Love, tolerance, and a preview of things to come

[My little pwny 1,390]

Good points by everypony, and my thanks go to all the mods and members who put in overtime to try and get this right! I think everybody can agree that the rule page somehow needs to be direct, simple, clear, and somewhat short. If a rules page can cover all it's bases while being easy to understand and not that long, the enforcement side of things will get easier.

[Evilshy 5,089]

It won't make the problems worse, exactly. What I mean, is that with an actual penalty, it becomes a real problem if a rules is vague and open to individual interpretation.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

I approve. I mean, I can be kind of a jerk sometimes but it seems like half of the posts on the forum lately display hatred or disgust at this person, that person, them, us, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah. Anyway, I hope that this helps reduce this growing trend and get us back on our path of love and tolerance.

 

This means that I MIGHT have to cut back on some of my unnecessary cussin' though.

[thegoodhen 698]

 

 

Blatantly off-topic and/or pointless posts have been against the rules since day one - if there's going to be absolutely no punishment for breaking a rule, why have a rule against it?.

 

 

Because we are bronies.

And I think I'm speaking for pretty much everypony when I say that I try not to post Off topic (and to follow rules in general), out of respect towards mods and admins, not out of fear.

This being said, I often produce off topic. Well, I don't do it on purpose.

In other words, Gilda was sent away because she was rude and mean.

But... Do you think Pinkie pie would be always on topic, when she's so random?

No. So would you just kick her out of Ponyville?

 

 

 

 

[Fizz. 1,078]

I'm ready for the imminent banishment of practically everyone because of those point values. Seriously, what the hell does "Borderline NSFW" content even mean? What constitutes as borderline?

 

You guys seriously need an outline for things if you're going to make a code. "Abusive behavior" could be a WIDE variety; what counts as abusing and what doesn't?

 

If you're going to make a big announcement, at least have it be clear.

[Zoop 8,384]

I'm ready for the imminent banishment of practically everyone because of those point values. Seriously, what the hell does "Borderline NSFW" content even mean? What constitutes as borderline?

 

You guys seriously need an outline for things if you're going to make a code. "Abusive behavior" could be a WIDE variety; what counts as abusing and what doesn't?

 

If you're going to make a big announcement, at least have it be clear.

I think we're working with two different definitions of 'suggestive', here. I'm looking at something that isn't quite pornographic, but is still something that might be considered NSFW. Extremely violent fanart and such would also classify for that particular warning level, I'd think. Cutesy shipping stuff? Different matter entirely.

That picture is adorable and nowhere even remotely near anything I would ever think to ever possibly consider punishable. 'Suggestive' may have been the wrong word - near pornographic would probably be a better one.

Once again, I should've used a better term than 'suggestive' to describe that particular portion.

Abusive behavior is, to be completely blunt, being a prick. You can be a prick in a blunt manner, or by trying to be a subtle troll. There are an infinite number of ways to be a disruptive prick, and it's impossible to list them all out, to be honest.

 

While I agree that we should have some explanation to go with the warning types (the present lack is due to the fact that this is just a barebones WIP), if someone checks the forum rules and sees something that large they're going to be more intimidated than they would be upon seeing my original vague post.

This isn't so much an announcement as it is a pre-announcement of sorts for the sake of gathering feedback and such. Also, I addressed most of your points in a post I made a couple hours ago on the previous page. :|

[Crispy 5,563]

I'm surprised this thread is this long anyway.

 

Seriously, we're all lucky that our mod team tries to take the high road and explain why you are being disciplined, not to mention provide levels of punishment prior to that. They could go completely SA on you all and just be like "lol ban'd" and that'd be the end of it.

[thegoodhen 698]

At the end of the day, mods will be the same great ponies, so there is not much to fear about, I guess. I'm happy that I was assured posting Twis is okay. (Note to self: NEVER search google for "Sexy twilight"! Make sure to add "mlp" for sake of keeping sane.)

 

Poor, Zoop, shouldn't he be taking break? O_o

 

 

 

 

 

[Zoop 8,384]

Poor, Zoop, shouldn't he be taking break? O_o

Sacrifices are sometimes required for the public good. Also, that spoiler gets all of my approval.

 

 

They could go completely SA on you all and just be like "lol ban'd" and that'd be the end of it.

Honestly, I think that would be a surefire way to kill the forum almost overnight. D:

[Crispy 5,563]

Honestly, I think that would be a surefire way to kill the forum almost overnight. D:

 

Here? Yes. But that wouldn't stop a lesser forum from doing so. That's the whole point. You guys are trying to implement a fair system and people are complaining. It bothers me, especially seeing systems that manage to work under far lesser conditions.

