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When your board is problematic


Sara-Zorah
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My board turns nine this year. 

 

It's set in a Handmaid's Tale-esque dystopian hellscape where women are treated like second class citizens at best , where homosexuality and adultery are illegal, and where the government makes everybody marry an opposite-sex partner. 

 

So I went on an ad spree the other day and we had a guest pop by to lecture us about how terrible we all are and how dare we and how we're ostracizing LGBTQ+ roleplayers (which is funny to me because we have quite a number of LGBTQ+ and feminist players, including myself). 

 

I didn't dignify their post with a reply because I'm pretty sure they weren't going to come back to read it. (and it was kinda funny because apparently they were fine with the misogyny but not being allowed to play an openly gay man was the hill they were going to die on).

 

But it got me thinking. 
 

How the hell do you run a board with problematic content in the age of Tumblr and cancel culture?  We don't discourage members from making LGBTQ+ characters.  We have a zero tolerance policy for OOC bigotry (and OOC creepery). We own that our setting is problematic and awful and that our board won't be for everyone and try to keep OOC spaces as safe and friendly as possible. 

 

I dunno, that experience has put me off advertising for a while and even though I started a Tumblr for my board I'm afraid to actually, y'know, post the ad. I just don't want an influx of guests being like "lol you're the worst"/trolling us, y'know? 

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Unfortunately some people choose those hills to die on. When the setting forces it to be suppressed that's just what it is. It's just like setting where supernaturals are suppressed. The difference is that supernaturals aren't politically fueled by today's society.

 

Don't be discouraged in advertising because then you are letting the ignorant SJW win that doesn't actually read your content or the purpose of your site, or know anyone on the site, for that matter. Be stringent in removing trolly content from your general discord or cbox chat and move on. Unfortunately you're always going to find the ignorant person that choose the version of what they understand. You know your site and your community better then them and leave it at that.

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I'm pretty sure that guest has written posts that are problematic in the past. 

 

I think your board is great and nine years is a long time for one to be open. All you can do is put up warnings, express clearly that OOC/IC are separate (most RPers understand this), and like Morrigan said. Remove the trolling comments from your platform, and then ignore them. The guest can choose whether or not they decide to view your board. 

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I wouldn't bother with Tumblr advertising for two reasons:

- Purity politics is pretty strong in the culture over there

- Posts with links in them tend to not appear in the search results (when you use tags to search).

 

So you might be pitching to the wrong audience and having Tumblr's functionality work against you anyway. Seems like a waste of your energy.

 

Have you had a problem with people making assumptions about you and your community before? (Whether that be bitching about your concept or some prejudiced individual thinking that they've found a friend). Have you had problems getting members? (I wouldn't think so with nearly a decade under the board's belt).

 

I don't think a singular guest is worth anyone fussing. Unless you feel like they're part of a broader trend.

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Congrats on 9 years! Was on your board about 7 years ago, crazy how the world turns.

I personally don't do Tumblr advertising on the grounds that it's just not worth the hassle and looneiness (I'm making it a word) that influxes from there. People click and attack without looking into anything about a board. They get riled or think that they should do something about whatever tripped them off. 

 

I think that you handle the contents of your board well, you put it out there for what it is and people have to right to check it out and move on. Good for you for not responding, they weren't worth your time for not fully looking into your board before casting their judgement on you and it.

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I agree with all the above. The issue is not your board. It sounds like the person was looking for a fight or perhaps just didn't take the time to look around and grasp what was going on.

 

For some, I'd say, writing is about creating a fantasy/utopia that they can escape into. (They're the boards that have no IC bigotry, etc.) And that's perfectly fine. Your board sounds like it's the type of writing where you explore the darker themes of humanity (dystopias and all that). That's fine too. 

 

I'd say keep advertising and don't worry about it. The person seems like they were totally out of line. 

Edited by Thyme
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You just sorta have to accept that no matter what you do, there's always gonna be someone who's a hater.

 

I'm familiar with your game! 8D I remember it waaay back in the day and it's so cool it's still going strong! I also think your game is fine and that your guest was being ridiculous. Your site content does a good job of separating OOC from IC and showing that these issues are part of the game's world, but that the writers are socially conscious themselves and aware that these things aren't okay. Last I peeked, you also did a good job of showing ways that characters can be subversive and sneak around the system--it's just clear that due to the nature of the Big Brother Is Watching world, no one can be overt and everyone has to be careful. I think the way your game is presented, it's pretty obvious you're not saying the setting's culture is good! It's obvious it's backwards and supposed to be viewed as awful and backwards. And I know reading through your info, I never felt unwelcome as an LGBTQIA* person.

 

I also run games that deal with problematic elements in the setting, including homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, etc. We make  it very clear that this should never limit the types of characters people play, because characters, like real people throughout history, can rebel and push back against convention and oppression. It also might get messy, there may be consequences, but that can only make for a fun plot point!

