Staffing Should Certain Site Topics Be Banned?

[jenneral_jennson 154]

2 hours ago, xexes said:

Is polygamy only okay if you are a poly-couple, live in a polygamy-legal place, or are Amish(*)?

 

(*) I really don't know this culture or how it operates, if I made a mistake I would love to hear more

 You're thinking of Mormons who practice polygamy like the Sister Wives show, which is actually not acceptable by the church. Not the Amish. 

 

Kind of in the same vein as xexes. Why are all of these subjects okay for fantasy or make believe genres but not okay for boards or books based on real life? It's not like none of this stuff has happened throughout history, recent or ancient. It still happens today in many different countries around the world. There can be lines to be drawn as many others said, such as pedophilia or bestiality, but when it comes right down to it, you don't have to join the board nor do you even need to stay long enough to read what is written. If it offends you, move along. 

Edited April 26, 2017 by jenneral_jennson
Adding a couple things.

[CovertSphinx 710]

In regards to the  nature of sensitive topics in general:  Sometimes writing it has less to do with fantasizing and more to do with grief/fear and trying to face a difficult subject through the lens of fictional writing.

 

I am a fan of censoring nothing - unless of course it might likely result in a potential legal investigation; for example child pornography and human on animal sex. That being said, I don't mind if somebody alludes to it as a character background point though. All Character-on-Character interactions in any board I run are by "consent only" meaning that, for example, before somebody's rapist (not that I've seen anybody play one its just a good example of evil and violence) can go raping somebody else's character, they have to get explicit permission from that RPer.

 

There's plenty of things I don't partake in myself, however my belief is that if somebody doesn't like the nature of a particular thread they are free not to read it. If somebody doesn't like or agree with the nature of a particular character, they are free not to RP with them.

[CovertSphinx 710]

@SithLordOfSnark You are officially the first serial rapist RPer I've ever met!

[Rune 1,099]

Fantasy =/= Reality.

 

Are some things in bad taste? Most definitely. Do you have to play there? No. Generally the things no one collectively approves of die out on their own.

 

I've met rapists characters, drug dealers, druggies, people into every fetish you can think of, polygamists. I've PLAYED some of these. If you personally aren't breaking your hard rules (ie: you don't like playing characters that have been cheated on and you don't want to play with someone with that in their history) then policing everyone else's funtime is more trouble than it's worth.

 

Does this mean everything should be fair game? Of course not. Some things just shouldn't be touched and I won't rehash them here because they've been repeated umpteen times already. 

 

But, in the end, the "no no" topics people don't approve of won't last because of public opinion. 

 

If we're going the route of what should/should not be DISCUSSED on a forum, then the usual applies solely because some people feel the need to start an argument every damn time they come up: Politics and religion. 

[Death Kitten 200]

The only hard nos on what should be allowed for a RP site to host is based upon TOS of the hosting service and local laws of the jurisdiction where hosting server is located. For example, things like sex between underage characters could be classified as child porn, which means that both the players involved and the host of the game could get taken to court for that and charged for it, so that's a hard no. Otherwise as long as all questionable interactions (rape, serious harm, etc) are cleared out of character before they're written, then people should write what they like. But like others have said in this thread, just because I don't think it should be banned doesn't mean I want to participate either.

 

When I was setting up the rules for my game, my XO (co-admin) and I had a long discussion about our sim rating and what it meant. I am very very much a person with a filthy mouth, and I don't give a shit what others think of my vocabulary choices. I feel that American society puts too much weight in some ultimately harmless words, and feel that people who police my vocabulary choices without actually paying attention to the context of what I'm say aren't people I want around me anyways. So if you don't like that I drop the f-bomb "too often", maybe you're the problem, not me. All that said, while I won't hard ban any particular words, I do insist my players respect each other. So they can curse up a storm, as long as they're not calling each other derogatory names (without both people knowing and agreeing to joke with each other) or insulting each other. I feel this same way about RP topics: as long as the players are respectful of each other, I really don't give a shit what they're writing about.

 

All that said, there are some subjects that should not be hanging out in the open without at least some sort of warning on them. Rape, settings in horrific atrocities in our history (such as the holocaust), basically anything that can set off someone's PTSD — it should all be kept behind either content/trigger warnings, or behind a login/memebership gate. This way those who choose to read and write it know what they're getting into, and those who have direct experience with these things have the ability to keep themselves safe.

[Raven 18]

On 4/24/2017 at 10:39 PM, Uaithne said:

In your opinion, should certain genres or site-wide topics be banned?  What are they?  Why do you think they should be banned?

In short: no.

 

I'm of the opinion that as long as the people writing are doing so in a way that respects the topic, there shouldn't be anything that is taboo. It makes it harder to understand if we can't relate to these things, and it makes it more difficult to talk about with people who may have experienced these things. Obviously, if you aren't comfortable writing a school shooting, you shouldn't join a site about one. I don't know that I would join a website based on that, but I would definitely consider a 1x1 with a friend. I've read a number of books about school shootings and other such things, and that's just another kind of writing. What makes our writing different from a published author? They weren't published when they began writing.

 

I do think that it's important to not demean or belittle the experiences of those who have gone through these types of things, and that respect should be maintained, but I don't think it should be banned. I personally write a character who is a victim of sex trafficking, and the research I put in to the trade while doing that has helped me educate a number of others. I've also written about religious re-education camps, slavery, BDSM, incest, and the sexual assault of minors. That said, I haven't been on sites based around them, and I do think that some of these things would make very odd site wide plots, and if done poorly would make me extremely uncomfortable, but done well, I don't see why these should be limited.

 

In my experience, as long as this respect is shown, it's nice to have people relating to characters who have been through similar experiences as myself, or have similar lifestyles as myself (I'm poly!). I can imagine that others feel similarly.

On 4/29/2017 at 7:36 AM, CovertSphinx said:

You are officially the first serial rapist RPer I've ever met!

Meet your second ;)

[Bamf 11]

Recently we had someone register an account (We are a DC Canon only site), they registered as the Crusader. (Crusader is a canon, with little to no history.) Of course I was driving to work and two of my poor mods were the only ones on for about 30 minutes. 

 

This individual, didn't read or chose to ignore our rules, and was in the process of making an OC. I finally was able to get on while at work and had a PM from the person.  

 

This person wanted to write graphic sexual content involving minors, with a major focus on sex trafficking. I hadn't dealt with this yet. I instantly wanted to say no because - who the fuck wouldn't? I consulted with my host's rules and my staff, already knowing the answer was no-but wanted to make sure I was on target (I'm still new guys!). 

 

For me, I love freedom and creativity. And yes there is a big BUT! I think at some level you know when something is just not right. That gut feeling. I think we should all listen to that feeling more. 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Bamf