RPSC closed

[Rys]

Update: it's closed permanently.

I've closed RPSC to new posts, while I think about whether Beyond3D still needs a subforum like that, and what its rules and guidelines should be if we keep it.

We've had the same approach to it pretty much unchanged for the last ~20 years, with almost completely hands off moderation and a laissez faire-esque attitude to the posts that are allowed. Even though it's opt-in and invisible to the public, squirrelled away in the corner, I'm not sure that setup and the moderation approach is the right one any more.

There's very little kindness and decency in the discussion, and that's just not the vibe I care to foster or enable at Beyond3D. If it does re-open, there will definitely be more active moderation and some of the site-wide rules and guidelines will definitely apply.

 

[fehu]

Nooooooooooooo I wanted to add some mayhem!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I like the sentiment, and it'd be great if there was a place on the Internet to have mature discussions at a level of decency lacking elsewhere (everywhere?). However, I don't know what moderator effort would be needed to achieve that and if that's possible and worthwhile. By and large, people prefer to be hostile and confrontational and I don't think they can be either coaxed or badgered into acting differently, particularly on topics that stir strong emotion.

 

[fehu]

suggestion:
1) use the ban button
2) forbid certain dangerous topics
- but I want to open it anyway -> GOTO 1

 

[AlphaWolf]

I think Rys is just angling to get Musk to buy B3D.

 

[WhiningKhan]

Back in the day there was certain charm in attempts at discussion over flammable topics. Even though it tended to get off the rails. The relatively limited amount of people at RPSC sort of guaranteed that the rioting withered down as people grew tired with the topic.

But ever since Twitter transformed to X, the sheer amount of fuckwittery presented over there kinda negated the need for such activities elsewhere, at least for me.

So, as long as it is allowed to express mildly crass humor and have occasional good spirited exchange of jabs between fellow users within general topics, separate backroom for mudwrestling might not be needed these days.

 

[Rys]

I think Rys is just angling to get Musk to buy B3D.

I’d probably entertain any offer north of $70B if his Saudi sovereign wealth bros are itching to make a mess on another bit of the Internet. His people can call my people.

 

[Rys]

I like the sentiment, and it'd be great if there was a place on the Internet to have mature discussions at a level of decency lacking elsewhere (everywhere?). However, I don't know what moderator effort would be needed to achieve that and if that's possible and worthwhile. By and large, people prefer to be hostile and confrontational and I don't think they can be either coaxed or badgered into acting differently, particularly on topics that stir strong emotion.

I’m heavily leaning towards closing it because I can’t see it being worth the effort, but you know me and my endless optimism for this place being an oasis in an otherwise endless online wasteland.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

We could try a 'zero strikes policy' - there are rules that you never stoop below standards, and any single infraction excludes you from the forum. no warnings; you should be mature enough and invested enough to read and follow the rules. As a mod I only need respond to reports and not watch that sub, and any report that violates is the ban hammer. Minimal effort for me, maximum messaging (public removal policy) for that sub that shitty attitudes won't be tolerated at all. If anyone's left after six weeks, they can probably conduct themselves without much oversight.

 

[Dominik D]

B3D has the same problem most small to mid size forums do: it's great to ban toxic shits as a matter of principle, but you may end up decimating your population as a result. So even though I vehemently disagree with the sentiment that somehow tech is apolitical (LOL) so politics should be kept out of discussion, in a place of this size at least trying to do that is the only way to keep any sort of interaction happening.

 

[nutball]

My recollection is that RPSC happened as a way to split off the shall we say more spicy and contentious (9/11, Iraq War, Democrats/Republicans/Vegetarians suck) crap from the General (Fluffy Bunny) forum. It was a way to reduce the burden on the mods. Basically it was a trash can, and the zero-mod thing was fine (from a user perspective).

More recently it seems now to also be about what games should be made by who and for whom, which is never not going to get political nor be high-quality any time soon.

Up to you Rys, it's your site. But it seems to me that having a dumpster that the mods can shove threads into to defuse noise sounds useful to me. People, even the smartest and most level-headed, are not going to stop arguing over this stuff, ever, and RPSC was a useful sandpit (shit-pit?) to let them get it out of their systems without polluting the higher-quality sub-forums.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I’m heavily leaning towards closing it because I can’t see it being worth the effort, but you know me and my endless optimism for this place being an oasis in an otherwise endless online wasteland.

