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Hi everyone,

Well, my grand experiment of a politics forum is now live . Please join up if you'd like to discuss politics!

http://www.etcforums.com

Note it's "forums" plural with an "S"... some guy wanted a gazillion dollars for the url without the "S", so this is what we've got . A few things to note:

1. There is an introductions thread in the welcome area, it would be great if everyone would stop by and put a post in there saying a little about themselves. Here is a direct link:
https://www.etcforums.com/forum/everything-else/21-introductions-thread-come-say-hi-and-tell-us-about-yourself

2. Features and even site rules will be evolving as needed, and as I get the hang of things. I've paid for the "app" module, and so can eventually create an app for the forum, but for now you will simply need to point your web browser to it. Note there's no swear filter currently, I want to see how it goes and if people can basically handle this freedom or not. If there is constant cussing everywhere, then I'll have to either update the rules or implement a change in this regard.

3. As I noted in our original discussions about this space, I'm going to work hard on this site but only in "off hours", so if anything goes off the rails today please be patient and know I will get to it tonight . I'll also be stepping down as a mod on Dakka to make it really clear this is separate space, completely unofficial - just an idea I had, and that I'm hoping will be useful to the folks from this great community here! I've noted in particular with the pandemic, I value talking about things with people on here even more, so this is just another space to talk about some things that don't fit well on Dakka.

Hope to see you over there! Feel free to drop a post below if you've joined up, cheers

First - besides yourself...

Second!

Thanks very much for joining up, guys! . It made me really happy to see the first person join be from the UK and mention Brexit straight off

Feel free to start up a thread anywhere, too, or if no one braves it I'll "seed" in a few

Hope you continue to be happy - I've kicked off a Brexit thread

I seeded a couple threads as well, that I tried to keep the scope relatively tight.

All of those look like exactly what I had in mind, great work gentlemen!

I signed up, too!

just signed up myself.

Might want to look over the registration question: 40k isn't actually set in the year 40,000.

Joined, and immediately posted in the Brexit thread

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
Might want to look over the registration question: 40k isn't actually set in the year 40,000.

Whoops, thanks I'll fix that tonight!

 Da Boss wrote:
Joined, and immediately posted in the Brexit thread

Ditto. I've missed a level headed debate about Brexit.

signed up

I normally try to stay out of political discussion besides a few close friends who I know we can debate views without judgement, but thought I'd have a look through this site nonetheless. My main input is wherever it'd be worth adding some sort of tagging or labelling system for discussions in the US, UK, etc. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the sign ups and interest everyone, the first 24 hours went better than I expected! I'm noticing the Brexit thread gets more traction when most of the Americans go to sleep

Valkyrie, I'll certainly consider country tags if things get confusing, thanks for the suggestion! Right now I think we've only got the one UK-specific thread (although I'd be very happy to see more!) with some that apply to both / are universal topics, so I'd have to think about where to use it. Maybe only on something that would be unclear without it / needs the distinction.

So far, the discussion has been of very high quality!

I think so, too! Really appreciate everyone helping set a good tone from the start

Ive been lurking but not registered yet. Surprised there's not been a thread about 'gamestonk' opened yet.

Me too. I’m enjoying the memes, but actual discussion would be enlightening.

There is, The Reddit Trade Rebellion Thread.

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update, we're exactly 3 weeks in and so far the contributions have been really good! Could certainly use a few more conservative folks signing up to get actual debates going, so if you're a wallflower of that persuasion feel free to enter the dance floor

http://www.etcforums.com

Hopefully the space is also having the intended effect over here, giving people a place to discuss things that aren't really a fit for Dakka, in the fine tradition of the old PhantomLord's OT board

Cheers everyone!

 RiTides wrote:
Hey everyone,

Just a quick update, we're exactly 3 weeks in and so far the contributions have been really good! Could certainly use a few more conservative folks signing up to get actual debates going, so if you're a wallflower of that persuasion feel free to enter the dance floor

Also known as 'Please, somebody come argue with us; we all agree on everything, and that's no fun!'

