Goonhub
08-26-2014, 05:25 AM
Hello! Lately, there's been a discussion over in the appeals thread about the application of the 'don't be creepy' rule. Specifically, this series of messages was posted in the OOC channel, and the person who posted it received a temporary ban:
Please note that the BYOND id of the person who posted the message was not included in the snippet here. That is because the identity of the person who posted it is not relevant to the discussion of the rule, and there's enough controversy surrounding the person who posted it that I really don't want what could be a very useful rules discussion derailed by the screaming and hollering that often happens around that person.
WHAT THIS THREAD IS FOR: Let's talk about the 'don't be creepy' rule, and hopefully we can come to an understanding on why the rule is in place and what it covers. I can't promise that admin application of the rule will change to fit any one person's definition of what should or should not fall under this rule (mainly because I can only speak for myself, and everyone has different definitions of 'creepy'), but I'm confident that we can find something approaching a consensus. Ideally, I'd like everyone to come out of this thread with a good guideline in their head for what sort of behavior is and isn't acceptable here, and feeling like they had some input.
WHAT THIS THREAD IS NOT FOR: Let's NOT talk about the controversy surrounding the person quoted above. This thread isn't about them, it's about the rule and the interpretation thereof. The person who posted the quoted text above isn't banned from the forums, nor are they prevented from participating in the thread (in fact, I would greatly appreciate it if they did participate in this thread) - that said, if the thread turns into 'hey let's scream at that guy about WHAT HE DIIIID', I'm going to start editing posts.
MY POSITION: There is absolutely no place for sexual material on the servers. Pretty much, if it involves your genitals, it doesn't belong here. There are a bunch of people who play this game on our servers that aren't 18 yet, and the admin staff in general has neither the ability nor the inclination to agewall the server so that nobody under 18 can connect. As a result, we have to err on the side of 'not winding up with the server owner being sued for allowing sexual material to be transmitted to a minor'. The server owner is a pretty good dude and I do not want him to get sued! Therefore, genitals are right out.
Other stuff that puts one player in positions of exploitative power over another player is also something we don't want here. This is a little nebulous simply because it's impossible to really nail down in a way that doesn't cause more loopholes than definitions! Examples: Alice grabs ahold of Bill, straps him to a chair, monologues at them for a while about how they've just been kidnapped and nobody will ever see them again and really goes into it for a good long time and does some Reservoir Dogs shit like dancing around them a bunch, cutting them up a little, and lighting them on fire. That's sort of messed up! That's not okay. (Sidebar: It might or might not be okay if Alice is a traitor this round, but that would depend on the circumstances. Context is everything!) To me, that's not okay because that's a situation where Alice is forcing their control of Bill's ~game experience~. Granted, if Alice just straight up shot Bill in the hallway, that's still forcing their control of Bill's experience, but it would be PERFECTLY OKAY if Alice were a traitor that round. The difference is the time spent exerting that control, the context in which it was done, and the general 'feel' of the whole thing. This is pretty hard to verbalize, and I think that's where the bulk of the conflict comes from. (edit to add: the issue isn't with the kidnapping ITSELF, but when the kidnapper gets super duper into it and it gets into like hardcore torture stuff - yikes.)
Regarding farts: Fart jokes are in general pretty funny. They get a little weird sometimes when people get REALLY INTO THEM - one of the main reasons poo was removed was that there was a worrying segment of the userbase who were REALLY INTO literally wallowing in feces every round to the point where a bunch of the admins honestly worried we were enabling a cadre of shit fetisists. That's... that's pretty plainly creepy, in my view.
So: Let's talk! Is there stuff I've pointed at as creepy in the above that you disagree with? Did I miss something you think is worth pointing out? Anything else you want to discuss on the topic? I'M ALL EARS
Code:
OOC: i want to fart inside every admin
OOC: my ass gas billowing angrily past their lips
OOC: taking seed in their stomach
OOC: turning them into pruney men full of hate.WHAT THIS THREAD IS FOR: Let's talk about the 'don't be creepy' rule, and hopefully we can come to an understanding on why the rule is in place and what it covers. I can't promise that admin application of the rule will change to fit any one person's definition of what should or should not fall under this rule (mainly because I can only speak for myself, and everyone has different definitions of 'creepy'), but I'm confident that we can find something approaching a consensus. Ideally, I'd like everyone to come out of this thread with a good guideline in their head for what sort of behavior is and isn't acceptable here, and feeling like they had some input.
WHAT THIS THREAD IS NOT FOR: Let's NOT talk about the controversy surrounding the person quoted above. This thread isn't about them, it's about the rule and the interpretation thereof. The person who posted the quoted text above isn't banned from the forums, nor are they prevented from participating in the thread (in fact, I would greatly appreciate it if they did participate in this thread) - that said, if the thread turns into 'hey let's scream at that guy about WHAT HE DIIIID', I'm going to start editing posts.
MY POSITION: There is absolutely no place for sexual material on the servers. Pretty much, if it involves your genitals, it doesn't belong here. There are a bunch of people who play this game on our servers that aren't 18 yet, and the admin staff in general has neither the ability nor the inclination to agewall the server so that nobody under 18 can connect. As a result, we have to err on the side of 'not winding up with the server owner being sued for allowing sexual material to be transmitted to a minor'. The server owner is a pretty good dude and I do not want him to get sued! Therefore, genitals are right out.
Other stuff that puts one player in positions of exploitative power over another player is also something we don't want here. This is a little nebulous simply because it's impossible to really nail down in a way that doesn't cause more loopholes than definitions! Examples: Alice grabs ahold of Bill, straps him to a chair, monologues at them for a while about how they've just been kidnapped and nobody will ever see them again and really goes into it for a good long time and does some Reservoir Dogs shit like dancing around them a bunch, cutting them up a little, and lighting them on fire. That's sort of messed up! That's not okay. (Sidebar: It might or might not be okay if Alice is a traitor this round, but that would depend on the circumstances. Context is everything!) To me, that's not okay because that's a situation where Alice is forcing their control of Bill's ~game experience~. Granted, if Alice just straight up shot Bill in the hallway, that's still forcing their control of Bill's experience, but it would be PERFECTLY OKAY if Alice were a traitor that round. The difference is the time spent exerting that control, the context in which it was done, and the general 'feel' of the whole thing. This is pretty hard to verbalize, and I think that's where the bulk of the conflict comes from. (edit to add: the issue isn't with the kidnapping ITSELF, but when the kidnapper gets super duper into it and it gets into like hardcore torture stuff - yikes.)
Regarding farts: Fart jokes are in general pretty funny. They get a little weird sometimes when people get REALLY INTO THEM - one of the main reasons poo was removed was that there was a worrying segment of the userbase who were REALLY INTO literally wallowing in feces every round to the point where a bunch of the admins honestly worried we were enabling a cadre of shit fetisists. That's... that's pretty plainly creepy, in my view.
So: Let's talk! Is there stuff I've pointed at as creepy in the above that you disagree with? Did I miss something you think is worth pointing out? Anything else you want to discuss on the topic? I'M ALL EARS