Should the Forum Code of Conduct Have Less Rules?

[Molly's Consigliere]

The forum code of conduct is packed with a ridiculous amount of rules that give us little to no freedom to bring some excitement to the forum. It's almost as if Kim Jong Un himself was running this forum. I say less rules, less admin involvement unless it's for game issues, and more freedom to have some fun on the forums.

Please discuss.

[Rookeye]

While I agree with you that they are lengthy, I'm curious which rules you think should be retained and which should be discarded?

[Molly's Consigliere]

While I agree with you that they are lengthy, I'm curious which rules you think should be retained and which should be discarded?

All of these should be discarded:

Politics and Religion/Religious Figures
o This includes any masked or clear posts depicting:
o Discussion portraying any political or religious figures
o Discussion portraying any religion or political stance

Naming and Shaming
o This includes masked and blatant post including:
o Posting any negative text or imagery including a player’s name or information

Off-Topic, Spamming, and Trolling
o This includes, but is not limited to:
o The excessive use of a single/similar word or phrase
o Posting of jibberish
o Off-topic posting
o “Bumping” threads
o Creation of posts to discuss reports or violations
o Petition or polls not aimed at providing a constructive conversation
o Numbering a thread, “First”, “Post before deletion”, or any other fad statement

Real Money Trading, Account sharing, and selling
o Buying or selling accounts for real money or in-game currency
o Buying or selling services, in-game currency, promotional codes, etc

Discussion of locked threads or moderation action. Circumventing a Ban/Suspension
o Creation of accounts to post
o Having another player post on your behalf

Hard-to-Read-Posts
o Post with “CrAzy CaPS”, “ALL CAPS”, tiny or overly large fonts are prohibited. Please keep text font and colors easy for users and staff to read.
o Conducting conversations in foreign languages, outside of designated forums

Please discuss.

[Rookeye]

* Religious/political discussions tend to be polarizing, sometimes deeply dividing groups. I may disagree with this rule, but I understand why it's there.

* They need to clarify the naming/shaming rule. If I say something about someone that is TRUE, where is the problem? If I'm stating my opinion in a thinly disguised ad hominem troll attack, that of course needs to be stopped.

* I don't have a problem with bumping (could GREE clarify why they don't permit this? Many threads clearly do this now); I understand GREE doesn't want public discussion on their rulings...i may agree to disagree, especially if I think they are acting disingenuously in a particular situation (I've seen this with other game companies); "constructive conversations" can be derailed. I look forward to see if they deal surgically with trolls or merely close entire threads. Jury's out.

* I absolutely support GREE re: not permitting selling accounts, or RL $$ trading, etc.

* I agree banned players should NOT be permitted to post. I think respectful discussion of moderator action should be allowed. But that's my opinion, and I can see where it might get out of hand. I believe this is an example if GREE "putting a hedge around the law" to prevent unwanted actions from ever taking place. I understand GREE's position here.

* Hmmm, looks like I've violated the "hard to read post" rule. Oops! I understand not wanting a bunch of eye-bleeding posts in size 5/bold/crazy colors. However, it would be nice if there was a little leeway for self-expression. I've previously used size 1 to express whispering.

[Molly's Consigliere]

Salient post. These are an excessive amount of rules, and while we can both agree that some rules are necessary, the amount of rules right now is ridiculous.

Please discuss.

[Tadaaah]

These rules are fairly standard. They are left to the team's discretion. Some rules will typically have a slight more leeway then others like the font/color/size.

Let's break down Naming and Shaming:
Many accusations, in general, are just that, accusations. Additionally, naming and shaming, even if true, often just starts flame wars on the forums. These types of posts don't have anything constructive around them. They don't nurture positive discussion; they tend to just be argument starters. Please report players you suspect of cheating, exploiting, breaking ToS, etc. Let our teams handle disciplinary actions when needed. Thanks.

[Rookeye]

Thanks for clarifying, Tadaaah. Can you also clarify GREE's position on "bumping", since I see it daily? I'm relatively new, and I appreciate any official word on the subject I can get.

