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Rules are there for a reason


Space_Rogue
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A very common problem I've observed in my years running RPG's. How often do you have people ignoring or refusing to follow set rules for your game? One in particular is that A/ all character must have a face claim and B/ they must use a sig pic when posting for OC characters (we wave that rule for NPC's). So I've been told I'm a softie for allowing this to continue, I guess the only reason I do is because the players in particular are good writers and do keep up. So do we become totalitarian dictators enforcing our enshrined rules, or do we allow some leverage?

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Guest Archaic Cyborg

In the not-too-distant-past, I usually have guests or applicants having a whinge about PBs, e.g my 'no AniManga fac-claims' rule. I only want to see animanga in an animanga game. For panfandoms, it depends, because I'm reaaaally picky with panfandoms in the first place!  In any case, I get players insisting on showing me artwork, and .. it couldn't be any more obvious that it's animanga. ARGHFUCK. No means no!

 

Another one would be ...er. Not sure, actually. It's usually just the PB rule that players try to dance around. I suppose another one would be the 'didn't do the research', with regard to major game-breaking scenarios, factions, plot, etc. Like, if it's essential that a player researches a culture and specifies a role, and they give you an app that may as well be for a modern-day cop rather than a LOTR fantasy board.

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I find this topic amusing and not for the reasons that you think but because of the site I'm in the works of designing. I actually considered it for a very long time and am considering dumbing down my rules to about five essentials.

Quote
  • Register with your OOC account.
  • No Word Count.
  • Mature communicative adults only.
  • If you have to question something it is okay then ask a staff member if it's okay.
  • Advertising is prohibited.
  • Enjoy yourself.
  • The rating of this RP is Posted Image

Those found disruptive to the community will be contacted based on the severity of disruption.

 

I find that the people that actually do read the rules are the ones that normally follow them.

 

For me personally Rules are almost always what ends up pivoting me away from a site.

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Blackjack Bart

don't get me started on anime pics. I hate them with a passion. Like how do you justify submitting a face claim for Stargate with one of those? When asked "Oh I prefer anime pics" wtf?
 

 

Morrigan

True. But then I get so many...."I forgot to read them." We have two sets of rules. One as a general guideline for forum behavior and another specific to the role plays.

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@Space_Rogue Well "I forgot to read them" isn't something that you deal with. I stay strong on the rules however rules are made and often questioned. You have to gauge the audience you are looking for with how you treat your rules. At least that's been my luck.

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@Morrigan. Typically I tell them to do so; I will ask some of them who tend to be annoying types to answer a question regarding the rules a few days later face_palm.gif

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I don't personally like admins like that. It's sneaky and rude. If they want me to leave then they should just comfort me. Trying to jab at me to see if I'm worthy is what that feels like. @Space_Rogue

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I did say annoying types Lol. We have one guy who falls into that category; he cannot get his head out of his glorious character everything either in OOC or even the chat is Character A this, Character A that. Its funny at first, then the humor wears off after a year or so. Oh and I should mention, I've never said that to a newbie, they'd have to actually be bending/breaking the rules after some time being with us. :)

Edited by Morrigan
Removed specific identifying information regarding member per The Initiative Rules.
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See, I still don't agree with that @Space_Rogue. We are all in love with our our characters, that's why we play them. I love the fuck about talking about my characters, what they are thinking, their reactions to posts as well as their excitement for their plots or whatever. That's about half of roleplay for me. If I couldn't tell people how much fun and how much I love Elizabeth and people didn't tell me that they liked her I would have stopped writing ages ago (note that is only one character example of many). That's why I also praise and talk about other peoples characters.

 

Before you say, well he doesn't talk about other peoples characters though, just his, I don't have other characters in my head. The characters I want to talk about, the ones I want to grow or change or whatever are in my head and so those will be the ones I put out there for others to enjoy with me more then others.

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Ah, I have to quantify that in our case. We're not exclusively a RP board, we're a general discussion and fandom board. Having him quote what Sobek would do in say a Star Wars discussion is a little off putting to non RP members. We've had people leave because of him.

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The question there becomes, is that against the rules or is it just something that is assumed that shouldn't be done? Either way pointing someone toward the rules doesn't fix the problem.

