If i get banned for this than i will be pissed cause this is an opinion but because a lot of admins seem to be especially wanting to ban lately i thought i should bring it up.

But I have noticed that we are getting more and more of these "sticky posts" with admins saying they will ban for this/that yaddy yaddy yadda. The latest one is saying retarded in a post. Now i havent heard of this being a massive complaint among massassians and I don't know anyone who is actually retarded or will be offended by someone saying this but if they are than sure im against it but if no one is than whats the point of completely banning someone for just saying that. Sure its not the nicest of things but since when has the whole world been nice to each other?

And another one i noticed was you can't just reply no as an answer anymore. LEIK OMG THIS IS GONNA KILL SOMEONE!!!!!!! We usually only say something like that when someone makes a stupid statement or does something out of the ordinary and we dont usually mean much harm by it. Ive posted some weird stuff before (preferably that freaked up photoshop pic) and ppl have said no but i didnt get offended.

And I will be very annoyed if one of u admins says that same line: If you have a problem with it than go somewhere else. Thats acting like you are 3 or something. I like it here and if it is such a pain I AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE of going somewhere else. Im just bringing up a point that the admins are seeming to want to ban everyone for stupid stuff. Just please take this into consideration next time you want to post a sticky subject about banning ppl who use WTF pictures or whatever it will be next time.

Please discuss....

I agree wholeheartedly. This strictness must stop b/c its gone to ridiculous levels.

Actaully useing retarded as an insult is very cruel to retarded people. I'm glad they did this.

Well, first off, you seem to be a little self-centered. So what if you don't consider "retarded" to be offensive? I'm sure there a quite a few here, myself included, who do. Rules like this are to keep Massassi at least moderately enjoyable for all the visitors, not just a select few.

/me gets out his 10 foot pole

quoted for truth

People are getting to be too damn sensitive. I wish people would learn how to grow a thicker skin and stop taking everything so seriously.

/nods

Would you say that if the admins got mad at people for throwing around the word "nigger"?
[the above line was directed at PW]

The "don't use retarded in a derogatory manner" rule has been around for a long time. It's not new at all.

We're talking apples and oranges here. Calling someone a nigger is offensive even if you are joking. Calling someone retarded in a non-serious manner is easily shrugged aside. It's like calling someone an idiot or moron. its no big deal.

Personally I always welcome discussion on admining practices and current policy, doesn't mean it's going to always change anything but still.

I support the policy on 'retarded', just as I like how we don't like people using 'gay' in an insulting manner here too. I've seen forums where every second post is 'this is ghey' or 'that's retarded'...it makes my head hurt. Generally discussion here is a notch more mature than many other gaming forums and I for one would like to see it stay that way.

Moron has mostly lost its literal meaning, retarded has not.

I believe there was once someone here who worked with retarded people, and his objection was that using the word retarded in a derogatory matter is in a way insulting those people.

Personally, I think the forums are too much what the admins want, and not enough what the members want. Avatars anyone?

-woopsie-

Well ok, some ppl find the retarded thing offensive. ok, but do you think ppl should be banned for it? I think they should just be given a regular warning unless they continue to do it without even caring. But if we really want to add these new rules in i beleive we should amend the forum rules so that noobs can see it and not doing the things the admins dont want us to do.

No.

Oh wait... ****.

Avatars has nothing whatsoever to do with the forum admins....and they ARE coming when Brian has the time to do the coding. Just have a little patience.

I have nothing but respect for the individuals acting as admins. Blujay, Brian, DSettahr, GoY, et al are all great people. They do their best to fufill a difficult duty and they have integrity and good intention. I've always wanted to be in that position, but sadly I've recently come to the realization that I will probably never be an administrator here. With all of that said, here's my opinion:

I think occassionally they jump to quick conclusions. For example, blujay's decision to close the thread about a woman getting killed by a cross. If people think it's distasteful to call it "funny", they can post their opinion in response. There is no reason to close off the discussion. All you do is prevent meaningful debate on whether or not it is right to laugh at the irony of such a sad situation.

