Atlantic Roleplay Community Boards

Halister Marner · **Site Programmer** Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 2217

We will soon be instituting new board wide rules. Once this is done and agreed upon by all moderators and administrators, we will announce them globally across the board so all users have a chance to read over and understand the future regulations and guidelines they are expected to follow.

This will mean a more enlightened model will be used, allowing us to fairly judge and remove flame wars, personal attacks, and other harmful posts with consistency, rather then the inconsistent policies that have been enforced in the past.
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"There are those who dream to escape reality, and there are those who dream to change it."

Halister Marner · **Site Programmer** Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 2217

Just a bump to this in light of recent posts, I will have this done and approved this week. Posts that were borderline pushing the boundaries before will now be judged on different criteria, and will be removed. If you are about to make a non constructive post that will inevitably lead to flames, please rethink posting it.
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"There are those who dream to escape reality, and there are those who dream to change it."

Teh Glouris Lrod Kujabis · Transcendent Spammer Joined: 29 Dec 2003 Posts: 5740

I think the problem with the old rules is that so many exceptions have been made in the past, or the rules only extend as far a the 'interpretation' of a particular rule by the moderator/administrator that is 'enforcing' it (or failing to enforce it).

Make your rules plain, ironclad, no loopholes.

Post them in plain, public sight, with neon flashing letters and bold and size 50 font for good effect.

Enforce those rules with no exceptions, no deviations, no bending.

If you follow these three steps exactly, then there is no logical reason for them not to be followed. Just my random advice. I feel old now.

Halister Marner · **Site Programmer** Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 2217

That's the plan. The Staff need clear guidelines to refer to. Interpretation is bad when it comes to guidelines, and thats what I plan to eliminate.

The rules and actions will be clearly illustrated, if "A" happens, then the result is "B". This way posters and moderators know what to do, and what not to do.
_________________
"There are those who dream to escape reality, and there are those who dream to change it."

Teh Glouris Lrod Kujabis · Transcendent Spammer Joined: 29 Dec 2003 Posts: 5740

Good point, that was another issue with the old rules... They lacked punishments. That is why when I was an administrator, I suggested the warning board. It works extremely well for Stratics. It clearly lists all of the rules, and then the punishments.

If someone dumped the hidden warning forum here, and my explanation that came with it, it was basically an ARPC interpretation of the Stratics rules... Basically that the moderators upheld the warning file for each individual, and the administrators quickly reviewed the warning file and decided the punishment (skipping several or all steps in severe cases, of course).

If you take or took anything from my system or Stratics, glad to be of help. If or if not, good luck on getting the new system in place. The cost of transitioning to a new ruleset is nothing but time; what is critical is how well everything is upheld in the long run. Kudos to you if you can make it all work right.

Bailos · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:08 pm Post subject:

I have a thought that could improve the "courage" of moderators if you feel the boards are being under-moderated. But by that same token, we dont want to over-moderate. Just a thought. PM me if you want to hear it, Halister.

Halister Marner · **Site Programmer** Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 2217

The boards aren't necessarily being under moderated as they are inconsistently moderated. The job gets done, but it seems sloppy in execution, and many calls differ when they should be consistent.

I would be interested in hearing any ideas to help improve things though, I PM'd you.
_________________
"There are those who dream to escape reality, and there are those who dream to change it."

Halister Marner · **Site Programmer** Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 2217

I just spent several hours coming up with a draft, I will be sending it to all those who expressed interest in the ruleset for opinions and feedback in the morning, as well as posting it for the forum Staff.

As a note, the ruleset is in the same format for moderators and posters, and lists the proper moderator responses openly, so posters can see how the system works, and what to expect if their posts are called under a specific rule.
_________________
"There are those who dream to escape reality, and there are those who dream to change it."