Poll: New forum rules - Yay or Nay?

[jaketheripper]

i dont really see anything too different honestly, i always followed those anyway haha

edit: ok i get they penalty system, but really? nobody gets a clean slate? c'mon D:

 

[crudus]

That may change in the future BUT for now, everyone should think it isn't going to happen.

That is risky and may be more trouble than it is worth. I see that point system get abused a lot when points come off at regular intervals. People at work places do say "I have a few points coming off on Friday so I will see you guys Tuesday".

The only reason I typed I agree is to say here that I DO NOT AGREE! They are too constricting, too overbearing. Every comment you make could be misinterpreted and used against you. Combined that with the fact that nobody is perfect, I doubt ANYBODY would be able to go 5 years and 10000 posts without racking up a series of permanent minor infractions ultimately leading to a ban. The more rules you put out the more responsibility you take away from people and the less they listen to you out of obligation and instead out of fear of repercussions. Additionally moderator bias makes it all the more easy to be banned now with stricter rules. With such strong rules really hot topics and ones of EXTREME controversy may appear less than ever. Now who does not love some vulgar controversy? I personally would not have this strong of an opinion against it if it was made clear the your health meter replenishes over time but since it was made clear it does not that means time is the only the only thing between you and a ban. Ban me for having an opposing opinion! Aggressive comment yes, offensive in any way, I do not see how?

EDIT: I still want to post but I want to do so knowing I do not have a permanent tattoo above my head saying what I did wrong long ago combined with a series of stamps just waiting to bring down the judgement before the ban with no hope for redemption.

Neonbob has gone over 35,000 posts without a single warning so it clearly can be done. I actually find the rules more lenient in this edition. Also if you do feel you were unfairly moderated they do have a way you can contact one to overturn it, so you don't ahve to worry as much about "moderation bias".

 

[subtlefuge]

Also, just a little bit of advice: Maybe people wouldn't try to hijack threads as often if the mods started pruning out duplicate threads and gave warnings to people who can't be bothered to use the search bar.

6 months ago you would have been berated for making a repeat thread of one made a year ago. Now, it's like a game to see how many low effort repeat threads can be chugged out in a day. Things change, and not always for the better.

Unfortunately, people will complain about the mods being fascist if they start locking threads.

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

You know, I joined to have enjoyable and fun conversations about video games and similar interests, and I thought that the mods were careful and ensuring to weed out dumbass trolls.

I am VERY surprised that, with the new "health bar", us normal escapists can be banhammered for some mistakes we caused in the past.

Hell, I've got one warning for something I've done and learned from TWO YEARS AGO.

I'm debating whether I should return to my home forum permanently (Rockman Perfect Memories).

 

[Xanthious]

I might be wrong, but the spirit of the rule seems to be that the Escapist partners with the people that they run ads with. If they were to see the posts about adblockers, then the people running the ads would be justifiably upset.

Basically, there's bills to pay, and don't screw it up for them.

Also: the staff have premium memberships, so no ads.

That's fair enough. However, to punish someone for bringing them up is not only arbitrary but somewhat petty as well. If they are going to make rules against them then they should be expected to live up to the standard they set and surf the web while basking in the glory of every popup ad, banner, regardless of the site.

Furthermore, let's just call a spade a spade here and admit this is a rule against ad blockers. It's pretty clear that if they could find a way to see if we use them or not and then punish us for using them I wager they would. Hell a mod a page or so back pretty much admitted it.

As for them having premium memberships. I trust they browse other websites and if they think that it's ok to punish people for using an ad blocker on their site then naturally they would see it as wrong to use them on websites belonging to others and thus do the proper and correct thing and disable ads on every single site they visit regardless of how intrusive or annoying they may be.

Again, I only want confirmation that they are following their own rules that they set in place.

 

[BonsaiK]

Wow I just checked out my "health bar" and I found out I've got a warning. Gosh, that warning must be about three or four years old! If that was a traffic offence I'd probably have had my record expunged by now!

