Forum Guidelines

[rick.leeds]

This thread has been replaced by the rules here: http://www.playdiplomacy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=659&t=43414#p748905

The Forum is a place for discussion, debate and banter which is open to all to take part in. The community we have here is great. There’s wit, wisdom and a wealth of worthwhile words. If you’re new to the site or new to the Forum, or even if you’ve been here for a while, have a browse through it – maybe the places you don’t normally go – and enjoy it. If you haven’t already, take a peek at The New Members' Guide to the Forum.

Forum Moderation
Moderators will act only when they feel it is necessary. In this there the guiding principles are enjoyment, respect and community protection.
Enjoyment: Every member should be able to enjoy their time on site and in the Forum and we aim to make this a positive experience for everyone.
Respect: The views and practices of every member should be respected. By all means, disagree, but don't be personally abusive.
Community protection: It follows that members of the Forum community should feel that they are protected from personal abuse in the Forum. However, Mods may take the view that posts which one member feels are offensive may not be offensive in general and protecting the community also means protecting the integrity of Forum debate.

As such we have come up with some guidelines on Forum “etiquette” which we encourage everyone to follow.

General Posting
When responding to a thread posts should be “on topic”. There is always room for witticism, of course, but posts that bear no relation to the topic are likely to be removed. The following is a list of examples of types of posts that may lead to moderator action:

(a) Spam has a number of forms. Here it is taken to include posts that are generally meaningless in the context of the thread and posts which deliberately take a thread away from the stated topic in order to promote a personal agenda. Posts deemed as spam will be removed.
(b) Raising post count. Members should not simply post to raise their post count. Posts such as these are likely to removed.
(c) Antagonistic posts (trolling/flaming) will be removed. These are posts which moderators feel have been made deliberately to evoke a reaction with no other valid reason.
(d) Advertising is not allowed without the prior agreement of site management. Whether the advertising is for another Diplomacy site, another game site or other products, posts deemed to be adverts will be deleted and may earn the poster a permanent ban from the site.
(e) Personal abuse is not acceptable. Whilst members are free to disagree with other's opinions, abusing members personally will not be allowed. Any post that is personally abusive, where the person is attacked or otherwise abused, will be removed.
(f) Collective abuse is also not acceptable. This includes posts which are abusive racially or sexually, or are abusive towards sexual-preference.
(g) Duplicate posts/threads: Members should avoid duplicating a post; this includes duplicating a post in different threads. Should you do so unintentionally please delete the post or contact a Mod. Duplicate threads are subject to being merged, closed or deleted.
(h) Multiple accounts are not allowed on the Forum (as well as the games site). Should there be a need for a second account please seek permission from Admin; at present permission is ONLY considered for game-playing purposes in 'Other Forum Games' and only when those games require/would benefit from anonymity. Any authorised secondary account must only be used in the permitted sub-forum; if members inadvertently post elsewhere on the Forum with an authorised secondary account, they should contact a Mod. Using any secondary account on the Forum without permission is likely to lead to a Forum ban; any deliberate mis-use of a permitted secondary account will lead to that account being deactivated and may lead to further action against the primary account.
(i) Profanity is not banned as we view the Forum as adult in context. However, posts which use excessive profanity will be subject to being edited or deleted.
(j) 'Mature content' in graphic form (videos, images, gifs, etc) or links are subject to removal. In some circumstances game threads (for instance, in Other Forum Games) may contain material which may cause offence to some members; best practice for this is to advise members of the content.
(k) Private Messages (PMs). Privates Messages are just that - private. Members should deal with issues raised in PMs themselves and do so privately. Members can block users from sending PMs to them. Disputes in PMs should not be brought to the Forum in general.

Community action
If members of the community believe a post has broken these guidelines, they can:
(i) PM the poster, expressing their concern/opinion. It may be that the poster will be able to explain the context of the post to the satisfaction of the concerned member, edit the post or delete the post.
(ii) Report the post using the Forum system. This logs the report in the Moderator Control Panel and will receive the attention of a Mod in time. Members can give a reason as to why they feel the post requires moderation.
(iii) PM a moderator. This is not needed if a post is reported but may draw the Mod's attention more quickly to the post.

Moderator action
In deciding whether to act, Mods will take as objective a view as possible.
There are a number of actions that Mods may take if they think a post may contravene these guidelines:
(i) Contact the poster and ask for a review of the post. It is always preferable for members to review and edit posts themselves rather than Mods doing so.
(ii) Remove the post or parts within the post if the Mod feels the post is in need of moderation. This may lead to subsequent posts being carefully edited.
(iii) Issue a warning to the poster. Generally, warnings will be issued before further action is necessary. Warnings are issued on the Mod's discretion.
(iv) Ban a user from the Forum. Generally this will normally follow one or more warnings, although advertising will result in a permanent ban from the Forum and games site. Bans may range from a matter of hours to a permanent ban.
NB: this is NOT a hierarchy of actions. Mods will act as they feel is appropriate and a Mod's decision is final.

Section Specific Guidelines
Some forums have specific rules/guidelines attached to them.

