Creating forum rules and listing bannable offenses
 

An interest expressed by many members lately is the need for definitive rules and guidelines -- a basis for what to expect if you want to participate in the forums. I agree that this would be a good idea, but I don't know everything that needs to be covered. Please use this thread to gather ideas for a brief but effective statement of our rules, guidelines, and what to expect to participate. This will be placed on the forum registration page and users will be required to agree to it before registering.

The most important one in my book would be:

- Don't take anything you read too seriously. If you do feel that a certain member's post, personal message or email is aggressive or offending to you as a person, inform an admin/mod.

By "offending to you as a person", I mean (basically) flaming, but on a much more serious scale. Also, I figure that it makes sense that the rule should only apply to emails that have come from this forum.

Of course there are the obvious ones like "No advertising threads/spam" and "No mindless spam". Most are probably already on your list. :D

PS - I hope people don't take my interest in these forum guideline posts and the like the wrong way simply because I'm still a new member. I've been admining forums for well over five years now and I just like to pass on my experience and "expertise" (if you could call it that ;)). :)

Sounds very good. Thank you!

Creating forum rules
 

I need the help of the more senior members of the site to come up with specific yet easy-to-follow rules to put in place around the forums. I want some general guidelines put in place to give new members some idea of what they should expect when posting here, simply because I don't feel it's being made clear enough. Can anyone help me out by jotting down a few things you think would be good rules or guidelines for posting on the site?

Thanks very much! :)

Write in correct grammar.
Do not double post.
Do not try to get around the character limit.
Do not spam the place.
Do not insult other members.

I'm happy with RV's set of rules! :P

My Rules

1. Be a nice, happy, friendly person to talk with. :)

Excellent stuff, guys, thank you! I'll work on a full writeup later on. Any more suggestions are still welcome, of course!

I obviously can't be considered a "Senior Member" (I have "New Member" written in nice big shiny letters under my name) but can I still post some rules anyway? Good... :P

1. No Spamming - Wait a Couple of Days Before Reposting Your Question. Anything Additional Should Be Added with the Edit Button. Use the Spam Forum if you Cannot Keep Quiet :P

2. No Double Posts - Use the Edit Button

3. No Excessive Profanity/Swear Words - As RV said (Within Reason :P)

4. Try to Use Correct Spelling and Grammar - It's Hard to Read Posts in Gobbledegook

5. Avoid Using Text Messaging and Instant Messenger Shorthand - Again Within Reason...

6. No Personal Conversations on the Forums - Kind of Takes the Point out of The PM System

7. No Personal, Malicious Attacks on Members

8. HAVE FUN! :D

This is great stuff, Doodah, and I appreciate you posting it -- your comments are welcome of course! I will be incorporating all of these into a master forum rules list as soon as I have some time. Thanks everyone!

No free speech - we don't want that kind of open minded blunder here! You like Doctor Who. If you don't, you will be assimilated! More importantly, you like Doctor Who more than Torchwood, and you like both more than Spooks. :P

And now onto the serious stuff….

· I figure that rather than stating “use correct grammar and spelling”, you should simply have “Use a spellchecker to check through your posts (write them in a word processor if you like)”

One thing I’ve noticed on the spelling matter is that non-English speakers (by that, I mean people who’s first language isn’t English) will tend to have better English than their English speaking counterparts who can’t spell. This is probably because they make a determined (and welcomed) effort to write as best they can. In cases like this, you should cut them a little slack (inform them politely of their error so that they can learn from it).

However, in the case of English speaking posters who can’t spell, a good flaming is always welcome. I have a load of blow torches at the ready for such events. ;)

· “Make sure your posts are easy to read. Huge blocks of text with no breaks are not welcome with open arms. Split your posts into suitable paragraphs.”

· Also, no needless spam anywhere other than the spam forums would be an obvious one.

· Something a lot of people have over looked is content. “No racist, obscene or vulgar content. If you think it’s inappropriate, it probably is. If unsure, PM a moderator or an Admin with the content to find out what side of the line it falls.”

· I figure you should also give a list of bannable offences and the tolerance level.

For example:

- Spamming – You get three warnings. After your third, you will be banned for 5 days. If you continue to spam after your five days, you will be banned indefinitely.

- Inappropriate Content – You get one warning if the content is just over the border of inappropriate. If it’s blatantly inappropriate, you will be banned indefinitely.

Also, as a footnote, just add “Don’t give us a reason to ban you” (just so they know who’s boss :D).