[Morgz]

These rules are fairly standard..

Not anywhere that I read and post. They are overkill. But after looking around the net, it's pretty clear they are copied from other game forums. Maybe that's why I don't agree they are standard. I don't visit very many game forums. But I do visit TONS of online communities, and in those terms, the TOS here is far from standard.

[Jon_Snow]

This is copy and pasted from IMDb's terms and condtions, by the way.


IMDb's On-line Services include discussion forums or other interactive areas, such as chat rooms or bulletin boards. Forums and interactive areas shall be used only for non-commercial purposes. By using any forum or interactive areas, you agree not to do any of the following:

1. Upload to, distribute or otherwise publish through this Web site any message, data, information, text or other material ("Content") that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, harassing, threatening, harmful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable;


2.Upload or transmit any Content that would constitute or encourage a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national, or international law, including without limitation, the regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any securities exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or the NASDAQ;


3. Upload or transmit any Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party. By posting any Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and reproduce such Content;


4. Impersonate any person or entity or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; and


5. Without IMDb's written permission, distribute or publish unsolicited promotions, advertising or solicitations for funds, goods or services, including junk mail and spam.


IMDb shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and Content associated with its forums and interactive areas.

And enforcement:

IMDb may investigate any reported violation of its policies or complaints and take any appropriate action that it deems appropriate. Such action may include, but is not limited to, issuing warnings, suspension or termination of service, and/or removal of posted Content. IMDb reserves the right and has absolute discretion, to remove, screen or edit any Content that violates these provisions or is otherwise objectionable. IMDb also reserves the right to report any activity that it suspects violates any law or regulation to appropriate law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third parties.

In order to cooperate with governmental requests, to protect IMDb's systems and customers, or to ensure the integrity and operation of IMDb's business and systems, IMDb may access and disclose any information it considers necessary or appropriate, including, without limitation, user profile information (i.e. name, e-mail address, etc.), IP addressing and traffic information, usage history, and posted Content.


I think something along the lines of this would be a good code of conduct for the forums.

[Rookeye]

Not anywhere that I read and post. They are overkill. But after looking around the net, it's pretty clear they are copied from other game forums. Maybe that's why I don't agree they are standard. I don't visit very many game forums. But I do visit TONS of online communities, and in those terms, the TOS here is far from standard.

What TOS would you suggest?

<-- genuinely curious

[Jon_Snow]

I almost forgot, instead of straight up banning without warning at first, have posting quotas instead:

http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?b...&ref_=hlp_brws

[Morgz]

I don't know if I could itemize it all out, Rookeye. But to me, a more simple version something along the lines of:

1) be nice to each other
2) no swearing
3) No using the forum for cheating
4) no racist, slanderous, or religious content
5) have fun


All this business about a line item for this and a line item for that...it just seems to choke the community, IMO. I've said it several times now. I like this place. There are alternatives to it, but ideally this place is the best as it has Gree's name attached to it (therefore users have the illusion that this is the "official" place to discuss the games), and Gree staff are present and somewhat active -- meaning we may actually get some official info that other users can only speculate on. Those two components are what keep this place alive (as apposed to going to one of the other forums dedicated to CC). However, when you have so many rules that make the place un-fun, then those two factors become less important. Eventually folks will migrate away. A smaller community = a less fun community.

A little flaming or arguing every now and then is fine, and healthy, IMO. So is the unavoidable "forum humor" that you see pretty much everywhere you go. But if those are against TOS, and we get banned for doing those, then it's not worth it. I hope some of these things change back to the way they were.

[Cromagnon]

You know nothing, Jon Snow

I almost forgot, instead of straight up banning without warning at first, have posting quotas instead:

http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?b...&ref_=hlp_brws

[Dipstik]

I like rules. Without rules, I have nothing to skirt. 4chan gets boring fast.

[Rookeye]

I like rules. Without rules, I have nothing to skirt. 4chan gets boring fast.

Now I wanna post pics of Pinkie Pie and Deadpool!