Oh... will the new forum posting rules be posted somewhere? Estarra's first post said that there would be new rules to guide discussions. Can we see them? So we don't break them unknowingly and then be all confused and mad when our posts/threads are moved/deleted/closed?

Also, please don't ban lolcats. They are fun and awesome.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask some people to grow up and post decent, adult things. That said, I haven't had to ban anyone in ages. These forums almost moderate themselves now, and are great compared to lots of others.

No more religion or politics? Seriously? Those are the most interesting things to talk about! That makes no sense, unless you're the Illuminati coming to stop me from spreading the truth about the world-wide conspiracy. In that case, it would make perfect sense.


In all seriousness, I do agree to the flaming toxic bits. That should stop, and admittedly even I can be a little coarse at times. But, I really do think that if people can hold themselves together and respect other people's viewpoints, we can still have talks about religion and politics.


Plz?

EDIT: Aha, "A thread for gentle mourning" exists.

The religion and politics decision was an IRE directive and thus not something that is negotiable (with me anyway). Ultimately, I believe the reason is that this is a forum for a game and that's what the focus should be on. There are plenty of other venues to talk about religion and politics!

Ok. But one more quick question -

That thread I started about Esoteric stuff related to Lusternia... would the contents of a thread like that be out of the question?

Nope! It relates to Lusternia!

Would it be possible to get clarification on: "5. Personal attacks are not allowed. Debate the post, not the poster. Personal attacks are taken seriously, and may, at the discretion of the moderating team, result in in-game consequences for your character(s)." Forum moderation going IC is a new thing!

We reserve the right to take action in-game if it's warranted. I think we've done it before but it is pretty rare and only for really outrageous conduct.

I for one am totally for the removal of the forums. Despite appearance, it's the voice of a minority of this game. People can get things changed IG by coming to this out-of-game outlet and bitching without other people even having the opportunity to state their opinions on the matter, when every player's opinion should be valued equally.

It frequently creates a mob mentality and negative feelings that are brought IG.

The only thing I'd miss would be the combat logs as they can be fun to read.

Just an opinion.

It is a minority here, but it's a minority of mostly established, veteran players. It's also the only consistent and interactive forum for OOC concerns (or concerns only expressed OOC for IC reasons). There never has been and never will be a fully in-game replacement for any of this. Things like envoys and special committees are the closest replacements, and they're even less democratic.

...Right. It's a supermajority (9:1) of combatants to noncombatants here last I checked... It's definitely more "democratic" with IG referendums, which are the closest thing. Thing is, it's only this minority (top-tier combatants) that really have complaints that can't be addressed IG, hence why they usually dominate the forums.

Again, though, What exactly is the purpose of the forums now? I think that that might be helpful for people to understand "will this be deleted by a mod?" before they ask/post it.

Wait, what? Where are you checking?

I've never seen that ratio here on these forums. Ever.

I would actually say there are more non-combatants here than combatants.

Um, it's the way the player community converses? If there was only IG methods, everyone would have six different OOC clans they would be trying to keep up with. I've made some really good friends through these forums. A good example is Okin. I'd never have met Okin IG, we've never been in the same Orgs. Because of the forums, we've hung out IRL and it was awesome!

The forums are a community and, I really missed it when it was gone.

Wow, I think maybe you people are just overthinking this to much. What are the point of the forums? For players to mingle and discuss the game among other things in an OOC format.

I do truly believe and stand behind the idea that the moderators will see a slight, but noticable surge in angst and trollish outbreaks in other forum areas now that the lack of rants/idiots places are gone. Even the most patient, calm, cool collected person just needs a place they can freely without real retribution go, ":censor: this ." at some point. It's a natural part of human nature.

Do I think that it'll become a big problem? Unlikely. But my main focus is just.. stop overanalyzing this, really. The forums are still for the same things they were originally made for. You just can't be an overbearing prick without reprecussions now, is that so difficult?

And the combatants vs non-combatants thing? Is there really a point behind that? It's actually a pretty even keel between them on the forums. Combatants are just perhaps.. noisier, or more noticable somehow.

The purpose of the forums is to play mafia. *sagenod*

Because IG referendums are prompted by the detailed and personal observations of the administration, right? Oh, and IG referendums allow for communication, feedback, the exchange of ideas, and all the lovely things that raise the democratic process above mob rule.

And...yeah, while I'm not sure I agree with Xenthos' assessment that there are more non-combatants than combatants (unless you don't count bad combatants that wish they weren't bad and the stalwart kamikaze meatshield defenders that you don't often take on offensive missions), 9:1 is disproportionate to a degree that Ahmadinejad would be proud of. It smells like you feel persecuted.

I'm also not sure that the purpose has changed even a little bit. The new forum rules linked in that very ugly banner at the top of the screen are way more specific than anything we had previously.

I don't count people who jump littlebies and scuttle off at the sign of a real fight as combatants, no. I also don't count people who prefer not fighting, but do it when they're required to. Being a combatant is actually a frame of mind where you really want the fighting, to me.

EDIT: Aha, "A thread for gentle mourning" exists.
EDIT2: Grr, Locked, so it no longer exists.

Wait, so if someone makes a personal attack against me here, they get shrubbed or something?