I agree. I don’t care about seeing ads. Most of them get blocked anyway. I have been paying to support the board. As I said in another thread, I do not flame. I may have traded one or two insults in the entire time I’ve been here (and I don’t remember who they were with). I have been reading the board since the AOL days. I have been reading the Straight Dope since the 80s. I think this is a horrible idea. Given it’s current direction, they will not be getting another dime from me either. I’m sure I’ll still post. Never in Pitlite.
Its too damn late. I’m going to bed. I suspect this thread will be 8 pages long (or closed) by the time I get up.
These distinctions are not at all clear. It’s a recipe for disaster, frankly. I haven’t yet read anything that amounts to much more than, “We’ll know ‘too far’ when we see it.” How in world do any of you think this (quite legitimate) confusion could result in anything but more problems? Most warnings will have to be based on these admittedly fuzzy lines, and each one will just stir the pot more.
I hope this is permissible under the current rules.
I’m sorry you guys are all so put upon. I really am. But if you knew everybody here would be unhappy (or “overreact” as you so charmingly put it) why didn’t you think this through a bit more?
Yes, you are.
There might be a difference, and it might be pretty clear, but the distinctions you are making right now are neither clear nor clarifying anything. I don’t know why insulting a poster’s intelligence is seen as somehow better than saying “fuck yourself” or “fuck off.” And no, I don’t think people are overreacting by asking for a clarification that makes sense. All we have on this board is our words. We are constantly sending and receiving communication without the benefit of tone, facial expression, or even the luxury of knowing who is on the other end of our conversation. When you traffic completely in words, suddenly the words you’re allowed to use, and the words you’re not allowed to use, become extremely important. What’s the difference between “Fuck you, you idiot” and “Last night, after I wiped my penis off on your sister’s mouth, I mentioned that your point is quite a ridiculous one”? Is there one? The second one doesn’t feature “fuck” or “cunt” or anything “naughty.”
I know this has been the standard response since the very beginning of this board, but it doesn’t make it any less absurd. If you want to create new rules that not only change the tone of a forum, but the entire purpose of said forum, you got to give us more than this.
Yeah, no, I’m not buying it. I’ve seen “cunt” used around here without so much as a mention from a moderator, and that’s about the worst thing you can call a woman in the US.
No, it won’t.
So why make up a bunch of ridiculous rules that affects everybody if it’s just a small percentage of posts and a handful of trouble makers?
Than why make up new rules at all? A whole lot of people are going to be caught in the crossfire. Either that, or the rules will be completely impotent, with the mods having no real ability to act. You either got to enforce them (and thus screw over a bunch of people for various reasons) or admit they’re ridiculous and let them go.
I see, thank you for the reply. If I may make a suggestion, you may want simply to remove the part about encouraging “creative insults”. In my experience, people often view creative insults as those which are similar to my #5, i.e. light on swearwords but full of vulgar imagery.
Mind you, I still think there is going to be loads of confusion about what constitutes abuse, but this is a start toward clarification. Thanks.
Wow… traffic and ad revenue must be spiking today. I wonder if this is an “Old Coke” / “New Coke” marketing ploy? They’ll get another bump when, later, they announce the change back to the way things were.
Is the distinction you want to preserve between use of obscenities/vulgarities vs. insults not using those terms, or is it more than that?
Because “no directing obscenities at another poster” is a clearer standard. Otherwise, I honestly don’t think there is a clear understanding of what is acceptable and what is not. And if there is no clear definition up front, one will emerge over time based on our collective perception of what garners a warning and what passes unremarked.
A definition is going to happen either way.
And this -
I think is an unfortunate remark. If the purpose of the thread is discussion, it does no good to characterize it right off the bat as “over-reaction”.
I think it would really help if we could all take a step back and try very hard not to react defensively.
And yes, I am fully aware that my first reaction to the new rules was not very measured. My apologies for that. I was wrong. May I respectfully request that the mods try to ignore the automatic negativity and see if there are any reasonable suggestions for improvement of these new rules?
I don’t know what posts C K Dexter Haven is thinking of, but I’ve already seen people saying that this ruins the SDMB, that this is the final nail in the coffin of the message board, etc.
Not trying to play gotcha here but between this and C K Dexter Haven’s post on what he would and wouldn’t find acceptable, I hope you can see where individual mods’ and admins’ preferences are going to cause arbitrary problems for posters who are sincerely trying to toe the line.
“You’re stupid” is ok. “You’re a fat ugly loser” is not. “You’re an ass” is ok. “You’re an asshole” is not. “Fuck off” isn’t ok, but “Go to hell” is. It really does sound like we need a 700 page book and a ruling on each potential insult to keep it all straight.
How about a different idea? How about everyone take five, go do something else, and then come back, maybe tomorrow, and talk about it with rationality (both “sides” included in this suggestion, though so far, one of the sides seems to be pretty even-tempered and measured in its responses). It would be good practice for the new Pit.
This has never been a rule even outside the Pit. Do you anticipate gaining more children as members as a result of (in conjunction with the other changes) making the board more family-safe?
If you’re talking about me, I said it was the first nail in the lid of the coffin. I’d open a pit thread to point out your sub-par counting skills, but it would just bore everyone to tears.
In my time, walking to and fro upon the world, I’ve seen and heard of some really bad idea. A land war in Asia. Matching wits with a Cecilian when death is on the line. Tequila and bongwater with a twist.
This is a really bad idea. Like Godzilla is a really big lizard. Terrible, awful, horrible, no good.
Pretty much does, IMO. And that’s no over-reaction–The Pit was a draw to this board. It was fun to read, sometimes fun to post in. Not so much now. Which, for me, leaves only the odd GQ question and the very occassional Great Debate.