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We always try to be as polite as possible when letting newbies know that they need to take a look at the rules.  Generally speaking, the people that need reminders are the ones that didn't bother to look at the rules in the first place.  I think @Morrigan already mentioned that problem in an earlier post. xD  We get a few people every now and again that don't bother reading a thing, and submit characters which are wildly out of line with the site's lore.   Think "crazy powerful human samurai ninja master assassin mage" in a... I don't know, a My Little Pony fandom. lol

 

Anyway, I feel that the people that bend the rules are ones that either haven't read them, or feel that the rules don't apply to them.  There are those who consider themselves gods among RPers, who feel that because they have a (self proclaimed) high/advanced writing skill level, they are exempt from forum rules.  Others can't be bothered to read everything, and may have genuinely missed some key rules.

 

The first thing to do is ensure that all of your own staff and your personal accounts are following the rules in question so that they can lead by example.  If members see that other staff aren't held to the same standards that they are, they're going to have less respect for the rules you put forth.  Another thing is to periodically review the rules, and send out "Rules Updated" alerts to all members, not just those who are bending or breaking rules.  It's good to routinely review an RP's rules, especially if you're a member of multiple sites and may not remember the finer points of each site's setup.

 

 

Anyway, the TL;DR version is: if you find yourself faced with people bending rules, a gentle reminder that the rules apply to everyone - including staff - is best, in my opinion.  Privately, in PMs which are CCd to all of the member's sub-accounts in addition to their primary so it can't be missed.  

 

PS - One thing I was taught in training courses for management at my place of business is: get the person to tell you when they will do the thing. Rather than commanding "Do this thing by (date)," ask, "When do you think you'll be able to complete this?"  When the member tells you that time frame him/herself, they are more likely to follow through with it. 

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That ^ @iReadYerMind is exactly what I do in most cases. Thankfully we don't have too many we need to nudge along. Just every now and then you get one who simply wishes to see how far they can go I think. With me, they do seem to get away with an awful lot; I'm glad though I have some staff who are more assertive than I am.

 

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Guest Ganta

Limitations will make people that are looking for a place that is still open to write will create negativity. Just because time passes doesnt give you the right to control the actions of one who dont follow a dictating rule to only fit with everyone else. Honestly its ridiculous in my eyes, if you want to have a successful website or business you will have to be open with others if you're doing mature you will attract the audience you wish, those underage would come too. Basic rules will be easy to follow, for everyone, if the rule is target towards a selected community, you will lose people. Rp should be free and a place of gathering those with any character. Not a place that only serves your convinence and a few that follow, while the rest are targeted for inconsistency. Be fair and you will be fine. Not all of us are the same, but again what this looks like is really a shallow ass move and honestly to me its disgusting, but that's my opinion. 

 

 

Focusing on certain fandoms does the same. 

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4 hours ago, SithLordOfSnark said:

I'm a sarcastic prick, so sometimes I'll say things without thinking, especially when I've had to deal with the same issue several times in a row.

 

Like on my one site, the claims are ALL in lowercase. I'll Admin Edit Person A's post who got it wrong, giving them a friendly reminder to fix it, and then Person B follows suit and does it completely wrong when the Admin Edit has been there for like three days already, and I'm just bashing my head against the wall, because it feels like I'm talking to air.

 

I've had an instance were I remind folks to fix their claims. When they don't after a few days, I just delete the post. They ask me later why they weren't added to the claims and I kindly admit to deleting the post because it wasn't corrected after I asked for it, and tell them they are welcome to resubmit. I've only had to do it twice and they got the hint. Now we just include the claim codes in our app process to avoid the middle man.

 

I've always been pretty lenient on my rules, though admittedly I think we have a list of 14 in total, but it covers everything from c-box, to OOC, to IC rules. The kinds of things we expect to see, and the things we don't want to see. The only rule we come down hard on is our last one, in relation to character ages and mature threading. Having a premium board lets us have things a little mature, however, if your character isn't 18, I don't want to see them involved in anything remotely mature, not even the OOC games. Nuh uh, no way, no how. It's straight up bannable, and it says as much in the rules.

 

Somehow...people keep forgetting this rule. I've been considering adding a thing to the account setup that requires them to say they read the rules now.

LAMSig.png.4a4090b379562b2600cc05eefdbfa826.png

 

 

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