Forum Rules and Regulations.

ChiptBeef · Post by **ChiptBeef** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:44 pm

It's my understanding the Forum Garden does not utilize moderators. Establish a page in the "Official Forumgarden Area" dedicated to the posting of forum rules by administrators. This forum could be used by members to comment on the rules or report alleged infractions. This could help in eliminating extreme quarrels between members and assist in making the Forum Garden even more congenial. If the rules are posted and continually updated, complainace for new members will be easier and fair enforcement would be almost certain.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:22 am

I respectfully disagree.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:37 am

I think we all know the rules, if you have any question CB, write a PM to Tombstone or Anastrophe.

We are previleged to be allowed to participate on this Forum, we do not need a board to complain about rules or report infractions. Bad posts can be reported by clicking on the warning sign. Administrators take care of the problem as soon as possible. Other then that, tattling and complaining is not beneficial to anyone-least of all the complainer.

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:00 am

We are all adults here.. well most of you are anyway.... so if someone gets alittle upset them them hash it out..

Besides .. Rules are made just to be broken..

Jives · Post by **Jives** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:09 am

I respectfully disagree...:wah:

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:16 am

well.. I must admit .. the adults comment might have been over the top..:wah:

minks · Post by **minks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:05 am

ChiptBeef wrote: It's my understanding the Forum Garden does not utilize moderators. Establish a page in the "Official Forumgarden Area" dedicated to the posting of forum rules by administrators. This forum could be used by members to comment on the rules or report alleged infractions. This could help in eliminating extreme quarrels between members and assist in making the Forum Garden even more congenial. If the rules are posted and continually updated, complainace for new members will be easier and fair enforcement would be almost certain.

wot is wrong with how we run this place as it is????

minks · Post by **minks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:07 am

flopstock wrote: I think there needs to be a forum rule that if you want to fight.. you have to do it naked on webcam...:sneaky:

Crikey you hit the nail on the head with that one ahahahahaha

minks · Post by **minks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:10 am

Clipper wrote: Oh hell yes to that!! ROFL!!

Clipper that don't mean you can entice the ladies into a fight ok ahahahaha

minks · Post by **minks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:32 am

Clipper wrote: minks I been close enuff to too many cat-fights to even think of going down that road.....hell I can't even talk Snooze inta showing her boob.....

dirty ole man

hotsauce · Post by **hotsauce** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:51 am

flopstock wrote: I think there needs to be a forum rule that if you want to fight.. you have to do it naked on webcam...:sneaky:

omg!! :wah: i snorted when i read this! i would totally tune in! :sneaky:

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:23 am

One of the attractions of FG is that the only rule is to show respect to other members and to demonstrate 'common decency'. As adults, we KNOW THE RULES which are no different to those we follow in our daily lives. When these unofficial rules are broken we can get in touch with Admin, or press the 'report post' button or put the guilty party on 'Ignore'. When we get too carried away (we're only human after all) there is a 5 letter word we can use either publicly or privately....SORRY....

:-6

:-6

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 12:45 pm

You know, the only non common sense rule we have is the "no hotlinking" rule.

ForumGarden's terms and conditions area state all the rules. We have to have that long screed for legal reasons. I do not, however, want to clutter up the forums with that nonsense.

Some people come here actively looking for rules, complicated moderator assignments, restrictive posting requirements, bloated administrator heirarchies, terms of engagement, and whatever else is deemed to be the "successful way" to run a forum. If ForumGarden doesn't have X,Y,Z, then gosh, they don't know what they are doing!

It's all hogwash.

My first online community was The Wasteland BBS in 1986. Then California Online - which turned into West Coast Online - which became one of the largest and most successful ISP's in California. I have just a wee bit more historical perspective than the average Internet user.

This is a community. Common sense applies. Everyone is welcome to come here and interact. Stroll across the property with a limp, or a skip, or just a slow crawl on your belly. That's all fine. Everyone is allowed to throw a few rocks - and then stop. If you continue throwing rocks, that's when you need to question whether or not you are a good fit here.

