Discussion: Forum Rules Revision
By
Absinth_Incubus,
Posted on: 2008-07-21 13:00 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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Well, I repsect your need to maintain order in the whirling chaos that might engulf us otherwise, I respectfully (and vehemently) disagree with the following:
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..."/signed" posts are a version of bumping and likewise are not permitted.
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When the OP has made a clear, logical coherent statement of "whatever" /signed is not a bump, it is a means of demonstrating community support without wasting everyone's time by restating.
These forums *are* supposed to be a place to express our agreement/disagreement/wishes to the rest of the community and the development team. Brevity isn't bad.
Or said another way,
Where would we be if Marvel suppressed Stan Lee?
'nuff said....
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This was actually discussed as one of the hot topics, quite a bit, in some of our planning meetings. Having an idea to improve things, like, saying "Giant Robo Triceratops that spawn in Steel Canyon, especially if the "destructible environment" toggle switched on when it spawned, would be awesome" is fantastic and a good representation of your personal desire to see the game improve.
By doing just a /signed, you are saying "hey, great idea i like it" which is great to show positive sentiment towards the idea, but it's not constructive to the discussion of WHY it should be implemented.
/unsigned is even worse because a lot of the time /unsigned is like saying "no, this is a horrible idea" without providing justification as to why, which degenerates into arguments and flaming.
By providing feedback into the either agreement or disagreement helps engender discussion but also provides us with a better evaluation of what the community wants in a constructive fashion. However as this is a hot topic I will once again bring it up for evaluation.
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However, many things have been changed by a large number of replies, not so much the content to those replies. If Arcanaville (as an example) presents a well placed arguement for pack hunting velociraptors with super speed in a new jungle zone. Odds are there won't be a heck of a lot many others could contribute to the idea as presented, thus /signed shows support for the idea and indicates I don't have anything to add that's not already been said by the first dozen or so people on this thread, but ido want my voice to be heard.
@PlasmaStream
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However, many things have been changed by a large number of replies, not so much the content to those replies. If Arcanaville (as an example) presents a well placed arguement for pack hunting velociraptors with super speed in a new jungle zone. Odds are there won't be a heck of a lot many others could contribute to the idea as presented, thus /signed shows support for the idea and indicates I don't have anything to add that's not already been said by the first dozen or so people on this thread, but ido want my voice to be heard.
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*Edit*
Redbone actually said it better in the post below mine.
This is what I mean when I say I'm not at all perfect in what I do.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
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Well, I repsect your need to maintain order in the whirling chaos that might engulf us otherwise, I respectfully (and vehemently) disagree with the following:
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..."/signed" posts are a version of bumping and likewise are not permitted.
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When the OP has made a clear, logical coherent statement of "whatever" /signed is not a bump, it is a means of demonstrating community support without wasting everyone's time by restating.
These forums *are* supposed to be a place to express our agreement/disagreement/wishes to the rest of the community and the development team. Brevity isn't bad.
Or said another way,
Where would we be if Marvel suppressed Stan Lee?
'nuff said....
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This was actually discussed as one of the hot topics, quite a bit, in some of our planning meetings. Having an idea to improve things, like, saying "Giant Robo Triceratops that spawn in Steel Canyon, especially if the "destructible environment" toggle switched on when it spawned, would be awesome" is fantastic and a good representation of your personal desire to see the game improve.
By doing just a /signed, you are saying "hey, great idea i like it" which is great to show positive sentiment towards the idea, but it's not constructive to the discussion of WHY it should be implemented.
/unsigned is even worse because a lot of the time /unsigned is like saying "no, this is a horrible idea" without providing justification as to why, which degenerates into arguments and flaming.
By providing feedback into the either agreement or disagreement helps engender discussion but also provides us with a better evaluation of what the community wants in a constructive fashion. However as this is a hot topic I will once again bring it up for evaluation.
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However, many things have been changed by a large number of replies, not so much the content to those replies. If Arcanaville (as an example) presents a well placed arguement for pack hunting velociraptors with super speed in a new jungle zone. Odds are there won't be a heck of a lot many others could contribute to the idea as presented, thus /signed shows support for the idea and indicates I don't have anything to add that's not already been said by the first dozen or so people on this thread, but ido want my voice to be heard.
