I might be biased because of my role, but I don't see it that way. There are always going to be complaints both ways--some want more restrictions on what is allowed for the purpose of making the forum more pleasant, some want less because they don't want to be censored--but for many, including artists and company reps (particularly from Sideshow) the forum was getting too unpleasant to be worth visiting. I don't know if you've noticed, but SSC's reps post far less frequently here than they did a few years ago, which really kind of sucks, because we don't get to hear about why decisions are made, what may be coming in the pipeline, we don't have many board-exclusive contests, etc. And apparently the fact that people will just beat a dead horse until it's pulp, or will post things without tact or consideration for others has contributed to that.
It's never going to be perfect, but if you saw the initial discussion on Green Lantern when one of SSC's reps came by recently, it went way further than it should have. Censorship of opinion isn't the goal, but sometimes that could be collateral damage if folks aren't able to state their opinions in a more reasonable way. And of course, the rule isn't really new, just a renewed emphasis on a rule that hadn't been very strongly enforced.
Not really trying to stoke a debate here or anything, but as you say, this is a toy forum where folks come to, presumably, relax and talk about things of relatively little consequence. That suggests to me that making this a more pleasant place where people feel more comfortable is a good idea, though of course, some level of conflict is inevitable when you are allowing, even encouraging the discussion of divergent viewpoints.
I agree, Doc definitely needs to come with those accessories.
haha.
