Misinformation, Vitriol, and Buzzwords: /r/kotor in the Age of the Remake

I would first like to thank everyone for their patience while we have tried to deal with this unprecedented surge of activity. We, like everyone else, were caught all but entirely off-guard by the timing of the announcement and found ourselves ill-prepared to respond to it. We've been scrambling for the better part of a day now just to contain the huge burst of activity, and only now are we really catching our breath. But, now that we are, it's time we turn our attention to the clearly most pressing issue still out there.

Within a few hours of the announcement, a single individual had been identified from the development team at Aspyr: Sam Maggs, a writer (NOT the lead writer) on the project. Maggs has posted some incendiary content before on twitter, although some of that was, unsurprisingly, in jest and taken out of context specifically to cause outrage. Amidst the outpouring of joy we've experienced over the past day and change, we've also experienced a persistent undercurrent of something direly unpleasant which we were blessedly unfamiliar with here on r/kotor heretofore: anger, frustration, and insults directed toward both this woman and those who share beliefs like hers.

This thread is both about Sam Maggs and simultaneously not about Sam Maggs at all. What this thread is really about is r/kotor and the posting standards that we're going to choose to accept going forward.

This choice is not a dichotomy. It isn't as simple as "this is the right choice, and this is wrong." To ban criticisms of a developer would be as detrimental as allowing vitriol to fly unchecked. And neither side is free of bad behavior; those who would defend Maggs have often been just as brutally insulting as those who have criticized her. We have been debating a course of action for several hours, and have come to a conclusion about how to proceed.

For those of you who have been with us here on the subreddit for a long time, you know that Rule #4 is the most important rule we have, specifically regarding its provisions that content submitted to the subreddit must be capable of meaningful discussion. What we as a team have decided is that content which targets a single individual in the absence of any meaningful information to be able to make a determination about their potential impact on the final product does not represent meaningful discussion. How can anyone debate that, argue it, provide counterpoints? Such claims are a nebulous series of hypotheses easily changed at need, and represent disingenuous arguments either intended to stoke outrage or attack those the posters do not like far more often than legitimate criticism.

In line with this realization, effective immediately, we are implementing the following:

1. Posts intending to raise concerns about a product based on the identity, views, and body of work of a developer must meet a very high standard, both of content and of engagement. They must be well-thought-out, coherent, calm, and provide clear examples of points of concern which will allow anyone to see the intended point of criticism. Citing prior work, explaining its failings, and extrapolating how that prior work is ill-fitting for KOTOR is a good example of successfully meeting this standard; accusing anyone of being a "shrieking banshee" is not.

2. Any post which is determined to exist primarily to stoke outrage, bait, insult, or spew vitriol is intolerable to this community and will be removed--with prejudice, if need be. We pride ourselves on being an open and welcoming community, and, in direst need, we will remove as many uncooperative individuals from it as is necessary to ensure we stay that way. However much you like this game, it should never, not ever, manifest itself to the extent that you feel the need to attack and insult others for its sake. There are other subreddits which can cater to frustration, but we want to be a pleasant and welcoming one.

3. Buzzwords are strongly discouraged. While they are not outright banned, posts utilizing them will be policed strictly. An "SJW" is a nebulous term which means different things to different people and, like many of the baseless extrapolations we have seen thus far, is often utilized disingenuously as a generalized insult. "Chud" functions much the same way for the opposing side. We encourage the removal of any such buzzwords from everyone's vocabulary as we work to present high-effort, cordial, and discussion-focused content going forward.

4. Misinformation regarding the games will be addressed more regularly and, if possible, more rapidly. We want to make it clear to all parties involved what the truth is, and to combat misinformation, intentional or otherwise.

5. Third-party content (such as YouTube videos) which are seen to be more about earning clicks or causing controversy than sharing meaningful takes will be removed. Just as with posts here on the subreddit, high-effort content that meets the standard of calm and coherent analysis is more than welcome. However, screams of "this SJW is going to ruin Star Wars" can be shown the door.

The above represents our current policy; it can, and probably will, change at need. Due to the thousands of comments made since the announcement yesterday, these new standards will not be applied retroactively, but will be applied from this moment forward.

We wanted to make this statement sooner rather than later to make it overwhelmingly clear the kind of community we're trying to foster here and the level of discourse which we expect when participating in it. Because we have prioritized making our stance clear as soon as reasonably possible, these plans are not perfect and will likely change with the sub's needs. As more information about the game comes out and more concrete analyses of its situation can be made, some of these restrictions may be relaxed.

Thank you all again for your understanding.