Changes to the rules and forum functions -- please read!

The forum rules have been clarified as far as the "No piracy" rule goes. Please see

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487

for the complete rules. We have tried to clarify the rule by the following case examples:

Case examples regarding rule number five (5). No piracy.

Case: Pirated material, such as serial numbers and direct links to pirated, copyrighted material (including direct links to torrent files and ed2k links). PROHIBITED

Case: Technical, in depth discussion about copy protection circumvention (i.e. cracking). PROHIBITED

Case: Discussion about pirated content and piracy, such as converting (downloaded) video and/or audio files to DVD/AudioCD/whatever format. PERMITTED

Case: Discussion about copy protection circumvention in general (extracting encrypted content, such as DVD movies, compact discs, copy protected console and computer software, using existing software). PERMITTED

Case: Links to sites offering possibly pirated content (including torrent files and ed2k links). PERMITTED

Also the forums now include a Report an offensive post function which you can see at the top of each message, in the date field.

Using this function you can report a post to the forum administrators and moderators. If you see a message that you think that breaks the forum rules, use this link! Please do not post a reply to the thread saying that the mesasge breaks the rules -- it is the responsibility of the admins and moderators to moderate the forums.

Thank you for your attention. Happy foruming!

 

Excellent Ketola, absolutely excellent!

For future reference of moderators here i have just a couple of things to say.....

1. Lately there has been a lot of "newbie bashing" and stupid "weed out" games on the forum that give the forum a bad hostile look and caused many newbies not to return, in future will there be a rules change or warnings that will stop this behaviour by threatening some form of disciplinary action?

2. In the case of a rule breaking post, wouldn't I be right in saying that if the post is not very bad, that just like in the old days a verbal warning might be the best choice as opposed to bashing and banning immediately?

3. Is there any chance for users to have an "report an offensive private message" feature, where the bad PM will make its way to the Mods/Admins including a short reason why thios PM was offensive?

Just thought those 3 q's needed to be asked!

 

"Newbie bashing" is not and will not be tolerated. It is already, although indirectly, prohibited by a rule -- 8. Don't reply with an off-topic comment/question. If necessary, an additional "Instruct and educate -- don't just shoot first and ask questions later" rule will be implemented.

Yes. Only repeated and/or glaring rule-breaking posts should lead to a ban. Everyone has the right to learn from their mistakes.

I don't really see the need for a separate feature. If numerous offensive PMs appear, an admin (me or dRD) should be contacted directly. Moderators have no say in private messages, and as you know, moderators have no means of viewing private threads.

 

I lose my internet connection for a few days and AD gets another good feature. Cool! I, for one, am very happy about both the rules clarification and the Report to Moderator feature. Hopefully the former will help clear up some misunderstandings and the latter will be needed as little as possible ;-)

 

Veblin: I think it is difficult to find an icon that would make it obvious to even new users what it would be. And we want to get as much user interaction in this issue as possible.

One thing what I will still change to the system is to show the link also for users who haven't logged in, so they will be redirected to the login screen if they click it.

 

John179,

A notification of the changes is being mailed to all active users as I write it. Hopefully you have received it as well! =)

 

I don't see how either of the first cases would rule out the third case. Pirated material == posting copyrighted content directly on the forum. Discussion about pirated material == discussion regarding the material.

Let's take a piece of software as an example. Posting a link to a pirated piece of software is not allowed, but asking for help on how to acquire, install or use pirated software is. It goes without saying that making such posts makes little sense, and it's highly unlikely that such messages would be well received, but they will nevertheless not lead to a direct ban unless some other rule is broken.

Of course we could replace all the rules with "Use your head -- post smart." but I'm pretty sure we all know how that would work..

 

I think the new rules are great! The new reporting feature is very nice indeed. I think relaxation of the rules might also slow down the fighting that has been going on lately, I hope anyway. I'd almost tired of banning people, well ok not really but i'm tired of having to give possible good members the boot! i think the new and improved "aD atmosphere" will help decrease the bitching and whining and fighting like little girls. If a newb screws up, so what. We all were at one time.


**Disclaimer - The above post in no way means That you wont be "peacefully removed" if you grossly violate the forum rules. Play smart, learn well, have a good game.