Your call buddy, I trust your judgement.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

B3D has the same problem most small to mid size forums do: it's great to ban toxic shits as a matter of principle, but you may end up decimating your population as a result. So even though I vehemently disagree with the sentiment that somehow tech is apolitical (LOL) so politics should be kept out of discussion, in a place of this size at least trying to do that is the only way to keep any sort of interaction happening.

As a specialist site though, at least in intention, by decimating the current population you might attract a new population of the intended sort. Plus anyone deserting B3D overall because they can't shit-post in RPSC can't really be a loss! So the rest of the board should be okay. And if everyone leaves, then the users here weren't what we imagined them to be, the forum was a lie, and the Internet gets what it deserves.

In short, for the reasons it was terminated this time last year, if B3D can't be the forum it aspires to be (for the people running it), it shouldn't be any forum.

 

[Dominik D]

In short, for the reasons it was terminated this time last year, if B3D can't be the forum it aspires to be (for the people running it), it shouldn't be any forum.

Holy guacamole, I never pictured you as a certified nihilist.

 

[arandomguy]

As a specialist site though, at least in intention, by decimating the current population you might attract a new population of the intended sort. Plus anyone deserting B3D overall because they can't shit-post in RPSC can't really be a loss! So the rest of the board should be okay. And if everyone leaves, then the users here weren't what we imagined them to be, the forum was a lie, and the Internet gets what it deserves.

In short, for the reasons it was terminated this time last year, if B3D can't be the forum it aspires to be (for the people running it), it shouldn't be any forum.

I'm just curious since I don't have access to it (no interest) what the actual ratio of users that do participate is?

 

[BRiT]

I'm just curious since I don't have access to it (no interest) what the actual ratio of users that do participate is?

There are 654 out of 111,030 Users opted into the RPSC secondary group throughout all of time.

There are 166 out of 11,735 Users opted into the RPSC secondary group that have visited in 2024.

Those who actually post in there or even on the site in general is far fewer.

 

[function]

There are 654 out of 111,030 Users opted into the RPSC secondary group throughout all of time.

There are 166 out of 11,735 Users opted into the RPSC secondary group that have visited in 2024.

Those who actually post in there or even on the site in general is far fewer.

Seems like maybe a good way to firewall contentious subjects, or drain the poison that spreads through a lot of modern, ideologically or politically driven subjects into a septic tank and keep it separate from tech and gaming.*

*Except for PC GPU IHV stuff because even God, in her infinite wisdom, couldn't moderate that.

 

[trinibwoy]

Seems like maybe a good way to firewall contentious subjects, or drain the poison that spreads through a lot of modern, ideologically or politically driven subjects into a septic tank and keep it separate from tech and gaming.

That was the intended purpose and it seems to be serving that purpose. Not sure what changed. Most of the topics in there don’t interest me but the recent “woke games” discussion really should be relegated to the septic tank lest it seep into other parts of the forum.

 

[Florin]

I have enjoyed that forum in earlier years. But I'm not sure that such a setup is able to foster kindness and decency anymore in the times we live in.
People no longer treat access to a site or resource as a privilege but instead proceed straight to outright trolling or revealing their basest unfiltered true self.

We've had notable contrarians in the forum's past. Conversations have gotten pretty heated, sometimes personal. But in my recollection there was mostly at least some base level of respect, even if grudging.
I think that's gone now.

Frankly, the forum's main purpose for me lately seems to be that it allows me to identify a bunch of people that I just don't want to know.
Some of them actually well behaved in the technical areas but then you see them in RPSC and it's eeew blacklist time.

 

[RobertR1]

The current climate is less about wanting to hear opposing views but more about doubling down and gaining a sense of superiority by talking down to people.

I compare B3D to AVSforum. Both sites are there to cater to a technical audience. You come there to get help, offer assistance and discuss the tech.

None of which requires diving into RSPC elements. Also, there's plenty of general forums to hear the sound of your own voice.