Forum Rules of Conduct draft

Here is the first pass at a Forum Rules of Conduct draft. This is hardly all inclusive, as I have no doubt missed something or strayed off the mark somewhere (as my coworker wants to be chatty this evening ). I think I hit the major points, but its certainly shorter than most forums I've seen. Additionally, I used the Official SWTOR forum rules and the OSC Charter as inspiration.

Feel free to add, subtract and discuss any and all aspects of this as I'm experienced with writing procedures, but not specifically Forum Rules and definitely need the input

Quote :

The following rules are guidelines to the users of The Respect in Gaming Forums on expected conduct while interacting within these forums. Not only are they intended to promote a baseline for healthy community interaction, but they are also intended to mirror the sentiment put forth in the Old School Community Charter. While the tenets put forth in the Old School Community Charter represent the spirit of the community rather than the letter of the law, posts violating the below rules of conduct are subject to moderation.

All forum interactions should be polite and civil. The OSC lays down the framework for a return to civility in our gaming experience. Flaming, trolling, harassing, excessive profanity, abusive language or abbreviations, personal attacks, racial, religious, ethnic, sexual slurs, or similar behavior/language all undercut what is trying to be achieved here and will not be tolerated in The R.I.G. Forums. Remember; attack the subject, not the person arguing the other side.

Keep your posts PG-13. Please be mindful there are a number of reasons to use discretion when posting here. Some of our users are children who don’t want their parents to look over their shoulder and pull the plug, and others might be using these forums from work. Be respectful of other people’s posting situations. In regards to images artwork, and other creative works; it is not the wish of anyone in the OSC to stifle anyone’s creative spirit. However, if the piece is Not Safe For Work, please be courteous to your fellow posters and link to it offsite, and label it NSFW.

Be constructive. Avoid posting faux pas such as bumping, cross posting, pyramid quoting, /jrangering, etc. Such posts tend to clutter up the posting space and make it harder for your fellow posters to find good information and participate in the discussion. Additionally, just as elder members of the community are encouraged to help newer players, those newer members are encouraged to respect the time of others by searching the forums to see if their question has already been answered.

Looks good to me! May need to tighten up the first paragraph to something like this:

Guidelines for Users of The Respect in Gaming Forums.

These rules are intended to promote healthy community interaction, but they are also intended to mirror the sentiment put forth in the Old School Community Charter. While the tenets put forth in the Old School Community Charter represent the spirit of the community rather than the letter of the law, posts violating the below rules of conduct are subject to moderation.

I like it Vari!

Yeah, very nicely done

Sorry meant to post to this earlier, but it was like 2am when I read it, and then i fell asleep, hehe

I am hoping though, that such a ruleset will never be needed or inforced, in all honesty, with everyone we have seen on here so far I am quite optomistic that this will be the case

Ty-Odi wrote:

Sorry meant to post to this earlier, but it was like 2am when I read it, and then i fell asleep, hehe

I am hoping though, that such a ruleset will never be needed or inforced, in all honesty, with everyone we have seen on here so far I am quite optomistic that this will be the case

Every good procedure should put you to sleep, lol. And yeah, I hope we don't need to enforce this either, but it would be rather foolish to not have some sort of standard on paper (so to speak). I know there shouldn't be a problem with the people who have thus far shown support, but I've floated around the internet a bit and know that there is a pervasive negative element out there. I care a lot about what we're doing here, and I want to shield our fledgling community from possible harm.

Draft dos:

Quote :

Guidelines for Users of The Respect in Gaming Forums.

These rules are intended to promote healthy community interaction, but they are also intended to mirror the sentiment put forth in the Old School Community Charter. While the tenets put forth in the Old School Community Charter represent the spirit of the community rather than the letter of the law, posts violating the below rules of conduct are subject to moderation.

1) All forum interactions should be polite and civil. The OSC lays down the framework for a return to civility in our gaming experience. Flaming, trolling, harassing, excessive profanity, abusive language or abbreviations, personal attacks, racial, religious, ethnic, sexual slurs, or similar behavior/language all undercut what is trying to be achieved here and will not be tolerated in The R.I.G. Forums. Remember; attack the subject, not the person arguing the other side.

2) Keep your posts PG-13. Please be mindful there are a number of reasons to use discretion when posting here. Some of our users are children who don’t want their parents to look over their shoulder and pull the plug, and others might be using these forums from work. Be respectful of other people’s posting situations. In regards to images artwork, and other creative works; it is not the wish of anyone in the OSC to stifle anyone’s creative spirit. However, if the piece is Not Safe For Work, please be courteous to your fellow posters and link to it offsite, and label it NSFW.

3) Be constructive. Avoid posting faux pas such as bumping, cross posting, pyramid quoting, /jrangering, etc. Such posts tend to clutter up the posting space and make it harder for your fellow posters to find good information and participate in the discussion. Additionally, just as elder members of the community are encouraged to help newer players, those newer members are encouraged to respect the time of others by searching the forums to see if their question has already been answered.

