Current Events > It's officially become moddable to post with conservative views on GameFAQs

(+) Yeah! (+)

A week ago I posted a topic titled "Violent Antifa Members assault proud boys in NY, get rekt and arrested," which was supported by articles like this posted within the topic:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-searching-men-involved-brawl-wing-proud-boys/story?id=58500791
http://bedfordandbowery.com/2018/10/inside-the-proud-boy-event-that-sparked-violence-outside-of-uptown-gop-club/

By all accounts Antifa arriving, vandalizing a building, openly harassing and striking the first blow led to a brawl between both sides. That's not really up for debate.
I was then moderated on 10/16 (the topic had been posted on the 13th) for trolling, with a mod saying "This is blarantly a misrepresentation of events. Characterising events in a fraudulent manner is trolling."

At no point had I mischaracterized events. On the 13th I reported the story as it was reported in the news. Which is what I do.
Now, fast forward a little bit and New York City has gone on to arrest members of the Proud Boys involved in the fight as well. I disagree with this, but I understand why they're doing it. A fight is a fight, but I believe the Proud Boys can and should claim self defense. There would have been no violence had Antifa not shown up. By the way, Antifa has been labeled a domestic terrorist group:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/antifa-domestic-terrorists-us-security-agencies-homeland-security-fbi-a7927881.html

At what point did we start defending terrorists?
Normally I'll take an NKL moderation on its head, but this was a clear-cut case of censorship. Exactly what did I misrepresent? I linked multiple articles within the topic itself that back up everything posted.
"I feel this is an overreach of power using the moderation platform to push a political agenda, and if you disagree I think it's fair to argue a point, but again - I've used fact-based evidence to back up every argument I made, including arrest data," I responded.

The moderator responds, "The Proud Boys were the clear aggressors in the incident. Stating otherwise has no reason other than to to attempt to provoke people."

I respond: "The Proud Boys were not the aggressors in this incident, and I'm not looking to provoke people. Have you read up on the issue? Antifa showed up, vandalized the building, and harassed people for hours. No fights would have broken out had Antifa not shown up and started the fights.

Again, this will likely need to be escalated. You can't allow your political opinion, especially when you don't seem to understand what happened in a situation, affect your ability as a moderator."

This was then escalated to a lead moderator, who writes, "Being that multiple Proud Boys members are currently charged with felony gang assault over this, it's clear to say your views on this issue are not in line with reality. Please do not intentionally post false information on GameFAQs."

There's two points to be made here. The first is that at the time I posted (and the time I was moderated), no Proud Boys members had been charged with felonies. The second is that I still contend this violence was started, escalated, and altogether created by Antifa. Those are my views on the subject, and as this is an ongoing case, no side can claim to be 100% correct. It can, however, be argued or debated.

With that in mind I have to ask, is it a moddable offense now to hold conservative views on GameFAQs? Is the GameFAQs moderation staff unable to remain unbiased and deems it fit to censor conservative voices on the site when their views are challenged? What exactly is moddable about posting information backed up by articles and discussing it with others?
I'll be reporting further on this event as it develops, especially if it turns out GameFAQs has become a biased political entity.
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no fucking way I'm reading all of that

don't like it don't post here, it's that simple
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This is way too long of a post for a GameFAQS message board moderation

MC_BatCommander posted...

no fucking way I'm reading all of that

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TC got rekt and is crying now. I'm gonna laugh when this topic gets modded too.
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MC_BatCommander posted...

no fucking way I'm reading all of that

don't like it don't post here, it's that simple

If you're not able to read it to understand context, that's on you, mate.

The reason I think it's more important than just a simple "Don't like it, don't post here" is that a number of sites and agencies that allow for a collection of viewpoints have become increasingly political over the past few years, and social media in general is becoming polarized as companies have stopped separating their employees' political bias from the benefits of an open forum.

As GameFAQs is one of the larger active videogame message boards, you would assume (and rightly should) that all viewpoints are accepted on it. Increasingly this has been shown, through a collection of arguably incapable moderators at the low end of the rung, that's not the case.

I've been a member of GameFAQs for well over a decade and I love the site. I've contributed to it, and I like the community. If the site itself is going to start showing a political bias, however, it should be made apparent and users have a right to know.
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It's been that way for a few years now
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Jorep posted...

