Idle OOC Rules

[Raesanos]

We want to clarify the rules for the Idle OOC forum.  The biggest confusion seems to be that sometimes people think it is a totally unmoderated free-for-all, but at the very least we feel we need to prevent flaming and interpersonal abuse.

Before writing down a more formal set of rules, we want your feedback.  What do you think the Idle OOC rules should look like?

[Gimfalisette]

This is a hard question.

"No flaming." That's already part of the general forum rules, isn't it?

"No interpersonal abuse." Where does teasing end and abuse start? Maybe this is the kind of thing where you can't define it, but you know it when you see it.

I've really got nothing else.

IMO, the OOC forum shouldn't be a free-for-all or thought of that way, because we're still a community even if we're not talking about the game.

[staggerlee]

You can obviously reiterate the forum rules:

1. Please don't flame. While you can criticize the opinions of other people, do so with respect for them as a fellow human.

2. Do NOT post information that is IC-sensitive. While debates over definitions of this term have raged in the past on the discussion boards, one fact has emerged: some people really prefer to experience things in the game, rather than inadvertently have the experience spoiled for them from reading this board. Therefore, when asking yourself whether or not what you're posting is too IC-sensitive, err on the side of caution.

3. We reserve the right to edit or delete any post or thread.

And not to put too fine a point to it:
 

4) Avoid offensive material:  Demeaning personal comments, racism, religious insensitivity, sexism or bigotry in general are inappropriate.   Contentious topics can be discussed, but in an appropriately sensitive and respectful tone.

5) Stay on topic. Just like any other forum thread.

[Gimfalisette]

staggerlee's proposed rules look good to me.

[ale six]

Staying on topic is good for the rest of the board, but I don't care if Idle OOC derails a bit. I like how the threads there are a bit more free-form thought.

No offensive material is a big one.

[Fathi]

Please for the love of god mark NSFW material in the thread title.

[brytta.leofa]

Please for the love of god mark NSFW material in the thread title.

Or, y'know, don't post it.

Idle OOC is by far the biggest reason I'll probably never introduce anyone to Arm.  That, and the level of obscenity that gets randomly thrown in even to many of the non-OOC threads.

[Yam]

Please for the love of god mark NSFW material in the thread title.

Or, y'know, don't post it.

Idle OOC is by far the biggest reason I'll probably never introduce anyone to Arm.  That, and the level of obscenity that gets randomly thrown in even to many of the non-OOC threads.

But you're always there so much   

Quite honestly, I don't see anything wrong with Idle OOC. Except for some of the flaming. However, I've never seen many outright flames.

[FantasyWriter]

Staggerlee summed it up nicely, I believe.

[Fathi]

Please for the love of god mark NSFW material in the thread title.

Or, y'know, don't post it

Eh, there's some stuff that's NSFW that really isn't that 'offensive.' I'm not talking about topless photos or anything, here. Just stuff that generally would not be considered work appropriate like that dirty jokes thread, for example.

[flurry]

5) Stay on topic. Just like any other forum thread.

Yes, please. The whole board in general could be better at this, but Idle OOC is often unreadable because of off topic diversions.

[manonfire]

I think Idle OOC chatter should operate like /b/.

Free-form discussion about absolutely anything, but with moderated restrictions on the super-obscene, which never happens here anyway.

I don't think we should throttle potentially offensive discussions because, let's face is, offensive material is often subjective, and some people actually enjoy participating in those types of discussions.

If you don't like it, stop reading. It's unfortunate that an offended minority is catered to, when there's a silent majority out there that understands that the internets are not serious business.

Now that I've spat out my little manifesto, here's what I'd like to see the rules look like.

1. Do not upload, post, discuss, request, or link to, anything that violates local or United States law. This will be severely punished and strictly enforced.

2. Flaming and trolling is frowned upon. If it gets out of hand, your posting privileges will be revoked. Period. Use your common sense to determine the limit - we are not babysitters.

Pretty simple.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

...I actually agree with that. Idle OOC is pretty much how we would talk to each other in Real Life ... at least, it's the way I would. If you don't like it, don't read it, or stay off of that board. Anything that involves the game should be monitored with the utmost care, but Idle OOC ... meh.

That said, I know that that's not going to happen. And that's fine too. The boards are just fine, in a way. Now and then I get annoyed by subject content, like when everybody takes a doodoo on religion as a whole and such (that rankles me more than anything at all, actually), but real racism doesn't tend to surface, and sexism doesn't bother me at all, no matter the sex of the person who starts it. And I always have the option to ignore it, so it never strikes me that anybody should be banned for anything I've ever seen. Although, I'd probably knock them down in RL if they had the balls to say it face to face in the way they do here...

Heh.

Bottom line? Leave it like it is now. I think it's alright.

