where are the mods with answers?

@abge, you are a funny one, if that engineer thing flops, you have things to fall back on....LOL

You'll have to go to a different site if you're looking for mods with answers.

of that im sure

ssorenn, no policy clarifications in the forum.

Alright, I'll try to be helpful.

I'm assuming you're referring to Forum policies? I don't think much has changed really. Almost anything goes until it gets to the point that zultar/kestas believe it is harming the site. Is it vague? Yes, but honestly, I don't think it's really that hard to get a decent idea what is and isn't permissible.

I know this isn't exactly what you want, but let me try to explain the motivation behind avoiding clear rules:

First, if you draw a line, there are plenty of people that will spend all their time simply skirting the line, which is not what we want. What to do with those people? Continually move the line to the detriment of the whole site? No. Instead, we'd be forced to treat those people as special cases, which is what we do anyway, so we'd be back to square one.

Second, I think it is very hard to predict in a Forum like this what should and shouldn't be allowed. We have some simple ones, like no cheating, no porn, etc. At some point, though, we have to realize that we are accommodating such a wide variety of people from different cultures, religions, etc, that it would be very hard to make a list that we can always fall back on.

Instead, we have a fairly simple guideline: Moderate yourselves, but if you get too out of line, zul may come in and remind you to take it easy. Seems fine to me. Not sure what you think firm rules would benefit.

why the fuck not, this is where the changes are happening

Wait, webDip has a no porn rule?

i was ging to bring that up for futher review

@Chaqa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8u7px_GzWQ

so this might be out of context, (and im sorry if it is)"Friendly reminder here that harassment of other users is against site policy. Al, please stop."

this was from PE in another current thread tonight, when were in the middle of an argument and were ribbing each other but good, as long as our distain is directed directly at the person,site policy is not going to be spewed....is this correct?

The policies haven't changed, site administration has given the staff more leeway in executing those policies.

There aren't clear lines established because the staff is not capable of outguessing troublemakers in all of the many clever ways that a human being is capable of harassing another one. Rather than create an ever-expanding list of do-not's that just litigates the life out of the forum, the staff is taking slightly greater latitude in dealing with unscrupulous behavior than it did before, while keeping the bare-bones rules themselves intact.

Just don't be an asshole to people and literally nothing will change about your forum experience.

I just checked the rules. Nothing about porn.

Should the boobfest begin?

ssorenn, suffice to say that the particular back-and-forth between those two users isn't limited to one instance and one thread. There's a history between the two that (in my view) made the specific thread cross over from "standard post-game whining" (which is, though undesired, tolerated) to "repeated harassment of one user by another" (which isn't tolerated).

I don't anticipate needing to poke into threads like that on a regular basis and personally don't want to do so, either.

half the time in the forum people are being assholes, nothing there is different....and why cant i be an asshole if i want, i dont talk of racism or hate, or death of children

I honestly don't know about the specifics about our policy on harassing members. Based on what I see on a daily basis, though, I suspect it's not rigorously enforced. If you'd like a clarification about a specific issue, I'm sure zul would be happy to clarify if you asked.

Can I sexually harass Eden?

Although I will say that threads that serve no purpose other than to call out another member have been discouraged for quite some time, so I see nothing particularly out of line in that regard.

PE might like it

im talking about debating a topic that goes sideways and might get personal...as long as it doesnt effect broad racial issues, the mods should never get involved

Why is the line drawn at race?

But you gotta admit Al was being very witty in his polite repartee.

i didnt draw a line, i just used a common soft point, there might be more or not, but i used this for my example(we can talk of more if thats what you want, but i think you get my point)

we have gone from absolutly no moderation, to now some....fine, i think inevitably it will make the site a better place, there will still be many disagreements that erupt, but i dont want a mod talking to me if i call someone a fuckstain because thats what i think they were being at the time

@ssorenn,

It appears your concern is being censured by a mod for an infraction you didn't know existed, is that accurate?

im just making an example

I think the key is not to male a thread for the exclusive purpose of calling them a fuckstain and also not to pursue them across multiple threads as some are want to do (e.g. Maple leaf).

The corollary to "Just don't be an asshole to people and literally nothing will change about your forum experience" is "If you're an asshole to people, something may change about your forum experience." All I mean to say with that statement is that if you want to ensure that you don't have to worry about any changes in implementation of site policy, don't be an asshole to people. That's the most concrete, guaranteed solution I can offer regarding recent changes.

We have a reasonably difficult task here: balance the clear need to address harassment as a forum-wide problem with the clear need to keep forum moderation to a minimum so as not to disrupt good discussion and overlitigate the forum (which would clearly have terrible consequences). Uneven application of the policy is probably a result of trying to avoid overlitigation. Feel free to message me or zultar if you think we've missed something important and we can handle it then.

Sorry if this isn't exactly getting to the heart of your concerns ssorenn, I don't fully understand what you need answered but I think I've got the gist of it.

this is the problem you have with no hard line, i get why you dont want to have one,but its a catch22

And we have always had moderation, it is just being better enforced with certain things more closely monitored.

lol, ssorenn, rest assured that your right to call someone a fuckstain if they're being a fuckstain is not being infringed. Pursuing them over multiple threads, calling them out in threads or bombarding them with PMs to that effect, sure, but what you're talking about isn't going to be moderated.

i hope you all understand that i enjoy this place and most everyone here,including you PE(LOL)

Stop being a fuckstain Eden.

i dont PM personal shit, if its in the forum, thats where it stays

http://65wat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wat_fded65_4662262.gif

thx for the clarification

Why are there two GIFs of Clive Palmer in this thread?

I think PE is fucking drunk tonight.

Oh, hang on, only one of them is in this thread. The other one is in Al's rant against Chaqa's rant against Al.

I haven't silenced myself as a test so no, not drunk right now

Just having a psychotic break then?

Is that a break FROM psychosis or a break TOWARD it? This is an important detail in answering the question

Whichever one has you babbling bullshit and being fitted for a straightjacket.

Thank you for sticking up for me, Ssoren. I too thought that our friend here was jumping the gun, but I didn't want to say anything due to circumstances.

I have spoken to Chaqa about this and he too is puzzled. Neither he nor I want any trouble with the staff.

I thought your posts were fucking brilliant, Al. I loved it. And I've not noticed you and Chaqa crossing threads like some mother fuckers on here do (maple). The only thing I could see wrong was actually making a separate thread for it instead of just posting it in it's starting thread.

no worries Al, as this was more of me trying to understand what was going to happen in the future, but your thread was a prime example right at hand....I wasnt sure though if PE was being PE or a mod at the time though

"I wasnt sure though if PE was being PE or a mod at the time though "

Yet another reason mods must be held to a higher standard. We can't be certain when they are fucking around, stating a personal opinion, or in "mod mode".