Poll: New forum rules - Yay or Nay?

[Thaa'ir]

I guess we'll get used to them...

EDIT: Now that I had the chance to actually read them, I suppose we will get used to them, but I find them to be ridiculous and pointlessly harsh.

 

[Leg End]

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 cannot ever leave this place.

I am embedded too deeply into here. :L

 

[Pirate1019]

This is just another step towards the depressing overly-moderated, white-washed forums of the future. The Escapist was already one of the more strictly moderated forums that I visit.

The iron-fisted ruling of forums destroys any personality a person has because it discourages speaking your mind freely without filtering it to meet moderator standards. I already can't tell any of you apart because you all sound the same (true story), and the new rules only further enforce that.

Most of the rules are pretty common sense and can be summed up in the sentence "Don't be a dick", but a lot of them are short-sighted. Not all posts without at least a small paragraph should be considered "low-content". Don't punish me for being clever enough to make a point in 10 words or less.

And to top it off, there isn't even a way to atone for sins against our Great Escapist Overlords. If God gives you a chance to apologize before throwing you to the dogs, why can't the Escapist?

Moral of the story: We are incorrigible animals that need to be lead around by the nose, otherwise we'll destroy the paradise we've so benevolently been allowed into, and so help me God if you EVER fuck up you will never be forgiven.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

Piracy and Ad Blocking are one of those subjects that are free to talk about, but against the rules to admit too. Like a Marijuana debate in the states, no cop is gonna arrest you if you favor the legalization of Marijuana, but you can bet he'll stop you if he catches you with the stuff.

Pretty much everyone who uses certain web browsers blocks ads. They have to pretend they're not?

I can't tell whose running them and who isn't just from looking at reports. I don't know if the staff members can, but for now, the only way I can punish someone for it is if they're stupid enough to post that they do.

The thing is people are always going to get around the system and I don't mean using adblockers, I mean people who put the spy and adware into popups. By not allowing the use of popup blockers doesn't that make Russ responsible if someone gets through and infects everybody's computers?

Now I'm sure you'll shill the Pub Club benefit of no ads, but not allowing blockers that are legally available with the threat of banning means that anything contracted through the site is 100% the responsibility of the Escapist and the only way to not have the threat of virus' is through a form of blackmail and paying $20 a year.

 

[Gxas]

I agreed to the new terms and conditions (mainly just to be able to continue posting) hours ago. After thinking about the new rules for a while (and reading both the moderators' opinions/reasoning and other users' opinions on it) I've come to the conclusion that, while I will still be posting, I will be thinking long and hard about everything that I want to say. While doing this, I will, most likely, be skipping a lot of the things I want to say in lieu of tentatively receiving any moderator action against me.

I have four warnings against me. Two were from when I was a brand new member (three years ago). One warranted, the other, not so much (especially considering it was a three-day ban). The third I cannot for the life of me remember. The fourth happened recently when I posted in a "worst videogame relationship" thread saying, "Oh please!! Can I pretty please say "inb4 Dom and Maria"!? Just this once!? They are the worst, after all!" (not exact quote) Immediately after, I was given a warning with a link to the post. All that the warning message said was, "No. You may not."

Now, I know that I should have appealed that, but I've appealed before and never gotten a response back. It makes me feel like no one is on the other end, therefore, I had no faith that it would be looked at at all.

I absolutely love this website. The content, the staff, and a good few users too. To be banned from this site would completely crush me. Especially after being an active member here for three years. You will probably say that I should know better now that I've been here for that long, but what happens when a similar situation to that fourth warning comes up again? I still have no faith in the appeals process, so I doubt I'll appeal at all. I'd also rather not be seen on this site as a perma-probie.

I don't want to stop posting all-together, but, at the same time, I feel like I have to do so. Though I was looking forward to hitting my 5k post mark, I don't realistically see it in reach any more. It makes me sad that I am considering this option. I don't post often at all. I mean, 3k posts in three years is not many at all. Especially with how post counts work nowadays.

Oh well. We'll see how this system works, I guess.

[small]Maybe Doki and Shivari were right in leaving though...[/small]

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

So wait, we get punished for learning from our mistakes?

well thats unfair.

VERY UNFAIR.

lets just hope I don't get attacked by the mods for this comment.

...

still pisses me off....

 

[Leg End]

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 cannot ever leave this place.

I am embedded too deeply into here. :L

Same here. Check out Escapists against the machine. The mass avatar change sounds like a good idea.

You say that just as I am watching a certain scene from FLCL. (O_O)

Are you a wizard? :L

 

[SillyBear]

Also, pedophilia is not illegal.

Ah, this old chestnut.

Talking about paedophilia can and will incite law enforcement to take investigatory measures and can lead to judicial action. I assume The Escapist doesn't want that.

There's no action to be taken. There are no laws broken by talking about it.

And there are no laws broken about talking about murder either. Doesn't mean the police can't take notice, doesn't mean the police can't launch an investigation and it doesn't mean the person has never committed any illegal acts.

If the police see someone admit to being a paedophile online, they have every right to launch an investigation. They also have every right to suspect this person may be in possession of child pornography or other illicit material. My uncle does this for a living friend - and they take internet activity very seriously. It doesn't matter if someone actually confesses to molesting kids or not - merely mentioning you are sexually attracted to young children is enough for them to start investigating and digging into your life. Also, a huge percentage of people who admit they are attracted to young children also are in possession of child pornography. That is more than enough grounds to start a rouse.

