It's the shoutbox. I think that says more than enough about the entire situation.

: Thanks for such a thorough and detailed post. I know other people have complained about its length, but I really appreciate the thought and effort you put into this.

Jesus christ what a wall of text it's a verbal warning it means nothing get over it

Thank you. It was absolutely dreary to write up that much, but I wanted to be complete in my thoughts.

As has been repeated, this thread is not about users, but about rules and interaction. You would know this if you had bothered to read before posting. XD patpat

there's nothing unclear about that. It's stated very clearly and precisely.

Perhaps the "even if it is not for profit or is being done on behalf of someone else" part of the rule needs to be put in bold?

That's what a verbal warning is for though, isn't it? It's a way for mods to say "hey, you can't do this and you need to stop." If the person doesn't stop, then they get a more serious warning that carries more weight. If they don't understand what they've done wrong, then they file a ticket and ask for clarification.

Staff members shouldn't be going through sMail and profile comments because they have better tools than that, and an official warning leaves a solid paper trail for better accountability. A mod shouldn't have to sift through a player's sMail and profile comments to figure out if they've received a previous warning from another mod, and they shouldn't have to worry about whether the player has deleted the previous warning to hide the evidence.

Really I think a giveaway section of the shoutbox rules is the best bet for making sure rules concerning giveaways in the shoutbox are understood.

If bolding something will make someone further understand or more likely to read the rules, then shouldn't the whole entire rules section be bolded? js if we bolded something for clarification or to make more noticeable every time someone did something, that's exactly how the rule page would end up lol

I'm kinda with the others, it was merely a verbal warning. If you have further questions or a dispute (though for a verbal warning? eh) then write up a ticket. It isn't something to be debated and it's between the users who got the warning.

The rules should be Times New Roman, 35, bolded, italic and in red with pagination and index code. I'm also all about a pop-up bubble with a written warning "Dude, you are about to break the rules. no no don't".

It would be fabulous and save many wall of texts. Warnings can be erased after some years, right? (not sure about it)

It's not even a warning. It's what a warning has for breakfast : barely a "verbal" notice.

First and foremost, warnings can be appealed (I had 4 appealed). They will also stop counting after a couple years. The amount of warnings you got never disappears from your record, but the number of active warnings resets after a while.

Thank you for the explanation. I've been here for 6 years and never had any, so I'm not really familiar with warnings policy.

All I'm going to say on the subject without reading the massive first post is that I would like to see a lot more transparency from Staff on a lot of things - rules, events, plots, etc. There's so much unknowing, uncertainty and lack of clarity that it makes things really difficult to know what's going on, what is or won't be happening or how things will pan out in the end or the long term/run. Having Staff posts hidden in the depths of News Post Comments or other places that could wind up for a lot of searching doesn't give that essential clarity that the players are so wanting.

I do feel as though the whole list of rules should be reviewed and given an overhaul and then maybe an official forum somewhere for staff to make posts and give updates to things without having to be part of a group. Instead, there should be a little red alert bar at the top of each page (like when there are wardrobe problems and they give an alert letting the player population they're working on the issue, for example) where players should click and be then able to read the newest change/rule/update/etc. This isn't like the # SiteUpdate group where there are little changes being made here and there. This way it can make the site fully aware of anything important and that no one is being left in the dark.

Subeta glitched and posted the above twice O_o Sorry!

Too much reading for me but I got the jist of it so bare with me while I attempt to explain where one issue lies with the shoutbox and user/staff interactions. This is just one of many issues I've encountered over the years.

I've been here for 8 years and have been a regular shoutbox user for most of that time, I am well aware of what the rules state in regards to offering ts purchases in the shoutbox to help others out however this has been going on for YEARS with no issues or very little issues at all. It all seems to solely depend on whether anyone is currently modding the shoutbox or who is modding the shoutbox at the time.

For example let's say we have mods A B C and D who have rotating shoutbox mod duty. Mod A is generally pretty laid back and doesn't really get on people's case unless it's for the bigger rule violations. Mod B likes to stick to all the guidelines and is quick to enforce every rule. Mod C seems to come up with their own theories as to what fits in amongst the etc part of the rules and will often tell us things we've never heard or that just plain don't make sense. Mod D is kind of the in between mod and either enforces the rules or just kind of shrugs and says whatever if small things happen that aren't hurting anybody.

So here's where the issue is....Because mod's opinions and modding styles vary it makes it confusing for new users and even returning older ones or just older ones like myself when one day the rules are being enforced one way and the next they are being enforced another.

Previously during events or plots we were allowed to discuss prior steps so long as the next step had been released or we were free to make small generalized comments but when mod B is around this isn't ok to do because they said so even though mods A C and D don't find fault with it so long as it doesn't pass a certain point.

We need clarity and for all staff to be on the same page or how are we able to know what is ok and what is not when there are essentially different sets of rules based on who is modding the sb on what day.

I have more to add but I need to consider how to put it into words first so for now this is the main thing for me when it comes to user and staff interactions.

^ Seconding what Cream said. I've been here...going on 6 years, I think? (Honestly I'm too lazy to look atm) and I've seen what Cream described a number of times. It can make it incredibly confusing.

- Are you sure you guys are seeing UAs, or non-UA staff such as artists? Both UAs and Artists (and programmers and admin, IIRC) all have the red boxes. I've seen a number of times where an artist is in the SB, and may or may not remind people of rules, or ask people to drop it, but they're not actually UAs.

I wish that non-UA staff would have a different color around their SB box, to clear up that confusion.

I am very familiar with who is who for staff and artists when it comes to the issues I mentioned and they were all definitely UA's or assistant UA's. Though I do think a seperate color for staff and artists is a good suggestion since not everyone realizes you can usually tell who is who just by visiting the person's profile as most UA's state they are such right on it.

As far as I know it was UAs on the occasions I remember offhand as complaints of warnings started showing up after their appearance. If I dug deep enough in the boxes of my brain there probably are occasions of an artist telling people to knock off whatever they're doing.

Also that different colour idea is fantastic.

[edit] Actually...is there a list of staff? Like UAs and artists and programmers, of everyone. I know 1 artist, 2 others with red boxes but don't know what they do, and can name 1 mini-mod off the top of my head (mini-mods I know are listed at the top of their forums). It'd be nice to know who everyone is, haha.

Dunno if it helps but all MMs are listed on my pet, Minimod :) it should be a pretty up to date list as I just recently moved the Debate MM when they deleted that forum. I'd make a staff version but that name is taken :(