[Zoop 8,384]

You guys are trying to implement a fair system and people are complaining. It bothers me, especially seeing systems that manage to work under far lesser conditions.

Mm. I'd say that most of the response to this thread has been more on the side of being worthwhile feedback, to be honest - like I said before, we've heard some extremely valid concerns regarding the idea, and have had people give us a fair bit of food for thought. Overall, I think this thread has gone extremely well.

 

Especially compared to some of the others lately.

[Crispy 5,563]

Mm. I'd say that most of the response to this thread has been more on the side of being worthwhile feedback, to be honest - like I said before, we've heard some extremely valid concerns regarding the idea, and have had people give us a fair bit of food for thought. Overall, I think this thread has gone extremely well.

 

Especially compared to some of the others lately.

 

I dunno. I thought the only real valid concern was the mobile character limit issue, so far. Though I suppose people who haven't been here long wouldn't pick up on the unwritten rules of the place...

 

Eh. Maybe I just was too okay with the original idea.

[Strife 455]

As a side note, if I didn't respond to your post specifically, please do not take it as an indication that I ignored it - far from it, actually. I really liked some of the proposals that I saw, but wanted to respond primarily to people's concerns.

 

*forever ignored*

 

Just kidding. A great post; contains many responses to a variety of concerns.

 

 

Also, the table flipping Twilight posted later is sheer hilarity.

[jjsthekid 1]

I haven't really noticed much drama here (then again, I'm new, so what do I know..), but it looks like this can help things, so I hope your new system works out well.

[SBaby 660]

It may be worth noting that we're currently working on a big comprehensive FAQ, which should (hopefully!) clear up any ambiguities or uncertainties members may have about rules, warnings, accounts, and just about everything else that happens to crop up in Site Questions and Feedback on a regular basis.

 

Overall, it sounds like a good idea so far. A change in the way enforcement is handled was inevitable. And this infraction system (let's call it what it is, folks) is probably the best way I've seen so far to go about it.

 

I think my only real personal fear (and one that unfortunately seems to be gradually getting realized) is that I just don't want this site to end up where there are 20 pages of rules per forum, and it just becomes an utter mess to sort out. I've seen this happen, and it's not a pretty sight. That's a worst-case scenario though. In general, I totally like this idea.

 

That said, there are some things that I should mention.

 

First of all, the character minimum violation is a bit high, considering that seems to be a pretty minor offense in the grand scheme of things. I know there's been problems with it, and I agree that there should be some kind of value for it. But I would put it around the same level as pointless posts/SPAM. People that violate it generally do it because they are either new, or they don't notice the counter on the screen. They typically don't do it intentionally. And if it's intentional, then there's probably more going on than a character minimum violation, anyway. Also, a new person getting 125 points right off the bat is probably not going to stay on this site for very long. So I'd recommend putting it at 25-50 points, tops. It just doesn't seem like a big enough deal to warrant being over 100 points.

 

Second, this is something the Mods have to decide for themselves, but it's something the whole staff should think long and hard about. How are you going to convey when someone has received points? You'll probably leave a message when it happens, but I have to recommend being as nice about it as possible. Alot of sites will leave messages that are rude, and borderline worse than the offense itself. I just don't want this site to follow suit. I don't think we have to worry about that on this site, but it's worth mentioning as a precaution.

 

Finally, the most important thing to consider (and I'm sure you've thought about this; it's the reason I'm posting all this) is that alot of new people that come here are also new Bronies. If they're hit with this, they might think twice about how they view FiM. In the worst case scenario, it could make them a hater. I've seen this happen with other things, like Digimon, Sonic and even Pokemon. So keep in mind that if this isn't done carefully, it doesn't hurt only this site. It hurts the whole fanbase. After all, this is currently the biggest FiM forum out there. So in a way, we're representing the fanbase in the eyes of newcomers. All its merits and flaws are in one place for the world to see. It's almost a cycle in a way, because the reason for this is that things are getting bad on parts of the site and whatnot, so now this has to happen.

 

Anyway, those are more/less my thoughts. Alot longer than I intended to make this, but I covered everything I can think of. But yeah, it looks like you're definitely onto something here.

Edited August 12, 2012 by SBaby

[thegoodhen 698]

*gets afraid mods will opress him for posting sexy Twilights pictures*

*is assured otherwise*

*posts Twis pics*

*Gets explicit approval from mod and post brohoofed by Feld0*

My life is now complete!

