Topic: Forum Maturity Level

[Morgul]

It pains me that I have to make this post. However, due to recent events, it has become clear that I need to say something. A member of the forums has already been banned; I would like to avoid others. Let me be clear and concise:

Immaturity will no longer be tolerated on these forums.

This isn't to say that we will ban you for tasteless humor, or even the occasional slip up. Rather, this is a warning. Blatant and/or admitted immaturity will no longer be allowed on these forums. You may joke, you may have fun, but remember that when all is said and done, respect is far more important then getting people to laugh at your latest lame joke.

Also, I feel I must make one final comment.

I will no longer tolerate continued harassment of members of my forums. Your first PM to someone should never be 'You're one hot bitch.' That is harassment. I will personally ban anyone that makes other feel uncomfortable.

Remember, the goal of these forums isn't to get members. It's not even to keep members. It's to be a tool towards the creation of the Requiem for Innocence, and other G33X Nexus Entertainment Games/Universes. I enjoy using them as a place to have fun, but I will close them down completely if the rampant immaturity does not cease immediately.

Thank you.

--Chris

[windshipper]

We also expect (mostly) correct grammar and punctuation in your posts. We understand that you are human and will screw up, but something like this where its all like unreadable and annoying to read and its...iunno...know what i mean duder... Is kind of annoying.

That and posting everything you are currently thinking is kind of annoying. We know you have no life beyond these forums, but shit posting is not acceptable.

I know I have been responsible for derailing threads before, but do try to stay on topic. I will as well. If you post in a thread, include content that adds to the thread in your post, please.

I and the other admins will follow these guidelines:
1st Offense: I will be polite and kind to you. I will inform you why and how you need to unfuck yourself.
2nd Offense: I will bury you in a pile of self-loathing.

Also, while I have your attention, maybe now would be a good time to review this!

Love it. Memorize it. Live it.

[contingencyplan]

To pick on a few random examples in my Unread Posts:
This one and the next few posts
This too (and the next few posts)

This are some good examples. I'm not pointing out anybody in particular - there's several people in those posts. However, the forums are not an IM replacement. You want to kibitz about a particular post like this, do it over IM. This isn't discussion, it's bullshitting, and as I noted earlier, it's pushing the signal:noise ratio waay too far into "noise." I likely won't follow a 1-2 punch strategy as windshipper outlined (though I'm well within my rights to do so), but I will be posting "okay y'all, cut it out" posts pretty frequently. People who abuse my patience will find themselves on the wrong side of banzville.

Try to minimize the use of "lol," "lulz," "omg," "rofl," etc. - AIMspeek belongs in AIM (and even that's arguable, but that's a discussion for another time).

There's plenty to discuss - music, movies, games, art. Hell, I'm going to be adding books to the mix with a Shelfari thread soon. And guess what, if you can't find anything to discuss, THAT'S OKAY! It's not like we need a million new posts per day - we're a small forum with only a few members; we don't have to compete with larger forums like 4chan and SA. It's just not gonna happen. A lack of super-frequent posting is not necessarily a bad thing, so don't feel under pressure to compensate for it. When you have something to discuss, by all means do so. But don't start posting "lol i know u do haha" just to fill space and pad your post count. It's unwarranted, unappreciated, and strongly despised.

Also, here's a CUH-RAYZEE THOUGHT! If y'all have so much free time and limitless energy, try coming up with something for GNE - you know, the whole purpose of the forums' existence?. You program? Do a little game. (Don't program? Learn by doing a game!) You write? Do a story. Draw? Artwork. Play games? Bounce around ideas. Used to we had several threads discussing how Precursors would work - the mechanics, the game play, the looks, the races. I miss those days. Let's bring 'em back (and morgul and whitelynx into producing a playable demo ),  aye?

edit #572: One last thing. Don't backseat mod. If someone's breaking the rules in a thread, let us take care of it. Don't put yourself in our shoes, or presume to make decisions on our part. We'll come down hard, both inside the thread and out, for it. If something troubles you so bad that blood is pouring from every orifice, there's a Report button next to the post. (Naturally, abuse of the report button will be met with disdain as well. In other words, use common sense people!) This includes criticizing content-level in the post, the forum it's posted in, what color the person was wearing when they posted it (I'm in a black shirt thanks for noticing ), etc.

That said, one way we (or at least I) plan to deal with idiots is to declare open season on them; when that happens, by all means feel free to berate them mercilessly.

[Caenus]

I'm going to second everything that has been said thus far by my fellow administrators and go one step further.

There are a few things that I ABSOLUTELY will not tolerate. 

If someone else has pushed you to the breaking point, and your last nerve is worn so extremely thin that you piss yourself at loud noises and can't sleep at night, this does not give you the right to call them out in thread.  If someone's being a dumbass, then by all means, feel free to point it out to them.  Like contingencyplan said, don't do OUR job, but feel free to call them a dumbass.

What I don't want to see is a thread labeled "100 reasons that <random user> should be banned from the forums". 

If you're pissed about something to that extent, you come to the mods.  I'm almost always online, and if I'm not, I check my PMs daily.  You can even email me if you need something.  WE WILL HANDLE IT.  It is not to be dredged up in front of everyone.  Someone on another forum I run tried to pull this, and it's not appropriate.  All you do is turn the general community against someone without allowing that person to make his/her case and be heard by somewhat objective ears.

Not only shouldn't you do our jobs for us, DON'T TELL US HOW TO DO OUR JOBS.  We've got things well under control, and we have something like 16-17 years worth of combined experienced administrating forums.  If someone IMs me with "So and so needs to be banned" as opposed to "So and so did this", you will likely not live to see the fallout from your decision to tell me how to do my job.  Of all the mods, I'm especially touchy about this.  I know what I'm fucking doing, don't tell me what I did wrong. 

Also, I will warn you now, my greatest weapon against stupidity will be to let windshipper loose on you and then join him.  We did this to someone already, and this person was somewhat hurt by it.  I apologize for letting it get a little out of hand, but let me say this: if we start editing your posts in a manner that is less than playful or if we start doing things that you think go beyond having fun and joking around, there's probably an EXCELLENT reason for it, and we're trying to make a point.

The admins are not assholes who will abuse their power whenever they feel like it, we abuse our power when we feel it is necessary to teach someone a lesson.  Remember, guys.  I'm a teacher in real life, and I don't just come out and say "NO"; rather, I will sit you down and show you WHY you shouldn't do something, often by making you feel the way we feel.