But seriously, Isnt this kind of thread forbidden? They rules say they are, but they usually live for a looooong time.
The "no vs. debates" rule exists for a very specific reason -- because we looked over at SpaceBattles and saw that a bunch of teenagers had turned cool Sci Fi stuff into some kind of a heartless and mindless competition... and that they were intent on spreading their idiocy over all corners of the internet. And the internet conducts idiocy like piles of leaves conduct fire. When we feel that this particular sort of "debate" is going on, we'll put a stop to it. What we're talking about, though, is "I think the Enterprise could blow up a Star Destroyer!" -- *not* "why did WC do this differently from Star Wars?"
The rule isn't "don't compare anything, ever, or we'll kick you in the head and eat your children!". It's reminding people to use some discretion in such matters... an issue that clearly doesn't even begin to come into play here. A much more important rule -- and hear me very clearly: MUCH MORE IMPORTANT RULE -- for you people to follow is the *first* one on the list. If you think that someone else is breaking the rules *LEAVE THEM ALONE*. It is not your job to moderate the chat board, and nothing makes me want to kick you in the head and eat your children harder than seeing some sanctimonious fellow shouting to everyone that he knows the exact rules better than someone else. If you truly believe that someone has posted something that threatens the spirit of conversation or the security of the board, then contact a moderator privately. (If it's something as stupid as "HE MENTIONED STAR TREK! GET YOUR PITCHFORK!", I will ignore you.)
To summarize: no one should ever, ever, ever, ever, ever need to point to the rules. Leave it to the people who've stupidly decided to moderate the board the way we do, and go have fun with some other conversation. And don't *worry* about breaking the rules accidentally - no one ever got banned for doing anything with good intentions... the worst an "accidental" versus thread will ever get is a hilariously mean comment by yours truly and a little thread closed icon. So knock yourselves out.
Well sorry for trying to invoke some interesting conversation!
Another good lesson is that just becomes someone is an admin/moderator doesn't mean they have the last word in a discussion. We're a small community, and everyone contributes as an individual, even when they've also sworn to uphold the psedolaw... unless Death is saying "this is against the rules, stop talking about it", then he's just part of the debate. You're welcome -- and if you truly want to participate in some sort of the debate, required -- to reply with a response that completely disagrees with his. Why do you think it's important? What can we learn? Etc.
(As for the actual topic -- I generally agree with everyone that comparing things to other Sci Fi universes doesn't necessarily hold water... the interesting thing to look at would be internal consistency among the various Wing Commander games. How does *that* pan out, and could it be done differently/better/etc.?
Of course, why is also a good question -- why did other series' go with more massive starships? Is there some production reason? A worthy question, maybe one of you can figure it out.)
