- CFC Full Rules -

[dutchfire]

Are "click my link" and "watch my video" OPs now kosher in the tavern?

Anyone home?

 

[SamSniped]

No, no...Mr. Moderator no home.

 

[Takhisis]

Austin! leave those poor people alone.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Having a different opinion and arguing to that opinion is generally fine. Comparing opposite opinions is also fine. What typically makes it trolling is attacking the other person or group of people instead of debating the position.

Anyone who thinks __________ is stupid -- trolling.
I don't think __________ is a well thought out opinion -- debate, unless it goes on to question the opponent's education/intelligence.
If you look more closely the evidence says __________ is not supported by the facts. -- better debate



If you have counter examples, feel free to ask about them -- in PM if it involves a mod action.

I'm sorry but I have to say the mods can be selective in how they enforce the highlighted guidelines/rules. I get that the Tavern is supposed to be more open for minor trolling and less moderated.

But to be quite honest it can feel as though they are completely ignoring the tavern, then swoop in and mete out uneven justice. At a given point it feels extremely selective and unfair the way things are being handled currently.

I'm not talking about any particular mod, or any particular posters. I'm just making a general observation of the moderation interactions that I've seen thus far on the site.

 

[wujinlong]

Read the "ESSENTIALS".
I understood.

 

[NickyJ]

Are there any rules on unnecessarily necromancing threads (bringing back a thread that no one has posted on for a while, and the post having no substantial addition to the topic)?

Any chance of adding these to the essentials?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Are "click my link" and "watch my video" OPs now kosher in the tavern?

We always prefer it if the OP has some actual poster content that tries to set up some kind of dialogue or provide guidance for those that follow. Is that vague enough?

 

[LucyDuke]

We always prefer it if the OP has some actual poster content that tries to set up some kind of dialogue or provide guidance for those that follow. Is that vague enough?

How I read that:

No, report such threads and I will destroy them.

 

[Birdjaguar]

You read it wrong. Of course we have a dereference, but you should know that often we give lots of leeway to how a thread actually develops. Witness this tonight.

 

[CountAccountant]

As a new member, I found this very helpful. Thank you for posting.

 

[Camikaze]

Some changes have been made to the 'What Is Not Allowed' section of the rules.

This is the new version of the section:
WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED

Spoiler :

Advertising
Advertising is not allowed in any forum. Commercial advertising will be deleted on-sight, and the poster will receive a permanent ban. Commercial advertising, even in your signature, is not permitted.

This advertising policy extends to posting in or starting a thread in one forum, so as to entice people to visit a thread in another forum. If you want to do this, then place the advertisement in your signature.

External links related to the thread topic - such as to other history forums, or news articles - are acceptable.

If you have a civilization-related link to advertise, you can place one thread about it in our Other Civ Related Sites forum, or you may advertise it in your signature. For people wanting to advertise other things of interest to Civ players, you must receive permission from an admin first.

Inappropriate content
This is a family-friendly forum. We do not want, for example, people coming here to talk about Civ and being exposed to (in particular) sexual content. While we tolerate some discussion of adult issues, we do not permit discussions that are explicit. We allow "babe" and "hunk" threads to post pictures, and these have their own rules (read the first post in each thread for those rules). Advocating cruelty, violence, hateful or illegal actions may well fall under the category of inappropriate content and be deleted or infracted. Inappropriate content can refer to other topics as well that are very context related. Moderators may at any time close threads or delete content that they deem inappropriate or not in keeping with the purposes of this site or of a specific forum.

We generally operate with a one-click rule as well: You may not link directly (one click) to any page that contains content that is not allowed at this forum. This includes links to inappropriate website, even if the landing page does not itself contain inappropriate content. An exception exists for some forms of inappropriate language (see below).

Inappropriate Language
Our basic philosophy is that there is nothing that anyone needs to say on our forums that requires them to swear/cuss. If you can't get your point across without swearing, you will be infracted.

This forum is considered a family-friendly forum. We have an autocensor which will automatically remove many swear/cuss/bad words, but not necessarily all. Just because a word isn’t caught by the autocensor, doesn’t give you permission to use it. Do not rely on the autocensor to do your thinking for you. Finding ways to get around the ban on swearing or using foul language may result in an infraction.

If you intentionally bypass the autocensor (i.e. using various tricks so that the autocensor does not remove your word) and the meaning / intent of the word can be easily interpreted, you will be infracted. You may use a string of symbols such as #!%&*#@ to express yourself, as long as no specific meaning can be derived from the combination of symbols or how the symbols fit with the English language text around it.

