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Yeah, I mean, Internet privacy is not one of my big concerns. If a website wants to know the configurations or naked people I like to see, and my preferred hair colour, all the power to them.

That's fine. I just like a little informed consent myself, not shrugging off personal information delves as 'the standard' or misinformation that 'it doesn't do that.'

Hey everyone, here is an update!

Despite my really wanting to launch today (first Monday of the new year) I've decided to wait 3 weeks for the following reasons:

1. I'm just not ready

2. The current political climate in the US, which I had thought would be ripe for us to begin general policy discussions at this moment, is in the midst of some turmoil and I'd honestly just prefer to start with a clean slate after inauguration day. I feel like that would overshadow everything we'd like to talk about and "taint" any other discussions, and not let us start out on the right foot.

We've waited a while to have an alternative space, so I'd like to do it right and with the best timing. Hopefully this is understandable... see you in 3 weeks! I have also updated the title to reflect the launch date.

It's cute that you think things will calm down after the inauguration.

 RiTides wrote:
Hey everyone, here is an update!

Despite my really wanting to launch today (first Monday of the new year) I've decided to wait 3 weeks for the following reasons:

1. I'm just not ready

2. The current political climate in the US, which I had thought would be ripe for us to begin general policy discussions at this moment, is in the midst of some turmoil and I'd honestly just prefer to start with a clean slate after inauguration day. I feel like that would overshadow everything we'd like to talk about and "taint" any other discussions, and not let us start out on the right foot.

We've waited a while to have an alternative space, so I'd like to do it right and with the best timing. Hopefully this is understandable... see you in 3 weeks! I have also updated the title to reflect the launch date.

Good luck!

I look forward to lurking and raising my blood pressure until I inevitably crack and say something dumb!

If you want a great example of what not to do and how not to be, check this thread.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/i%E2%80%99ve-been-playing.855847/

Yeah, as previously noted the rpg.net approach is almost the exact opposite of what we'll be going for!

And Easy E, we can all relate to that . Comes with the territory a bit, but all the more reason to try to set a useful tone as a community from the start.

 RiTides wrote:
Yeah, as previously noted the rpg.net approach is almost the exact opposite of what we'll be going for!

And Easy E, we can all relate to that . Comes with the territory a bit, but all the more reason to try to set a useful tone as a community from the start.

Yeah, that was just a really egregious example I decided to point out.

 Laughing Man wrote:
It's cute that you think things will calm down after the inauguration.

This was actually my response as well.

You’re not seriously trying to bring back politics are you?

Honestly, describing the current situation as "some turmoil" and wanting to start with a clean slate is directly creating a bias in your political forum. It's a terrible idea. If your political forum can't handle the actions of contemporary US politicians there is no point to having the discussion in the first place because it will by design be the kind of echo chamber that you consistently decry. You just cannot have a meaningful forum with international political discussion and at the same time go "nah, let's not discuss whether the President of the United States is guilty of sedition or not". The direct cause of the "turmoil" is political regardless of which side of said turmoil you are on.

AlmightyWalrus, my apologies for the vague language above that you keyed in on - my only goal there was to avoid discussing something on Dakka that we're not actually allowed to be discussing. Any and all of this will be fair game to discuss on the forum I am setting up, of course!

My motivation on the timing is not to defend the current actions of the president (which I find to be a shocking and brazen attempt to overturn a democratic election). I've already mentioned previously that I'm an independent voter, but that I was in the "Never Trump" category, as well. But I would dearly love, in a forum that I am setting up and going to be putting a lot of time into, to not have this person dominate the opening of it.

No matter what happens in what I'd been hoping would be a peaceful transition of power, we're going live on the 25th. And as mentioned by quite a few folks above, I think there will likely still be plenty to talk about regarding this then. And all of it will be welcome, and appropriate. I hope, though, that if there is a peaceful transition we can also turn to some of the policy discussions (and even historical ones) that many people have pointed to wanting, rather than being a prisoner of the political moment. It is, obviously, quite a moment... and again, any and all aspects of it will be fair game to discuss.

I hope that explains my admittedly very nondescript language above. Your feedback has been extremely helpful in both the N&B thread and this one, and I am hoping you will participate - your viewpoint is extremely helpful to the discussion I want to take place!

I think expecting the focus of the discussion in a political forum to not be someone who has so drastically altered the political landscape is a tad naïve, especially coming mere days after he's fought tooth and nail to overturn an election with unsubstantiated allegations of fraud, and attempting to coerce election officials into committing fraud and/or other crimes.