 

[ManInRed]

Clearly these new rules will mean there will never be an unwanted post made on these forums ever again.

 

[MisterGobbles]

I really don't see what the problem with the way things were was, but I'm sure they changed the infraction system for a reason. I'm ok with it for now. And I'm sure the mods will still use discretion in banning people.

I've been careful so far and haven't been warned or anything. I don't think this will affect me very much.

If this ends up in a lot of bans I'm sure they'll change it. I do think it's stupid to have the possibility that someone could have a lot of infractions from long ago, not have done anything for a long time, and then suddenly do something the mods deem worthy of punishment, and then suddenly get banned.

I think that probations should go away after a while if a person doesn't do anything during that time. Warnings should stay in place, though.

EDIT: So I can't advocate pornography? I think this entire site is about to get banned.

 

[ShadowKatt]

They're new? they seemed exactly the same to me. I guess I don't worry about it because I don't say things on the internet I wouldn't say to your face.

You know, I get that a lot. "You wouldn't say that bullshit if you were standing in front of me instead of safe behind a computer", and it bothers me because I wouldn't say anything here that I wouldn't say to someones FACE. I don't go out of my way to be insulting or inflamitory, but when someone does a stupid thing, you should tell them it's a stupid thing.

Seems like common sense to me, but apparently I'm alone.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

I do not understand? I have never received a warning in my escapist life, only a probation, but that was at least a year and a half ago.

If this new system interrupts the forums here to much, I will probably have to return to lurking, not to say that I would be missed by anyone.

This site has changed quite a lot.

 

[dj Facchiano]

I thinking ill post this comment to see if I getting a message prompting me about new rules!
EDIT: Oh cool, new rules!

 

[Knight Templar]

Wow I just checked out my "health bar" and I found out I've got a warning. Gosh, that warning must be about three or four years old! If that was a traffic offence I'd probably have had my record expunged by now!

That's what I would like to see.
A way for you to have your record improved. My mistakes haunt me enough as it is.

What I would like not to see is the health bar of others.

 

[Daedalus1942]

How many people have a health meter that looks like this? (or worse)

I do, for things that happened over a year ago. This really is a pathetic system and if you disgree with the way the team are moderating this website, come join my group!
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Escapists-against-the-machine
-Tabs<3-

 

[kellith1stnonly]

I'm loving the new rules. The interesting discussions and very clear 'Don't Be A Dick' rule are what got me to sign up for the forums in the first place. I think the rules are just further enforcing the values this community already has, which gets an A+ in my book.

 

[Fire Daemon]

How many people have a health meter that looks like this? (or worse)

I do, for things that happened over a year ago. This really is a pathetic system and if you disgree with the way the team are moderating this website, come join my group!
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Escapists-against-the-machine
-Tabs<3-

I have something from 3+ years ago (I think), but I don't really mind about that. I did what I did, and I don't really want any warnings if I stuff up again. What I don't like is how the staff and the moderators have their bars hidden from view, if they even need to put up with them in the first place. Check their accounts if you don't believe me.

The staff and the mods probably aren't going to be doing things to get themselves banned, but it seems strange that they don't have the bar on their account. If they're the model posters they should be, what do they have to worry about? It seems very strange to me.

 

[Daedalus1942]

How many people have a health meter that looks like this? (or worse)

I do, for things that happened over a year ago. This really is a pathetic system and if you disgree with the way the team are moderating this website, come join my group!
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Escapists-against-the-machine
-Tabs<3-

I have something from 3+ years ago (I think), but I don't really mind about that. I did what I did, and I don't really want any warnings if I stuff up again. What I don't like is how the staff and the moderators have their bars hidden from view, if they even need to put up with them in the first place. Check their accounts if you don't believe me.

The staff and the mods probably aren't going to be doing things to get themselves banned, but it seems strange that they don't have the bar on their account. If they're the model posters they should be, what do they have to worry about? It seems very strange to me.

