I am very confused as to why you have closed the shoutbox tonight. People were having a lively debate about feminism that you were also taking part in. There was no name-calling. People were being respectable and just stating their opinions to each other. It is like you suppressed your users just now. I wasn't even taking part in the discussion, but it has really struck me the wrong way that you just silenced your users while they were talking about a topic that needs to be discussed. For a person (who happens to be a man...) to silence a group of women having a discussion about feminism was very disturbing to me and has left me feeling extremely uneasy.

I normally don't speak up about things like this because I am not a fan of conflict. I don't want this to cause an argument. I just wanted to tell you how I felt instead of bottling it up and pretending like this didn't offend me.

I love subeta very much and I hope that things like this don't happen again in the future.

From your posts about it would appear that it was a couple of posts of mine that caused you the offence/concern regarding the discussion. (It was certainly me who introduced the names of Zoe Quinn and Lena Dunham to the discussion and I don't believe anyone else picked up on it, so this would appear to be solely on me.)

Can I ask why then I didn't get a specific user ban for disruption in order to let other people continue their discussion? I understood this is why the disruption rule was brought it a while ago for SB discussions and in the circumstances, it seems unfair that other people's discussion was curtailed for something that I said, as it appears I was the disruptive poster.

Thanks for letting us have your views in this thread.

Funny I thought that was what individual SB bans were for.

I do understand nipping it in the bud before it starts but why was there now "Subject Change" request like there generally is? Yes, its true a lot of people don't change the subject when Admins ask but lets face it, you're technically considered God here and people listen to you so I can't help but feel that if you had stated a subject change was necessary, it would've been changed and shutting down could've been avoided.

It is not my intention to tell you how to do your job, I apologise if it comes across that way.

okieee well i guess im happy with that response lol

In a perfect world the sb would never close ;-;

I also agree that it could have headed into name-calling/fighting territory. It just really made me upset at the time. c: Ty for responding so promptly.

Thanks for the clarification; I appreciate your answering me.

Does this mean that when the SB is in a debate, users can now make a thread and link it in the SB to continue the topic there? LOL Because that would SURE be handy.

Debates in the shoutbox are awful because you can't see or keep track of everything, causing useless arguments. It's not even the subject, it's that the shoutbox is the wrong medium for social debates and such.

No one is saying that it wasn't the wrong place for it. I agree that it wasn't the right place, but I do see where Ireland is coming from.

Keith, being a man, just silenced a group of women talking about feminism. That CAN leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Especially when it was done so as abruptly as he did it, even after participating in it. There was no, "Ok, lets take it to debate, guys" it was literally, "Closing the SB now!"

So, yeah... this thread and the topic that was being discussed IS valid here. Had it been any other debate, there wouldn't be any complaints.

I believe there was nothing wrong with the chat. I missed it going into name calling. But in most cases a simple. Topic closed please move it to Debates is useful. I know the box was only shut for a few minutes but having the owner get caught up in it then close it when women answered seemed just sad to me.

Honestly I'm surprised no one said "Guys take it to the debate forum" earlier in the discussion. Usually that happens within 0.5 seconds of any mention of serious topics.

I saw, but that doesn't mean that you didn't very abruptly shut it down. Try to look at it from another point of view. Your actions conflicted with what you were saying.

I'm not saying that the topic didn't need to be changed in the SB, it did. But I think that it could have been handled better than it was by saying that it needed to be taken to the debate forum or the SB would be closed instead of just, ":) Closing SB!"

I wasn't an active user within this conversation in the SB but I was reading the discussion while eating my breakfast and was really surprised that the SB was closed when there was absolutely no drama/disruption/name calling or anything else that can happen in the SB. Everyone was actually being completely civil and respectful of other people's opinions which is mighty impressive for the SB.

While I understand that things can easily lead into name-calling and the SB isn't the best place for debates, I'm honestly more concerned with what the site owner thinks the SB is used for.

This point is completely moot. The SB might have been a tool for new users to seek help when it was first created, but it hasn't been used for that for years. The SB we have now is just a chatbox. It's not for new users to ask questions in and recieve fast answers, it shouldn't be souly up to other members of this site to educate each other, though we do because the majority of users are very helpful.

If new members have questions shouldn't they be creating tickets? If you want the SB to only be used for new members to ask questions and recieve answers, then shouldn't it be prohibited to have actual conversations in there? If you don't want new members to see the shoutbox when they first join, then have the widget default disabled for when you sign up. There's many solutions to what you're saying here, but it all comes down to what you think the SB is for and what it actually is. It's not a helpbox, it's a chatbox.

If the SB is where newcomers look for help first, logic would suggest that shutting down the entire SB should be the absolute last resort for staff, and that shutting down the entire SB due to the actions of some (or even many) is the lazy way out.

Punish people that violate the rules. Utilize SB bans. Don't ADD to the problem when you know that this is where newcomers look for help first. All of this should be common sense for any staff member that is trying to ensure the best possible playing experience for their customers.

Taking the entire feature down (for ANY amount of time) because staff and players can't debate topics in the proper area is asinine.

Er, wow.

Out of everything that the SB could have been closed for and should have been before this, it was closed for a discussion on feminism?

The SB needs better regulated, that has been a topic of debate and discussion since I've been here. If it's going to turn into an "It was one step away from (insert reason)," that policy had best be enforced elsewhere onsite because it's the most ludicrous, lazy reasoning for doing something I have ever heard of from this staff.

And I don't even use the SB.