As GameFAQs is one of the larger active videogame message boards, you would assume (and rightly should) that all viewpoints are accepted on it.

and obviously you would be wrong to do this
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womp womp
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things reactionaries say that would be awesome if they were true
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dude its a message board...its not that serious.
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MC_BatCommander posted...

no fucking way I'm reading all of that

Vamp_Aubrey posted...

womp womp

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VipaGTS posted...

dude its a message board...its not that serious.

I mean it's not going to ruin my day or anything, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it and continually report on it, and if GameFAQs is a biased political entity, I'm going to ensure it's apparent.

At the very least, they should update the Terms of Service to reflect that.
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lmao

That is a long diatribe about you getting your shit stuffed.
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Jorep posted...

but I'm going to get to the bottom of it and continually report on it, and if GameFAQs is a biased political entity, I'm going to ensure it's apparent.

dude its a message board...its not that serious.
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Jorep posted...

but I'm going to get to the bottom of it and continually report on it, and if GameFAQs is a biased political entity, I'm going to ensure it's apparent.

lmao
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JustMyOpinion posted...

It's too early for a meltdown.

Jorep posted...

As GameFAQs is one of the larger active videogame message boards, you would assume (and rightly should) that all viewpoints are accepted on it.

And you say you've been here a decade?
Are you sure?
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Without looking into it in detail (as I don't overly care about American politics and am busy with work at the moment), I would suggest rephrasing how you start a topic in the future since it can be interpreted as trolling the way it sounded.
Conservative views are obviously not a violation of the rules; I'd read into it to give more advice, but there's no real point since it's already at admin level.

Jorep posted...

What exactly is moddable about posting information backed up by articles and discussing it with others?

You should also take this quote of yours to heart when thinking about creating similar topics.

Given the wall of text and how often people complain about fair moderations.

Fair,next.
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Over 5000 karma? Yikes.
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That's a bit tl;dr
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It's always been like that

Just go to r/The_Donald you would be welcomed there. If you are a liberal r/politics is your echo chamber.
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Masha'allah
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I knocked my sippy cup over and the top fell off and neither mommy or daddy helped me pick it up before my juice was all gone. if you think Im going to let that stand without it being reflected in your tos then youve got another thing coming
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@Womp_Womp

Now that's out of the way

I kinda get where you're coming from

But you're expecting too much and putting too much effort into it
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nice to have another investigative journalist step in now that Dawkins is gone
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Imagine wanting to defend The Proud Boys. A violent racist sexist far right gang.

Please don't take away my internet karmies on a social board on a gaming site! Anything but that!

Start a blog that nobody else will read if this is so important to you
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Eww and I used to listen to your radio show
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Jorep posted...

A week ago I posted a topic titled "Violent Antifa Members

*seinfeld throwing hands up and getting up dot gif*
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prettyprincess posted...

nice to have another investigative journalist step in now that Dawkins is gone

dawkins lives on forever
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Vyrulisse posted...

That's a bit tl;dr

Mod didn't bother reading an article, made assumptions and modded a post off of that
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Bloodychess posted...

Vyrulisse posted...

That's a bit tl;dr

Mod didn't bother reading an article, made assumptions and modded a post off of that

Seems par for the course regarding most moderations, context doesn't matter etc
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TarElessar posted...

Without looking into it in detail (as I don't overly care about American politics and am busy with work at the moment), I would suggest rephrasing how you start a topic in the future since it can be interpreted as trolling the way it sounded.
Conservative views are obviously not a violation of the rules; I'd read into it to give more advice, but there's no real point since it's already at admin level.

Jorep posted...

What exactly is moddable about posting information backed up by articles and discussing it with others?

You should also take this quote of yours to heart when thinking about creating similar topics.

I appreciate the response, mate.
Regarding the topic header in the original post I'll agree that it's intentionally provocative, but I think in general the blanket that "trolling" falls under is far too broad and vague. It works as a catch-all in many cases, but I think it's a hard sell to find that point between what is true (at the time) information that will bother others versus information designed specifically to rile people up, i.e. arrest statistics and the debate around that.

Regarding this topic, it's not that I want to just run a hit job on the GameFAQs moderation staff, but this is one among a string of moderations I've taken over the past few months while discussing conservative views on GameFAQs, and at some point the dam just breaks and it's like, hey, am I even allowed to discuss my opinion any longer?
There have been fair moderations to be sure (such as when I claimed that while open carrying I would shoot an Antifa member coming at me in self defense, albeit in more colorful language), but plenty of ones I consider very unfair, as well.

