[FanFic] Silencing Opinions in Writer's Resource

I noticed a rather large problem in Writer's Resource of FanFic which I think needs to be brought to attention.

There have been two threads which have been locked in recent days:

http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Fiction_Resource/b10304/16483138/?7

http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Fiction_Resource/b10304/16476900/?63


In one thread members requested the moderators to define what is not tolerated within a story. Basically PG-13 is not allowed. The regular members wanted to know the gray areas of writing which would not be allowed on the boards. You would think someone would help us out. NO this was not the case. When a certain moderator (this is not the place to discuss the name) did not like our conversation he locked it. The reason for locking was that "there was nothing being added to the conversation". Basically another way of letting a personal opinion effect the judgement. (I think most mods and admins are great here, this is not an anti-mod thing)

The other was locked because again they said NO and that meant NO. Forget regular users opinions, they said NO and it was the end of it!

This is not a thread to complain about one mods opinions. This is a matter which is very important. The mod in question did not care for what any of us had to say. The person did not respect our beliefs or our concerns. The threads were locked, not because they were spam or filled with swears. NO because a mod did not like the way the conversation was going. We had concerns, opinions and worries we wanted to express and none of this mattered. They were locked anyway.

I just don't think it is right.
To not even allow regular members to express their personal opinions or answer their questions.

-Seldon

 

I think you are just angry because your non-starwars fan fic forum proposal has been rejected . what I saw in those links was

1 . a thread that has already been discussed here and rejected that was locked because it was redundant .

2 . A thread that went off topic and got locked

nothing unusual .

 

Comet, this forum is non Star Wars, what are you doing in here?

-P!-

 

^ good way to throw this thread off topic

and to answer your question

as long as non-starwars forums exist I might as well post in them , but if they were deleted I wouldnt cry .

 

You say they shouldn't exist, and that they create chaos. So, the more people that post in them, the more chaos, yet post in them. Your stance is shear hypocracy.

-P!-

 

I'm not angry at all.
Comet if you read the threads you would see that there were concerns by various members and questions un-answered.

By locking these threads it sends a message
1. Moderators of that forum could care less what people's opinions are.
2. If a member asks a moderator a valid question, it may not be answered at all.

I think this is a bad message to send.
Now I like Mods, I'm not trying to bash.
I'm just trying to fix this problem.


And Comet your are just angry about things I have said in other threads, don't let personal issues effect your posts.

-Seldon

 

if your going to bring it up could you at least come up with a possible solution to the problems you have stated ( if they are problems in the first place )

 

The answer would come from the moderators.
The question was what are the gray areas which are not tolerated. As I am not a mod I cannot answer this question.


-Seldon

 

We care about what the "regular users" have to say. However, there is NOT going to be a non-SW fanfic forum. End of discussion. That is why the thread was locked.

We also gave our reasons for the rating restriction and why we were not going to "elaborate on the gray areas". The discussion had reached its end, so the thread was locked.

The policy is not going to change. Bringing it up again won't change anything.

Dana

 

We also gave our reasons for the rating restriction and why we were not going to "elaborate on the gray areas". The discussion had reached its end, so the thread was locked.

What makes you say that the discussion had reached its end?

 

That is what I would like to know KW.

Upon reading the thread again I see no end to it. We requested information about the rules and restrictions of the FanFic forums. Instead of answering they locked it and said "End"

How can you say you respect users opinions if you lock a thread about their opinions because you said "No it is out of the question." If you respected our opinions you would listen before locking!

Another thing, in the second thread there was a discussion of no PG-13 stories. We asked what would not be tolerated. The examples of gray areas. How much violence is not allowed? Sort of thing.

When a user asked this question, the moderator in question replied "Stick to the topic on hand" and later locked it. The Gray areas is the topic at hand!

-Seldon

 

Dana, after reading that discussion, I don?t think the people participating in the debate wanted the existing rules to change. They were asking for clarification on the difference between PG and PG-13. All they were told is ?read the FAQ? (which I believe they had done several times) and that the mods didn?t think any elaboration was necessary.

Confusion on issues such as these could unintentionally cause people to post stories that violate the guidelines.

Ams

 

That is how it was A_S. The users such as myself were confused. When we asked for further explanation, none was given and the topic was locked. I think it would be better if the writers had a better idea of the limits. That is sort of common sense. I would think a moderator would be happy to explain a policy. We did not really ask for change just explanation!

My suggestion is that at the very least the PG-13 thread be re-opened. Members have concerns and some are confused about the rules. I think it is best if the moderators of that forum explain the rules. But hey if you want writers who don't understand the rules then that is fine too. Your the moderators of fanfic, I'm sure you can judge what is best for the forum. Letting people understand the rules or having them confused about it.

So I had a conversation with a fanfic moderator over IM. It read as follows.

