Some of you have already started to get to know me, some in a positive way, some in a negative way. Just for clarity, I just have a few questions.
1) What actually constitutes a banned topic? Does this include segueways into topics close to banned topics? For example, I notice politics and religion are the main two. But if someone brings up history that happens to be related to religion, or recent events in the news that happens to be related to politics or government, does that count as a banned topic? Or say that I bring up a field of science or research not readilly accepted by all parties, due to political/religious/ideological reasons (I'm sure you could think of a few), does that also count as a "banned topic"?
1.5) If someone starts preaching, like, at me and the others in the thread, am I permitted to try and respond in as secular a way as possible? (By secular, I mean, not really giving credence one way or the other to religion or irreligion.) Or can I get busted for that, too?
2) Who actually enforces the rules on the board? How much trouble can one get into for breaking the rules? Because so far, the closest to an authority figure I've come across is Boraxe telling me and the rest of the thread that we can get into trouble for bringing up religion (which I believe was provoked perhaps by a statement I made). Yet, one user in particular (who shall remain nameless for the moment) has been bible-thumping to me. If it wasn't typical of a fundamentalist, I would be more offended, but does that count as violating the "no religion/politics" rule? I've attempted to respond (in as secular a manner as possible, probably failingly), and truth-be-told, if we actually can get in trouble, I'm not particularly crazy about the direction of the conversation... but in short, can I get busted for that? Or (and don't take this the wrong way) does the "no religion topics" rule only apply to heathens like myself upsetting the religious?
Because if I'm in the right, at least partially, I can see some pretty flagrant violations of the "no politics/religion" rule. I otherwise just want to know, because this seems like a cool place to hang out and talk to people about stuff not really partaining to gaming (I actually don't play DnD, although I have 11 or so of the books [had more at one point], and I studied the version 3.5 rules for a while... bad experience ruined the game for me, don't ask), I'm starting to like a few of the regulars here, and I don't really want to get booted for rules I don't know I'm breaking, or because I was lured into breaking them. I kind of stumbled here from my homepage, but I'd like to stay if you guys can answer some questions.
(I'd also like to apologize for perhaps getting off on the wrong foot with at least some of you. Some. There might be a couple people here that I lack total respect for already, but I don't want it to be that way with everyone I don't 100% agree with.)
Thanks.
--Shef
If you're really going over the line, they block your account. Usually when that happens, people just make a new one and continue. There's a few people here who have multiple accounts, but you're not really allowed to talk about it or something.
As for when exactly when you get in trouble... it's pretty unclear. Half the OTT topics are breaking the rules from post 1, and the other half starts breaking the rules about 10 posts in. There's only a few threads that are (mostly) safe from rulesbreaking, like the "What do you want to talk about?" thread.
You can usually "feel" the topics getting out of line, and people getting aggravated, and then you know that it'll probably be locked down soon.
Basically if you like the OTT so far, then you'll continue to like it. Not a lot of topics are reported, probably because most people secretly enjoy the discussions that happen or because they're to stubborn or proud to report anyone. If someone biblethumps you, you can choose to report them or respond to them... either way they'll continue to do it most likely and reporting people isn't usually good for your reputation around here
Hope I don't annoy you too much during your posting; if I do just take a good look at my avatar and remember I'm just a troll
Happy posting.
The autority figures on these boards are called ORCs. It's short for something, but I'm not sure what it was again. You hardly ever see them. Basically, the OTT is pretty lawless, but if you piss someone off enough they'll call the ORCs down on you, which usually ends with a topic being locked. You can recognise them by their name starting with ORC and I think they have an icon under their name as well. You can also recognise them by their default messages and the fact that usually after an ORC post you're not allowed to post in that topic anymore
If you're really going over the line, they block your account. Usually when that happens, people just make a new one and continue. There's a few people here who have multiple accounts, but you're not really allowed to talk about it or something.
As for when exactly when you get in trouble... it's pretty unclear. Half the OTT topics are breaking the rules from post 1, and the other half starts breaking the rules about 10 posts in. There's only a few threads that are (mostly) safe from rulesbreaking, like the "What do you want to talk about?" thread.
You can usually "feel" the topics getting out of line, and people getting aggravated, and then you know that it'll probably be locked down soon.
Basically if you like the OTT so far, then you'll continue to like it. Not a lot of topics are reported, probably because most people secretly enjoy the discussions that happen or because they're to stubborn or proud to report anyone. If someone biblethumps you, you can choose to report them or respond to them... either way they'll continue to do it most likely and reporting people isn't usually good for your reputation around here
Hope I don't annoy you too much during your posting; if I do just take a good look at my avatar and remember I'm just a troll
Happy posting.
Thanks, bro, that helps a lot actually. So I guess it kind of depends on how sensitive the other party is on whether someone is unofficially breaking the rules?
(And, actually, you're one of the aforementioned people I'm beginning to like, so, yeah, no annoyance on my end. Just certain individuals you've probably already seen me arguing with.)
And yes, in a way it depends on how sensitive the other party is. Fortunately most people here either have a pretty thick hide or a very short post-expectancy so don't be too scared to post
Hi. I'm kind of a newb here.
Some of you have already started to get to know me, some in a positive way, some in a negative way. Just for clarity, I just have a few questions.
1) What actually constitutes a banned topic? Does this include segueways into topics close to banned topics? For example, I notice politics and religion are the main two. But if someone brings up history that happens to be related to religion, or recent events in the news that happens to be related to politics or government, does that count as a banned topic? Or say that I bring up a field of science or research not readilly accepted by all parties, due to political/religious/ideological reasons (I'm sure you could think of a few), does that also count as a "banned topic"?
