Is the content that belongs into the following areas inappropriate and should be flagged? Please understand this Topic is not only about the question if something should be flagged but also about how the community deals with hostility now and how the user should respond.
In mid-2023 and repeatedly since, Juan posted on Twitter/X and Mastodon calling out what he described as a growing toxicity problem in the Godot community. The core points he made:
Gatekeeping is damaging the engine’s growth. He directly called out users who reply to beginners with “RTFM,” “that’s a stupid question,” “you’re not ready for game dev,” or “if you have to ask, you shouldn’t be using Godot.” He said this drives away new users and is completely antithetical to the project’s goals.
“Elitism and gatekeeping are poison.” He used the word “gatekeeping” explicitly, noting that it often masquerades as “just being direct” or “preserving high-quality discussion,” but in reality it makes the community unwelcoming and hostile.
A personal appeal to veteran users. He asked experienced contributors to remember that they, too, were once beginners and that patience is not optional — it’s a requirement for a healthy open-source project.
Directive to moderators. Juan made it clear that he expected the moderation team to treat gatekeeping behavior as a Code of Conduct violation, not just “unfortunate tone.” These posts were widely shared internally and set a new, stricter tone for enforcement on the forum and chat platforms.
Gatekeeping, defined as “telling someone their question doesn’t belong here, they aren’t experienced enough to ask it, or that they should ‘go learn the basics before asking.’”
Snark and passive-aggression, including replies like “just Google it” or “this has been answered a thousand times.” Moderators were instructed to remove such posts, not just respond to them.
If you’ve seen someone outright tell someone else they are stupid, or that their question is stupid, of course, you should absolutely report it as inappropriate. However, I don’t fully agree with everything in this post.
I have seen people interpret extra material given to them as “snarky” or “passive-aggressive”, but in almost every single case, they link to the godot documentation, because it does a really good job of explaining the issue new users are facing and the possible solutions to it.
Often times you get asked followup question that might seem obvious or “lazy”, but to those helping you out it might not be. There are an infinite number of ways to approach the same problem, this is especially true for game development. It’s very difficult to give accurate answers if we barely get one or two lines or code, or no code at all, and a one-line explanation of something “not working”.
That’s why so many users default to giving a link to the documentation, or an older post where someone had the same problem as you do now. You know your own project the best, so you’re a better judge on which solution would work for you.
All of these cases should of course be flagged and will be reviewed by a moderator.
It’s really rare that I see any of these behaviors here on the Forum though, as has been mentioned already - the community here is very welcoming and helpful even on the easiest of questions.
Please also keep in mind to assume positive intent and to not assume that responses are of this nature, and also be aware of people who might engage in disruptive behaviors being told to stop asking a question that has been answered and similar (look up “sealioning” for example)
You’re talking about this thread, then you’re barking up the wrong tree very much, and people have been polite to you there (and in fact a reply of yours has been flagged, not sure for what though)
I understand that it could be understand like Oh yes maybe we dont know about this but the statement Nobody on this forum produced an AAA game is very bold and it makes it a bugger off for me es specially in the context that the answer before was the same mood: Dont ask nothing to see here:
Quote “Then I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine hiring someone with expertise to make this assessment for you, given the project specification.”
And TBH I find creating a whole thread over assuming someone else meant something they didn’t is pretty offensive, and I’d say against the code of conduct
Those replies were polite and constructive, giving you genuine suggestions, not snark or dismissive
Always assume positive intent from others. Be aware that differences in culture and English proficiency make written communication more difficult than face-to-face communication and that your interpretation of messages may not be the one the author intended. Conversely, if someone asks you to rephrase something you said, be ready to do so without feeling judged.
In this case you did not ask someone to rephrase it, and assumed ill intent
Are we in a debate right now?
Yeah, for sure there will be some offensive posts because it’s culture of the internet.
Godot forum mods doesn’t take a second to nuke them. Including A guy who was being rude to other members of the forum.He’s Banned right now
Feel free to flag the offensive posts/topics, mods will inspect those and do whatever is right.
Always assume positive intent from others. And i am trying to understand you all the time, i really try to see your point and discuss with you, what do you think i dont take serously?