Debates section
This is the place where some quite heavy and often personal discussions take place (as well as some lighter ones). As such, opinions expressed may be strong and personal, and therefore threads may include material which may lead to members’ opinons, beliefs, etc being strongly challenged. As such, members should be aware that in some circumstances Moderators will have a higher level of tolerance in this section than in most others. However, the general guidelines still stand. Spamming and advertising will be subject to the same degree of monitoring; personal abuse is not allowed; posts which are purely provocative in nature may be removed.

Where greater tolerance is exercised is in the area of what may be termed personal opinion. In this section players are encouraged to express a personal opinion. This may lead to some members feeling offended. If so, then there are a number of courses of action; amongst others a member might:
- Stop reading the thread;
- State your case, explaining your own point of view;
- Report the post(s).
The latter, of course, is always an option. BUT please consider the context of the post and discussion. Moderators will act on their own discretion. If a post is felt to be generally abusive, rather than stating a personal opinion, action may be taken.

In general
Before reporting a post which you feel requires moderation:
Anonymity
Members are encouraged to do all they can to maintain anonymity in games which are anonymous. This includes posting on the Forum. If you feel there may be a bug, or there may be cheating going on, PM a Moderator rather than post in the respective sections of the Forum.
Taking offence
Please consider why you are offended. Mods are not going to act just because a member is offended at another member's opinions or viewpoint. The post will need to be demonstrably offensive, either personally or collectively (see above), rather than simply because a member is offended by it. Posts which express an opinion in context, which are on-topic and which are acceptable within a general area of relevance are unlikely to be moderated. Posts which offend an individual may not be seen as intrinsically or generally offensive.

Management, Administrators and Moderators reserve the right to edit or remove material from the Forum at their sole discretion, and to take appropriate punitive action.
Management reserve the right to update and alter these guidelines at any time.
Members posting in the Forum are held responsible for the content posted. PlayDiplomacy.com provides the medium and is not responsible for the content.

[QueenOfHearts]

This should be stickied at the very top of the page, where everyone can see it without having to go to a subforum. It should also be locked IMO

[rick.leeds]

Stickied I've asked for. Locked I disagree with. Discussion is always good.

Oh and I see what you mean by "at the top of the page": at the top of the Forum (or the top of the Playdip.com part). Possibly, yes, but at least it's on the Forum for now.

[QueenOfHearts]

Stickied I've asked for. Locked I disagree with. Discussion is always good.

Oh and I see what you mean by "at the top of the page": at the top of the Forum (or the top of the Playdip.com part). Possibly, yes, but at least it's on the Forum for now.

Aren't you able to sticky topics?

As for locked, OK then. Discussion is good

[Captain Twig]

Spamming has a number of forms. Here it is taken to include posts that are not on topic (as well as posts that are otherwise meaningless) and posts that are seen as advertising (see below). If the Moderators feel that a post is simply spam, the post will be deleted and action may be taken: A warning will be issued and a ban from the Forum may follow. Bans range from a matter of hours to a permanent ban.

In the Off topic threads, is spamming still possible? Only, on "Last to Post wins" QOH got angry because there was "spamming", but I really didn't see how one would stay ON TOPIC there.

[Master Radishes]

PM-ing a Mod is also an option.

Except me. Leave me alone. I don't wanna be bugged.

(I'm kidding. I love deleting posts. It's one of my favourite pastimes, behind having staring contests with squirrels, proposing ridiculous trades in Fantasy Hockey leagues, and stalking people I meet on the bus.)

[SidneyKidney]

Firstly wow, I didnt know MR was still active.

Secondly it strikes me that banning people who went off topic would involve banning most site members at some point or other. Certainly I would have been banned a couple of times and I dare say Craw and QoH would have as well. Craw posts too much to have NOT been given such a ban.

[QueenOfHearts]

Firstly wow, I didnt know MR was still active.

Secondly it strikes me that banning people who went off topic would involve banning most site members at some point or other. Certainly I would have been banned a couple of times and I dare say Craw and QoH would have as well. Craw posts too much to have NOT been given such a ban.

I understand that I have done my share of spamming, although I would hope that I have stopped somewhat. But I THINK it's going too far when post after post after post is just "WAT" in the "Last Person to Post Wins" thread.

[Master Radishes]

Firstly wow, I didnt know MR was still active.

I'm not. So sshh, don't tell anyone.

In the Off topic threads, is spamming still possible? Only, on "Last to Post wins" QOH got angry because there was "spamming", but I really didn't see how one would stay ON TOPIC there.

But I THINK it's going too far when post after post after post is just "WAT" in the "Last Person to Post Wins" thread.

It's a fine line, especially with those kind of threads. On the one hand, it's a harmless, fun, little game. On the other, it invites only spam. How we view it is completely up to us.

A proposed solution: Have a specific forum where posting does not raise your post count. A spam forum, basically, to go crazy in without bothering others who want serious conversation. You can put things like the "Last Post" game there, and you can move other threads that go too far off topic there so you don't have to lock them.
(Another proposal: Just rename the "Other Forum Games" forum, as that's where most of that stuff is anyway. )

[QueenOfHearts]

In the Off topic threads, is spamming still possible? Only, on "Last to Post wins" QOH got angry because there was "spamming", but I really didn't see how one would stay ON TOPIC there.

You can't stay on topic in a thread like that,but you don't have to just post "WAT" every single frickin' post! It just ruins the fun of the game!