Acceptable:

• $%&$#@*#^ [note that in acceptable use, there is no surrounding context from which the precise meaning of the symbols can be inferred, just symbols]

Not acceptable:

• *%#&you!
• You $ ^ * @ # ( $ % bastard
• How can you be so %#&*@# stupid?

Etc.​

These language rules also apply to words in pictures and quotes, and words in non-English languages. However, although we generally operate with a one-click rule (see above), an exception exists for some forms of inappropriate language. You may link to a website or page containing inappropriate language, so long as it is not gratuitous or completely out of step with the family-friendly nature of the forums. Gratuitousness will be determined by the moderators on a case by case basis, but as a general guide, any inappropriate language should be incidental to the linked content, or in keeping with a spirit of civil and productive discussion.

Any link to a website or page containing inappropriate language must clearly be marked as 'NSFW'. Failure to mark the link in such a way will result in the application of the standard one-click rule.

This 'inappropriate language exception' to the one-click rule extends to embedded videos, and images placed within spoiler tags.

Although you may link to content containing inappropriate language, you may not post a quote containing any inappropriate language; the text of your post must still be free of inappropriate language.

Moderators may choose to simply delete posts or warn for minor offences (depending on context) rather than infract. People who insist on pushing the boundaries or moderation patience will not get such leniency. Severe offences may result in an immediate ban. Posters who find inappropriate language in a post are encouraged to report the post.

Piracy
We have zero tolerance for piracy. This includes posting pirated material, linking to pirated material, telling people how to avoid copy-protection etc, or even advocating piracy. We also consider "abandonware" to be piracy, as it has no official legal recognition. Please do not link to abandonware sites.

Posting about Illegal Activities
We do not allow people to post anything that advocates illegal activities (such as illicit drug use). We also, obviously, do not permit people to post things in violation of the law, particularly US law. We do not allow people to advocate for the death of anybody. In particular, DO NOT make anything that could even remotely be construed as a death threat (joking or otherwise) to anyone, or encourage them to harm others or themselves. This is illegal, and will result in an immediate ban. Threats of violence will also result in a ban. This applies to PMs and visitor messages as well.

Respect other Civ sites
We have friendly relationships with other Civ fansites and would like to keep it that way. Being disrespectful towards them or whining about happenings at another Civ site is not permitted.

For comparison, this is the old version of the section:
WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED

Spoiler :

Bad Language
Our basic philosophy is that there is nothing that anyone needs to say on our forums that require them to swear/cuss. If you can't get your point across without swearing, then you will be infracted.

This forum is considered a PG forum. We have an autocensor that will catch many swear/cuss/bad words, but not necessarily all. Just because a word isn’t caught by the autocensor, doesn’t give you permission to use it.

The autocensor will prevent your posting any of the XX words in its dictionary, but not all swear words or variations on them. Do not rely on the autocensor to do your thinking for you. Finding ways to get around the ban on swearing or using foul language may result in an infraction.

If you intentionally bypass the autocensor (i.e. using various tricks so that the autocensor does not change your word or block your post) and the meaning / intent of the word can be easily interpreted, you will be infracted. There is one exception to this language restriction. You may use a string of symbols such as #!%&*#@ to express yourself as long as no specific meaning can be derived from the combination of symbols or how the symbols fit with the English language text around it.

Acceptable: $%&$#@*#^ [note that in acceptable use, there is not following word, just symbols]

Not acceptable:
*%#&you!
You $ ^ * @ # ( $ % bastard
How can you be so %#&*@# stupid?
Etc.

These language rules also apply to words in pictures, and words in non-English languages. They also apply to any page you link to in your post or signature that is one click away from the CFC page where the link is located.

Moderators may choose to simply delete posts or warn for minor offences (depending on context) rather than infract. People who insist on pushing the boundaries or moderation patience will not get such leniency. Severe offences may result in an immediate ban. Posters who find inappropriate language in a post are encouraged to report the post.

Advertising
Advertising is not allowed in any forum. Commercial advertising will be deleted on-sight, and the poster will receive a permanent ban. Commercial advertising, even in your signature, is not permitted.

This advertising policy extends to posting in or starting a thread in one forum, so as to entice people to visit a thread in another forum. If you want to do this, then place the advertisement in your signature.

External links related to the thread topic - such as to other history forums, or news articles - are acceptable.

If you have a civilization-related link to advertise, you can place one thread about it in our Other Civ Related Sites forum, or you may advertise it in your signature. For people wanting to advertise other things of interest to Civ players, you must receive permission from an admin first.