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I think what they're trying to get at here is: it's not about "voting" but discussion. You want your voice to be heard, and that's well and good, we all do; but for the powers that be, "yeah" is useless, it's merely a positive "vote" and "no way" is just as useless, it's merely a negative "vote." Without any added data/ideas/details both are just background noise that gets in the way of information.
In the Raptor example above, "/signed" shows assent but carries no information, "Woah, that's a great idea. I would love seeing that happen because..." carries loads more useful infromation because even if the Raptor idea isn't possible, you've provided data why it (or something like it) would be enjoyable to you (and/or other users like you) AND you've registered your assent.
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Keep in mind, if you wish to discuss these rules, this is the place to do it, as long as it is done in a constructive fashion. If you have concerns, please voice them. I've spent some time working on these, but alas, I lack total perfection in all things I do, and I appreciate the feedback. As for suggestions other people have mentioned, again, as long as you discuss the suggestion in a constructive fashion, it is permitted in this thread.
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OK. Then I'll warn you in advance, I'm not kidding about "How much will you be ramping up the mod staff" question, though that should probably be directed higher than you, possibly higher than Lighthouse. I've got a somewhat older example that I'm sure Billzbubba remembers, as well, when it comes to mod frustration, that reading these rules - well, leaves me shaking my head. It's not so much about the rules as their actual enforcement.
The situation I'm using as one example:
Person comes into the Kheld forums starting a thread specifically to (a) insult the people playing the AT, as well as the AT itself, and (b) start a fight. Now, this thread was reported. Yes, people were replying in it - and pointing out where the original poster was wrong in their information and assumptions - but the original poster went on in the same vein, to the point of going to the *brute* forums, starting a related (similarly insulting) thread, and being shot down there (the answer generally being "They're right, single target a brute will kill faster, but I can see them killing groups as a whole faster with their AOEs.")
*Multiple* posts were reported - I know, I reported some, and saw "The moderator has been notified" on most of the others.
The thread itself was bumped at least two weeks later, when someone asked if the original poster had come back with their proof of somethingorother. The thread had not been purged, had not been *touched,* despite a minimum of ten reports in just one thread on individual posts, and I'm *sure* PMs being sent.
Meanwhile, we know the mods were active, as pyramids were smacked and other, far less inflammatory posts were getting modded.
This isn't the only example, by *far.* The problem with trying to lay rules down is that there is no *consistency* historically here. Well, I should take that back, there is, but not in a good way - it generally goes this way:
- Forums go their own way for a while.
- Rules are brought up by a redname.
- Discussion of rules occurs.
- At some point, an "Are you SURE you want us to do this? We will" post comes from a redname.
- Mass bannings and suspensions occur, including to some of those who have said *reasonably* that they just want some consistency that's been lacking in the past.
- Forums die down for a bit. Some people leave.
- After two months, repeat step 1 for 4-8 months or so.
I really, truly wish I were kidding.
Look, when a thread is filled with "This post has already been reported" responses when trying TO report it, and it just goes on - even on weekdays - while far, far more benign posts get smacked, it's very discouraging.
What will be done to address *that?* (Besides throwing me on the list for suspension the next time they're done, that is.)
Original post deleted.
Maybe i overreacted a little. Im kinda blooded at times... I dont know why i care so much about whatever happen in that forum. I guess i have too much free time.
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
Quoting Plas:
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However, many things have been changed by a large number of replies, not so much the content to those replies. If Arcanaville (as an example) presents a well placed arguement for pack hunting velociraptors with super speed in a new jungle zone. Odds are there won't be a heck of a lot many others could contribute to the idea as presented, thus /signed shows support for the idea and indicates I don't have anything to add that's not already been said by the first dozen or so people on this thread, but ido want my voice to be heard.
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In the past I'd be tempted to just quote Plas and say /signed as I am in agreement with the idea presented.
However at this point in time I will verbosely and vocaly as a vestige of the vox populi take volumionus amounts of time to validate my feelings in reply. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to vouch for Plas's position.
...or you know.. I coulda typed 6 characters on the keyboard to do the same as above.
((Hyperbole and V for Vendetta used for purely entertainment purposes))
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3. No posting of personal information
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This seems to focus on the posting of other people's personal information. Users should be cautioned not to post their own personal information, either.
