Rules and Reg's What are they for ...

[Topher]

I'm going to throw my vote at the #1 option.

I think the forum has evolved passed what we set it up to be originally and the moderators have proved proficient at keeping flame wars down. I don't see any reason why Rule #5 shouldn't be adjusted to "Discuss religion and politics with tact and only in the E+C". I don't think the type of discussion should take place
anywhere else on the board.

Trying to place conservative confines on what can and cannot be discussed such as "Cancer is good, but homosexuality is not" is going to backlash. Looking at this forum's definition, I'm not sure what's left to talk about if religion and politics are not involved. Do we now need to differentiate between what is ethics and what is politics? If I could do that I should be president, or at least admin on an awesome BB.

PTMC Cafe acts as a great venue for normal social discussion, Ethics and Commentary is the place to discuss your views, NHB is the locked adult discussion.

[dissent]

I agree with Gooberman; I don't see where there is a problem. I think the mods do a good job on clamping down on abusers. I'll be happy to go along with what ever you decide.

Besides, I really don't like any of you, anyways.

[Skyalmian]

I said to add Option 4,

Don't forget to do "Add Option" for the fourth option, otherwise the poll will just display three.

otherwise it wouldn't show up. I see only three options.

Given only three choices instead of the four we should have, I voted for #1.

[KoolBear]

Correct Vander

Too bad I wasted the POLL I couldn't edit it after I hit submit

[Dedman]

It seems like there are three choices...

1) Do nothing, allow all forums to lapse into chaos

I see this as a flawed choice. I don't believe that doing nothing will result in chaos. I would argue just the opposite actually. As I said in my earlier post, things were much more chaotic 3 or so years ago than they are. Things now are positively tame by comparison.

The members and their behavior have evolved. The governing rules should too.

[KoolBear]

Good Point Dedman, I really should have closed this thread and reopened it witha 4 choice poll, when I created the poll I forgot to hit the Add Option after the 4th option , by the time I figured it out it was too late.

One thing for all to consider, the DBB was developed for a community not an individual. and since it is for a community we must always consider ALL people not just those of us that are out spoken.

I am still looking for closure on this issue and I guess we have until the end of the month to resolve this issue. That is when we relocate to a new host.

Maybe I should close this thread and make a forum wide announcement with ALL 4 options and see if we can get a wider coverage of opinions.

I like many, have children and I would like to know that the DBB is a place I can allow my children to visit knowing that the community has done all it can to protect sensative conversations from young eyes.

How difficult is it for us to do that? Not difficult at all.

If what you are trying to avoid is a declining user base due to questionable or unsuitable topics then putting E&C and NHB where only those people in a certain user groups can gain access to them may be the way to go. If what you are concerned about is volatile or controversial topics starting flame wars, then I think your fears arenâ??t well founded.

Dedman in retrospect this is my main reason for this conversation in the first place. I should have done a better job in explaining my position.

I hear rumors of things to come, with these rumors comes a desire to clean house or at least get things in order, our community may not decline but see in influx of new people. I sure would like to see the new recuits call the DBB home and not some other bb related to Descent.

KB

[Iceman]

I think the influx (onslaught?) has already started. There are many new and active members and it seems they are signing up more frequently. Personally, I would prefer that none of the old peeps left and that we didn't take any new peeps but that is a pipe dream. We will see new members and we will have to be prepared for them or suffer the consequences.

I have children too but I don't allow them to visit the DBB. I wish I could but I can't. All I need is for my daughters to read Beo's thread on butt ugly women ...

[edit] Oops, that thread is in the NHB already phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=8279[/edit]

[Palzon]

So option #4 is basically how it is now, but with an "Adult" warning label?

yeah, but if you do that people might actually start reading it.

[Flabby Chick]

I really don't see what the fuss is about. If an influx of people is expected then i'm sure certain rules will have to be reviewed, depending upon the attitude of the new people. You can't know untill it happens. (I'd also like to know what is so offensive in the EnC)

At the moment however, i see no need to change anything, we're doing perfectly well moderating ourselves in potentially explosive threads. Maybe if new people saw how we treat each other when discussing things they'd learn a thing or two.