 Ketara wrote:

 RiTides wrote:
Hey everyone,

Just a quick update, we're exactly 3 weeks in and so far the contributions have been really good! Could certainly use a few more conservative folks signing up to get actual debates going, so if you're a wallflower of that persuasion feel free to enter the dance floor

Also known as 'Please, somebody come argue with us; we all agree on everything, and that's no fun!'

Seconded.

 RiTides wrote:
Hey everyone,

Just a quick update, we're exactly 3 weeks in and so far the contributions have been really good! Could certainly use a few more conservative folks signing up to get actual debates going, so if you're a wallflower of that persuasion feel free to enter the dance floor

http://www.etcforums.com

Hopefully the space is also having the intended effect over here, giving people a place to discuss things that aren't really a fit for Dakka, in the fine tradition of the old PhantomLord's OT board

Cheers everyone!

I think I'll give it a shot but honestly it seems overtly left wing... I pray to god I don't get cancelled for this. I think this is the biggest issue for me, why would I ever risk expressing a dissenting political opinion?

Because a forum of people who disagree with you is the best crucible to refine your own opinions and make them better. We are all wrong somewhere, but it can be tricky finding out where.

Of course for someone unwilling to alter their own opinions such a situation will simply be stressful and unproductive at best, but given you stopped to ask the above question in the first place I doubt that is the case.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Because a forum of people who disagree with you is the best crucible to refine your own opinions and make them better. We are all wrong somewhere, but it can be tricky finding out where.

Of course for someone unwilling to alter their own opinions such a situation will simply be stressful and unproductive at best, but given you stopped to ask the above question in the first place I doubt that is the case.

The question that remains to be seen, is if the place will be just as rife with gaslighting and talking past each other and narrow thinking as any other potlicial forum, or if this one will have something more special. Let's see how it unfolds.

I imagine everyone here agrees on that one!

 Irkjoe wrote:

 RiTides wrote:
Hey everyone,

Just a quick update, we're exactly 3 weeks in and so far the contributions have been really good! Could certainly use a few more conservative folks signing up to get actual debates going, so if you're a wallflower of that persuasion feel free to enter the dance floor

http://www.etcforums.com

Hopefully the space is also having the intended effect over here, giving people a place to discuss things that aren't really a fit for Dakka, in the fine tradition of the old PhantomLord's OT board

Cheers everyone!

I think I'll give it a shot but honestly it seems overtly left wing... I pray to god I don't get cancelled for this. I think this is the biggest issue for me, why would I ever risk expressing a dissenting political opinion?

Honestly think you'd be fine. I've had some interesting discussion on Scottish independence, where not everyone is on the same side of the topic, but it's all measured and constructive and people seem to be making an effort to be polite.

 Ketara wrote:
Also known as 'Please, somebody come argue with us; we all agree on everything, and that's no fun!'

Haha, as you say!

 Irkjoe wrote:
I think I'll give it a shot but honestly it seems overtly left wing... I pray to god I don't get cancelled for this. I think this is the biggest issue for me, why would I ever risk expressing a dissenting political opinion?

Irkjoe, my take on this is, if you want to discuss issues like this online, there is probably not going to be a place that will make it less likely for you to be cancelled. You can post fully anonymously (you don't need to use your same handle here), but at the same time you have a decent idea of the type of people you'll be discussing things with, because the forum entry questions mean it's basically Dakka members and wargamers from our community here. Also, I'm not moderating for content and mostly enforcing a "don't incite violence" rule and basic rules of decency to best allow for discussion (so far, if more are needed we'll add as we go).

So, there is no risk of you being cancelled from the "admin" point of view (as long as you're posting within the rules above), and assuming you don't reveal your full name there should be no risk from the membership, either. And as the admin, if there was a "cancellation" campaign it would have to happen in another venue, as I wouldn't allow that in the space (one of those "if we need it we'll add it" rules, but hopefully it just won't occur given the structure that is set up).

Anyway, there should be little downside and we could very much use posters of that persuasion, as Ketara keyed in on the reason why . We want the debate and the discussion, and this is probably the safest place to do so online. Worth a shot, maybe!