"DantanaSkywalker: okay, let me see if I can explain the moderator stand-point on this
edmullaney26: if you do explain it? can I quote it
edmullaney26: for the benefit of others
edmullaney26: ?
DantanaSkywalker: well, it would be my interpretation of the standpoint, I can't speak directly for the others
edmullaney26: I understand
edmullaney26: It is just that several people are confused about the gray areas
DantanaSkywalker: If we elaborated more on certain things, people would protest the "new restrictions". And yet they complain about things being too vague. We have made it as clear as we can without posting unacceptable excerpts.
DantanaSkywalker: If we posted the unacceptable excerpts, more than one person would be likely to think that THAT was the limit on what they were allowed to post.
edmullaney26: The complaints come from lack of understanding
edmullaney26: We are not asking for excerpts
edmullaney26: but examples
edmullaney26: difference
DantanaSkywalker: excerpt/example, whatever
DantanaSkywalker: you know what I meant
edmullaney26: But no one understands the limits
edmullaney26: If you say "Don't describe blood"
edmullaney26: that would be an example
edmullaney26: "don't describe a corpse"
DantanaSkywalker: I understand them perfectly, and I have been here two years
edmullaney26: you are a modersator
DantanaSkywalker: I've never had a problem with understanding what's in the FAQ
edmullaney26: people in that thread asked
DantanaSkywalker: I've only been a moderator for a month and a half
edmullaney26: they said they did not understand
DantanaSkywalker: if you have specific questions, you should PM a moderator and ask, "Is this post within the limits?"
DantanaSkywalker: we can address specific questions, but we can't address the "gray area" as a whole
DantanaSkywalker: when we try, we get told we're not being specific enough
edmullaney26: Now can I post this conversation in comms?
DantanaSkywalker: when we get specific, we're told we're placing too many restrictions and stifling creativity
edmullaney26: Can I post the conversation in Comms?
DantanaSkywalker: If you don't edit what I've said, I don't see a reason why not
edmullaney26: Thank you
edmullaney26: Don't worry about editing"

-Seldon

 

I think that "explanation of gray areas" should be one of those "case by case" things. You can't apply the exact same guidelines to every piece of fiction that is posted because some things may be innapropriate in one context but not another. If you have a specific question perhaps PMing a fanfic mod with your story to look at would be the best plan of action.

 

Edit: Permission was apparently given, so nevermind that.

 

Dana said I could.
I have her permission.
As you can see in the conversation.
Dana said I would be allowed to post it.

So I have her personal permission
and I would suppose her permission as a mod. She never said that it would not be allowed.

Would this still be a problem KW? If it is I will change it.

"edmullaney26: Can I post the conversation in Comms?
DantanaSkywalker: If you don't edit what I've said, I don't see a reason why not"

Her permission I never edited it.

-Seldon

 

you can't post AIM transcripts without permission here. The rule is the same as it is for private messages. I'd edit that if I were you


you cant ? , there are more rules then I ever could have imagined .

 

Yes, I gave permission to post it.

It does have to be decided on a case-by-case situation, which may make things seem unfair, but really, we do our best to be fair and unbiased.


Dana

 

Upon reading the thread again I see no end to it.


Exactly.



You also drastically overstate things when you say that nobody understands the limits.

 

EDIT: Leave the personal stuff out of this.

 

EDIT: You too.

 

I must point out that the entire thing started because many authors did not seem to be aware that the boards are supposed to be rated PG, not PG-13. That is not new; that has been FanFiction policy for at least the last three years. As to specific "rules and guidelines," they have also been spelled out fairly explicitly in the FAQ, and that, too, goes back at least two years.

All we wanted to do with that thread was point out that people who wished to participate on the boards needed to be aware of the rules.

 

I fully understand the logic behind a case to case treatment and thanks for telling us about that Dana.
It would have been better if we could have been told that in the original thread, but you know some moderator wanted to lock it before any questions where answered.

This thread is about a certain mod silencing opinions.
And what happens in the thread? That same certain moderator is editing multiple users posts. A form of silencing! Amazing is it not?

I for one would like to hear what they say.

-Seldon

 

I didn't see what the original unedited replies were here, but in the FFR thread, I thought the mods were editing the comments of people who were flaming others.

The fanfiction FAQ is much like the Jedi Code - it's open to interpretation in certain ways. Many times you just have to use your own judgement. There are some things you use common sense for, and when that doesn't help, you ask someone who knows what's best. There's a difference between silencing opinion and preventing a thread from deteriorating into a flame war.

 

At the end of the first thread, the one moderator *does* suggest that the thread in comms is used to continue the discussion, because nothing could become of it from continuing the conversation in Fan Fiction Resource. If they had the attention of sweeping the topic under the rug, I don't think the Moderator in question would have suggested the topic continue on, here.

In the second thread the discussion was going no where, and no new points were being made in defense of the topic. That is not the way to get a Moderator to listen.

I can't blame the Moderator for doing their job. Sorry.