I also think sometimes they're way too strict on threads staying on topic. If someone has something to add to the original topic of the thread, they can post it. Threads need to be able to evolve. A post about a soldier dying in Iraq will evolve into a discussion of the war, for example. I don't think threads should ever be closed for getting off topic.

With that said, respect admins. I don't mean to criticize their actions as much as I hope to provide my honest opinion on a couple of things I would personally do differently. But hey, as I said... there's probably a reason I'm not an admin.

The fact is, it's been somewhat of an unwritten rule, and now it's been made written. In addition, it's been posted for people to see. That's as much of a proper warning as can be given.



Sure, it's what the admins want. You know why? Brian owns this site, and those who are admins have been given Brian's trust to run this site the way he wants it run. You haven't.

Is there anyone here that is genuinely retarded to some extent, no matter how small? If not, then why should be be overly accomodating to a member demographic that we don't even have? No one is around to care that has real grounds to be offended.

/me watches the admins hand Jedi Legend a 100 dollar bill.

Do you really use "retarded" that often in your vocabulary that you find it so necessary to be able to use it? There are plenty of other, more appropriate and acceptable synonyms for it.

Oh and for the record I agree that "retarded" should be banned if not used correctly. Same reason "gay" can't be used to mean "stupid" on these forums. Obviously that's too politically correct for Pagewizard's tastes.

REVOLUTION COMRADES!!!!!!

sure there is, but its the principle. We could start banning words on the say-so of anyone that gets offended over any given word, but what good does that do?

I despise political correctness and i deem it offensive. Lets ban it. :p

In response to the original question, let's face it. DSettahr's the only administrator who posts stickies, and they usually have to do with his latest ban warning or whatever he last dealt with. So basically it's FOTM from DSettahr. Annoying, yes. Ignorable, (thankfully) yes.

Jaiph is [a furry]!

*gasp*

DJ Yoshi has brought some things to light that I didnt realize. Let me explain a few things. I realize that I am pretty much solely responsible for the recent enforcement of rules.

First off, whenever I make a new rule, or start enforcing one more strongly, and post a sticky about it, I get messages in my forums pm inbox from people thanking me. Not once have I ever recieved a message from someone saying they disagreed with me, or thought that what I was doing was wrong.

Second, every decision I make, I make with the best interest of the forums in mind. I dont like seeing threads dissolve into flame wars. Whenever someone calls another user or idea "retarded," that just instigates things. Furthermore, this is supposed to be a g-rated site... One would hope that a parent of a young child (who is a fan of Star Wars) would be confident that their child could visit this site without picking up derogatory slang words. Also, I realize most of you arent "young children," but as Brian has stated before, there are certain things that just dont fit in with what he's envisioned for the site.

Some people have also complained about unfair treatment... It seriously could not be expected of me to read every post on every thread of every forum. If you think someone has broken a rule, PLEASE click on the "report abuse" link, and it will be looked at. Do not begin to hold a grudge because you were banned last month for doing the same exact thing.

I know there are people out there who think that I am overly harsh, or that the rules I enforce are silly, or that I am doing a bad job, but I would ask them to understand and respect that, like I said, I seriously do have the forums best interest in mind. If they really have an issue with me, I would love for them to contact me in private. I wont ban you, and I will listen to you. Heck, send me an anonymous email if you still arent comfortable with contacting me. As I stated, I only hear from the people who agree with me- so there isnt much I can do but assume that people agree with and will do whatever it is I've said.

Finally, the lack of respect a very small minority has displayed for the Admins really bothers me. That is the one thing in my mind that will make me come down hard on you... as some of you may have noticed. So please, no matter how you feel, keep things civil.

PS - I know some people have issues with the way I close stickies after posting them. Half the reason for this is to attract attention to them- to make sure that people read them. The other half is because there are some issues that I really wouldnt compromise on, regardless of how people felt.

b&

No, they haven't. They're just actually enforcing the rules now.

