SimuLord said:
I learned a long time ago (thankfully through others' rather than my own experience) that if someone makes a tasteless racist or sexist joke, it is perfectly OK to laugh at it, but to quote the post and let someone know you laughed at it? Verboten.
Like most of the Internet, the Escapist falls into the trap of politically correct bigotry---it is perfectly fine to rip Acceptable Targets [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AcceptableTargets], but go after a pet liberal cause (with a "kitchen/sammich" joke or anything that's racist toward any race other than white people) and you're up a creek.
It's not as bad as some sites (I once got a three-day suspension from GameFAQs for---I am not making this up---stating I planned to vote Republican), but it is still ultimately a tilted playing field that makes it a lot less shocking that sites like Conservapedia and Metapedia exist.
I disagree with this, as it's not
what you say, but how you say it. You can still be a homophobic zionist pirate fanboy without any restrictions here, but the requirement is that you have reasoning behind your argument and aren't rude about it.
I'll give an example (not resembling my own opinion):
Fanboyism:
Wrong said:
stfu nubs u suk half life iz for PC fags halo is teh winzorz lolol
Intentional spelling errors, no explanation as to their opinion and the use of the word 'fags' in an offensive way are all factors involved in why this person would quite possibly recieve a probation at best.
Right said:
I consider the Xbox to be the superior gaming device over the PC. My reasoning is that a keyboard and mouse is more uncomfortable to use than a controller, which moulds into your hand. Also, I consider consoles better for gaming as they require a lot less care, do not succumb to viruses and are purpose-built for my needs.
Half Life, in my opinion, was not that great a game as it was mostly story driven and had frequent parts where you were forced to stand around in unskippable cutscenes for up to 20 minutes rather than actually play the game. Halo is more of a game for me, as it provides bigger challenges, more enemies to shoot and not a single dull moment.
See what I did there? I just turned a post that was pointless, dull, illegible and stupid into something genuinely warranting discussion, giving the user a whole lot more respect by his peers. here one would have been banned, the other would not.
Still not convinced? I'll step it up a notch (again, not my opinion, just an example):
Homosexuality:
Wrong said:
fuk u fags, cuz ur all SHIT go bak to amsterdam where ur WANTED
It really doesn't need saying. Offensive comments, unnecessary caps lock, spelling errors and god knows what else is the reason why anyone who would post anything like this will receive a suspension.
Right said:
Homosexuality is a touchy issue on my part, as I was raised with the firm belief that it was a sin, as well as previous incidents in my life that I would rather forget.
I also consider sodomy unnatural; an act that no man was intended to do. Argue with me all you want, but that is my belief.
This was hard to write for me as well, because I have no idea why you would dislike homosexuality unless you were either a psycho-christian or told to dislike them by your 12-year-old peers. Anyway, I did my best.
The above quote may be debated by some, but the poster has at least given his reasons and contributed to the discussion in a polite manner. Also, a post like that will not receive moderator wrath for that very reason.
That's my observation, anyway.
scotth266 said:
Lord Krunk said:
Excuse my uninformed-ness, but what does BB stand for?
And as for necroing threads, I am not too sure how to say when it's good and when it's bad. Really, I deem it to be good until a month after its connception, but others (like PurpleRain's Quote Thread) tend to survive.
Thanks for the feedback though; I'm glad that these few hours of work wasn't a waste of time on my part.
Ah, it's the tags added onto text, like the small or color things. Flagrant abuse of these is uncommon, but it happened in the past apparently.
And as for the necros, I asked Tendo about it. Apparently it's
ok to necro something as long as you have added something significant to the discussion. Still, you might want to stick in a note telling people to avoid it when it comes to news threads. I mean, did we really need to be reminded of Soulja Boy's attempt to make a game about himself?
Also, you need to change the bottom to include [small]
(Permanent).[/small] Just for the lulz
Oh, you were talking about BB Code; I have a few ideas of what would be bannable offenses, so bear with me until I can write something up.
As for Necroing, it still isn't necessarily bannable unless the one doing the necroing happens to be a spambot, so I'll leave it out.
Thanks for the advice, by the way.