For security rather than privacy reasons, PlayNC account and game account usernames and passwords should not be permitted.
Would anyone from NCI ever ask for personal or security information through this forum? Here, or rule 7, would be a great place to include a "we will never ask for" anti-phishing notice.
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6. Do not post about exploits.
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Forum users are divided on how to define "exploit." The difference between an exploit and a workaround, for instance, is highly subjective. We'd be even more divided on what kind of discussions about which exploits should be barred from discussion.
It might help to draw some clear lines here. Perhaps limit this rule to "how-to" posts for major, unknown, and current exploits? For instance, the following topics I've posted about, although some would call them exploits, should be allowed:
* RMT spam (very few posts on this topic are "how-to")
* backdoor slotting Screech for range (minor exploit, arguably a workaround)
* farming (everyone knows about this)
* City of Blasters/the Smoke Grenade decimal-point bug (historical exploit, no longer in game)
If it sounds like more trouble than it's worth, it probably is. Game security is NCSoft's job, and I'm not sure it should be a burden on the forum moderators to keep bugs hush-hush.
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12. No Legal Action threads.
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Could this rule be explicitly limited to threads about the starting of new legal action? It hints to that effect but could be clarified.
I was very active in the Marvel vs NCSoft discussion thread; we weren't advocating the filing of a new lawsuit by anyone against anyone, rather discussing an already existing lawsuit. Most of us "endorsed" one side or the other. 
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15. Player Generated Content
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Copyrighted, proprietary images, as well as images that do not belong to you (i.e. Personal photographs or artwork without permission of the creator) are also forbidden.
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Careful. Some content providers grant a blanket license for personal Internet use, often explicitly including forum avatar use. And then there's the whole fair use quagmire. Rather than moderator level enforcement, potential copyright violations may be better dealt with on a notice-and-takedown basis through your DMCA Safe Harbor policy (linked to in rule 18).
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However, many things have been changed by a large number of replies, not so much the content to those replies. If Arcanaville (as an example) presents a well placed arguement for pack hunting velociraptors with super speed in a new jungle zone. Odds are there won't be a heck of a lot many others could contribute to the idea as presented, thus /signed shows support for the idea and indicates I don't have anything to add that's not already been said by the first dozen or so people on this thread, but ido want my voice to be heard.
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Our stance on this is if the time can be taken to type out /signed, then we believe a short sentence of "I agree with this because ..." could also be typed out. It shows agreement and why which is the important factor.
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And if the reasons have already been said? Wouldn't repeating be seen, frankly, as a bump?
For instance, the above idea is posted.
Response 1, "Ooh, yeah, it would fit in with my character concept perfectly."
Response 2, "Hey, that's interesting flavor."
Response 3... has a character it would fit in with and likes the theme of the zone, but has nothing more to add. Is their opinion any less valid? Or respondant 4-10, should they not reply because what they'd say would already have been said?
Is "Yes/no, though my reasons have been stated by another" a valid reply, or does it fall under bumping and/or "non-acceptable?"
Meanwhile, the idea gets pushed down because another "Hero MMs" idea, "Character full respec" idea and "Server merge" idea come up.
With the repeat non-feasable, bad, or otherwise previously shot down ideas that come up continually, are we going to have a page or more of stickies dealing with them, and/or with posts like the old cut-paste "Reasons why/not" some folks did, or links to them being in the scoop articles?
What will be done when they're posted again? Some people are going to see "See X post" as rude and unconstructive, after all, no matter how reasonably the disagreement is stated or what facts are behind it - I know since it happened and resulted (among other things) in S&I being moved down to "For fun."
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I believe its not unreasonable to suggest that since calls for nerfs are much more likely to spark unproductive controversy on the forums, calls for power reductions should be held to a higher standard than calls for buffs.
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I don't think you'll be held responsible for how other people reply to your post....
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Aren't those statements a bit contradictory? If you say I need to be held to higher standards if my post is suggesting something a lot of people won't like, then I've got to change my bahavoir according to how other people will reply to my post.
But then, a 'higher standard' is not the rule. The rule is NO posting such things. And the reason for the rule is that some people can't respond to such posts in a respectable way, even if the post itself is well thought-out. I don't like being censored because somebody else has anger management problems.
