Forum Rules Revamp

[Rowsdower]

Hi, everyone.

I'd like to let you know that we've revamped the rules. Please take some time to read them HERE. We felt that it was important to flesh out the scope of the rules to match the needs of an ever-expanding community, as well as the needs of people who help shape the experience within it. In case you're wondering, the actual impact you'll feel from this revamp around the forum will be very little. The majority of you will be able to continue on as you always have. If you have any further questions or suggestions, feel free to use this thread in which to do so. Please keep all comments constructive.

Thanks.

[Liowen]

i. Links that promote projects and/or products that are meant for the personal profit of either party, this specifically includes linking through ad.fly; and

Two questions on this one, does this include Youtube as it can make a profit for both Google and the person producing the video? The second one is the and what, it skips down to the next one with finishing the statement?

[Rowsdower]

Two questions on this one, does this include Youtube as it can make a profit for both Google and the person producing the video? The second one is the and what, it skips down to the next one with finishing the statement?

YouTube links are ok. The "and" refers to the completion of the section with the comment below that.

[Tortoise]

Kill Rosdower before he lays eggs!

[Red Iron Crown]

Is a copy of the old rules available somewhere? It would be nice to be able to compare and see what's changed, nothing really jumped out on a quick reading.

[Bilfr3d]

Kill Rosdower before he lays eggs!

Get the eggs, not him!

[Red Iron Crown]

Rule 5.1's use of the word "enacted" is not quite right, I would suggest using any of the following instead: "obeyed", "honored", "followed", or "heeded".

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

I cannot find this in the forbidden posts category. But are conspiracy theories now allowed to be discussed?

[Rowsdower]

I cannot find this in the forbidden posts category. But are conspiracy theories now allowed to be discussed?

There's no specific "no conspiracies" rule as we felt that alone was too vague. It will still be enforced, though, only now it's covered by other rules and reasons in the list.

[Red Iron Crown]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but may I humbly suggest that using invisible text in a post be forbidden? I know some people just do it to get around the ten character limit, but some others hide some unpleasantness with it.

[sal_vager]

Hiya Red, we thought about this and decided that there are other rules that already deal with any offensive invisotext, and should any member find something hidden that falls under those rules they are to use the report button to bring it to the moderation teams attention

[Alshain]

EDIT: Nevermind, I was wrong.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Alshain

[Red Iron Crown]

I reported a thread the other day that was basically just spam. A list of car stereos and an e-mail address trying to lure people to buy something. The mods did delete it but amusingly I realized there is no rule against spam listed in there.

Rule 2.2i would seem to cover it. Not to mention the catchall disclaimer at the end, which is basically "Even if it's not in the rules, if we don't like it it's still wrong." Which is a great clause, pretty much eliminates rules lawyering.

[Aethon]

What is 'role playing' and why is it frowned upon?

I once had a problem getting something to work. In my forum post I posed my question in the persona of a space program administer, mentioning the upcoming contracts and that missions were on hold, industry partners up in arms, etc...

Is this acceptable? If not, why?

[Liowen]

What is 'role playing' and why is it frowned upon?

I once had a problem getting something to work. In my forum post I posed my question in the persona of a space program administer, mentioning the upcoming contracts and that missions were on hold, industry partners up in arms, etc...

Is this acceptable? If not, why?

I believe the roleplaying they are referring to is in terms of things that have nothing to do with the game at all, so your post should be fine since it is game related and non offensive. Maybe that last bit will clear it up some without having to go into anymore detail.

[Frozen_Heart]

What is 'role playing' and why is it frowned upon?

I think there was a roleplaying subforum but it ended up an arguing mess so had to be removed. :/

[Red Iron Crown]

I think there was a roleplaying subforum but it ended up an arguing mess so had to be removed. :/

Pretty much, and it spilled out of the role-playing subforum and infected the rest of the forums. Good riddance.

[Felsmak]

I also feel that an immediate and permanent ban would be in order for anyone who types in yellow text.

[Vanamonde]

There's no rule against spam because, if everything goes right, you should never see it in the first place. Every accounts' first few posts must be approved by a moderator before they actually go through, and we catch the 'bots then and lock their origins out permanently. But occasionally, we goof and send one through, which seems to be what happened in this case.

And yes, we have a forum rule against roleplaying because some people become overly invested in their fictitious factions, and then the pretend conflicts turn into real feuds between forum members, spilling over into other threads and subforums.