In the latest bit of controversy within the board game world, former BattleTech Reddit moderators were ousted for their less-than-proper reaction to Pride Month. To be more specific, the moderators outright removed a zine of a queer BattleTech fanfiction without warning or explanation. This caused quite a bit of controversy and outrage, so much so that BattleTech publisher Catalyst Game Labs had to personally intervene and make a statement on the matter.
While the BattleTech subreddit is by no means official, it was still the only place on Reddit where the community could gather and share their love of the game. The moderators later made a public statement, citing a rule that did not permit posts that discuss “the Real World, politics, or current events in this subreddit” and that the team apparently used the year 1988 as a measure of relevance, explaining that Pride is a recent event and as such does not hold relevancy. However, as fans pointed out, their logic is flawed, stating that such events became public in 1969, with the rainbow flag being introduced in 1970. The post has since been deleted. This also led to BattleTech moderator Mr_Severan resigning his position and issuing a public apology.
BattleTech is for Everyone
The one thing that is positive from all of this controversy is that Catalyst Game Labs has personally stepped in to create a future official Battletech Reddit page. The announcement was made public on Reddit by Rem Artemis himself – the Community and Marketing Director from Catalyst Game Labs. The announcement post stressed the need for a safe space for the BattleTech community on Reddit, and the urgency of the issue. Artemis did state, however, that he will not be active on Reddit, instead leaving freelancer Russell Zimmerman who is on the BattleTech community team, to handle the situation.
The reason why the new Battletech Reddit page is not listed as official just yet was described by Artemis in the following manner: “…to call this subreddit “official,” the community and moderation team will need to abide by the same community guidelines as our other spaces. Once those are finalized, we will communicate them with you”. Artemis further stated that the goal of the page will be to enable community members to moderate rather than Catalyst Game Labs themselves. This is very encouraging, as it’s always refreshing to see game developers giving the community power, but Catalyst Game Labs need to be careful that the situation does not repeat itself. After all, the former BattleTech moderator Mr_Severan is also a member of the community.