 

Well, anyway, I've been having the feeling things are getting into normal. Perhaps it was just a fad. What do you guys think?

[Apple-Jack 312]

Hmm idk the banishment should be bigger than 1,000

One day suspension should be at 250

Two day suspension at 500

Seven day suspension at 1750

Eternal banishment at 5000

This is my opinion

[Glaceon 793]

This is great! Hopefully we can all get the community to stop the petty fights and all that.

Question will quoting a deleted post have a warning? (Cause I quoted a fair share of deleted posts already and I don't want to get banished )

[Crispy 5,563]

I hope the perma-ban badge is a "Banished and Thrown In a Dungeon In The Place They Were Banished To" badge.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

This is great! Hopefully we can all get the community to stop the petty fights and all that.

Question will quoting a deleted post have a warning? (Cause I quoted a fair share of deleted posts already and I don't want to get banished )

 

I don't think this will be the case. Presently, we do not hand out any warnings to people who get their posts deleted for responding to deleted post. Why would this change? It's not really breaking any rules unless the response was inappropriate.

 

There you go!

 

Anyways guys, I must say I'm also pleased on your responses in the thread. And I just want to take the time to reassure you: nobody is going to get banned for no reason. As long as you follow the rules, you will be fine. If you make a mistake, we understand. Not everyone is perfect. You will not be banned for a simple mistake. This new system doesn't mean we're just suddenly going to turn into a bunch of hardasses. It seems intimidating, and I truly understand that. I too am intimidated by warning systems and talks of points and infractions. We're just trying to organize things in a more consistent manner. We presented it to you because we appreciated your feedback to help us better the system on what is and is not appropriate, and wanted to give you some due warning for the changes that are to occur.

 

I can appreciate that change is scary to many people. Change scares me quite a bit. Especially without warning. I wasn't here for the mass modding and the drama that had occurred, When I came back from my break, I was extremely shocked and somewhat irritated when I noticed. Why had no one told me? I thought. What the heck happened here? Who ARE all these people? But I calmed down, and became used to it in time as I realized it was the proper decision to make.

 

Here, we are telling you before anything is implemented. Nothing is set in stone, and nothing is happening yet. So do not worry. You already know of the changes to come, and of the form they will be presented in. This means you can adapt much more easily than it being sprung without warning. Do not think because something is changing that it is bad though. As long as you can take the time to properly tell us what you think needs to be fixed like this thread (which has worked rather smoothly), we will listen, and hopefully incorporate the more useful suggestions.

[Fizz. 1,078]

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This isn't so much an announcement as it is a pre-announcement of sorts for the sake of gathering feedback and such. Also, I addressed most of your points in a post I made a couple hours ago on the previous page. :|

 

I'm sorry, but I don't need to read through 6 pages of this topic to get a basic understanding of your own rules. It's not my fault they're hidden from easy view. I'm not going to spend half an hour reading through this entire thing.

[sᴜᴍᴍoɴᴇᴅ 55]

We found that this would come sometime sooner or later, and we're not really surprised to be honest. The talk specifically of cloppers, Christians, MLP Haters or those that spark a hard discussion on the show being overrated will bring out the worse in people.

 

People have their opinions and people should accept that and leave it be. If they don't like it, they can state why they don't like it but at least act your age when you do it. Show some Love and Tolerance but don't shove that down people's throat to get them to like what you're saying. Not everyone is going to like what you say and it's about time people should understand that.

 

We're not better than those that don't like the show and who don't preach the Love and Tolerance (though it seems that based on the statistics of the Forums, not a lot of people in the Community is doing that either), we are just people who love a common thing: My Little Pony.

[Modphase 1,271]

I love this forum already. Nice people, active members, and a system of justice that looks very effective. Ominous at first, but a lot better than that of.....the other forum......*shudder*......

 

Anyways, looks very effective. Nice work guys!

[thegoodhen 698]

I just realised one thing.

Few minutes ago, I reported one topic. The guy was requesting a certain nsfw content and other ponies gave him the links.

But since I kind of know him and although he might act childish time to time (he's young), I know he's a nice lad.

Would I report him if I knew doing so would lead to him being banned?

No, I wouldn't.

That's just my other 2 cents.

[Zoop 8,384]

Would I report him if I knew doing so would lead to him being banned?

No, I wouldn't.

It's okay. Somebody else would have gotten around to it - it just would've taken a couple minutes longer.