Regardless, I appreciate the response.

eston posted...

Jorep posted...

As GameFAQs is one of the larger active videogame message boards, you would assume (and rightly should) that all viewpoints are accepted on it.

And you say you've been here a decade?
Are you sure?

I think it's closer to 15 years now. x.x
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Conservatism is modable now? Good.
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Regardless of what actually happened, I agree that it's kind of ridiculous that mods are using their political ideology or personal beliefs to delete posts. If someone says creationism is real, that might go against what all established science says, and what the vast majority of people believe, but we can't be the thought police and ban people from holding unpopular beliefs.
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teepan95 posted...

@Womp_Womp

Now that's out of the way

I kinda get where you're coming from

But you're expecting too much and putting too much effort into it

LOL
It's my day off and I think it's a battle worth fighting. It may be silly, but as a leading internet videogame forum I think GameFAQs should, in general, be politically unbiased and a place where people from both sides are able to explain their viewpoints.

sleepysausage posted...

Imagine wanting to defend The Proud Boys. A violent racist sexist far right gang.

The Proud Boys has ~30% people of color among its ranks. What exactly is racist about them?

Cornmuffins posted...

Eww and I used to listen to your radio show

I appreciate it, mate. The show's grown and expanded a lot lately, and we go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 9 PM Eastern.
But if you're not a fan of conservative politics it might not be your cup of tea. We do accept and respect callers of every political leaning (even commies, but we'll dunk on 'em), so if you ever do have an interest in discussing your own views here or elsewhere I'd be down to hear them.
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Jorep posted...

intentionally provocative

Gee. Posting a message designed to get others mad is an NKL offense?!?
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It's better to just double down on your beliefs tbqh

It's never a heavy mod, and even if it is it's not like it takes more that two days to get a new account
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Jorep posted...

It's my day off and I think it's a battle worth fighting.

Well, power to you. Just don't expect much sympathy.
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philsov posted...

Jorep posted...

intentionally provocative

Gee. Posting a message designed to get others mad is an NKL offense?!?

A provocative topic header is designed to generate interest and, perhaps, an emotional response. It's not necessarily meant to cause anger.
Switch it over to a videogame board or something and make a topic about the new Devil May Cry V Bundle. "Insane developers try to pawn of $8,000 jacket," and inside you post an article about the new bundle with an $8,000 Dante jacket.

It's provocative.
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This topic is missing something...
@TaiIs82
@Error1355
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X-Pac_Heat posted...

It's better to just double down on your beliefs tbqh

It's never a heavy mod, and even if it is it's not like it takes more that two days to get a new account

Yeah I mean I've taken a ton of these NKLs in the past but at some point it's like, come on, really? I think, honestly, the NKL moderation system where things are just deleted and notified has been a mistake. Moderations used to be reserved for things that were a bit more serious or definitely broke the rules, and now it seems like a quick way to just remove things that may not be altogether problematic, but rather quickly censor information under the assumption a user just won't care and move on.

teepan95 posted...

Jorep posted...

It's my day off and I think it's a battle worth fighting.

Well, power to you. Just don't expect much sympathy.

No worries. I appreciate it regardless.
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Jorep posted...

teepan95 posted...

@Womp_Womp

Now that's out of the way

I kinda get where you're coming from

But you're expecting too much and putting too much effort into it

LOL
It's my day off and I think it's a battle worth fighting. It may be silly, but as a leading internet videogame forum I think GameFAQs should, in general, be politically unbiased and a place where people from both sides are able to explain their viewpoints.

sleepysausage posted...

Imagine wanting to defend The Proud Boys. A violent racist sexist far right gang.

The Proud Boys has ~30% people of color among its ranks. What exactly is racist about them?

Cornmuffins posted...

Eww and I used to listen to your radio show

I appreciate it, mate. The show's grown and expanded a lot lately, and we go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 9 PM Eastern.
But if you're not a fan of conservative politics it might not be your cup of tea. We do accept and respect callers of every political leaning (even commies, but we'll dunk on 'em), so if you ever do have an interest in discussing your own views here or elsewhere I'd be down to hear them.

I don't think you would have the skills to best a communist in debate, tbh. Conservatives are inherently bad at these things.
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TC you won't find much sympathy or understanding for nuance here. CE is basically 95% far-left at this point. (With more than 10 active users being outright self-proclaimed revolutionary Marxists)
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