P.S. And no mention of my PIGG file note? So we are clear for discussion on the internal structure of those things? That will sure make the 'silencing in-game sounds' guide a lot more sane.
Black text on blue not readable. Bold yellow makes for a good headline on both the blue and red backgrounds.
To the forumites: Discussion of moderator discipline is usually just a ploy to try the actions of the moderators in the court of public opinion. Such a tactic is specifically designed to reverse the decision (regardless of its merit or lack of merit) and presents a one-sided case against the mods. The mods have their hands tied -- they can not publicly comment on the private communications they had with the person they disciplined (for that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen). Thus, the case can never be tried fairly. Its a no-win situation for NCSoft. This is NCSoft property, not a publicly owned trust. If it were the forums of your business, you'd do the same.
[u]Things missing from the rules:[u]<ul type="square">[*]No lobbying. Lobbying is a form of spam and demanding answers combined. It is the continuous bringing up of the same topic over and over again in many different threads, especially as an off-topic post in threads which are perceived as having the attention of the development team such as Patch Notes threads or threads in which a developer has posted. {Examples of such would be the celebrated case of repeatedly posting about Accolade Power exemplaring restrictions and when they would be lifted, or, more recently, how in every patch notes thread several forumites would post "No fix for the icon buff bug?"}
[*]No cross-posting. Pick the one forum for which the topic is best suited and only post about it once in that one forum.
[*]Staying on Topic: In general, posts should be on topic to the discussion and forum, especially for official threads. General discussion topics have more leeway to going off on a tangent.
[*]No necro-posting. Necro-posting is responding to an old discussion thread and is just a form of 'bumping.' One can bring up an old topic by starting a new thread and linking to the old discussion.
[*]Follow the rules of the particular forum. Each forum has their own guidelines. Follow those instructions posted in a 'stickied' thread at the top of the list of threads of that forum.[/list]
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All I'm going to say is--if you (the Mods and Community Managers) are going to step up the rules and expect us to abide by them, then I think we as the players deserve some sort of commitment from red names to commit to this decision as well.
The sheer number of times I go to report a thread and it says, "The moderators..." and I see it there a week later... *shrugs*
Also, as has been mentioned, there are specific groups of people with their own forums that are encouraged to act in ways that already break the forum rules. This isn't a whine, this is a fact. If the moderators are participating in, oh say, a discussion involving x-rated material with pictures...what are we supposed to do?
Again, I recognize that this is your sandbox, and you have your rules. I don't mind following them if you don't mind enforcing them.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
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Does this mean you guys will get rid of the sections that encourage this type of behavior?
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This is actually a very good question. Will PWNZ and Forum Games be purged? Will threads posting off to NSFW content in the art forum be nuked?
Or will it be a case of "Continue as you were, but be more careful?"
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And is S&I on that list? (See also "Nerf X," "bumping," "prior ideas" and more.)
Also, is the "If it's below the 'For Fun' header, we don't moderate anywhere near as much" no longer true? Since it seems to be going that way.
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First off, these rules haven't really changed that much. A number of them have been clarified and condensed, but at their core, they are still the same rules. Previously the forum rules were a mix of two or three sections, this is just a more clear list of what they are to help not only enforcement, but understanding of these rules.
PWNZ, Forum Games, S&I and 'For Fun' and NSFW content in the Art section. and Server Forums.
What happens in those sections, for the most part, as long as it stays in those sections, we will allow it, to a point.
We have some very basic rules, like those in our Zero Tolerance Policy, as well as a few others that we will enforce even in those sections, but as long as the actions in those places do not bleed out into the rest of the forum sections, it will be permitted.
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16. Zero Tolerance Policy
Immediate suspension or bans from the forum can result from any of the following:
The posting of pornography; discriminatory remarks which are sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive; excessive obscene or vulgar language; posts which discuss or illustrate illegal activity; providing links to sites that contain any of the aforementioned.
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I would also remind that we allow or remove posts at our discretion. However that does not mean the community does not has a voice. As I have mentioned previously, if you have issue with say an Image, or link. Use the notify moderator button and even PM one of us to look at it. If, within our discretion, we find it in violation of our rules or inappropriate for the forums, we will remove it.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
Out of curiosity, why do posts (not threads) need to be 'constructive' as long as they are on-topic to the thread and not inflammatory?
