someone read something on the internet and stopped visiting the site, they were likely to leave anyway, unless you have direct numbers of people that actually left and contrasting numbers of users who come to VGChartz and specifically post and view threads in the politics region it can't be put out there that a certain sub bracket area of these forums is the reason someone with thin skin left the website. It's perfectly possible for a user to be on a site without going into threads that upset them.

As others have pointed out though, the site activity is slowing to the point where I wouldn't advise doing anything that pushed certain users of this place away now, the people who do come here should more be viewed and asked what other features they would want to post more on the daily here, if it's not gaming so be it, I think the latest thread that I've taken part in the most has been the picture thread which has almost no dialogue just picture responses back and forth with other users, from the point of view that it is a respond to OP type thread it breaks a rule in that it doesn't appear to have mod approval and from a spam point of view almost all of the posts in it break rules since they are images without text, still it's a great thread and a reason to open up VGchartz to check out what people have replied in there for me.

This site needs visitors, if those visitors want to post pictures of their cats at this stage I would recommend opening up a area of the forums exclusively for pet related posts.

Keep it, but by default don't let it show up on forum hot topics. That way everyone is happy.

The reason people are so sensitive to politics these days is because of the political mess the world is currently in.

So what you're basically saying is... when the going gets tough, we should stop talking about it now?

I highly doubt that is anywhere close to the #1 reason why site traffic is down.

The Leftists stir things up with their I want everything for free posts and they complain and insult our great President Trump. The Leftists are entertaining and are fun to argue with when you are an ultra right conservative pro-Trump fan. If the political arguments brings in traffic, there is no real harm in turning a blind eye and allowing the threads to drag on.

It's the only place on VGC where I've casually tossed about the idea of live public execution on PPV. True! Voting yes. It's popular. And if you still like VGCmember357 after seeing their comment on here, you know they're still pretty decent people in the end. Or maybe you're both a really big fan of, oh I don't know......Let's say XCOM 2.

It definitely brings out all kinds of people on the stage.. Good place for me to know how people think and who to avoid, unfriend etc.

Crazy but Ideally it would be awesome and one of a kind to make so posting in the politics forum had to be under an alt account.

I love the free speech on this site. I've never seen anything else like it and I want the politics forum to stay.

I am not actually sure why a gaming forum has a politics discussion. What goal for the theme of this site does it serve?

It’s not even a real politics/political discussion forum. Almost no discussion of actual political issues ever takes place. Most people in there don’t even have “grade school” economics or political science knowledge.

But I enjoy the forum.

I go there because I like to argue as a hobby. I also find it funny watching people with very warped conspiracy theories and perceptions of reality squirm in the face of common sense. Also funny because there are many in that forum who are drama queens that think everything is always about them. I like poking sticks at them =D

Most of my posts are unserious, like the dangers of the Canadians, Scottish, and the Netherlanders.

But I wouldn’t miss politics if you got rid of it though; maybe the drama queens would all leave and go to back to IGN’s Vestibule or something... maybe these forums would become attractive to people who do not like drama queens, but love to talk about gaming.

I enjoy the NSFW forum more as an off topic forum. It is funnier and sexier.

Otherwise: zero opinion.