[touringCompl3t3]

I don't know about these rules.

If they're pass then I, a Christian, have the right to ask for a thread lock if anyone makes fun of Jesus? 


Hmmmm.  So everyone is pretty much okay with a Horray for Jesus thread?

[touringCompl3t3]

And additionally, it's okay to make fun of gays under these rules?

Hmmm.  I'm not going to say anything insensitive here.

Dammit, where's Borat when you need him?

[manonfire]

I don't know about these rules.

If they're pass then I, a Christian, have the right to ask for a thread lock if anyone makes fun of Jesus? 


Hmmmm.  So everyone is pretty much okay with a Horray for Jesus thread?

It's pretty simple, man. If something offends you, STOP READING IT.

[touringCompl3t3]

It's pretty simple, man. If something offends you, STOP READING IT.

LOL, actually that was my point.  But isn't that a more sensible rule than other people are posting?  I mean I usually know better than to read threads with titles like:

"Post links to pictures of your tits here"

or

"Who you should vote for in the next election"

or

"Fun things to do with soiled diapers"

and I think that's why I have less trouble than average on these boards.  Other people take it more srsly and want a large host of rules to govern behavior. 

Granted, I'm not really all that opposed to making more rules. 

Meh.  I don't really care either way.  I'm a stuffy old dude who wouldn't really mind if the boards were cleaned up a bit.  But if we institute political correctness, are we really gaining anything?

I say let the high school kids have their fun posting stuff that would tick off their parents if they got caught.  Isn't that in the grand spirit of teh interwebs??

[touringCompl3t3]

It's pretty simple, man. If something offends you, STOP READING IT.

My God, do you actually have Toadies lyrics on your signature? 

Jesus.  I saw them in like 1995 and again in 1997.

teh Awesome.

[manonfire]

Yeah, behold my greatness.

I'm seeing them next Friday.

[flurry]

The thing is, new players get part of their early impression of the Arm community from the GDB. So we should at least consider that.

[Yam]

I find the game far more offensive to my sensibilities than Idle OOC Discussion.

What's more offensive; a chat about crazy political theories, or getting graphically eviscerated and impregnated by worms?

[Kiri]

I like how things are loose, in Idle OOC.

I don't read threads that look like they're going in a direction I've no desire to get involved in.

I quit reading threads that devolve into something I dont' feel like being involved in.

I like having that choice. I'm an adult, I'm capable of saying "Gee, I wont' read this any more." I want the option to say, "Hey, this is sorta interesting, and I feel strongly, so I'm gonna post my two cents!"


And that's my two cents. Wheat penny.

[X-D]

I think it is pretty silly to think about regulating the idle OOC more then putting a disclaimer up for new players in bigger letters. I pretty much steer clear of that forum myself but I also think that it is needed, allows eople to chat as a community and does a LOT to keep non-game related stuff off the game related forums.

Something the old old GDB did not have.

As somebody else said, We are mostly adults or near adults here and are perfectly capable of not reading things we do not want.

The only thing I wish is that I could actually exclude idle OOC from the "show unread posts option" That would be sweet.

[Wicked]

The only thing I wish is that I could actually exclude idle OOC from the "show unread posts option" That would be sweet.

Go into OOC, click "mark all as read" and then click "show unread posts"

Sure, it takes 10 extra seconds (less if you, like everyone else but me, is on something faster than 56k dialup), but it's not hard to do either.


Edited to add - Oh and on topic... I agree, if it offends you, don't read it. If it's so horrible, disgusting, or otherwise deemed unsuitable for our GDB, then chances are an Imm will decide so, shut it down, and give the reason why.

[jhunter]

Idle OOC is pretty much how we would talk to each other in Real Life ... at least, it's the way I would. If you don't like it, don't read it, or stay off of that board. Anything that involves the game should be monitored with the utmost care, but Idle OOC ... meh.

That said, I know that that's not going to happen. And that's fine too. The boards are just fine, in a way. Now and then I get annoyed by subject content, like when everybody takes a doodoo on religion as a whole and such (that rankles me more than anything at all, actually), but real racism doesn't tend to surface, and sexism doesn't bother me at all, no matter the sex of the person who starts it. And I always have the option to ignore it, so it never strikes me that anybody should be banned for anything I've ever seen. Although, I'd probably knock them down in RL if they had the balls to say it face to face in the way they do here...

Heh.

Bottom line? Leave it like it is now. I think it's alright.

Yeah, the only time I take issue with the forums at all is when people think it's okay to make personal jabs at people so long as they aren't outright saying "Fuck You Asshole." A flame is still a flame whether it is direct or an attempt at a subtle attack on someone. People are entitled to their opinions on race, religion, sex, etc. So long as you don't attack me for my opinion I don't care what you post.