Sometimes you just want to show support, or make a little joke.
We're not developers or other such officials, and these boards aren't designed for that purpose... we're just users who all play the same game... a friendly community in this case is much more necessary that a constructive one...
I can understand not wanted an entire thread of "/signed" and "I agree."s but I've never actually seen that happen... we as a general rule don't have problems with spam or lack of discussion...
The CoH community is in general a friendly and fun place to be, don't remove that just because it's not "constructive".
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P.S. And no mention of my PIGG file note? So we are clear for discussion on the internal structure of those things? That will sure make the 'silencing in-game sounds' guide a lot more sane.
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Without having to mention the pigg files explicitly, there should be a rule against discussing or demonstrating how to break any forum or game rule. And the EULA (City of Heroes User Agreement) forbids the decompiling of the game, so, discussing the use (decompiling and reading) of the piggs would be covered by that, as well as a host of other potential no-nos.
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10. Avoid using profanity.
Profanity in any form is discouraged. Using any means to bypass the profanity filter (for example: partial masking, such as asterisks or punctuation marks) is prohibited.
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Could you clarify this more specifically? Is typing [censored] disallowed? Is there an actual "limit" to profanity? At times I tend to be slightly profane, but I never circumvent the filter and typically confine myself to hells and damns, or at most a [censored] or two.
(Sorry if this was already clarified, but I didn't see it...)
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
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No necro-posting. Necro-posting is responding to an old discussion thread and is just a form of 'bumping.' One can bring up an old topic by starting a new thread and linking to the old discussion.
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Errr, why? If somebody has something new to add, why start another topic instead of just posting in the existing topic? Posting in the existing topic makes it easier for people to see what has been said before. Come to think of it, that's particularly true in the Guides forum. If something in the game changes a few months after the guide is posted that warrents a small change to the guide, wouldn't it be better to just tack on a new post to the thread instead of doing the whole guide over again?
Now, of course, if somebody is just dredging a thread up to hash out the same ideas all over again, then I wish they wouldn't add to the thread OR start another thread.
Just one minor comment about one of these rules:
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4. Private communication between Customer Support, NC Interactive, Inc. (NCsoft) members, moderators and administrators of the forum and the forum users is not to be made public on these forums or by any other venue.
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I understand the rule about posting this communication on these forums. Not sure how you intend to enforce what people post on OTHER forums. A lot of us use basically the same forum IDs on multiple forums, but not everyone. It would probably be better to specify posting links to other sites where those private communications is against the rules.
This has never been anything that has impacted me personally, but let me use this as an example. User A gets banned for some reason. They post the text of the warning, or whatever discussion, on some other forum. Now, let's say one of the mods here happens to also browse this third party site and sees this message, and the poster at THAT site has a name similar to mine. What is to stop that mod from assuming *I* am the one that posted that information?
I specified no links to third party sites where that information is posted, as a way to lessen the chances of abuse by someone posting the private communication elsewhere, and then just putting a link here to that site.
As for the rest of the rules, I really don't care one way or the other. I tend to behave myself (at least on THIS board), and most of these are just common courtesy anyway. If streamlining these rules means even enforcement of the rules, I'm all for it.
Sure, some of them seem a bit heavy handed as written, especially given the leeway we have been granted in the past. The discussion of other games is likely to generate more than a few warnings. That is too bad. We have had any number of friendly and productive discussions of other games and MMOs in the past.
-= TANSTAAFL =-
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Itsy Bitsy Slicer - Lvl 50 Kat/Reg Scrapper on Guardian
Flying-Tiger - Lvl 32 Sonic/Energy Blaster on Guardian
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No necro-posting. Necro-posting is responding to an old discussion thread and is just a form of 'bumping.' One can bring up an old topic by starting a new thread and linking to the old discussion.
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Errr, why? If somebody has something new to add, why start another topic instead of just posting in the existing topic? Posting in the existing topic makes it easier for people to see what has been said before. Come to think of it, that's particularly true in the Guides forum. If something in the game changes a few months after the guide is posted that warrents a small change to the guide, wouldn't it be better to just tack on a new post to the thread instead of doing the whole guide over again?
Now, of course, if somebody is just dredging a thread up to hash out the same ideas all over again, then I wish they wouldn't add to the thread OR start another thread.
