Re: Allow me to differ (the [OT] discussion) with Allan

I'll echo Sir Tuffley here, from a while ago, and put forward something 
used on the Dork Tower list. There is the main Dork Tower list, and
there 
is something called Mud Bay Today (or MBT). Whenever things get to a 
certain point, there will be a call for a topic to be sent to MBT, where

upon those who wish to carry on can do so without affecting or insulting

those who a)may not agree, or b) simply don't care.

Personally, some of the off topic stuff I'm interested in, more so than
FT 
or SG, (I've not played either, I'm here for DSII), so don't lose all of

that, but for those topics that rile people, send them to a new list,
where 
those who want can argue it out.

John S.

At 10:34 AM 3/20/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Allan, whose PoV I respect, said:
>Simple rule of thumb: if you have to label
>your post "[OT]" then don't post it...
>
>[Tomb] Let me explain my disagreement.
>To my mind, anything not directly (ie
>making explicit mention of something from
>the setting or books) related to GZG
>products is OT on this list, given its nature.
>However, given the broad interest here in
>military technologies, space science, etc.,
>posting stories that relate to that (or better
>yet, links so that people who don't want to
>see the stories don't have to... just a short
>link and it saves money/time for those who
>either pay for their mail or who like me get
>it over a slow dialup link) are in fact OT but
>still of interest. Otherwise why have the OT
>tag at all? If you never post anything OT,
>there is no point in the tag. But by my
>definition of OT, the material may be of
>general interest to this group while still
>being (in a strict sense) OT.
>
>The real trick I think is to recall that this
>list is of international character, includes
>gamers of many religions, ethnicities (I
>suspect, though it is a bit hard to know),
>nationalities, political views (from left to
>right and some we'd just call 'way out
>there'), etc.
>
>There is some small chance anything said
>will cause a kefuffle. But there are other
>matters which, if one takes a moment to
>think about it, one just KNOWS will provoke
>a heated response from someone.
>
>Everyone has a right to express
>themselves, but everyone should also have
>been aware of the nature of the list before
>joining (the nature of the list is identified in
>a number of places including
>http://www.stargrunt.ca/ref_info/gzg_maili
>ng_lists/gzg_mailing_lists.htm as a
>reminder (the section on list ettiquette) ).
>Given that, one chose to join this
>community with that understanding, so it
>sort of behooves one to observe that
>nature or unsub.
>
>This isn't about free speech, it is about
>honouring an implicit agreement about the
>nature of this forum made by subscription.
>We aren't policed by the Gestapo and we
>certainly don't use jackboots on dissenters.
>But we generally, as a community, hope to
>keep the list focused and not cause hurt
>and mayhem.
>
>This is *not* (IMO) a forum for *any* kind
>of free speech, regardless of on what
>subject or what sentiment it expresses. It
>is a forum for discussion of GZG products
>and sci-fi gaming and the occasional
>related spin-off discussion. That's what you
>sign up for, so why try to make it
>something else?
>
>Anyway, I've said more than enough given
>the nature of the problem... *grin* ... and
>the Narns shall punish me. Unlike some
>Laserlights I can name, they're still
>effective on me....
>
>Tomb
>----------------------------------------------------
>Mr. Thomas Barclay
>Software Developer & Systems Analyst
>thomas.barclay@stargrunt.ca
>----------------------------------------------------