Abortion, Evolution, G.W. Bush and the Mars Rover:

[Mysterium]

So . . .

I've been reading these for a little bit, and very recently signed up. I have, of course, been struck by the scope of the discussions, here in the Entrance Hall, and in the Tavern as well. A few posts show that people take issue with a gaming site having issues like these in the forums. I was wondering - and was thinking that the title might sucker in a few http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif - what people think about having these topics in this context?

First off, at least there is common ground. Everyone is here for a reason unrelated to such weighty issues, so that can be a unifying force.

Second, it pulls in people from all over, as would any on-line community. I'm a West Coast guy, with all the accompanying baggage and prejudices, and it's nice to see people from all over on the boards.

Going to a specific message board for all of these topics would be a lot tougher, and a lot less fun, as well. I'd have to have to search out a board for abortion, one for creationism in the schools, another for questions of theism and religious ethics. Plus, I'd probably hate to posting alongside the polarized people I'd find there.

So, are the issues easier to deal with because they aren't the point of this site? Are they taken less seriously? And more impotrantly, would you ever find First Person Shooter gamers talking about these things? These are the burning questions, folks. Or, the burning questions about the burning questions, maybe. Or . . . ugh, too postmodern for me . . .

[Myrano]

I'd say this is an excellent site for such posts... if you don't want to read about them at a gaming site, then don't go to the tavern

The major advantage of having topics like these here is that there is very little preaching to the choir. With us all unified by gaming, we get different views on things such as abortion, whereas if you went to a site solely about abortion you would only find forums devoted entirely to pro-choice or pro-life.

Keep debatin'
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[Mysterium]

Diversity through commonality. I like that. Nice one.

[Phatose]

I'd like to think that as a gamer, I'm still a person first and a gamer second. It's not unusual to find these debates everywhere though - well, at least on the gaming sites I visit.

The only really unusual part is that their mixed in with gaming topics in the entrance hall instead of confined to an off-topic discussion forum. But that goes hand in hand with the orgs membership scenario, and I'd think it's a good thing.

As for whether or not FPSer would do it...ah, I'm sure there are occasional abortion debates of FPS boards. Though, they're probably pretty different in flavor though - FPSes tend to attract a younger crowd. Medieval, with it's historical roots, attracts a more diversified, and often older crowd then your typical FPS. As such, there is a more mature atmosphere, and more people who are directly affected by these issues. So, I'd honestly be more suprised if the org didn't feature the occasional heated debate on non-medieval subjects.

[The_678]

I agree with Phatose that the community here at the org is generally more mature. Also what's different on this site as opposed to other sites you don't have people that are so gung-ho about a specific topic. We have enerybody here from pro-life to prochoice and everything inbetween. That's one of the things I love about the total war community is the maturity of eveybody here.
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[Gregoshi]

The phenomena of the intense/heated topics showing up in the Entrance Hall is a relatively new one. Typically, a new person comes here because they want to talk about the TW games, not religion, gun control, Iraq, etc. I think these topics started here in the Entrance Hall as a result of similar discussion going on in the Tavern forum but with the intention of gathering the thoughts of the newer patrons. Since the trend was initiated, new patrons are seeing that such topics are allowed in this forum and are sparking new heavy topics...though as can be witnessed in the Judgement Day topic, Org veterans can pop in and engage deeply in these discussions.

The mature description of Org patrons is fairly accurate, but for anyone whose been around for more than a few months, things do occasionally get out of hand and land some patrons in the penalty box. Unfortunately, it is not always apparent to people when they need to just walk away from a debate before they blow their top. Fortunately, these are rare and usually a reminder about proper conduct is enough to set most patron straight.