If a person joins ForumGarden and finds that he/she cannot handle an environment where they are not explicity told what to do, then this is not the place for them!

So sit back, enjoy, invite your friends! It's a good place with many great people.

minks · Post by **minks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:04 pm

Tombstone wrote: You know, the only non common sense rule we have is the "no hotlinking" rule.

ForumGarden's terms and conditions area state all the rules. We have to have that long screed for legal reasons. I do not, however, want to clutter up the forums with that nonsense.

Some people come here actively looking for rules, complicated moderator assignments, restrictive posting requirements, bloated administrator heirarchies, terms of engagement, and whatever else is deemed to be the "successful way" to run a forum. If ForumGarden doesn't have X,Y,Z, then gosh, they don't know what they are doing!

It's all hogwash.

My first online community was The Wasteland BBS in 1986. Then California Online - which turned into West Coast Online - which beacme one of the largest and most successful ISP's in California. I have just a wee bit more historical perspective than the average Internet user.

This is a community. Common sense applies. Everyone is welcome to come here and interact. Stroll across the property with a limp, or a skip, or just a slow crawl on your belly. That's all fine. Everyone is allowed to throw a few rocks - and then stop. If you continue throwing rocks, that's when you need to question whether or not you are a good fit here.

If a person joins ForumGarden and finds that he/she cannot handle an environment where they are not explicity told what to do, then this is not the place for them!

So sit back, enjoy, invite your friends! It's a good place with many great people.

slow crawl on my belly, let me get my camo out.

minks · Post by **minks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:35 pm

flopstock wrote: ummm...so, do you suppose that means we can't institute the 'only on nude webcam' fighting rule?

Ooooo gee perhaps not....

Jives · Post by **Jives** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:58 pm

(Jives raises his hand) At the risk of being labeled a newbie, what is "hotlinking"?:(

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:01 pm

Posting a link from other sites, especially when it is too big and blows the margins.

Add it as an attachment-and I am probably the worst one for that.

Don't give me detention, Jives!

Attached files

ChiptBeef · Post by **ChiptBeef** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:10 pm

Merely a suggestion... trying to be part of the solution. I misunderstood the equation:

Official Rules = Bad

Member "Pledge" = Good

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=12360

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:30 pm

You missed the point of my post.

p.s. Official Rules = http://www.forumgarden.com/terms.html

ChiptBeef wrote: Merely a suggestion... trying to be part of the solution. I misunderstood the equation:

Official Rules = Bad

Member "Pledge" = Good

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=12360

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:39 pm

ChiptBeef wrote: It's my understanding the Forum Garden does not utilize moderators.

Actually, let me correct that statement too. ForumGarden has hundreds of active moderators via the "Report a Post" button on each thread.

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:01 pm

Jives wrote: (Jives raises his hand) At the risk of being labeled a newbie, what is "hotlinking"?:(

Here's the link:

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=12202

Post by **spot** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:41 pm

While I recognise, and have no problem with, the Terms of Service, I do have a problem with its implementation.

"Forumgarden and its designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates the TOS or is otherwise objectionable" is sensible and fair. The total deletion of entire threads, however, is a lazy and dispiriting response to objectionable posts.

On several occasions I have invested time and thought in threads which have subsequently been nuked wholesale. I would maintain that the contributions I made did not qualify for deletion under the ToS, neither violating the explicit terms nor being objectionable in content or context.

I urge the moderators to moderation. By all means delete selectively within the ToS. Please avoid the destruction of material which in itself is not inherently beyond acceptable bounds. Some of us have given thought to those unwarrantably deleted posts. I, for one, find that having my creativity treated as write-only and ephemeral is objectionable in its own right.

Please delete or remove the content from objectionable posts. Please stop deleting threads in their entirety.

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:49 pm

ChiptBeef wrote: It's my understanding the Forum Garden does not utilize moderators. Establish a page in the "Official Forumgarden Area" dedicated to the posting of forum rules by administrators. This forum could be used by members to comment on the rules or report alleged infractions. This could help in eliminating extreme quarrels between members and assist in making the Forum Garden even more congenial. If the rules are posted and continually updated, complainace for new members will be easier and fair enforcement would be almost certain.

