deleted

To do away with egregious breaches of the ToS is not tyranny or doing away with free speech. Even here in the US there are limits to free speech. Inciting violence or panic through speech is prohibited (you can't yell fire in a crowded forum unless there is actually a fire, nor can you tell anyone to attack another person). So no, to enforce the laws of basic human decency is neither tyranny nor censorship.

EDIT to add: Free speech is misunderstood anyhow. There is no expectation of free speech in a private forum (it's not truly public, though multiple people use it). Here, GOG can enforce whatever rules they like. Until now, that's been pretty much they only enforce anything when there could be really bad PR attached to a situation. Not every disgusting, illegal, or hateful point of view has been addressed, only the most visible that could lead to lost sales. The bottom line is all that's at play here. They could decide anything outside the realm of games, Hell even anything not specifically a GOG game is off limits. It's their right to do so. It's not censorship.

People talking favorably of human trafficking, mass murder based on race/religion, and desires to commit violent acts on others based on race/religion/sexual orientation/gender are the culprits and should not be allowed to have their voices heard. In a free society (with free speech and all) that should STILL be the case, and IS the case here in the USA.

What about bold tyranny?

I like the evil and insidious tyranny

Lol I've seen worse OT here.

Fully agreed here.

Personally, my tolerance for hate speech and fake news ended with this election when it helped put a party in control that's now very likely to take away my cousin and her wife's marriage rights among other rights now under threat. Not to mention it's not a good feeling waking up every morning wondering if said members of my family have been harassed, hurt or killed in a hate crime because more people think this kind of shit is okay now. That's my family being reduced to second class citizens in the United Sates of America in the modern era all because of a few words in a very old book told some people said members of my family are an "abomination". It's unacceptable. If people on this forum want to label me an "SJW" or spew their hate at me for that so be it, I don't care anymore. I've stayed neutral and stayed out of it for too long.

It saddens me too as I used to be for all free speech, even that which I found hateful and disagreed with.

As to those threatening to take their business elsewhere if the rules tighten, i'd rather gog shutdown from the resulting lower sales than have its forums turn into another platform for hate.

But that's because as Americans we are used to appreciating living in a nation that protects speech we DON'T agree with. That's kind of the point of freedom.

But hey, all drama stuff aside, I'm making this line in the sand because I know where this rhetoric ends up going. I've been a mod before. I would just rather skip several grades and go straight to the issue. And since we now have a 'community manager' that approves of the concept of hate speech and most likely the methods used to fight it, I can take appropriate steps to protect my sanity (not to mention my time and my money).

Not into making threats or being dramatic. I would just rather come to an early understanding with who and what I'm dealing with. And considering the level of wagon circling that's going on around here, it's easy to make that call. For those of you worried about hateful speech, the only true safe space you're going to find is in a rubber room and you know it.

Thanks for speaking up. I personally have nothing but upvotes for you.


Heck, I'd rather define "hate speech" than "free speech". Neither is clear cut. But both may literally infringe on the freedom of others, and that's the line in the sand that we must pay a whole lot more attention to.

Then by all means do so. Are we talking semantics here or we in the early stages of a new TOS? Inquiring minds would like to know.

That must have been very confusing; it's unlikely we could all agree on what color the sky is, much less what kinds of rules this place could use.

Curious how this will end up turning out, because the same general neglect that's allowed more trollish members to thrive has also made it possible to discuss controversial things. On other forums, such topics tend to be instantly stamped out without anyone being given the opportunity to discuss whether the controversy and labels are deserved or manufactured. It makes those places more inviting and "safe," I suppose, but they also tend to be less varied and interesting. There are so many forums out there being strangled by a fake, rule-enforced sense of peace that this place has always seemed uniquely refreshing because of its rawness. Besides, it's easy enough to be awful well within the confines of even the strictest rules. Passive-aggressive button pushing is an art. Possibly a martial art.

I suppose that's just a roundabout way of saying that I hope you find a middle ground where everyone can be equally upset about the changes. It'd be nice if outright threats were taken care of while everyone was still free to express unusual views and challenge those of others, but that's just my take and reasonable people will no doubt disagree.