Freedom of thought and expression

GeorgeSkywalker

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George Ace Skywalker
Recently I've been thinking about freedom of thought and expression. Often we take these for granted but then something happens like our post gets moderated or even deleted. Some times we may get angry about it but I think we all understand we need to have rules. Although we may disagree in the application of these rules and the finer details of how and when to moderate, I think we understand these choices can be be different for different people.

One person may be more tolerant than another, one person may go by the letter of the law another may go by the spirit of the law. To each their viewpoint may seem crystal clear and it can sometimes seem a mystery why the other doesn't see the way you see things...

Such small details in application of rules can in essence lead to bigger divisions. Hence, the beginnings of a faction or different divergent points of view...


Recently one of my post was deleted for being off-topic. I understand the need to moderate the thread and keep it clean and hence decided to say what I wanted to say here instead. Hopefully with any luck if I don't break any rules I can have my say.

My post was in response to someone attacking Calypso by saying something along the lines of players complain the most about Calypso. They made other points too but it is this point that I wanted to reply to and place such remarks in context.

My reply was, "Maybe because they are more tolerant of different opinions and allow freedom of speech. Something which does not exist on some other forums like Arkadia. Not just the forum but in game as well on Arkadia. I'm speaking from personal experience. I've traveled to all PP's and visited all forums. Arkadia was the worst one as a planet and a forum.

I placed a sign in my shop which said something like "I've moved to Calypso where the grass is greener and better communication skills". This sign was removed and placed in my storage by Ark Dev without warning or explanation. I placed it in shop again when I noticed it missing there. I had assumed it was probably moved by mistake. After same thing happened again I made enquiries and was told it was moved because it violated some rule (i forget which rule was trumped up). Which is completely absurd. People like yourself are more than welcome to state Arkadia has better communication skills yet when someone says the opposite this is not allowed. It's outrageous and bordering on criminal.

I was also banned from Arkadia forum. To date no reason has been given.

Controlling a forum or in game activities with a totalitarian regime which stifles any freedom of speech is not the way forward. It can most definitely accounts for why "players complain about it the most".

Basically Calypso allow complaints/negative opinions and it has a higher population. Couple this with the fact the forum tends to attract negative opinions more than positive is why you see that. Most players who are positive and don't have any complaints don't bother posting and are happily playing away in game.

Sure there are some things I'd like to get better but having traveled all the planets I moved back to Calypso and settled here for a reason because it is the one planet who seem to be doing better job of developing than the others. I don't have any issues here and I'm allowed to play the game and post my opinions. If places like Arkadia actually did something right e.g. attracting new players, treating their players right they may be more successful and actually deserve it. "


What interests me here is how our own perceptions can change due to our experiences. I say this because there was a time in the past where I may have thought this forum was quite "harsh" and maybe even thought of it as a dictatorship. How things change because I see it all differently now. I'm tempted to say I now see this forum as a good example of freedom of thought and expression but something holds me back because total freedom of speech we can't really have if we are going to have rules.

While this forum may not be quite there yet, it is certainly better than other entropia related forums I have used.
 
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