It seems very hypocritical to me and thank you for bringing this to my attention. I was not aware of this, but yes, it does appear you're correct. God I love the double standards on this site...
-.-
-Tabs<3-

 

[KefkaCultist]

I quite like the system myself. It will teach people not to be dicks real fast, and if they can't learn it then they go away.

I will admit that putting people's "health meter" already over half way for posts made a long time ago is a little bull crap due to ex post facto (if you did something in the past then the law changes you cannot be held responsible for those committed in the past). Not totally the same thing, but along the same vein.

My opinion may be biased on this from the fact that I have nothing on my record, but honestly it shouldn't be hard for people to keep a clean state. I've been on this site for more than half a year now with NOTHING against me and I'm not even uber-polite on here.

 

[RazzleDazzle102]

seriously? way to understand your audience escapist. we are all people who don't have anything better to do than troll, attempt to troll, and be flagrantly rude to people for no reason! Try and piss on my right to say whatever i want escapist, shame on you, follow these insane rules, shame on ME!

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Disgusting...

snip

Excellent points all around. Given your prodigiously high post count, it looks as though you've invested more into this site than I have, so what I'm about to say may not be very comforting.

If they ban you, they lose. Maybe not if they ban *just* you, but if they, as a rule, ban people like you, it hurts the quality of the site, and it hurts their bottom line. They don't want to just pull in advertising revenue from people coming in once per week to watch Zero Punctuation. They're aiming higher. If they drive off their community, then they'll have killed the goose that's laying their golden eggs.

And you'll always have somewhere else to go. The internet is a big place.

Maybe part of the reason why my post count *isn't* so high is that I don't think this is the best place for intelligent discussion on the internet. It's relatively devoid of rudeness and obvious trolling, so that's nice, but it's also an awfully young and immature site. Can't even tell you how many times my unconscious reaction to reading a user-created thread has been to roll my eyes and sigh audibly. Talking to people on this site makes me feel downright old, sometimes.

Considering the pattern of events and "new mod/rule ideas" of the past few months, and the effects that has so obviously had on the community, I don't think they care any longer about trying to maintain it. Or, at least, that effects simply are not observed. The unfortunate fact is that, right now, this doesn't seem like a community anymore. Instead, it feels like we are just anonymous playthings to a handful of people who enjoy being above others. Acting out fantasies of being in control, not caring at all about what that actually means for individuals.

As for me having other places to go, that is true. I do quite well, actually. I won't lose anything no matter what happens on this site.

And i've felt a bit old here sometimes too.

But... I am just really disappointed. I don't like the direction this site is taking. The content is good, but... the authoritarianism here is killing the community. It has been for a while. Yet... this keeps going on, getting worse with each "rule update" made that, apparently, would make things better. All it ever does is piss more people off, drive more people away, and pretty soon... what is left?

This, on every conceivable level.

OT: With all due respect to Escapist staff, I in my honest opinion, believe the new rules are a train wreck. :L

And, I may be taking a leave of absence soon. :L

Also, this coincides perfectly with a few Escapees posting some not so nice things on my YouTube channel. >.>

You know who you are.

Hey, don't leave. Yeah, they made a rule almost certainly just to target you (that is my opinion, whoever's finger is hovering over the ban button), but that doesn't mean you should let them win.

I say we give them what they want and leave the site bare. Maybe they will change their minds if the forums become a ghost town.

 

[Trolldor]

The only reason this system is questionable is because the mods are flawed. If they could go about their business without ever making a mistake then this sort of 'pass/fail' system would be fine.

They can't. They will make mistakes, and there will be gross mistakes on their part. The system needs to reflect this.

My very first probation was overturned because what I recieved the probation for wasn't even what I'd written. It was what the mod had assumed I'd written, and what the mod had added on to my post.
I was successful in this appeal, how many people might not be when the situation is precisely the same?