We, the moderators of PC Master Race, acknowledge there has been recent controversial posts shared in our Lemmy community that suggest the name of the community should be changed. The argument is that usage of “Master Race” can potentially be associated with the Nazi regime since “master race” is a specific reference to Aryan persons.

Due to message length limits in Lemmy, see the below replies which outlines the post-mortem discussion by the moderators of this community.

Topics:

  1. What happened?
  2. What is the current state?
  3. What are we doing to address this?
  4. What happens if the name of this community is changed?
  5. Next Steps
  6. Take the Survey

Notices:

  • Survey link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLqKx4y49BnmsyuEdwZUCSOTg3rWCjqqfloxhoE59CF7TH6g/viewform
  • This survey will close on August 20. We will create a new post summarizing the decision afterward.
  • You can take the survey anonymously and without signing into a Google account.
  • Due to the controversy around this topic, this Post will be locked.
  • The moderators will share the results of this initial survey to the community after 30 days to allow sufficient time to collect feedback from the community.
  • No new posts about the Name Change topic will be accepted. If you would like to discuss this further with the community, please use this older post: https://lemmy.world/post/1100953

Final Thoughts:

  • Regardless of where you stand on the name “PC Master Race”, at the end of the day we are all people. We are all connected by a hobby that we love: gaming on PC, or just being PC enthusiasts.
  • We are a democratic community that encourages everyone to be respectful, have fun, and engage with each other.
  • Be kind to others, even when they have an opinion that you disagree with.

If you have specific questions, please send a Private Message to the moderators which you can find in the sidebar. Thank you for your understanding.

Kind regards,

The Moderator Team

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

  • @CatZoomiesOPMEnglish
    39•10 months ago

    1. What happened?

    On the topic of the PC Master Race being a reference to the Nazi regime’s “master race”, two controversial posts (https://lemmy.world/post/1068192 and https://lemmy.world/post/1100953) were created within two days. Moderators locked down the first post due to the comments violating community rules. No further posts were created on this topic.

    2. What is the current state?

    There is some division in the community because of these posts. I will briefly summarize the main points of both sides in favor of keeping the name and the side in favor of changing the name.

    On keeping the name “Master Race”:

    • The origin of the name “Glorious PC Master Race” comes from a video game review of “The Witcher” by Yahtzee in 2008. This was spun as a joke to highlight the superior PC platform as a better gaming device compared to its rival gaming platforms (typically dedicated video game consoles). Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Master_Race
    • It was meant to compare PC to console, and not compare PC gamers to console players (i.e., comparing machines rather than comparing humans).
    • As the origin of the name is intended as a joke, it is important that people understand it has always been a joke and compares PC to consoles. It was never intended to compare people.

    On changing the name to remove “Master Race”:

    • “Master Race” (German: Herrenrasse), is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology in which the putative “Aryan race” is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as “Herrenmenschen” (“master humans”). Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_race
    • While the origin of the name “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” was created as a joke, the intention was to emphasize the superiority of the PC platform compared to its rival gaming platforms (e.g., video game consoles). The PC gaming community caught on to this reference, adopted it, and it became viral.
    • Representatives of the PCMR community could potentially be perceived as “believing they are superior humans” that are better than other gamers because they game on PC. Keeping this name as an identifier should not be used because of the extreme origin of “master race” and the associated systematic, bureaucratic genocide of ~6 million Jews by the Nazi regime.
    • Removing a reference of “Master Race” is recommended to ensure that we do not alienate others or be perceived as a community that accepts sharing a name with a historical atrocity.
    • @CatZoomiesOPMEnglish
      29•10 months ago

      3. What are we doing to address this?

      We would like to democratize this decision. We as a community should come together to decide how we want to move forward. The moderators would like to invite you to partake in a brief survey that asks you only one question: Should the name of the community be changed?

      4. What happens if the name of this community is changed?

      • If the survey results are in favor of changing the name, we will create a new survey so you can suggest the new name of the community.
      • We will compile those results and combine similar names into a shortened list of options. For example, the Top 5 name suggestions.
      • We will then create one final survey for the Top 5 to allow you to vote on the new name of the Community.

      Once the new name is decided, we will:

      • Create the new Community name in Lemmy.
      • Lock this existing community and redirect users to the new one (this approach is similar to the Android community on Lemmy World).

      Naturally if the community votes No on the name change, none of these actions will be taken.