Nothing's changed, the admins just have started cracking down. Remember, this IS Brian's forum, regardless of your opinion, and he ALLOWS you to voice it on these boards. If he were to change what you said, do anything to your messages, ban you, ban your ISP, anything of that nature, there's not a damned thing you could do about it, because you don't own the place. Of course, he shouldn't, and wouldn't do this without very good cause, but still.

Trust me.

Please. If a site is run 100% by the admins/owners whatever, the site won't last. Meet in the middle a little. Especially with a site such as Massassi, when the vast, vast majority of the site's content is visitor submitted.

I think the changes DS and the other admins are great.

Frankly, I think we should be doing a bunch more changes. If I were admin, I'd be cracking down a whole lot more on:

*Sexual Innuendos. They're everywhere, and I think they are distasteful. This is really evident in the chat, but I understand that the rules are a bit more lax there... but still.

*Downright insults. There's been a lot more of this going on. The admins have been doing a fair share of keeping up with this, but I believe harsher punishments should be given.

*More temporary bannings. I think people are getting away with more than they should at times. Edited posts are becoming all too familiar to these forums. I think some temporary (maybe 5 day) bans should be used more than editing, especially on repeat offenses. I don't know the system for the admins, but I think a system such as marking a member as "on watch" in the admin panel would be a nice feature or something, that way, on a repeat offense, any admin could give a temp ban for it. The current system (As far as I understand it, I could very well be wrong) is that repeat offenses are on an admin by admin basis, and at that, the admins have to remember who did what and when. That's a lot for admins to remember and deal with. So maybe some sort of "on watch" system could be worked up in the future?

*Enforce correct thread placement. For god's sake, if it is a tech problem, it goes in the tech forum!!! Moving is okay, but I'm sure some admins must be fed up with moving stuff around all the time. Start giving out some real reprimands for this stuff so people won't keep doing it. A few people here seem to think they can just ignore the rule simply because "well it gets more views on the discussion forum". That's not how it works folks.


But I'm just one man, and no admin. So you can take my thoughts with a grain of salt. But that's what I think should be coming at Massassi soon. And all the changes as of late have been working at a G-Rated forum, something I'd like to see happen myself.

you sir, disgust me.

Don't get me STARTED on you alpha. Don't judge page just because he looks differently at life.

CM--the thing about the tech questions--some really, REALLY need help, and a lot of discussion forum goers don't go to the tech forum, so while they technically fall under that category, they won't get the proper help needed/requested.

If CM were an admin I would leave. I'll leave it at that. Banning for wrong thread placement? Take about anal rententive. Give me a break. Dispite the few 11 year olds we have around here, everyone is of age to be responsible for what they read. There parents should be watching what they do on the computer anyways...

that's not in the rules anywhere.... becides innuendos are just that... if you dont know what people are laughing/ talking about, then it's kina hard to guess at it. younger members just wont get this type of humor, and so what is the problem with having a little? it's not like it appears on every other thread here.

and i think this place is strict enugh as is. i dont want this forum to become 'candy coated' G rated. there is no need for that, 80% or more of our population is above the age of 13. lets shoot for PG, come on people.

Elena....nevermind, you are getting better

Note I haven't read the rst of the thread.

I agree with Xizor's opinion -- but not his argument.

I personally think this rule against using 'retarded' in a 'derogatory' way is ridiculous:

When we refer to something as being retarded, we're underscoring how ridiculously absurd, ludicris, incomprehensible, *stupid* or unintelligent it is -- which is the meaning of the word 'retarded'. It's an adjective. We're not implying that retarded people are bad. We might be saying whatever thing that is "retarded" is bad, but only through the word's own meaning, and not through a "retarded people are bad -- if I call something retarded colloqualism, therefore, it is bad" kind of way.

If you didn't understand that,

"This argument is retarded."

Intended meaning: "This argument is stupid / ridiculous."

NOT intended meaning: (hypothetical premise "retarded people are bad") "This argument is retarded [which is bad, because "retarded people are bad"]).

Unlike gay, which in itself doesn't have a meaning like "stupid" or something likewise, which you can use without indirectly insulting people of that orientation.