Edit: As Walrus has said below, "It's not ready" is a good enough reason, I'm merely commenting on the other aspect.

Yep. You can't escape Trump. It's like trying to discuss the history of Mongolia without mentioning Genghis Khan, or (perhaps more aptly) Watergate without Nixon. Wishing the Trump era over does not make it so. I understand your desire to not have Trump dominate the opening of your forum, but that is naïve. This sort of political turmoil casts a shadow whether you want it to or not.

That said, "it's not ready yet" is as good a reason as any in my opinion. Take the time you feel you need, there's no point in rushing.

Trump is going to dominate the political landscape for years - even after Biden takes over, Trump's going to be making a lot of noise and campaigning for 2024, as well as causing historical/legal debate for decades.

Trying to time the forum launch to avoid Trump is doomed to fail. It's a shame too because there's so much going on that's worth discussing in a grown up, dakka way.

You may all be right, as much chagrin as it gives me to say it! However, as Walrus said I really do just need a bit more time to be ready (holidays were crazy with the kids ). No matter what though, we're going live on the 25th...

Good luck. We've on a full lockdown until February, so I've got 3 more weeks of home schooling to do :(

Herzlos wrote:
Trump is going to dominate the political landscape for years - even after Biden takes over, Trump's going to be making a lot of noise and campaigning for 2024, as well as causing historical/legal debate for decades.

Trying to time the forum launch to avoid Trump is doomed to fail. It's a shame too because there's so much going on that's worth discussing in a grown up, dakka way.

This I think is most accurate.

Investigations into the Trump administration are probably inevitable, though who knows how far they'll go or for how long. Trump isn't going to shut up anytime soon. His kids certainly aren't. Eric Trump has been explicitly setting himself up for a political run for the past two years and you can bet he'll make "my dad won and it was stolen from him" a cornerstone of any campaign. State level criminal charges are probably unavoidable and Trump will fallback on political defenses against those charges. Trump isn't going away. He probably won't go away for a very long time, certainly not with the wake he's sparked in the American right and the responses to him that are already shaping the American left. Never mind his effect on international affairs which will probably continue to shape things long after he's gone.

Trump was a walking fething disaster and probably the most historically impactful president of the last 40 years, maybe even longer depending on how we look at it. Historians and political scientists will be debating the nature and consequences of his presidency for the next century.

Seems like it’s well on track to be another progressive opinion only echo chamber, where they can validate to each other how right and wonderful they are, and advocate their ‘punch a ‘Nazi’ politics’ as completely justified. Just like Dakka was.

 totalfailure wrote:
Seems like it’s well on track to be another progressive opinion only echo chamber, where they can validate to each other how right and wonderful they are, and advocate their ‘punch a ‘Nazi’ politics’ as completely justified. Just like Dakka was.

There’s why it’s not going to work. You go ahead with this plan, I’d give it a week tops before the septic tank ruptures again.

 totalfailure wrote:
Seems like it’s well on track to be another progressive opinion only echo chamber, where they can validate to each other how right and wonderful they are, and advocate their ‘punch a ‘Nazi’ politics’ as completely justified. Just like Dakka was.

I think you have a pretty distorted idea of what constitutes "progressive" if you think Dakka was a progressive echo chamber. Especially considering the various points of view that have already been exhibited in this very thread and its predecessor.

Oh, this is already starting off well with the echo chamber stuff.

I mean, it's not supposed to start *at all* on Dakka. So... we don't.

What's the point of making a doom and gloom prediction about a site that doesn't exist yet?

Y'all might be surprised how strongly a political centrist might swing a conversation. By which I mean Canadian centrist... All Canadian politics is well left of US politics and probably UK politics, from what I've gathered. Even our "right wing" Conservative party is left of the US Democratic party.

So, give it a chance. We all have something to potentially gain by working together. We have nothing to gain but an "I told you so" if it crashes and burns... so what do we really want?

Ha-ha. Socialism for the win.

Regarding the echo chamber comments - maybe I shouldn't have shared my opinion (and won't be doing so on the space I am setting up). A dissenting opinion is definitely welcome. You'd have to defend it, obviously, but endorsing violence (Including the "Punch a Nazi" idea mentioned above) is one of the things that absolutely won't be allowed.

We've basically begun discussing politics, and we're obviously not supposed to be doing so here. To avoid having one of the other mods needing to, I'm going to lock this thread until the launch is ready, and then create a new thread or re-open this one. I really hope to see you all there in (less than) 3 weeks!

Please feel free to PM me with any additional input, as well . Thanks so much everyone!