Banning vs Rules

[ChezGiven 0]

Thanks to the amazing work that Ant has put in over the last few months, the site is looking great. It's been a big change in style and format so it might also be a good time to tweak the site's philosophy a little. Not much of course but maybe think about having a bit more specific guidance on what's acceptable and whats not beyond the existing rule (don't be racist and don't say cunt too much).

 

Do people like the fact that there are no real rules apart from the one that no one pays attention to? When everyone is grown up and responsible, the principles that guide our behaviour in our physical interactions are enough to guide our online interactions? Do people care about whether there are rules or not? Rules exist everywhere so why not here?

 

I don't think we ought to have rules but I think that we might need them. Not lots of rules or even strict ones but if people are pissed off with posters then it's very difficult to do anything unless there is a rule. I would hate for the sorts of rules you can see on some forums put up here and I would only ever advocate loose rules with plenty of scope for flexibility.

 

- Piss taking and humor are paramount, funny trumps everything but breaking the law or being a complete c***

- Free speech should be upheld within the principles commonly adopted by broader society

- Respect the majority view, if something you are doing is pissing everybody off, be considerate

 

The bottom line, if you hadn't already guessed it, is really about banning. Due to the lack of rules, decisions about bannings are basically tortuous as there is no criteria other than how people feel to make judgements. There is a strong view that you cant ban someone just because they are annoying and some posters want them to be banned. In my view the best solution is to have better rules that address things like persistent thread derailing. I don't want this to be about the poster so if a post mentions the poster, I'm going to apply thread moderation and delete it. Sort of what should have been done before really.

 

Rule 1: you have to be a bit of a dick to be a moderator.

 

Here are some other proposed rules, be interested in everyone's views (including admin etc).

 

The rules of the Internet: a selection.

 

14. Do not argue with trolls — it means that they win.

15. The harder you try, the harder you will fail.

16. If you fail in epic proportions, it may just become a winning failure.

17. Every win fails eventually.

18. Everything that can be labeled, can be hated.

19. The more you hate it, the stronger it gets.

20. Nothing is to be taken seriously.

21. Original content is original only for a few seconds before getting old.

22. Copy 'n paste is made to ruin every last bit of originality.

23. Copy 'n paste is made to ruin every last bit of originality.

24. Every repost is always a repost of a repost.

25. Relation to the original topic decreases with every single post.

26. Any topic can be turned into something totally unrelated.

27. Always question a person's sexual preferences without any real reason.

28. Always question a person's gender - just in case it's really a man.

29. On the internet, all girls are men, and all kids are undercover FBI agents or Perverted Justice Decoys.

30. There are NO girls on the internet.

31. TITS or GTFO - the choice is yours.

[peasepud 59]

23s just a duplication of 22.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trophyshy 7084]

This place has been fantastic the last week or so, no new rules or further changes necessary tbh.

[Andrew 4855]

This place has been fantastic the last week or so, no new rules or further changes necessary tbh.

 

Get what youre driving at but for the longer term good of the board there needs to be a little more structure

 

"the rule is there are no rules" is fine to a point but its not sustainable and, as chez said, the lack of defined rules makes upholding the rules sort of difficult

[TicTacWoe 0]

Get what youre driving at but for the longer term good of the board there needs to be a little more structure

 

"the rule is there are no rules" is fine to a point but its not sustainable and, as chez said, the lack of defined rules makes upholding the rules sort of difficult

 

Well it's been sustainable for what, nearly a decade now? I do understand the predicament though and assume it largely relates to the situation with one particular poster on here. The less rules the better. Maybe there should be one rule something along the lines of "unless you act like a total and utter bellend for years on end, everything is fine"

Edited May 3, 2012 by TicTacWoe

[trophyshy 7084]

 

 

Get what youre driving at but for the longer term good of the board there needs to be a little more structure

 

"the rule is there are no rules" is fine to a point but its not sustainable and, as chez said, the lack of defined rules makes upholding the rules sort of difficult

 

On the whole this place polices itself perfectly well. I'm not saying you're redundant like.

[ChezGiven 0]

The thread title is shit but it was because I wanted to address the idea that 'it's worked for 8 years, why does it need to change?'. Cos it just might but not very much, is my view.

