First of all, I want to commend Smeags for taking so much time and energy to give this topic the attention and respect it deserves. I know this topic is controversial for some, and I'm glad most everyone has been able to discuss it rationally, without resorting to accusations of wrongdoing.
When I first joined VGChartz in 2012, I threw myself into the forums. I commented about Nintendo, about Sony, about Microsoft, about the state of the video game industry, and about sales and scores. I was met by warm, welcoming people who enjoyed debating the finer points of the medium we all know and love. I was met by cold, angry people who wanted to create confusion and discord on the site. I was confronted with the best of people and the worst of people. But, throughout the good and the bad, I learned new things about myself and about video games. That's the nature of any good video game forum. It should, like the larger internet, be a place for the free exchange of ideas, even if those ideas are toxic to us.
While I understand the purpose of the nation threads -- to provide a meeting space for like-minded individuals, and to shield those individuals from persecution -- I believe strongly that they are, as Smeags and others have written, at best redundant and at worst detrimental to what is, in my mind, the ultimate goal of this forum: a community that is both diverse in its opinions but undivided in its responsibilities. In other words, I believe all of us should strive to embrace the opinions and priorities that make us unique while simultaneously taking ownership for the whole of VGChartz, not only a sub-section of it.
To the owners and followers of nation threads: I hope you don't interpret this thread as an attack on you or your passionate, dedicated community. Fans of all systems and genres are treated equally by the mod team. That is my promise to you, and a standard of excellence I take solemnly. However, I think there is a misunderstanding here between persecution and negative opinion. If there are serial bullies and rule-breakers on this site, they are rooted out, censured, and, in some extreme cases, permanently removed from this community. But we as mods cannot change the hearts and minds of the members who post here. Nor should we want to do so. It's the diversity of opinion, which I referenced above, that makes this community so strong. If you are confronted with an overwhelmingly negative response to something, it may simply be that the majority opinion is overwhelmingly negative. And that's something all of us must deal with, on the internet and in real life. Retreating into a forum within a forum to escape negative news and opinion defeats the purpose of this forum -- the free exchange of ideas -- and removes from the equation some of our most passionate and educated members.
