New rules and new boards.

[Lilac]

So, to make a long story short, while I was away I had a bit of time to think about some of the things on this site. You can review the new set here and comment in this thread. The old rules are still present on the main forums.

Basically, 'be civil' had some weak points, and I did not often enforce that when people were dancing the line. I apologize, and that's going to be changing now. For the most part, though, the rules don't change much - they're just specifics of what's been going on before.

From now on, if you have an issue with someone, inform a Siren or myself, don't snap at them. I've appointed them for a reason and they are capable of moderating and deleting overly offensive posts if needed.



On a lighter note (for some), I've added boards for Netchixxx, Midnight Mass, and the Erotic Wrestling Federation. If there are others, please let me know via PM or in Vekseid's thread in On Topic.

I've been long been debating about making a Gaming talk forum, and Kongming's recent posts in Immature Resources make me wonder if we should have a dedicated forum for it. I know I tend to rail against having too many, but it's an idea. Let us know!

EDIT: Also! To showcase some of the roleplaying that goes on here, could people please let a Siren or I know about any truly dead games that didn't end up with any sex in them, so that they can be moved to the normal areas?  Thanks!

Thank you ^_^

[kongming]

Sweet, my actions could lead to a new board! :D

[Jeramiahh]

I approve of a new RPG discussion board... heaven knows I can talk about 'em all day. Ooh, we could even have a community campaign setting! =P

On a more serious note, to the topic at hand... I like the revision of the rules. This is a small, close-knit community, and we should make sure everyone's welcome, and, more importantly, comfortable, in a setting that can often very easily led to discomfort.

[kongming]

That is indeed true. I'm very big on the idea of this being a community consisting largely of friends. Not an exclusive inner circle, but instead when someone joins, they are welcomed in, become a friend of us all, and feel comfortable.

Anything that helps people feel comfortable is a good thing - and as such, we need to help you guys help us.

[Lilac]

I new I forgot something, see edit in first post.

And, yeah. There are some introductions where people felt a hostile tone - I'd like to ax that.

[Vekseid]

I do think a Roleplaying site could, potentially, make use of a roleplaying board :-p

[Sabby]

I'm all in favor of Gaming Chat :) it will cut my SB postage in half.

[Celestial Goblin]

A few questions:

What does 'ephebophilia' mean in this context? Teenagers from 16 to 18? Anyone post-puberty? Underage 'Ephebos' from Greece?

How much 'vore' and such are unwelcome here? Is bloodless 'cartoon' style vore more acceptable? Would the people running the site be happier if such themes would not appear or is it only a matter of making Elliquiy not turn off the 'wider' audience?
Also, does so called 'transformation' count amongst such things? Having your body parts enlarged or turned to tentacles, perhaps?

Is telling someone in the political part of the forum that I consider their beliefs evil, insane or deserving universal condemnation, is that acceptable or do such judgements go over the line?

By the way, I am very happy with the rules about rape-themed games, avatars and everything else. That's very good thinking.

[Lilac]

What does 'ephebophilia' mean in this context? Teenagers from 16 to 18? Anyone post-puberty? Underage 'Ephebos' from Greece?

Post-puberty. Assume 16, generally (early puberty is a recent phenomenon).

How much 'vore' and such are unwelcome here? Is bloodless 'cartoon' style vore more acceptable? Would the people running the site be happier if such themes would not appear or is it only a matter of making Elliquiy not turn off the 'wider' audience?
Also, does so called 'transformation' count amongst such things? Having your body parts enlarged or turned to tentacles, perhaps?

If the subject survives without injury, (would that be called ultra-soft vore?). Like I said I may relent and make another forum category if people want more disturbed RPs. Most transformation is fine.

Is telling someone in the political part of the forum that I consider their beliefs evil, insane or deserving universal condemnation, is that acceptable or do such judgments go over the line?

If you can't give a substantial reason why, yes, it's over the line. Debates are supposed to have arguments and making a purely emotional statement is a position with no facts backing it up.

[Trieste]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

*peers in confusion* But this is where the discuss link pointed to! ;_;

Anyway. I've been thinking about the Pillory ever since it went up, and I'll admit to a certain voyeuristic glee in seeing what's been done to which members and why... but that part is small compared to the part of me that feels it's sorta... ...unnecessary. There are several reasons it could have been placed there.

The first is just sort of to tell people what's up and who's doing what in the community. But aside from the occasional stalker warnings, that really doesn't need to be said. If someone is truly curious about where someone's gone and why their status has changed (if someone was looking around for JadedEssence, for example) they can just ask Vekkers or one of the Sirens. It doesn't need to be a public announcement.

For those who did no-nos, it could be considered a sort of deterrent, I suppose, but honestly ... I don't think "oh noes, everyone will think I'm an asshole!" factors into the decisionmaking process of most trolls. Is there anyone who thinks that "I don't want to be put on the Pillory" would have stopped, say, psouth's multi attempts? Or Seb's jackassery? I really don't think so. I don't think their actions are that well thought out.

Also, it sort of invades the privacy of members that remain in good standing. If someone is harrassing me (for example) and they get banned and put up on the Pillory, people are going to ask who they were harrassing, and if it manages to get around that it was me, it's awfully damned inconvenient for me if I don't want to talk about it. We have a very caring community full of well-meaning members. Knowing someone's been the target of some sort of attack will generate a goodly amount of sympathy and support - which is good! - but it may be unwanted and it can get really annoying going "Thanks, but I don't want to discuss it" over and over. As far as I'm concerned, let those who have been harrassed or stalked or whatever come out about it if they feel open enough to do so, but respect their privacy if they don't.

Lastly, and this is probably least on the list but still worth mentioning, it invades the privacy of those being posted, and for no real good reason, that I can see. It is 3:30AM after a very very long day for me, so I may be missing something, but I've been mulling this over for a couple days now, and I don't see a benefit that would outweigh the fact that we are pretty literally placing these people in town square to be sort of gawked at. As far as I'm concerned, crime and punishment are between the offender, the admins and possibly the victims involved.

A corrolary to that last is that there are certain attention-whore types on the net (we've all seen them) who are prone to acting up because it brings them the recognition of places such as the Pillory.

In short: I think it's a bad idea and should be placed at the least in the admin section, if not done away with completely.

[Vekseid]

Where in the pillory does it say who was harassed? O_o

Pretty much the only way that's going to happen is if a Siren, myself, or the member in question tells, and even then, it's rare that people on E are overly curious about that sort of thing.

I do get asked why people have a certain access level, quite a lot, however, and rather than explain the justification to each curious member individually, there it is. That's really the primary function - far more than a deterrent. I also want to make it clear that we don't often introduce discipline, here, and that there are reasons behind it.  Lilac had a habit of only telling the ladies about someone, leaving the rest of the site in the dark and I don't think that was the right course of action.

Regarding the rights of the members in question - that's a bit moot.  For most of them, you would be hard pressed to get me to care after what they pulled. For a few, they will be off that list eventually, so why mention names?  Even those who request access restriction, it's a good spot to remind people that they requested it.

As far as attention whores, merely getting on that list means you lose PM privileges, amongst other things. Not a whole lot of benefit, there.