Site Rules - Effective from 21 February 2014

[rick.leeds]

Sorry, I don't follow.

This is for Public Press. Extreme profanity is extreme profanity. In other words, calling someone a name might be part of the game for some people. As you say, Diplomacy - and war - can often be a mental exercise. It may be that one player may want to antagonise another on purpose. That's fine and has been around for a long time in Diplomacy.

There are also times when one person will use a word which another might find offensive. It may be part of the 'natural' language for one person but not for another. We're not trying to prevent people from being offended; if I'm offended by being called a name, then I'm probably playing the wrong game.

What we don't allow, though, is when this is an extreme personal attack. In other words, if I post in public press an extreme personal attack, or if I simply post using a string of profanity or obscenity, that is not necessary. It is beyond trying to wind someone up.

Not everyone is going to agree on what is acceptable and what isn't. We don't want someone who doesn't get on with another player going over the top with their language to be extremely offensive; neither do we want to sanitise the game to make it only acceptable to call someone a 'ninny' (for instance).

However, the proposed new rules (which aren't yet in force) say:

6. Posting Inappropriate Content in Public Press. Posts made in a game’s Public Press may not feature any of the following content:
- Racism;
- Overtly sexual or sexualised material;
- Content which express hatred towards sexuality, sexual orientation or gender;
- Threats linked to actions off- or on-site;
- Extreme profanity;
- Abusive personal attacks on members of an extreme or defamatory nature;
- Posting other people’s personal information;
- Spamming;
- Advertising;
- Any accusation or discussion of potential cheating by active players in the game.
Posts which, in the opinion of the site’s management, contain such content, whether in text, images, GIFs or other forms, including links to content which is prohibited, will be removed and appropriate action taken.
NB1: Casual obscenity will not be acted upon – Moderator decision.
NB2: Mild personal abuse will not be acted upon – Moderator decision.
NB3: Content which contains illegal material of a sexual nature or which promotes illegal activities will result in a permanent ban from the site.

[zarif]

We're not trying to prevent people from being offended

sure , but your laws are made for defend them , the philosophy of law is defending people

There are also times when one person will use a word which another might find offensive.

this is your responsibility to remove ambiguity with the laws

I'm probably playing the wrong game.

sorry , your rules is not Diplomacy rules . it is just about this website .
as long as members have another choices , it is your responsibility to make a higher value website than your opponents

Not everyone is going to agree on what is acceptable and what isn't.

in sign up process , everyone should do this
---------------------------------------------------------
in real world international relation needs international laws
when some country agreed to be a part of UN they agreed to obeying the laws
when someone agreed to play in playdiplomacy.com they agreed the rules
in any kind of laws words are matter and important
and as a logical rule you should prove what you claim
if i claim admin is bastard i must have this ability to prove it
(sorry about above sentence , i just want give an example and have your empathy)

[rick.leeds]

Thanks for your opinion. Of course, this is a game's website, not a court of law, not the United Nations.

We have set the rules as we, as a website, are going to operate them. They are laid out here. When people use the website, they implicitly agree to play by the rules. That includes anyone who disagrees with them. If people break those rules, and won't commit to following those rules, they are not allowed to play on the site.

However, whether you accept this or not, there are times when things are borderline. This means a judgement call is needed. This is the case in law, including regulations set out by organisations such as the UN.

Now, as a website, our aim ISN'T to prevent people being offended (as I've said) and it isn't to defend people who are offended. If I am offended by someone calling me a bastard then that's my problem. Our rules are to prevent a player becoming extremely offensive and therefore going over the line into bullying.

So, we could, of course, have a list of words which are inappropriate. Where should we start? An alphabetic list, perhaps? OK. We'd need to maintain within the list words in English and every other language because, after all, we have users who speak different languages as their first language. Then, whenever you're writing a message, you will need to make sure you're not using one of the FORBIDDEN WORDS because, well, SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE just might be offended by it.

Someone, somewhere, would be offended if they were called a bastard. Someone, somewhere would be offended if they were called a fool.

When it comes down to it, site management has to make a call. Is the word fool offensive? Is the word bastard offensive? Why should WE be the judges of that? So we have put the rules in place as we see them working best. If members don't like them, they don't need to follow them.

One final thought, we are in no way trying to make Playdiplomacy.com a higher 'value' website by the rules we set in place. I don't care what rules other websites have; I don't care what standards other websites have. Quite frankly, I doubt anybody else is... and I doubt any other website is bothered about what our rules are.

We don't have 'opposition'. There are other websites out there who offer Diplomacy. They aren't our opponents or competitors, they are alternatives. The fact is that Playdiplomacy is the biggest website offering Diplomacy. We work hard to make it a place where people can come and enjoy the game. If someone doesn't enjoy playing here, then they are free to play somewhere else. That's fine. We're not trying to make money, after all.