....oh! and Woody is a wanker!

[Krom]

So option #4 is basically how it is now, but with an "Adult" warning label?

yeah, but if you do that people might actually start reading it.

I tend to agree, sticking an "Adult" warning label on anything on the internet is like advertising "hey kids, heres something you arent supposed to look at so come on in it's free!!1!". It will grab kids attention almost as fast as a "free porn" banner. At least till they actually read the average topic in here, then they will burn out their 8 second attention span and head for some other forum where they can talk about pokemon and see the latest stupid flash game.

[Bet51987]

The NHB is not a place I'm allowed to go and I don't. So, if the E&C goes there, I can't.

So....I vote for Option 1.

Bettina

[DCrazy]

I don't know where this theory comes from that the forum will degenerate into chaos if things aren't changed.

[De Rigueur]

KB,Is this the kind of thing that you're concerned abot?

/me jacks off on my stomach

If so, why can't mods excise such remarks when necessary? Maybe consider another option: add more mod supervision.

[KoolBear]

KB,Is this the kind of thing that you're concerned abot?

/me jacks off on my stomach

Yes these are the comments that have no place within the DBB.

If MOD's step up and do thier job then all is likely fine, but even then people will just get pissed because they have to be policed when they should be policing themselves.

[TheCope]

oh, and now i'm a poster child.
how nice.

[Top Wop]

I know where Koolbear is coming from. Posts like the first one on this thread should ether have been edited or locked entirely. Instead of re-shuffling the board the mods should just do their job and cut out crap like this.

I vote for 1 and for the mods to be more vigilant in cutting out crap like this. Yea, some people are going to get pissed that their post is going to be edited/deleted, but that's stated in the disclamer when the user signed up for an account that the mods have the right to edit or delete what you post if it violates the rules or if it goes to far.

[Lothar]

KoolBear,

There was no "slow creep" from Descent ethics to politics/religion. It was an intentional decision made by the admins (and, IIRC, the E&C and NHB mods at the time) to make this the politics and religion forum and NHB the flames, rants, disturbing topics, and "adult" topics section.

The thing that constantly amazes me about discussion here is how little moderation is required. This is one of the few places on the 'net where you can have religious or political discussions without things devolving into a flamewar within 3 posts. We've had some new people come in here recently, and I'm constantly hearing the sentiment that they're happy to have found a place where discussions like this don't lead to flames and bans. And while it may seem like people are just going back and forth and not making any progress, if you compare what we're saying now to what we said 5 years ago, it's clear a lot of us have learned a lot and changed a lot.

I don't see any reason to change anything here, except maybe the "DBB policies" that haven't been updated in years.

[fliptw]

My preference would be not to change anything, or get strict and not allow anyone under the age of 16 on the board, I still think descent is an inapproiate game for anyone under that age(its rated teen - if more people actually paid attention to that, and acutally heeded it, there would be no Jack Thompson).

If the intent of this thread is to enfore a sanitized area where wee kids can see anything their parents get squimish about(lets face it, its not about what the kids can handle) - then we are better off nuking NHB and EC - this is the only board I frequent that has anything like the above, and the other 3 rarely have political/relgious disscusions, and those that do occur either die off or get locked fairly quickly.

IF we are going to regorganize things we should avoid using the phrase "adult" anywhere on the site - unless we are going to allow porn here - because refering to it as "Adult Disscuions" is a misnomer, and will bring to the table the subject matter we wish to avoid. Call it "Intellgently Productive Disscusions".

[dissent]

oh, and now i'm a poster child.
how nice.

Say "Cheese"!!!

[KoolBear]

It's looking like the concensus is to leave it alone.

I thank all of you for your time and input it's obvious that the DBB is strong because our userbase is strong

So I'll leave this open for a few more days so others can add thier 2 cents.