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Most cases of necro-posting are truly pointless, create confusion, and sometimes malevolent.
I've seen people resurrect two-year old threads in order to taunt a dev (usually Statesman) that something they said did not come to past.
I've seen necro-ed threads designed to confuse people into thinking that the topic is fresh. People see a thread at the top of the forums that says "Why was Regen nerfed in the last patch?" and they 'Quick-Reply' an angry response to why is Regen being nerfed again, when in fact, the thread is about the first round of nerf several years ago.
I've seen thread necroing done as part of 'Forum PvP' where the necro-er deletes their post to hide the fact that they necroed it, but the thread now remains on the top of the forum list baiting responses from people who don't pay attention to the year stamp on the thread.
If you want people to see the discussion that happened last year, link to it.
I agree that the exception to prohibition against necro-posting should be player guides which receive relevant questions or new information months or years after the guide was made. If new threads were started all the time, the links in the Guide to Guides would become stale. That's why I mentioned "discussion threads" and mentioned that each forum has their own rules that should be followed.
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It should be "are not tolerated."
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If the word "behavior" was plural, yes. But it is not.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
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Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
Give me a minute to catch up on the rest of my moderation that needs doing and I'll try to explain and answer a few other questions in this discussion.
Also Zombie_Man,
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To the forumites: Discussion of moderator discipline is usually just a ploy to try the actions of the moderators in the court of public opinion. Such a tactic is specifically designed to reverse the decision (regardless of its merit or lack of merit) and presents a one-sided case against the mods. The mods have their hands tied -- they can not publicly comment on the private communications they had with the person they disciplined (for that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen). Thus, the case can never be tried fairly. Its a no-win situation for NCSoft. This is NCSoft property, not a publicly owned trust. If it were the forums of your business, you'd do the same.
Things missing from the rules:
* No lobbying. Lobbying is a form of spam and demanding answers combined. It is the continuous bringing up of the same topic over and over again in many different threads, especially as an off-topic post in threads which are perceived as having the attention of the development team such as Patch Notes threads or threads in which a developer has posted. {Examples of such would be the celebrated case of repeatedly posting about Accolade Power exemplaring restrictions and when they would be lifted, or, more recently, how in every patch notes thread several forumites would post "No fix for the icon buff bug?"}
* No cross-posting. Pick the one forum for which the topic is best suited and only post about it once in that one forum.
* Staying on Topic: In general, posts should be on topic to the discussion and forum, especially for official threads. General discussion topics have more leeway to going off on a tangent.
* No necro-posting. Necro-posting is responding to an old discussion thread and is just a form of 'bumping.' One can bring up an old topic by starting a new thread and linking to the old discussion.
* Follow the rules of the particular forum. Each forum has their own guidelines. Follow those instructions posted in a 'stickied' thread at the top of the list of threads of that forum.
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This is some really great feedback, which I will bring up.
Also regarding the color, I'll take a look into changing it.
Zloth,
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P.S. And no mention of my PIGG file note? So we are clear for discussion on the internal structure of those things? That will sure make the 'silencing in-game sounds' guide a lot more sane.
[/ QUOTE ] as Zombie_Man said, this issue is still covered in the User Agreement, which according to [ QUOTE ]
1. You must have an active City of Heroes/Villains game account to post on our forums
Your forum account is linked to your game account. If you are suspended or banned from the game, you will not be able to post on the forums. As such, you are responsible to follow not only the forum rules of conduct but also the City of Heroes User Agreement and Rules of Conduct you agree to when you enter the game. If you are suspended from the message boards, your game account will be reviewed and you may be subject to a ban from the game, as well.
[/ QUOTE ] you are responsible for following as well as the forum rules.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
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It should be "are not tolerated."
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If the word "behavior" was plural, yes. But it is not.
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The original line is:
2. Abuse and disrespectful behavior is not tolerated.
Abuse is not tolerated. Disrespectful behavior is not tolerated. They both are not tolerated. The use of 'are' is correct.
You are probably reading the line as "Abusive and disrespectful behavior is not tolerated," in which case, there is only one, singular subject, 'behavior,' which even though it has a compound adjectival modifier, is still singular, and which would make 'is' the correct form. But since this is a compound subject of 'abuse' and 'behavior' then the verb should be plural.