I think that part of the reason this forum works so well creamed beef is because of its lack of mods and regulators. Only once in awhile do problems arise and they tend to work themselves out.

ChiptBeef · Post by **ChiptBeef** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:16 pm

Tombstone wrote: ForumGarden has hundreds of active moderators via the "Report a Post" button on each thread.
Maybe a more fitting term would be "watcher" or "reporter." Sorry for the feeble idea. I just thought it might help. I'll go away (for now) to see if I can come up with something better.

AussiePam · Post by **AussiePam** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:03 pm

Have I arrived in this thread to late to offer to mudwrassle minks???

(Private aside to minks... we can get someone to run a book and split the takings okay??? We could bill ourselves something like MaraudingMapleLeaf and DownUnderDingoGirl...)

Post by **spot** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:22 pm

flopstock wrote: Nah.. ya need to get over yourself.. nothing anyone has to say here or anywhere else online is that important..most of it should be tossed on a regular basis... well, except for the lady that predicts lottery numbers..:rolleyes:I recognise that you write your posts your way, flopstock. I write mine mine. I dislike avoidable discontinuity.

Post by **spot** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:01 pm

flopstock wrote: Aren't you now arguing against your own argument?:wah:Perhaps if you explain to me why you think that's the case, I might be able to give you a reason for it. I don't immediately see the logic of your point.

koan · Post by **koan** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:19 pm

Boards that randomly delete threads and/or posts start making members frustrated and unhappy. Though some do not care, it is usually a sign that they don't put much thought into what they write.

Offensive posts can be marked as such and edited without being erased like we can pretend they never existed. If the choice is just to clear things from sight then it should have some consistency so that it could easily be predicted by the poster that their words may disappear. Sometimes other threads reference a post or thread and the link becomes useless. If only we could all go back and make it so things we did or said never happened...OTOH, because we can't, we have to learn from our mistakes. Not the case when the hand of God breaks out a magic eraser.

ring, ring...excuse me, God? I don't think other people should see what **** wrote, could you take care of that for me?

Report a post becomes a whole other button.

Sometimes I've had day long debates that turned out to be just a dream. Yet personalities evolve and character is shown that no one else will ever be able to access so that they may develop informed opinions and/or relationships.

just my opinion

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:53 am

spot wrote: Perhaps if you explain to me why you think that's the case, I might be able to give you a reason for it. I don't immediately see the logic of your point.
Since it's been hours .......... deleting a post out of a thread disrupts the very continuity you said you dislike. Deleting the entire thread eliminates the continuity problem.

Ideally, I lean toward Koan's idea. But it is very time-intensive to edit objectionable posts, and this is a very large and busy place.

Post by **spot** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:19 am

Accountable wrote: Since it's been hours .......... deleting a post out of a thread disrupts the very continuity you said you dislike. Deleting the entire thread eliminates the continuity problem.

Ideally, I lean toward Koan's idea. But it is very time-intensive to edit objectionable posts, and this is a very large and busy place.The number of Reported Posts is miniscule compared to the number of postings. I don't see the use of intelligent discrimination being an undue chore.

Threads are most often multi-stranded. I'd much rather people continue to have access to my words than that my words evaporate entirely. As I said, I craft them, they're not a random assembly. I have an investment in them. Koan hits the nail on the head with "long debates that turned out to be just a dream". The destruction of that contact is long-lasting, wayward, arbitrary, depressing and needless.

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:11 am

Forum Garden and the way its run works for me, no complaints here.

Seems to me, if you can't stand the heat, get outa the kitchen. :driving:

koan · Post by **koan** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:22 am

The kitchen metaphor does not quite apply here. If one is baking a pie and doesn't like the heat of the oven that is one thing and quite another if someone comes into the kitchen and dumps the pie in the trash.

