Reference The RPF Rules Discussion - Now Discussing: Writing Violence

*Back from a long sleep*

I would say that Mods should certainly be allowed to participate and be victorious in the awards; ought we to punish excellence and reward second-runnership? Moderators (especially for these forums) are almost always some of the best players and GMs, it is no coincidence that they have been asked to help us patrol ourselves.

Perhaps a winning moderator should turn their colors OFF to show the content of their spoils.

~DS5

 

Um, we kinda do that already.

 

I think what you said about the president of the Academy Awards...I have the same feelings as I do know.

Perhaps a winning moderator should turn their colors OFF to show the content of their spoils. Good idea, but I am not sure if they can just turn off their colors and still be mods. Correct me if I am wrong Imp or Saint. Perhaps they could just go a specific color...

 

Mods can just change their colors to the color everyone else has in that specific forum.

 

One cannot turn off one's colours and remain a mod. The colours are hardwired into our exoskeletal structure, making it impossible to remove colours and survive

Personally I'd take the approach Hammer did with the last awards if it ever came up. As for other mods participating in the RPF, since things are via vote numbers rather than subjective opinion, if someone really has a grievance over the issue they can always refer it to an administrator who can perform an audit of the votes cast. But I don't think it would ever come to that.

 

Don't tempt me.

 

So Mods can win awards?

Hmm....

 

Why not? One reason to have a voting sock, I guess, less effort to find votes.

I'm actually surprised this hasn't come up before. We've always had mods who were also fantastic RPers.

 

I see no reason not to give Moderators their victories and trophies if they win as voted by the rest of the users. Good roleplaying and running of games has little to do with being a Moderator (in theory ). If the Moderators weren't good at it, then they wouldn't be winning. No reason to deny quality posting its place of honor.

 

They would cheat.

Vote fabrication.

They can see ISP numbers. We can't.

 

They can also rewrite the code of the Matrix, making the impossible possible.

 

They wouldn't cheat, in fear of being reported to the Administration. Besides, why would they want to win? The prize is colors and a title. They already have that for a much longer period.

 

Thank you all for your input...

We will be moving on to the next topic in a few days. So any last points on this one, be sure to get em in.

-I_H

 

One or two more things...

Alright folks, batten down the hatches...

Lets talk about adding a new rule...

It'll go something like this:

Rule: Out of Game comments are prohibited in all games, unless explicitly allowed by the GM.

---

So whats an Out-of-Game (OOG) Comment? Its when a non-player user posts something in a game. This is different than an OOC comment in which a player asks something or just adds things out of game to the game play. Out of character comments are by players, out of game comments are by outside-the-game commentators.

Why do I want to do this? It seems a little harsh I know. Its because, already in my time here, I've had to clean a bunch of games (at least 3) in their start-up stages, because non-players spam up the games saying how the GM (and sometimes other players) either A.) Need to Visit Resource, B.) Are doing something wrong, or C.) Just want to put in their opinions.

The problem with this is that it tanks games before they start. Think about it. How confident would you feel about joining a game that has these sort of problems right at the beginning? Its like publicly throwing the fact that the game is poorly made right in the GMs face. Even if the game really isn't, it hurts the esteem of up and coming GMs, as well as drives fence-sitting players away. It makes GMing a fearful exercise, with the GM wondering what criticisms will come down the pipe, instead of a hopeful one.

Now some may say, "But sometimes Out of Game comments can be helpful in telling folks how to change their ways and get better!" I would agree, but I think the best way is to PM them versus posting it publicly. That way, the crucial information gets conveyed, and the player's game is not derailed or detracted publicly.

This is just a further step to give all games a real chance at success. Sometimes there are games that just break the mold! And sometimes newbie games that don't proceed in an orthodox fashion do well and/or serve a specific purpose. This rule is envisioned as a step to make the RPF a more welcoming place to newer players, and to make GMing a more pleasant experience.

Lets hear your thoughts on this. If the response is a tidal wave of sentiment opposing the idea, it will probably not be put into action.

-I_H

 

From my point of view, there's nothing I can usefully add to the debate on top of what Hammer's had to say. I agree with him. But that's my point of view.

 

I agree with Hammer on this. My game hasn't started and already its starting to look like a social thread. Well thanx to Hammer it wont. I dont mind fielding questions but as i asked in my thread, I would like to be PM'd so it wont derail the thread. It's called respect for the game and the GM. I can understand if i was a noob who didnt know what she was doing and it showed so obviously. Helpful hints are ok, but only when it's something thats a necessity, not because you just want to give your opinion.

 

Looks like a good policy to me. I can't think of any reasonably practical detraction.

If nothing else, derailing a thread with out of game comments even after the GM specifically requests that comments be made by PM should be against the rules either way.

 

I would love to see that policy in the RPFs.

There is one specific person around here who does the OOG thing a lot, and more often than not it is done specifically to criticize the GM, the game, the players, or even all of them. It is even worse when the GM specifically asks for future comments to be made via PM, and that is ignored as well.

It just seems rude to me, and I have never liked when people do it wether it is in the middle or start of a game.

 

I also agree with this. I admit, I have done this a lot...But, it makes sense, everything is just more advantageous to the game if it is PMed rather than posted. One may ask: but what if someone has a question that will help others? Answer: PM it to the GM and, if said GM gets a lot of the same questions s/he can simply post about it in the thread. Problem solved.

One of the most annoying things I see on the boards (I am probably guilty of this as well, but I don't think for a while) is when a person just randomly posts: "PM Sent! " Or something. It is completely pointless as the GM already knows that "Random_User" sent in the PM. No offense the person, but I don't care if "Random_User" sent in their PM. That should be bannable.

 

I agree. I especially agree with including messages like "PM sent!!" "ZOMG it's up!!" and so on under the OOG umbrella, so to speak. That sort of stuff belongs in the social threads.

edit - That said, I think that OOC questions and comments, by players, should always be allowed unless explicitly banned by the GM. I'd be a sad panda if I couldn't ask OOC questions in threads.

 

Fully in agreement with this idea. Not much else I can add, other than if people aren't there to play, then it seems to me that they'd just be unnecessarily clogging up the thread for other people are there and do plan to participate.

 

I don't think it's a big deal. I mean, it just doesn't make much of a difference to me.

 

I'm with Hammer. PM's are there for a reason. When my game "As Father and Son" (which you should all join ) first started, I immediately got hit up with OOG posts that, right away, detracted from the quality of the experience. I had to ask Hammer to clean up my thread because the first three posts were people naysaying and/or expressing confusion over things clearly stated in the first post. There's a quality control issue here, as well as an issue of courtesy; if a player doesn't understand something, he should read the opening post carefully; if a player wants to send in a CS, he should do so instead of announcing that the GM should expect one soon; if you think the RP looks cool, join instead of letting people know you think it looks cool.

 

I've been looking at a lot of other RP's, but that's just to get a sense of what other people are doing to get good RP's going. I'm idea searching, not putting anyone down; if anyone put me down because my game was "bad", I'd feel upset. IH, I agree totally with your rule; OOG's should be banned.

 

Okie Dokie....

Last call for this discussion topic...

After this, I'll make the necessary changes to the rules....

Aaaaaand we may talk about one other topic that was brought up in some rpfchats.

-I_H