Once again, The Escapist doesn't want this. It's for everyone's best interest, and yet there are still people crying about it. Funny.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I wonder if Aylaine had precognition, and saw this coming before her departure.

(Disclaimer. Its Sarcasm)

 

[Xanthious]

I know for a fact that my opinion is tainted by the fact that I haven't seen ads on this site in ages, but it makes perfect sense to have the adblock policy.

If you don't want to cough up 15 dollars to remove the ads, you can at least keep your mouth shut. I abide by the rule, and I'm not even sure it applies to pub club members.

I agree whole heartedly as long as they assure us that The Escapist staff do not use ad blockers in any way shape or form as long as this rule stays in place. They shouldn't put rules in place unless they are going to abide by them as well.

Now you can say "well using them is fine but admitting to it is what's against the rules" but do you you realize how absurd that is? Is the rule in place to discourage ad blockers or is the rule in place to discourage admitting you use them?

When I asked a few posts back for someone in charge to let me know about Escapist Staff and ad blockers I truly and honestly would like a reply on the subject. I want to know I'm not being told to do as they say and not as they do.

 

[Daedalus1942]

So wait, we get punished for learning from our mistakes?

well thats unfair.

VERY UNFAIR.

lets just hope I don't get attacked by the mods for this comment.

...

still pisses me off....

Feel unfairly treated over these new rules put in place?
come join our group, we''ll make them take notice. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Escapists-against-the-machine
-Tabs<3-

 

[Daedalus1942]

I guess we'll get used to them...

EDIT: Now that I had the chance to actually read them, I suppose we will get used to them, but I find them to be ridiculous and pointlessly harsh.

If you're as unhappy as we are over this new system and the fact that the health bar doesn't diminish over time, feel free to join our group. We need everyone we can get.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Escapists-against-the-machine
-Tabs<3-

 

[RowdyRodimus]

Honestly, I think this whole thing is just a way to get more people to give them $20 a year for the Pub Club. "If I give them money they will look the other way a bit more for me" says member number 34595.

Really?
'cos I'm in the Pub Club, and I'm coming into these new rules on permanent probation. I don't think Clubbers get any special dispensation.

That's why I think it's a scam to get money for nothing. They kind of imply that you'll get easier treatment (just by the way they always shill the Pub Club) and people take it that that's the way it is (when people who have been here for awhile know better) and send them their money. It's an easy way for them to get 20 bucks from someone who might not have given it to them before.

 

[subtlefuge]

I know for a fact that my opinion is tainted by the fact that I haven't seen ads on this site in ages, but it makes perfect sense to have the adblock policy.

If you don't want to cough up 15 dollars to remove the ads, you can at least keep your mouth shut. I abide by the rule, and I'm not even sure it applies to pub club members.

I agree whole heartedly as long as they assure us that The Escapist staff do not use ad blockers in any way shape or form as long as this rule stays in place. They shouldn't put rules in place unless they are going to abide by them as well.

Now you can say "well using them is fine but admitting to it is what's against the rules" but do you you realize how absurd that is? Is the rule in place to discourage ad blockers or is the rule in place to discourage admitting you use them?

When I asked a few posts back for someone in charge to let me know about Escapist Staff and ad blockers I truly and honestly would like a reply on the subject. I want to know I'm not being told to do as they say and not as they do.

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.

 

[SillyBear]

Also, pedophilia is not illegal.

Ah, this old chestnut.

Talking about paedophilia can and will incite law enforcement to take investigatory measures and can lead to judicial action. I assume The Escapist doesn't want that.

There's no action to be taken. There are no laws broken by talking about it.

And there are no laws broken about talking about murder either. Doesn't mean the police can't take notice, doesn't mean the police can't launch an investigation and it doesn't mean the person has never committed any illegal acts.

If the police see someone admit to being a paedophile online, they have every right to launch an investigation. They also have every right to suspect this person may be in possession of child pornography or other illicit material. My uncle does this for a living friend - and they take internet activity very seriously. It doesn't matter if someone actually confesses to molesting kids or not - merely mentioning you are sexually attracted to young children is enough for them to start investigating and digging into your life. Also, a huge percentage of people who admit they are attracted to young children also are in possession of child pornography. That is more than enough grounds to start a rouse.

Once again, The Escapist doesn't want this. It's for everyone's best interest, and yet there are still people crying about it. Funny.

You know why?

"Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither."
- Ben Franklin.

"First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."
- Pastor Martin Niemöller

edit: If you want to quote Ben Franklin, at least get the quote right first.

Mate, you can quote whoever the fuck you want to quote all day, it doesn't change the fact that a written confession of being attracted to children is grounds for an investigation. They may or may not find anything else to take action, but they can certainly investigate and cause a lot of stress - both for the individual concerned and The Escapist. The way the police see it, if someone admits to being a paedophile, they have a chance of possessing child pornography. They will nab you for this in a heartbeat. Granted, you would have to be pretty unlucky, but it does happen - my uncle does this every day.

This is for your best interest.

If any paedophiles are reading this, take my advice and shut your mouth. I'd save that knowledge for your close friends - don't put it up on the internet for everyone to see, permanently. The police can get you for it. I don't care if you agree with it or not, this is the world we live in and it can and does happen. Thanks.

 

[mew4ever23]

Not OK with the new rules, especially how people are able to view each others health bar. Also, why not remove infractions over time? This is something that happens in the real world, did this forum become a police state when I wasn't looking?

Also, just a little bit of advice and commentary about the current rules: 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.

 

[swankyfella]

New rules you say...

So far as I can tell, the general rule is still "Don't be a dick."

Who can disagree?