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:01 am

koan wrote: The kitchen metaphor does not quite apply here. If one is baking a pie and doesn't like the heat of the oven that is one thing and quite another if someone comes into the kitchen and dumps the pie in the trash.Okay, maybe what i should have said was, if you dont like FG's rules & reg's why play here?

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:15 am

okey dokey, i wrote this last night but decided not to wade into this. apparently, i have to:

koan and spot: since you both clearly know far more than tombstone and I when it comes to running a successful forum, perhaps other FG denizens might be interested in learning more about your own fascinating exploits in this online genre.

http://revolution.rpg-collective.com, with the deliciously apropos opening page, is of course the forum created and moderated by koan and spot. I see the post count has reached the phenomenal total of nearly 600 since you opened your doors six months ago. bravo! that's nearly four whole posts per day! holy mackerel! clearly, your wisdom and experience has paid off. FG of course has the silly, silly rate of about 1000 new posts per day. so, clearly we're failing miserably in our goal of making a place where people enjoy discussing things.

now then, thank you both for sharing a few nuggets of your inestimably valuable opinions on how a forum should be run. and i doubly thank you for taking time out from your busy schedules running your own forum, where you have the privilege and luxury of your own set of rules and policies and procedures and methods and standards and organization charts and sysops and administrators and moderators and sub-moderators and group moderators and oversight councils and mediation boards and arbitration committees and....did i leave anything out? take care now, and do check in here again in another six months.

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:19 am

This thread has turned into making a point I've tried to make several times and that Flops has reaffirmed. This is an internet general discussion forum, it is not going to cure cancer or AIDs, solve world hunger, end any wars, find Osama Bin Laden or fix global warming. People tend to put WAY too much importance into what this thing is. It's conversation and when Floppy said,

flopstock wrote:

Nah.. ya need to get over yourself.. nothing anyone has to say here or anywhere else online is that important

I would have kissed her if she'd been in front of me.

Same goes for Abbey when she said

abbey wrote:

Okay, maybe what i should have said was, if you dont like FG's rules & reg's why play here?

Folks that place that much significance on what they say here are A) self-important and arrogant and B) deluding themselves on how important it is. It's entertainment, pure and simple. Not the end-all be-all of human existence. And it's run the way that the people who own it, want it run. Why not go create your own forum to run any ol' way you like if it sucks so bad here?

Oh, and for sucking so bad here, we sure do have a lot of loyal members!!!

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:26 am

anastrophe wrote: okey dokey, i wrote this last night but decided not to wade into this. apparently, i have to:

koan and spot: since you both clearly know far more than tombstone and I when it comes to running a successful forum, perhaps other FG denizens might be interested in learning more about your own fascinating exploits in this online genre.

http://revolution.rpg-collective.com, with the deliciously apropos opening page, is of course the forum created and moderated by koan and spot. I see the post count has reached the phenomenal total of nearly 600 since you opened your doors six months ago. bravo! that's nearly four whole posts per day! holy mackerel! clearly, your wisdom and experience has paid off. FG of course has the silly, silly rate of about 1000 new posts per day. so, clearly we're failing miserably in our goal of making a place where people enjoy discussing things.

now then, thank you both for sharing a few nuggets of your inestimably valuable opinions on how a forum should be run. and i doubly thank you for taking time out from your busy schedules running your own forum, where you have the privilege and luxury of your own set of rules and policies and procedures and methods and standards and organization charts and sysops and administrators and moderators and sub-moderators and group moderators and oversight councils and mediation boards and arbitration committees and....did i leave anything out? take care now, and do check in here again in another six months.you're bloody brilliant, and i am dying screaming laughing here!!! so (forgive the expression) spot -on.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:30 am

:yh_worshp :yh_clap BRAVO PAUL..!! You said it like a pro.

Folks you will never, and I mean never win a discussion with either KOAN or SPOT. You see they are perfect in everything they do, end of conversation. So trying to reason with them is impossible,.. :-5 not worth your time. They were here before and I'm sorry to say they have returned.. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it..