Maybe a re-write of the rules is in order.

I think there are a few users that need to remove those chips from thier shoulders though, calm minds always prevail and harassing tactics get overlooked

Thanks All!

Mike

[KoolBear]

It's looking like the consensus is to leave it alone.

I thank all of you for your time and input it's obvious that the DBB is strong because our user base is strong

So I'll leave this open for a few more days so others can add their 2 cents.

Maybe a re-write of the rules is in order.

I think there are a few users that need to remove those chips from their shoulders though, calm minds always prevail and harassing tactics get overlooked

Thanks All!

KB

[Vindicator]

I dont post in E&C much, but I do enjoy reading about the wide variety of topics discussed here and agree that it is largely self-moderating, as people know the rules and tend not to go overboard. I dont see any reason to change it.

[De Rigueur]

oh, and now i'm a poster child.
how nice.

Hey, I didn't name names.

[Krom]

oh, and now i'm a poster child.
how nice.

Hey, I didn't name names.

There wasn't really any need to though, I think everyone who visits often knew who said that right off. Only he would say something like that, it is his unique posting style.

[KoolBear]

Jim,

Who has the new rules? I will take care of implementation

[woodchip]

It's looking like the consensus is to leave it alone.
KB

Kudos to KB for actually listening and acting accordingly. Thanks.

Also don't stay away so long.

[MD-2389]

Jim,

Who has the new rules? I will take care of implementation

Check your e-mail.

[Mobius]

edited by KoolBear content does not pertain to this conversation.

[TheCope]

oh, and now i'm a poster child.
how nice.

Hey, I didn't name names.

I got ya.
I will watch my typing hand for now on. I like to type what pops out of my head on a whim so it will be an annoyance to me... but I don't want to ruin things for other people because that would be selfish for no good reason.

I just think it's funny because I used to be far worse and far more obsessive if memory serves me correctly.

Oh wellâ?¦ this board doesnâ??t belong to me and I can roll with mellowing.

[scottris]

Ok then, removed by scottris, as it was in responce to Mobius.

[scottris]

And this too.

[Bold Deceiver]

1) Do nothing, allow all forums to lapse into chaos

Hey Mike. Always nice to a Dad concerned about the viewing habits of his son.

I think Option 1 is my pick, with the caveat that the forum not be allowed to lapse into chaos. Improper posts should be removed. 99 percent of the posts here are not improper.

One of the things about having young people in the forum is that 45-year old guys like myself can dream that they are effecting change in the young ones.

thanks for all you do,

Joe

[Couver_]

If it ain't broke don't fix it


I think it is running fine as everyone else said. Run what you brung.

[Money!]

If it ain't broke don't fix it


I think it is running fine as everyone else said. Run what you brung.

I read the first post and the last one. And that is all that is needed Couver.

I'd say we've been doin' fine.

PS: Excellente Avatar mi friend, muy comedic.

[Lothar]

... and if it's decided that we need to have somewhat stricter rules (say, tighter limits on innuendo) for the sake of younger readers, I'd much rather deal with that through asking people to follow new guidelines than through password-protecting the forum. The people who post here are mostly mature enough to abide by the rules.

[Diedel]

Given the nature and handling of the NHB forum (closely moderated, 'hand picked' members), I'd say make a 'sensitive discussion' area (I wouldn't say 'adult' because of the possible connotations) and place NHB and P&R in it, but on the same level.

Thus, you could have a witty 14 year old take part in P&R if he proves he can keep up to its standards, but don't need to give him access to NHB.

[Couver_]

PS: Excellente Avatar mi friend, muy comedic.

Thanks I stole it from someone on another board I just crack up looking at it.

[Birdseye]

This forum practically survives on its own now.

[Hostile]

edited by KoolBear content does not pertain to this conversation.

OWNED!!!!!!!!!!!

[TigerRaptor]

KoolBear way of saying STFU Mobius.