Inappropriate content
This is a family-friendly forum. We do not want, for example, people coming here to talk about Civ and being exposed to (in particular) sexual content. While we tolerate some discussion of adult issues, we do not permit discussions that are explicit. We allow "babe" and "hunk" threads to post pictures, and these have their own rules (read the first post in each thread for those rules). We generally operate with a one-click rule as well: You may not link directly (one click) to any page that contains content that is not allowed at this forum. Inappropriate content can refer to other topics as well that are very context related. Moderators may at any time close threads or delete content that they deem inappropriate or not in keeping with the purposes of this site or of a specific forum. Advocating cruelty, violence, hateful or illegal actions may well fall under the category of inappropriate content and be deleted or infracted.

For the most part advocating violence or death is generally not allowed. Moderators will use their discretion when such situations arise. This general "is not allowed", though, does not prohibit a civil discussion of legal or moral issues around specific state or federal laws.

Piracy
We have zero tolerance for piracy. This includes posting pirated material, linking to pirated material, telling people how to avoid copy-protection etc, or even advocating piracy. We also consider "abandonware" to be piracy, as it has no official legal recognition. Please do not link to abandonware sites.

Posting about Illegal Activities
We do not allow people to post anything that advocates illegal activities (such as illicit drug use). We also, obviously, do not permit people to post things in violation of the law, particularly US law. We do not allow people to advocate for the death of anybody. In particular, DO NOT make anything that could even remotely be construed as a death threat (joking or otherwise) to anyone, or encourage them to harm others or themselves. This is illegal, and will result in an immediate ban. Threats of violence will also result in a ban. This applies to PMs and visitor messages as well.

Respect other Civ sites
We have friendly relationships with other Civ fansites and would like to keep it that way. Being disrespectful towards them or whining about happenings at another Civ site is not permitted.

 

[ales_]

What are the main changes?

 

[VGL]

Not much that I see

 

[ori]

We removed any references to PG and PG-13 and now go solely with family friendly when it comes to determining what is inappropriate.

Also the one-click rule was relaxed to allow posting ontopic links to content in discussion threads if whatever is linked to contains otherwise inappropriate language if that is merely incidental to the actual content and the link is clearly labeled as NSFW.

 

[Takhisis]

Yes, that's a good measure. Sometimes, enormously relevant material couldn't be posted unless it was edited to remove profanity.

 

[azzaman333]

Wow, a common sense rule change. I'm shocked.

 

[akTed]

I'm grateful for the work that so many volunteers have contributed to make this such a useful site!

That said, I would like to suggest the possibility that the site could be even better with some attention to ideals of positive pedagogy. My observation is that those who know enough to advise mid-level players are often much more knowledgeable about how to win than how to help others become winners. This is a common issue in teaching of technical subjects.

To focus for a moment on the negatives, I often post on these fora to get help from the experts when my game is not progressing. The responses I get are often subtly derisive and hard to read, amounting to "Whatsa matter wit you? you made lotsa dum decision! you shlda gone CMC, CAC, LLD, ABHS and then swongled up to DID/NFLAC"

OK, this is a parody, but not really very far-fetched. I've spent a lot of time decoding semi-literate rants replete with unexpected acronyms and other abbreviations, only to wind up feeling inadequate as a player but not much improved from the reading I just did.

What I'd like to say to some of these posters is on the order of "Just because you can beat me at this game doesn't make you an admirable person in my book, and your careless, hasty rhetoric is not making my development as a player any easier."

People post on forums for a lot of reasons. Often it's to learn something, or to help somebody else become more capable. Just as often, unfortunately, it's to say "I'm smarter than you!" The latter may or may not be true, but it's not what I came here to learn.

I wish I had some pithy suggestions to offer the senior staff about how to encourage those who have some talent to help others learn, and how to help those who are often off on an ego trip to chill a bit and put their time where their talents are. I'm just offering this as an observation and stimulus for possible organizational development. I think there are a lot more people who could learn to enjoy this game with the right help.

I would just like to say "Wow, what a well-written post!" As a member of this puddle-of-mud we call the internet for 17+ years (well-back to the days of newsgroups), I've seen my fair share of idiocracy mediocrity (and *probably* [/sarcasm] ((definitely)) added my own fair-share).

I wish more would speak with such eloquence, and I hereby affirm to strive for my own posts to be so well thought-out & succinct (seriously...I'm not being facetious, though as I'm typing it, in my head, it sounds thus). l33t-speak and txt-talk are an annoyance, and if forum rules ban them, so much the better!

 

[reddishrecue]

How do you report a troller?

 

[leif erikson]

You click on the report post icon located under the user name on the left of the post. In the dialogue box that pops up, please tell us why you think the person is trolling.

 

[Camikaze]

Please note that the 'Appealing Moderator Actions' section of the forum rules has been updated. For notes on the change, please see this thread.