ST Forum mood and environment, plus a warning – PLEASE READ

As we head into the final weeks before TLJ is released, we need to address the mood and environment here in the Last Jedi & IX – SA forum.

To establish a foundation, I think it’s probably safe to assume that everyone in here loves Star Wars. Most are also excited about the release of TLJ. So when people spend a significant amount of their time and attention in a forum that’s dedicated to something they love, it seems reasonable to think they are doing it because they enjoy it. That they enjoy the experience of discussing that thing with other people who also like it. That’s not to say that every SW fan has to like all the same parts, because of course SW has a lot of parts to it and everyone has their own tastes. But the larger thing, SW, is something we all apparently like and feel invested in.

That brings me to the larger point. Too many threads in here have become battlegrounds. Too many posters are apparently logging in here to engage with their opponents and score points against them. Too many people are on short fuses right now… at each other's throats sometimes, ready to call each other out and say how wrong they are or how stupid their opinions are. The pending issues that TLJ should hopefully resolve, like Reylo, Luke's fate, etc. have really brought out the worst in some people that should be here because they like SW. People are becoming more and more nasty to each other and trying to find the secret motives behind people's posts, instead of just discussing the point the person was actually making. In short, too many in this forum are making the mood and environment feel toxic instead of fun. This is supposed to be fun. We’re supposed to be able to discuss the details, our opinions, our predictions, our hopes, etc., in threads that remain on-topic, civil, friendly, and constructive. We say this many times; the rule is “discuss the topic, not each other.”

Finally, the warning part. As an example, the mods here gave preemptive warnings and reminders many times in the now-locked Rey parentage thread about what kinds of posting would not be allowed after we (hopefully) get an answer from TLJ about Rey’s parents. To review, a little bit of fun celebration is fine. What is not OK is excessive celebration, and saying things like “Ha! I was right and you were wrong! Your side was stupid for believing X or wanting Y, and I told you so!”. No calls for others to eat crow. Besides the Rey parentage topic, other obvious ones would be the relationship or lack thereof between Rey and Kylo Ren, or the question of Luke’s fate. Just to be clear again on this, posting of that style after these outcomes are revealed WILL result in bans.

Having said all that, let’s all just enjoy discussing SW and the new movie together. Thanks.

 

Please note: now that the movie is out, people's differences of opinion about the movie have caused many threads to become too toxic again. Remember to keep things friendly, constructive, and on-topic... people could be taking breaks (bans) from the boards if they can't do those things.