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***WannabeFinn*** · 06-11-2023, 09:29 PM

Good Evening SHL,

We have come to the decision to archive the Thunderdome as a read-only forum, and no plans exist to replace it in any like-for-like fashion. The statement from the SHL Head Office:

Quote:It will come to no surprise to the community that the Thunderdome has always been a sensitive and tricky topic. While at some point in time it may have served a purpose, with how the SHL as a whole has evolved in the recent years, there have over time been an overwhelming amount of people who have individually raised concerns about its existence, about what it conveys, about it not reflecting the values we have come to hold dear and most important of all, about it not being conducive to proper respectful discussion and the sustainability of the SHL as a safe space for all.

On this matter, HO has been going back and forth for months, discussing the future of the TD and what actions to take. We feel strongly about the idea that its existence in itself is an invitation to negative discourse and behaviour and there are multiple occurrences of that in both past and recent times to illustrate this point. While our goal is not to inhibit free speech or censor the users of this community, we realize there are alternative forums that can be used to discuss various topics you all would be passionate about, rendering the existence of the TD unnecessary given the aforementioned facts.

In another line of thought, there is this preconceived idea from days long gone that the conduct rules do not apply to the TD, and we'd like to say this isn't the case, as stated in the rulebook. Despite this, history would somewhat prove otherwise, and we are aware of this. This is not to say HO's have let things slide purposefully, but more-so that the idea could enable conduct rules violating behavior which is not what we'd like to see.

In an effort to reflect the new reality of the SHL and to clarify to applicability of the conduct rules, HO will be archiving the TD indefinitely. This is not to say that users are no longer allowed to have difficult conversations, but we encourage you to make use of the General Discussion forum, and to have those conversations in a way that is not deliberately/immediately inflammatory. Again - things escalate when people are passionate about things, and that's still allowed within the guidelines of our user conduct code, but we feel that providing a place where conversations are intended to come from a place of negativity and hostility does not foster our growth and respect for one another as a community. We also reiterate our commitment to enforcing the conduct ruless on all areas of SHL activity. We look forward to the engaging discussions that will take place and hope this decision brings positive change to the site.

My thoughts: The Thunderdome is a relic of the past. It's a place that was created with a niche use in mind and it has mostly failed to achieve what it set out to do. It brings out the ugly side of our community. It's a factory of outrage. I can't begin to count the number of negative effects the subforum has had on the community over the years. It's time for us to move towards a more productive, less divisive future.