I would write some more examples but Gordon Ramsey’s on. However, I’m very good at determining rules and also sentences so if you need an experienced opinion, you’re free to ask. :)

This is of great help to me, Jez -- exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Thank you!

Bannable offenses
 

This kind of goes with the discussion on rules in the other thread, but I was wondering what offenses we should have in place that result in an automatic (but not necessarily permanent) ban. We can put in place bans for any amount of time automatically, so I was wondering what you all think should result in bans (and how long they should be for).

Any ideas? Thanks for your help. :)

Arguing with RV's opinion.

Regicide.

Etc.

Swearing. uncensored swearing, F**k S**T P**S is alright but when it's without the "*" then it's not...a person should recieve a warning if they do it once, then if they do it again, then they should be banned for about 2 days, if they come back and do it again, then get banned for a week...if again, a month, and if still that doesn't work, then a permanent ban. What do you say?

Ben, I mean offenses that are instantly bannable. Swearing would fit under "Breaking the forum rules" which would result in a warning, then a temporary ban, then a permanent ban. I mean things that are just not acceptable in any way and instantly result in at least a temporary ban.

oh, sorry.
I've got one, trying to anger or irritate another member on purpose.

Personal attacks? That's a good one.

Insulting, the forums itself. Is there even anything else we can list?

thank you, I mean, that is a big part in keeping everything nice and friendly if you think about it...only since we basically have a certain level of common sense, we never really think about it.

explicit jokes, I know I've been a little over the top recently (not to much I don't think), but I get dismissed for apologising and looking innocent:P...I mean really explicit jokes that people are intentionally making.

Ooops, double posted, let me just merge them together...all done, just need to delete.

You may think so Ben, but, for all you know, there could be a big axe hanging above your head, and one day, out of the blue, down it will come:P

huh?????????

Personal attacks should be decided case by case, as it may have been provoked.

Really I think we have enough mods and admins to settle everything case by case, looking for reasons to ban people is a bit immature.

Personal attacks are never warranted and I simply won't allow them, no matter the provocation. If someone provoked it, they're the ones that deserve to be banned.

No, it's not. We need penalties in place to say that specific things are completely off limits, no matter the case. We can be very specific about what will result in a ban, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't have them in place at all.

• Abuse of members via the PM system. - Depending on the severity and amount of abuse recieved from 5 - 25 days.
(Remember to keep copies of all abuse recieved. I expect Danny can access your PMs anyway but this is just to make sure everybody involved in the banning process can see the evidence. If Danny can look at your PMs, create an "ABUSE" folder so that he knows where to look. :P)

Of course, please bear in mind that this is the internet and sarcasm is hard to make out in text. Don't get all hot and bothered on the first "case" as it might just be a sarcastic jab. I can often see the difference between sarcasm and actual abuse. If you're seriously unsure, PM me the message and I'll let you know my thoughts and deal with it as required.

• As far as I'm concerned, the only time when swearing (what ever that is) is inappropriate is when the entire post is simply swearing (what ever that is :P). I'd say two days per post is ample enough. Chances are, that sort of person will go away anyway.

• Trolling is funny to read. Keep it for the warning-based system. :D

• "Explicit" content (not words) should be an immediate ban if the rules clearly state that it's not acceptable. Again, the borderline stuff will have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. I, personally, have some difficulty in seeing the humour in a certain few topics and won't hesitate to act on such posts.

For the clearly stated stuff, 5 - 30 days should be adequate (repeated postings should equal a permanent ban)

Maybe more later if I can think of any...

Very helpful, Jez. I appreciate it.

I think there should be guidelines for the mods instead of specific things that people can be banned for. Rules, of course, will be there for people to see, but the mods and such will decide from case to case what the outcome should be.

I don't think you'd appoint any mods that didn't have any common sense or reason.

I agree with that.

Guys, get real with the banning times. I was once banned for 2 days from Max's RPG and I was pulling my hair out, we need to be a bit less excessive.

We assume that this is for people who don't care. Regular folks will have a lesser sentence.

Well, in my opinion, regular folks should know a lot better and in which case, deserve the full time if they do something wrong on purpose. Even more so, perhaps.

Absolutely not. An absurd idea.

That's actually not an absurd idea -- regulars should know better what's appropriate and inappropriate around here. But I'm still inclined to give regulars a (slightly) reduced sentence.

Indeed. Would you punish the Private for shooting civillians less than you would punish the NCO or officer for ordering him to shoot them? No, you wouldn't. The Private would be disbanded and jailed. The NCO/Officer would be disbanded and jailed for at least an equal amount of time, if not longer due to the fact that as the senior party - they should know better.