[Christmas Tree 4808]

Agree with Trophyshy.

 

This place runs very well and peer pressure is usually sufficient to resolve most situations.

 

There has been an exception to this rule, however that's all it is/was, an exception.

 

Be a sad day if a list of rules where needed and new mods should refrain from the desire to empire build.

 

The only rule to live by on here should be wise words uttered by Chez.

 

"this is our little corner of the Internet".

 

Let's not go ott because of one person.

[Andrew 4855]

its no secret that its quite democratic on here as regards to moderating decisions which is why some things can take a while to turn round.

 

this'll help that without impacting largely on the board and its posters. there is nothing there that will stop people posting the usual stuff that is enjoyed on any of the forums however it will mean decisions regarding problems can be made quicker, clearer and with considerably more than just "we decided it so there" as a reason behind it.

 

does anyone REALLY have a problem with anything in Chezs post? does anyone feel that their usual posting will be disrupted by it?

 

or is it more a case of "there were no rules, now there are some and I dont like it"

[trophyshy 7084]

No problem at all. I trust him, you and the others to tcb tbph.

[BestBaNone 0]

It's fine how it is, no rules needed. A little bit of a poster recruitment drive wouldn't go amiss, it does get quiet on here, but the quality of content on here is high. Now that the well talked about problem that the board had has been solved I think we might see the place get slowly busier, because Newcastle Online/skunkers etc are, well, wank.

[BestBaNone 0]

Chez, that was awesome.

[Andrew 4855]

This is by no means a closed issue.

 

That's all I have to say on it right now, more will be coming when it's not half 12 at night.

[trophyshy 7084]

Did BBNs post just get changed?

 

[BestBaNone 0]

Make as many rules up as you want for the gaming forum, pal

[ChezGiven 0]

Chez, that was awesome.

I thought it was nicely done.

[BestBaNone 0]

Did BBNs post just get changed?

 

It did This NEVER happened under the old regime

[BestBaNone 0]

Who was first reserve in case it went to Chez's head?

 

Dedderz?

[trophyshy 7084]

How's this for self policing then, saving the faces of all in charge.

 

After a set number of warnings/reprimands a public vote is called, mods and rockers cannot vote.

 

If a certain number / percentage / whatever call for disfellowship then it is granted. Let the people decide.

 

That should be fair to all shouldn't it?

[TicTacWoe 0]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[ChezGiven 0]

How's this for self policing then, saving the faces of all in charge.

 

After a set number of warnings/reprimands a public vote is called, mods and rockers cannot vote.

 

If a certain number / percentage / whatever call for disfellowship then it is granted. Let the people decide.

 

That should be fair to all shouldn't it?

 

Great idea, full of holes as a plan though.

 

What behaviour don't you like and if you could create one rule to cut down on this behaviour, what would it be?

[trophyshy 7084]

Fill the holes in then.

 

It's not behaviour though is it, it's personality. And they don't change for a few empty rules.

 

Even Mother Teresa occasionally told people to get fucked.

Edited May 3, 2012 by trophyshy

[Monroe Transfer 0]

Board is fine as it is.

 

If there's a problem then deal with it on a case by case basis. Everything else (illegal activities, racism etc) is common sense really. If someone breaks an obvious rule, then do whatever needs to be done. Other than that the leniency of this place has long been one of its best features. Very few have done anything on here that really should have led to them being excluded.

 

Honestly sounds - not trying to be rude here, you're making positive steps - like a couple of you got a moderating job on here and feel the need to do something with it when it's not required. You mods can't even ban members anyway unless mods have the power to do so (almost exclusively an admin feature on most if not all forums).

[Baggio 0]

It looks to me like an attempt to show people you're attempting to do something that will improve the forum while not banning a certain person that is putting people off the place, which is what caused this shake up of moderators in the first place.

 

 

[Monroe Transfer 0]

The thread title is shit but it was because I wanted to address the idea that 'it's worked for 8 years, why does it need to change?'. Cos it just might but not very much, is my view.

 

Fair enough.

 

The board doesn't seem to grow much in terms of popularity, naturally the more it would (does?), the more moderation would be needed and more rules would need implementing and adhering too. So I suppose slightly changing things to 'future-proof' things if the board attracts more members due to the club's success isn't a bad idea.