Staffing Rules

[Samantha 64]

So there have been a couple different threads here about deal breaker rules and rules in general and every single time it send me running to our site rules to make sure we're not coming off at strict or horrible or... you know, just bad. Lol

 

Our site has been open for a little over a year and I feel like over that time we've added to our rules when we come across certain situations on the site or problem members. Like when we first started I didn't think we needed a rule about not sending unsolicited, inappropriate pictures of yourself to other members.... Welp, in the first two months of opening we had a member join and we found out that he had been sending close to nude pictures of himself to a member that repeatedly told him to stop. So rule added. 

 

Then we have an issue with another member not understanding that if their character goes on a murder spree in Times Square they might be shot and killed by the cops. Okay, rule about accepting IC consequences added. 

 

People putting up WIP apps *just* to save a face claim and never working on the app so it sits there for months, rule added. 

 

Members signing up for events where they know their character may be injured but then getting mad and all fighty at the staff for giving out injuries to characters, rule added. 

 

 

I've cut back on a lot of them and every one I mentioned today was because of some extreme circumstance that we didn't want to happen again. We felt that if it wasn't explicitly covered in our rules that we somehow aren't justified in reprimanding a member even though we assumed that rules we added should fall under the common sense umbrella. 

 

So I guess what I'm asking is how do you feel about rules that were added because of problem members or bad situations and how do you cut down on your rules so you don't seem like the staff is super controlling?

[Rune 1,099]

I add rules when it seems like something that could crop up again in the future. Like your wips thing. It saves you your own sanity in the future by making it clear now that it is unacceptable.

[Raven 18]

Sometimes there are just situations that need to be avoided, and I feel like if anyone can try to say "well DUH I won't do that, how insulting you think I would" then they need to probably calm down and instead look at it as "hey, these rules will be easy to follow".

 

As for the second question, I think that a big thing is to word it as simply as possible. You don't 4 sentences to say "Apps need to be completed within 2 weeks." Another thing to do is to ask your members and sent out surveys: "Hey guys, we want to add a rule so this doesn't happen. Do you think that having apps be completed within 2 weeks is reasonable? If you don't agree with 2 weeks, do you feel it needs to be longer or shorter?"

[Morrigan 1,826]

I wrote a guide about this actually:

In fact this one in particular is the one you are talking about:

Quote

Don't make rules for the possibilities. If you're thinking of all the potentially bad things that could happen if you don't add the rule then you may need to think about how you are portraying your rules to members. Your rules should cater toward the crowd you want, not the crowd that you think you might get.

 

While I understand WHY you added the rules just because something isn't in the rules doesn't mean that it's exclusively allowed. You don't have make rules for exceptions. You just take care of them on a case by case basis.

[Death Kitten 200]

There is a fine line between micro managing players via rules, and just leaving yourself some good umbrella catch alls that should cover these things.

 

Some of your examples, I absolutely can agree with them being useful to add to the rules: the face claim on idling aps, or enforcing players getting ic repercussions on their actions. But some of the stuff you listed? Honestly, you shouldn't need to micromanage those rules. Like with the user that was sending the inappropriate pictures? A general anti-harassment battery of rules, paired with developing a trust with your users so they know they can come to you with *any* issues, will typically cover this well enough. And anyone who tries to say 'well, there wasn't a rule again it' with something like that, especially since the member they were targeting was telling them to stop, is an abuser and they're just trying to move the goal posts on you whatever you do. Ban Hammer and don't look back on their worthless ass.

 

Rules should be comfortable and loose enough to cover most things, but specific enough to cover the things that aren't common sense.

[Samantha 64]

21 minutes ago, Death Kitten said:

And anyone who tries to say 'well, there wasn't a rule again it' with something like that, especially since the member they were targeting was telling them to stop, is an abuser and they're just trying to move the goal posts on you whatever you do. Ban Hammer and don't look back on their worthless ass.

1

 

Oh yeah, that guy was instabanned when we heard about it. There wasn't anything that could defend him sending pictures when she had told him multiple times to stop, so yeah, lol. 