 

Have some people gotten weird about stuff? Sure. But you can't please everyone. And as someone above mentioned, Purity Culture is pretty damned toxic and prevalent in some circles. There's a difference between something being GROSS in its problematic-ness, and something being problematic and acknowledging that it's problematic and providing a platform to explore it.

 

It's like the difference between the Gor books and The Handmaid's Tale. For example, Gor presents it as a biological fact inherent to its setting that women are inferior. The Handmaid's Tale knows that's flat out untrue, but that the dominant culture of its world treats its women like chattel. That's the difference. One is disgusting. The other is making a point.

Edited by Viscount Rhi-Rhi

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On 6/3/2019 at 7:12 PM, Kit the Human said:

Have you had a problem with people making assumptions about you and your community before? (Whether that be bitching about your concept or some prejudiced individual thinking that they've found a friend). Have you had problems getting members? (I wouldn't think so with nearly a decade under the board's belt).

 

I don't think a singular guest is worth anyone fussing. Unless you feel like they're part of a broader trend.

 

We have had some creepy dudes. They don't last long--either they creep on a member and get banned immediately with zero warning because I don't tolerate that crap or they get mad because we won't approve their creepy app and flounce. (you get a nose for the difference between someone writing a creepy character and someone creepily blending IC and OOC after you've run a board like ours for a while) This is the first since I've been at the helm (I became admin in 2016) that I've had a rando guest roll in and make assumptions about our board and OOC community, but I do wonder if purity politics and cancel culture are influencing peoples' decisions to join or not? 

 

I think I might be overreacting tbh. We have a small core of long-time members who are super rad, and a lot of people do like the board's concept and join up. 

 

(also all of those nice things y'all are saying warm my heart) 

Edited by Sara-Zorah
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Would you be interested in ideas to maybe adjust your first impressions and help flag who you are as a community? You address everything in your guidebook so I am only strictly talking about what you see when you first enter the site.

 

Again, not that I think you have any issues. I think I counted 20 OOC accounts online today. That's a very healthy number! 

 

And hey, I'd be ready to throw down too if someone came waltzing in making completely baseless accusations about my community. 😠

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15 hours ago, Kit the Human said:

Would you be interested in ideas to maybe adjust your first impressions and help flag who you are as a community? You address everything in your guidebook so I am only strictly talking about what you see when you first enter the site.

 

Again, not that I think you have any issues. I think I counted 20 OOC accounts online today. That's a very healthy number! 

 

And hey, I'd be ready to throw down too if someone came waltzing in making completely baseless accusations about my community. 😠

 

I would, actually! I'm super open to ideas. 

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Ok! My ideas involve putting a block between container-fluid and btmlinks. You can make the block appear only to guests.

  • Have a randomised array of testimonials from your members.
  • Have a different randomised array of characters that talks about why you (or other members) love that character. You can make that into something that members submit.
  • Have an 'about us' kind of dealo that doesn't just explain what your story is about, but focuses on who your community is.
  • I had a friend who had a "is this forum for you" kind of thing. Maybe you can do something similar with, this forum isn't for you if bla bla. This forum is for you if bla bla.
  • Have a randomised array of character ideas that highlight the kinds of characters that you are excited about, and might also help give people ideas!
  • Chuck one of those this and this and this friendly flag gifs in the header.

Hope some of those are useful!

Edited by Kit the Human
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PSI: an Occult Investigations RP

Roleplay Architects: Grab a friend (or many friends!) and just write.

You can also find me at:

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2 hours ago, Kit the Human said:
  • I had a friend who had a "is this forum for you" kind of thing. Maybe you can do something similar with, this forum isn't for you if bla bla. This forum is for you if bla bla.

 

I think it should still stay positive as a "Is this forum for you" but put into light the OOC versus IC differences. While IC those things are bad/frowned upon/illegal you have a healthy OOC understanding of the community and do no discriminate. That it's a story world only etc.

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On 6/6/2019 at 8:16 PM, Kit the Human said:

Ok! My ideas involve putting a block between container-fluid and btmlinks. You can make the block appear only to guests.

  • Have a randomised array of testimonials from your members.
  • Have a different randomised array of characters that talks about why you (or other members) love that character. You can make that into something that members submit.
  • Have an 'about us' kind of dealo that doesn't just explain what your story is about, but focuses on who your community is.
  • I had a friend who had a "is this forum for you" kind of thing. Maybe you can do something similar with, this forum isn't for you if bla bla. This forum is for you if bla bla.
  • Have a randomised array of character ideas that highlight the kinds of characters that you are excited about, and might also help give people ideas!
  • Chuck one of those this and this and this friendly flag gifs in the header.

Hope some of those are useful!

 

These are all freaking fantastic ideas! Thanks so much! I'll see what kind of coding magic I can work ❤️

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