There was a time when politics and religion were tolerated in here, but then things got too heated and the mods stated that the normal rules for the boards now applied to the OOT too, and religion and politics were officially forbidden. They do that a lot btw (i.e. changing the rules depending on how a subject is received), at one point, katanas was a banned topic. But it's not really enforced, so in practice, you can discuss a lot of politic and religious subjects here. The specifics are not really defined, because it mostly depends on the individual mod, and more importantly, whether or not someone reports you.
The mods generally don't even look at a thread unless someone reports it, and when that happens, they mostly show up, delete some comments nilly-willy and tell people to behave, or close the whole thread (in some cases, threads just disappear). It's often like collective punishment, and it's easily abused. For instance, some posters have experienced suddenly getting multiple warnings after months of peace, because someone who didn't like them have gone through all their old posts and reported everything. And on a more general note, it's obvious that some posters get into a lot less trouble than others for saying the exact same thing, because they don't have enemies reporting them. (It has to be noted that the mods are generally aware of this issue today, so it's not as bad as it used to be).
It's also a common trolling tactic to aim specifically to get threads closed. Say, poster doesn't like the topic discussed and want it to go away, poster reports thread but is told that it's within the limits of the CoC (code of conduct), poster goes to thread and starts blatantly trolling and baiting, flamewar erupts, someone (possible the poster who started it all) reports the incident, the mods show up and close the whole thread in response, troll poster is happy that everybody else has now been prevented from discussing a subject that troll poster didn't like. That's why a lot of us have taken to generally not using the report button, even against people we feel step out of line.
1.5) If someone starts preaching, like, at me and the others in the thread, am I permitted to try and respond in as secular a way as possible? (By secular, I mean, not really giving credence one way or the other to religion or irreligion.) Or can I get busted for that, too?
If you respond in kind, you're somewhat likely to get into the same kind of trouble as them. Of course, it also depends on the subject – someone using strong language to condemn others are more likely to get in trouble than someone using equally strong language to condemn the condemnation. As a foreigner, I sometimes find it hard to distinguish between which topics are more acceptable to use strong language about (as certain political/moral opinions common in my country are considered offensive here, while certain political/moral opinions normally considered problematic where I'm from are considered common and acceptable here), but in general, it's pretty fair. And responding to baiting usually wont get you in the same trouble as starting the bait, but again, it can depend on what impression the reporting poster gives the mods, because they're not going to read the whole conversation in context.
Generally, I wouldn't worry. The vast majority of times, the worst thing that can happen is that some posts are deleted. I haven't been banned so I don't know how it works, but originally, you were entitled to several warnings before getting banned. Today, they mostly issue temporary bans lasting 2-3 days, and during that time, you're free to make a new account with an uncanny resemblance to the old one (i.e. you could be Krap_Sdleiffesh or Shuffled_Paris) and keep on posting until you get your original account back. The last IP ban ever issued on this forum was poster known as 'dead foetus guy', and only because the incident (posting images of aborted foetuses) was the culmination of months of dedicated trolling, and even then the IP ban was only issued after it happened twice and enough posters started to complain.
2) Who actually enforces the rules on the board? How much trouble can one get into for breaking the rules? Because so far, the closest to an authority figure I've come across is Boraxe telling me and the rest of the thread that we can get into trouble for bringing up religion (which I believe was provoked perhaps by a statement I made). Yet, one user in particular (who shall remain nameless for the moment) has been bible-thumping to me. If it wasn't typical of a fundamentalist, I would be more offended, but does that count as violating the "no religion/politics" rule? I've attempted to respond (in as secular a manner as possible, probably failingly), and truth-be-told, if we actually can get in trouble, I'm not particularly crazy about the direction of the conversation... but in short, can I get busted for that? Or (and don't take this the wrong way) does the "no religion topics" rule only apply to heathens like myself upsetting the religious?
See above. There's nothing wrong with upholding the CoC, quite the contrary, just don't expect moderation unless you really go over the edge. If someone bible-thumps you (e.g. saying you're going to hell) you have every right to report them. Once they've been made aware of it, the mods will most likely delete the offensive comments and issue a warning. If the poster continues, he's likely to receive enough bans to get tired of it and leave you alone. The chance of you getting banned is close to zero.
(I'd also like to apologize for perhaps getting off on the wrong foot with at least some of you. Some. There might be a couple people here that I lack total respect for already, but I don't want it to be that way with everyone I don't 100% agree with.)
If it means anything, I like you
Hope you stick around.
Edit: Ninja'd 
People have started liking me before and then changing their minds later, you wouldn't be the first
And yes, in a way it depends on how sensitive the other party is. Fortunately most people here either have a pretty thick hide or a very short post-expectancy so don't be too scared to post
Thanks. I'm typically used to posting on YouTube (I have/had a number of channels over the last few years), where, even though people disagree to their hearts content, and conversations can even get a bit vicous, if you piss someone off, the worst you've done is made a few enemies. Normally, I'm not afraid to break people over my knee, but I just noticed its not quite as lax here.
Thanks, guys.
Anyway, it looks like the thread discussing "what dinosaurs looked like" might get banned. I could only take a guess at who reported that and why...
Thanks, guys.
Anyway, it looks like the thread discussing "what dinosaurs looked like" might get banned. I could only take a guess at who reported that and why...
Ho! Don't play the blame game!