As much as I enjoy the Vita thread, you raise a lot of good points (and not only in my pants) that have nagged me for a while now.

What else am I ignoring? My point in the post that I made, was that if you say things like "people are going to post in there because you posted here" doesnt add anything constructive, because people could have posted the thread as result of this thread and so on and so on. That wasnt a disagreement that activity is low in Xbox related thread. Please do not put words in my mouth.

I care very little for the Nation threads, as I don't frequent or post in any of them. Keep them, get rid of them, it will not affect me.

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.

Am I missing something with the above Rare thread?

The thread is not busy because it isn't firm news on anything. And of course the people most interested in the news will already be discussing it in the Empire thread.

And yes the 70k Nation thread disagrees with you.

You're right it wouldn't have, and why do you think that is?

That would indeed be the best solution. Make a new thread (about news, game announcements, discussion topics or other infos) and link it with only the title in the nations-thread.

Would be easier to find the new topics in the nations thread and if you want to enter the discussion, you click on the link which takes you to the discussion thread.

The Nation threads are far more positive for the forum then negative. If you take Xbox Empire for example before Xbox Empire took off, what was the Xbox community like here on VGC? I probably can’t answer this as I wasn’t around pre-2013. What I remember lurking was that it was Nsanity posting news, which got less than a handful of replies unless it was negative. And the news that was presented was met with downplay. You can say that “Xbox people don’t like positive news.” But most Xbox people that are currently around were not around back in pre 2013. If you are a fan of Xbox, who wants to be a part of that? The Nintendo and Sony communities far outweigh the Xbox community on here, so you are able to have more threads and more positive reception; since more time has allowed more fans to become apart of this site.

As a result a lot of Xbox members decided to stay in Empire. And I honestly don’t even see the issue with users staying in one thread. Unless members are bashing other consoles, I honestly do not see the issue. PS Vita Nation members and I’m sure the other two have them as well. What about the amount of people who joined up to this site because of Vita Nation, or because of Xbox Nation. Ryuu96, myself, Kinisking, Linchpin, DexinDaJungle, Versus Evil and a few others started coming to this website because of Xbox Empire. And that’s just Xbox Empire as I’m sure members joined this site because of Vita Nation, and Nintendomination.

When members of Empire decide to make threads, there is basically no traffic, depending on the nature of the thread if negative, a huge shit storm. Now while number three may be true, it isn’t true for all cases and instances. I remember back when Halo got some news about “Aim Down Sight?” You had part of the group dismissing it, while another part were against it. This lead to a healthy debate within a community for and against both arguments presented.

If some of the main issues is “monopolizing news.” I can go half way. If I see news that Ryuu posts, I’ll make a forum post to help regulate “healthy discussion” in the Microsoft forum. That part I can agree on. And that’s something I can at least attempt to rectify.

Overall, Nation threads have far more positives that outweigh the negatives. They help foster positive and healthy discussion, they create a welcoming environment in a forum that’s slowly deteriorating, and bring in new members. I’m not saying you are choosing to get rid of them, as this piece seems more of a critique, but if you WERE to get rid of Nation threads, I feel a majority of people will not be happy and a lot of people (including myself) will leave the forum.

If you don't feel welcome in Xbox Empire that's your own thing and not ours. And how do we make it known?

I honestly don't remember you that much in Empire except that ONE issue. You got upset about how I interpreted Angry Joe's video on Tomb Raider and a moderator told you to drop discussion, then you perma banned yourself shortly there after. So shouldn't you have had issues with the mod team? and not us?

You're free to post anywhere as is everyone else on any part of this forum.