Added the changes suggested by SandS and enumerated the rules.

Nice Variable.

I might add something about posting in the right sub-forum too or maybe a small section about the different sub-forums (fan stuff, SWTOR, welcome, etc..).

I know that when I come in a new forum I often feel lost and I'm not sure where I should post certain topics. sub-forums titles aren't always that helpful.

azarhal wrote:

Nice Variable.

I might add something about posting in the right sub-forum too or maybe a small section about the different sub-forums (fan stuff, SWTOR, welcome, etc..).

I know that when I come in a new forum I often feel lost and I'm not sure where I should post certain topics. sub-forums titles aren't always that helpful.

Hmm, perhaps add a sentance to the #3 then? I'm thinking I might break out the sentances under each rule to help clarify them. I'll see what I can get formatted.

azarhal wrote:

sub-forums titles aren't always that helpful.

Beware.

She has spam, and she will use it.

Selven wrote:

azarhal wrote:

sub-forums titles aren't always that helpful.

I was speaking in general matters and more as indication to newcomers...fan art goes here, off topic here, etc...

But I must say that the OSC forum Events and Suggestion forum have me puzzled a bit. Are we talking in-game events suggestions or does it include extra game events as well?

Draft tres:

Quote :

Guidelines for Users of The Respect in Gaming Forums.

These rules are intended to promote healthy community interaction, but they are also intended to mirror the sentiment put forth in the Old School Community Charter. While the tenets put forth in the Old School Community Charter represent the spirit of the community rather than the letter of the law, posts violating the below rules of conduct are subject to moderation.

1) All forum interactions should be polite and civil.
The OSC lays down the framework for a return to civility in our gaming experience. Flaming, trolling, harassing, excessive profanity, abusive language or abbreviations, personal attacks, racial, religious, ethnic, sexual slurs, or similar behavior/language all undercut what is trying to be achieved here and will not be tolerated in The R.I.G. Forums. Remember; attack the subject, not the person arguing the other side.

2) Keep your posts PG-13.
Please be mindful there are a number of reasons to use discretion when posting here. Some of our users are children who don’t want their parents to look over their shoulder and pull the plug, and others might be using these forums from work. Be respectful of other people’s posting situations. In regards to images artwork, and other creative works; it is not the wish of anyone in the OSC to stifle anyone’s creative spirit. However, if the piece is Not Safe For Work, please be courteous to your fellow posters and link to it offsite, and label it NSFW.

3) Be constructive.
Avoid posting faux pas such as bumping, cross posting, pyramid quoting, /jrangering, posting in the incorrect thread, etc. Such posts tend to clutter up the posting space and make it harder for your fellow posters to find good information and participate in the discussion. Additionally, just as elder members of the community are encouraged to help newer players, those newer members are encouraged to respect the time of others by searching the forums to see if their question has already been answered.

Added "...posting in the incorrect thread..." to rule #3
Cleaned up a few formatting issues

azarhal wrote:

Selven wrote:

azarhal wrote:

sub-forums titles aren't always that helpful.

I was speaking in general matters and more as indication to newcomers...fan art goes here, off topic here, etc...

But I must say that the OSC forum Events and Suggestion forum have me puzzled a bit. Are we talking in-game events suggestions or does it include extra game events as well?

The OSC forum is for any events happening, in game or live, whether it be TOR or other games. We do have guilds interested that will play TOR along with other games they are currently active in. It's meant to include those gamers as well. Although it'll probably be heavy on the TOR side of things.

Any suggestions to wording it more precisly is welcome.

Selven wrote:

Any suggestions to wording it more precisly is welcome.

Okidou. I'm moving this discussion to another thread though.

So are we all satisfied with the draft? I'll have it stickied in the various sections if there's nothing anyone wanna add. Let me know

It looks like a good draft to me, and we can always amend it when it may require, based on needs or clarifications.

I would have to agree with Kai...we can always adjust/ fine tune it prior to TOR launching...

Alrighty, its been a few days on this, and I think it looks like a good start. As stated, this will evolve as needed. Ty, Sel, this is good to go if you wanna post it somewhere where folks can see it.

Variable wrote:

Alrighty, its been a few days on this, and I think it looks like a good start. As stated, this will evolve as needed. Ty, Sel, this is good to go if you wanna post it somewhere where folks can see it.

I already did - obviously not where "folks can see it", though Maybe I should link to it from the front page as well?

Selven wrote:

I already did - obviously not where "folks can see it", though Maybe I should link to it from the front page as well?

Ha! Don't take me as a typical forum goer - I miss the obvious all the time (ask my wife ). But perhaps it would be a good idea to put it on the front page as well.