns and agreeing to disagree is...quite frankly the kind of attitude I'd want in other players over any disagreement. Someone who'd wank and ragequit is someone I hope you'd be wise enough to not invite into the game in the first place.
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Also, chat regulars can be in both chats. They don't have to choose one or the other. I definitely agree with politics being a separate chat, and I don't really like politics discussion in my funtimes, but that doesn't mean I don't like political discussion at all. There's a lot of times I take it to PM, and on some occasions, if I'm in the mood, I might be over in the politichat. You can ask any other long-timer here, it's not as if I never participated in political discussions before the onset of the rule, and it's not like I stopped PMing people to privately have them after (I had a huge one with Shae over the first responder's bill). It's just that I think it should be a choice rather than something forced on people who don't want it, considering this a game and the chat, even if it goes OT sometimes, is still usually geared towards fandom and gaming. Political discussions can get intense and heated, even if they are polite, AND spammy, and are a lot harder to cut into to be like "Okay, guys, so about that plot right now!"
I know I find it far easier to cut into a discussion about Gundam with "Hey, guys, haha, look at this crack meme that got posted," than with intense discussion about political protesters getting fired on with metal pellets and tear gas. It seems wrong to cut in on that discussion with talk of gaming, and disrespectful to those people, like someone will say "How can you think about RP games at at time like this?" But then it's still a gaming chat and some people game not because they're oblivious to reality (I'm following the protests in Egypt too) but because they like to have fun to try to offset the worry.
Political stuff is intense even when it's polite, and it's spammy, and if you want to talk game or fandom stuff, it's alienating, and for all your talk of two separate chats, I'm not sure how the "Let's talk politics" side feels alienated by being forced into a chat devoid of people who don't always want to talk politics, but that will sometimes have people who don't always want to talk politics in there when they do actually want to talk politics.
And if you keep the politics in the game chat, you're getting a split chat anyway. Someone would inevitably make a "politics-free" chat just to compensate, or leave chat altogether, leaving you alone in the room that'd be the politics people anyway.
3) Considering we're supposed to be severely limiting ads, that's...actually not a bad thing. We're not supposed to advertise anymore, and honestly, for invites, if someone doesn't like the rule, they shouldn't app in, just like at any game where you don't like the rules. Also, as someone who has ragequit before and thinks it's a severely dramatic thing, even if I didn't even do it all that ragily and had to leave because of mental health stuff, I'm not sure people who ragequit over stuff are the kind of people I'd want to play with. It's immature. It's unreasonable. I think this even after doing it myself and were I ever to freak out or something and do it again, the mods wouldn't let me back in, and I think they'd be very, very right to.
Talking about this maturely and voicing concerns and agreeing to disagree is...quite frankly the kind of attitude I'd want in other players over any disagreement. Someone who'd wank and ragequit is someone I hope you'd be wise enough to not invite into the game in the first place.