Too Many Restrictions

[Bright Honor 2,669]

I have been a member here for over 4 years. As of late I find this forum to be too uptight lately.

 

Today I offered a PM RP, and mind you i rarely rp nowadays.,.. I was told that that isn't allowed to "protect the young members." That isn't the problem it's just...I don't like roleplaying in public because I feel embarassed for being bad compared to other members on here.

 

In my opnion if you are old enough to sign up for a forum you are old enough to use PMs. I believe only mods and admins can check other member PMs anyway, so who is in danger, exactly?

 

Plus I have had stuff shut down like an IRC server i tried to start. This place is way too strict.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Glimmerlicious

[Merion 783]

Wait... So the staff can actually access your PRIVATE messages? Do they control our PMs?

[Bright Honor 2,669]

Wait... So the staff can actually access your PRIVATE messages? Do they control our PMs?

 

Well idk for sure but being well mods and admins I would imagine they would. It's a guess on my part.

[Yellow Diamond 7,569]

Wait... So the staff can actually access your PRIVATE messages? Do they control our PMs?

 

Admins are the only ones who have access to private messages, and we only search them if we have good reason to believe there's something foul afoot. Because all of those messages are hosted on our servers, nobody here has an absolute right to privacy; but we won't go around telling everyone the content of a private conversation. We always seek to honor confidentiality whenever possible.

 

As to your points, @Glimmerlicious -- Private RPs are prohibited because we can't reasonably monitor whether or not those roleplays are appropriate. Someone would have to go out of their way to tell us about the RP session in the first place, and even then a moderator would have to take the time to subsequently check through the content. Frankly, it's an unreasonable amount of work for us to handle.

 

More important, however, is the general safety of our members -- especially minors, who in the past were approached to do erotic private RPs by adults. This puts us in a precarious position -- both legally and ethically -- knowing there are adults and legal minors simulating romance and even sex acts. All it takes is one parent to discover their child's involvement for the whole community to fall into serious trouble. It's better therefore to cut the possibility off entirely and disallow any RPs that otherwise can't be seen in public.

 

Finally, the IRC link falls under our advertising rules. One reason those links are prohibited is because they can drive traffic away from the forums; another is that confusion occasionally erupts over whether or not those chats are "official" MLP Forums chat rooms. Again, we find it's easier just to nip the matter in the bud.

 

I hope these help answer your questions.

[Bright Honor 2,669]

Admins are the only ones who have access to private messages, and we only search them if we have good reason to believe there's something foul afoot. Because all of those messages are hosted on our servers, nobody here has an absolute right to privacy; but we won't go around telling everyone the content of a private conversation. We always seek to honor confidentiality whenever possible.

 

As to your points, @Glimmerlicious -- Private RPs are prohibited because we can't reasonably monitor whether or not those roleplays are appropriate. Someone would have to go out of their way to tell us about the RP session in the first place, and even then a moderator would have to take the time to subsequently check through the content. Frankly, it's an unreasonable amount of work for us to handle.

 

More important, however, is the general safety of our members -- especially minors, who in the past were approached to do erotic private RPs by adults. This puts us in a precarious position -- both legally and ethically -- knowing there are adults and legal minors simulating romance and even sex acts. All it takes is one parent to discover their child's involvement for the whole community to fall into serious trouble. It's better therefore to cut the possibility off entirely and disallow any RPs that otherwise can't be seen in public.

 

Finally, the IRC link falls under our advertising rules. One reason those links are prohibited is because they can drive traffic away from the forums; another is that confusion occasionally erupts over whether or not those chats are "official" MLP Forums chat rooms. Again, we find it's easier just to nip the matter in the bud.

 

I hope these help answer your questions.

a forum with thousa ds upon thousands of members is afraid of some chat room? give me a break.

 

i suppose i can understand the logic but i still stand by this place being too restrictive. and frankly since well no one likes me here and avoid me, perhaps i have no business being here anyway

[Perish Song 45]

It always strikes my fancy that some people seem they should be allowed to over-ride the rules, even though they're all put out in black and white for everyone to read.  What's even MORE curious, is when people DO read the rules, yet somehow think they're -still- not obligated to listen/follow them because they're 'silly'.  

 

Also, I've rped for many years.  If you'd like some suggestions, focus first on your grammar and vocabulary!  Read some stories, see how they flow.  Look up information on character development and scene-setting.  I'm sure you'll do just fine in the future. c:

[Derplight Sperkle 1,013]

If you feel you need more direction on roleplaying there is a RP mentor program offered by the Roleplay staff.

[Yellow Diamond 7,569]

a forum with thousa ds upon thousands of members is afraid of some chat room? give me a break.

 

i suppose i can understand the logic but i still stand by this place being too restrictive. and frankly since well no one likes me here and avoid me, perhaps i have no business being here anyway

 

I don't think I ever mentioned us being afraid of chat rooms. We're cautious, yes, but for plain, easy to understand reasons (I hope). The staff has a responsibility to protect users on this site as well as represent the general Poniverse community.

 

Yes, it's a restriction -- but a restriction put in place from years of experience.

 

You're more than welcome to stay. Derplight suggestion to use our RP resources is a good one. You can get in a lot of practice there without fear of making a mistake in public.