 

Ideally, I would like to be able to cut down on all the rules we have and be able to have just a few loose rules that should cover everything. I just hate the idea of people coming to our site, liking everything, but leaving because they think the rules are too strict or the staff is trying to micromanage. Especially when I feel like we're the opposite. 

[Death Kitten 200]

I think my rules might be a little on the heavy side, at times, but my first xo has a background in law, so that's reflected in how he helped me iron out the majority of them. While a lot of people would balk at the depth of our rules, I haven't had too many problems because people come in with an understanding of expectations. A lot of my details are specific to our game (what background elements *must* you have to fit in convincingly, what star trek species we don't allow, guidelines about grammar, spelling and title/signature formatting, etc), and I include a catch all of command team's decision is final. And I hold to that. If someone doesn't agree with something my command team decides? They're welcome to approach us in private to politely discuss it... but the only time we've had to make a call using that catch all, the player justified our actions by throwing a profane temper-tantrum across multiple platforms.

[Uaithne 543]

You can have someone review your rules for you. (I can check them out when I'm not on my phone.)

 

I know others have said it, but it's one that's near and dear to my heart: you don't need to write rules telling people not to be vulgar just because you had someone behave that way (or expect to have someone behave that way).

 

In general, many rules can fall under a larger blanket rule, and sometimes things don't have to be a rule to be punishable for. The nude photos, for example, doesn't have to be a rule because it's common sense that you don't behave that way, and if someone needs to be told not to do that, they probably aren't the right direction for your community anyhow. With the in character consequences, that's something that might not be as much common sense because different roleplay communities are willing to stretch reason and reality more than others, but a blanket "IC actions have IC consequences" would be clear enough to get the point across without detailing every instance in which character behavior could result in character punishment.

 

This is how I think of rules. I leave off most rules where, if broken, I wouldn't want that person on the site period to begin with. I leave off rules that are common sense enough that they don't need to be stated. "Have fun!" or "No bullying" just don't make sense to me. Someone who will wilfully bully someone isn't going to say, "shoot, the rule says no bullying - I guess I'll go join another site without that rule." Rules like godmodding, power playing, and metagaming make sense in some communities, but around these parts, the incidents are isolated enough that they can fall under an unstated blanket rule of obeying the setting. Nobody needs to be told that their characters have to obey the setting, right? If they don't obey it, you talk to them one-on-one.

 

Members need rules to keep the game going, but focus on the things that make your site flow smoothly, especially if they're variable aspects relative to other sites. Word counts, activity rules, character rules, special situations, etc.

[Samantha 64]

10 minutes ago, SithLordOfSnark said:

The bottom line is, this is YOUR site. If you want to ban someone because their hair is blue, it doesn't have to be in the bloody rules for you to do so.

 

Hey! My hair is blue!! lmao  (and there can obviously only be one)

 

 

@Uaithne - I've decided I'm going to root through my rules again probably tonight or tomorrow and rewrite some of them so after that, yeah, I would love for someone to review them

Edited December 16, 2017 by Samantha

[Morrigan 1,826]

Perfect place to post that:

https://rpginitiative.com/forum/390-other-reviews/

[Icewolf 258]

It is something that worries me about my rules because there will always be things that you didn't conceive of when writing them that someone will try to do which doesn't fit the style you want for your site. (I think it should be obvious to everyone that the guy sending nude pictures to a member is inappropriate and would come under sexual harassment.) But there will always be someone who will try to be obnoxious about doing something you don't want for the board and then try to gaslight the admin/staff by saying 'it wasn't stated in the rules' into letting them get away with it. Those members you don't want anyway because they don't respect the people who've made the site. Don't feel bad about turning people like that away.

 

You have to find a balance between having simple rules and not having ones which are too ambiguous. I say this because simple rules cut down the work staff and admin need to do, (for instance, if you're running a resource board, is it really necessary to have forms for every part of the site where people are asking for help, etc and the staff need to check it.) you're less likely to have confrontations with members because there was a rule that they forgot about, or simply just didn't see before they posted it, and it makes the site more approachable. Rules that are too ambiguous can cause confusion about what members can do on the site.