We should just be grateful that Koschej doesn't spell it 'behaviour.'
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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We should just be grateful that Koschej doesn't spell it 'behaviour.'
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You guys are just lucky I didn't write the rules in Russian.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
Was this just something that needed updating recently or have their been events happening that made you all sit down and go over what needed to be clarified better or added to?
Have I missed something, where has the recent upsurge in forum
bad behavior been unfolding.
I have no issue with the current, or former forum rules.
I'm wondering aloud, I read the General, Tanker, T-room, and champion
sections, and while I rarely venture towards PWNZ.............
Nevermind, my wife just informed me the usual crowd's been
taunting Lighty and Co. And here i thought they all left for the
awesome that was AoC. ;]
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Well, I repsect your need to maintain order in the whirling chaos that might engulf us otherwise, I respectfully (and vehemently) disagree with the following:
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..."/signed" posts are a version of bumping and likewise are not permitted.
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When the OP has made a clear, logical coherent statement of "whatever" /signed is not a bump, it is a means of demonstrating community support without wasting everyone's time by restating.
These forums *are* supposed to be a place to express our agreement/disagreement/wishes to the rest of the community and the development team. Brevity isn't bad.
Or said another way,
Where would we be if Marvel suppressed Stan Lee?
'nuff said....
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This was actually discussed as one of the hot topics, quite a bit, in some of our planning meetings. Having an idea to improve things, like, saying "Giant Robo Triceratops that spawn in Steel Canyon, especially if the "destructible environment" toggle switched on when it spawned, would be awesome" is fantastic and a good representation of your personal desire to see the game improve.
By doing just a /signed, you are saying "hey, great idea i like it" which is great to show positive sentiment towards the idea, but it's not constructive to the discussion of WHY it should be implemented.
/unsigned is even worse because a lot of the time /unsigned is like saying "no, this is a horrible idea" without providing justification as to why, which degenerates into arguments and flaming.
By providing feedback into the either agreement or disagreement helps engender discussion but also provides us with a better evaluation of what the community wants in a constructive fashion. However as this is a hot topic I will once again bring it up for evaluation.
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Very true.
Also re:bumping, we have been instructed in the past per a redname (think it was cuppa or cricket) that, prior to forum purges, we should indeed "bump" posts (such as the Mecha epic AT in S&I) that we don't want lost.
On another topic, how much will you be ramping up the mod staff? My concern on this can't be stated without breaking at least one, possibly two or three of the above forum rules. I can't actually expand that post to explain the question without running afoul of these.
And as for prior suggestions - well, wait, I can't actually discuss *that,* or discuss a way of helpign remedy that, without running into a few rules, as the suggestion has been suggested numerous times... frell.
No, I'm not being facetious (well, very.) Following these rules strictly, I can't voice the concerns the rules bring up. If I wanted to really feel technical, I'd say the discussion of the rules, despite being in a redname post, would themselves be a violation of the rules, as they're directly related to the guidelines for moderator action - and discussion of moderator actions (which not being spelled out would conceivably include future moderator actions) are against forum guidelines.
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I'll try to answer these as best as I can.
With bumping threads prior to forum purges, I would suggest a few things.
1) Copy the entire text of the post you want saved, and save it as a file on your computer or somewhere other than the forums you can access it at.
The reason for this, is while we endeavor to preserve everything we can, sometimes things CAN get lost. It doesn't happen often, but it can happen.
2) PM a moderator with the link to the thread, we will then mark it to not be purged. Please don't do this right before the purges, but instead try to give us as much of a heads up as possible.
3) If you don't receive a response from the moderator regarding this, and we will respond if we have preserved it, then you may bump it with the text of something like "Bumping for preservation from forum purge" or something like that. This way people will not notify the mods and we won't perceive is as a self-interest thread bump.
At this time this Community Team is what we have. Though we are implementing ways to make moderation easier and quicker and these rules were just a step in that direction.
Keep in mind, if you wish to discuss these rules, this is the place to do it, as long as it is done in a constructive fashion. If you have concerns, please voice them. I've spent some time working on these, but alas, I lack total perfection in all things I do, and I appreciate the feedback. As for suggestions other people have mentioned, again, as long as you discuss the suggestion in a constructive fashion, it is permitted in this thread.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.