Strict policies alienate younger and new members.

[SUBRICK]

I like the serebii forums because they really stress on the rules, which is always a plus. Intrigued by just the first page, I lurked through most gaming forums.

On one occasion, someone posted a FR/LG topic on the R/S/E thread. The amount of sarcasm and hurtful comments wasn't tolerable. I'm always on the side of redirecting these members to the proper place to post, but was those comments necessary? And this happens ALL THE TIME. Can't you all lay back and realizze that these are potentially good and active members?

I think the serebii mods need an ego check because although they have the authority and judgement to lock and delete threads, that doesn't allow them to make snap judgements on users who made a simple mistake. (I don't intend for this to change any rules of any kind. And this is not directed to all the mods)

 

[sarcasm]

Yes, sarcasm makes the forums fun.

 

[-:Buro-kun Tsubasa:-]

I agree with you there, Subrick, people are mean to the newbies, there members, everyone was a newbie once, Serebii was aswell! So why do we do it? Yes, Sarcasm is fun, but not supposed to be hurtfull.

 

[Slypher]

"Strict policies alienate younger and new members"

And I love that.

 

[Alfonso]

Uh, no. It's nothing to do with the policies. In fact, quite a lot of the rules Joe put in place this last year have been for the benefit of newer members. Maybe you should have done some research into the issue before saying that the policies are 'mean' and that Joe needs an ego check.

A thought, but if people can't handle sarcasm, maybe they shouldn't be on the internet. Seriously, SPPf isn't a daycare centre, and neither is the internet.

Grow up. Not everybody is, or wants to be nicey nice.

 

[Shigaiko]

Welcome to the internet.

But seriously, you can't blame the mods. The forums are swarming with idiocy lately, and there's only so much you can take. o_o

 

[Fox]

Sometimes, however, sarcasm can be Stupid, Pointless, Annoying, and/or Mean. A majority of the time, its funny, but it may not be funny to everyone. There's a fine line between sarcasm and flaming, and the way things usually are "judged" upon is not the intent of the action, but the result. Granted, a lot of people are just 'cry babies' and just go "WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME LEAVE ME ALONE" or something, which should be dealt with without furthuring any sort of conflict by using any more sarcasm.

I must say that I'm split on a lot of opinionated subjects. People say sarcasm is too high here. Other people say that its all over the internet. IMO, both sides are correct, however, from my point of view. The way I'd decide on what's best is to see which way would result in less conflicts and more satisfied users.

On this subject, I see it as less sacasm = less misunderstandings/conflicts = a greater abundance of satisfied users. Alternately or Alternatively, whichever is the proper term (I can't be arsed to think atm), more sarcasm = more conflicts = more flame wars = unhappy users.

Feel free to disprove

I think the serebii mods need an ego check because although they have the authority and judgement to lock and delete threads, that doesn't allow them to make snap judgements on users who made a simple mistake. (I don't intend for this to change any rules of any kind. And this is not directed to all the mods)

Not all mods are like that... I'd say a majority are fine >>

 

[Serebii]

I actually agree with you on the sarcasm stuff...people can make mistakes, I've done it before and people shouldn't be insulted or berated for it

I'll go have a yell

 

[JoshYEAH]

I hope I don't smell a new rule brewing ;[

The fact remains that the "newbies" should have read the rules. They should have read the rules, they should adhere to the rules, and they should be expected to be treated like any other member who has broken the rules.

There was a new rule set forth a little while ago, that basically said, you can't use the "I'm new" excuse as an excuse for not following the rules. When you join the forum, you read the rules. Regardless of how many forums you have been to, or how much you think of yourself as king of the internet, there are bound to be some new rules depending on the section. Therefore if you want to keep things like flame wars etcetera at a minimum, then read the god damned rules. This means you post in the right section, therefore not brining your thread to the attention of people that are going to go all sarcastic on you, thereby getting the replies you want, and thereby having a good time here.

The problem isn't that these people are flaming you for breaking a rule, the problem is that people don't read the rules and stickies, make the mods job harder, spark up a load of mini-mod attention, and generally disrupt the flow. So yeah, sorry, but it isn't the people who are giving you/person x the problem that we need to be looking at. The problem is these new members that don't read the rules and expect to be treated less harshly because '"they're new."

-Josh

 

[Serebii]

The fact is Josh, we want them to be treated like everyone else and thats why the sarcasm and general insults are wrong

And it's not a new rule. Flaming and Trolling have always been against the rules...this will just be yet another reaffirmation

 

[Eszett]

If they didn't even read the rules as they were behooved to upon signing up, why should we give them excessive lenience? Plenty of people fail to use the Search button/bump old topics/double post/etc. when these actions are clearly labelled as being against the rules. Stickies exist in every forum to provide everybody, especially the newer members, with the resources on what proper etiquette is around these parts. All the facilities exist for new members to be treated respectfully, yet some opt to ignore these resources.

Reading the rules is an obligation with which we are all burdened. Just as the older members have chalked up on the stipulations in effect on these forums, so must our new recruits.

 

[Jetx]

I can't blame the mods, some mods are very encouraging to newbies and help teach them the rules, the ones newbies don't understand (if there are any) are made quite simple by the mods. I do see quite alot of newbies, however, who clearly don't read any rules. I think that the most annoying thing for a newbie is when they've read the rules, along comes a member, not a mod, who thinks they're so much better than the newbie. I've seen that happening too, it happened to me.

But I'm also in favor of the "newbies have no excuses" thing. I think that most of the very annoying members got here via a seach engine and have never seen a forum in thier life. That's what happened to me, but I did read the rules, unlike quite a few newbies. And himiko helped me when I was new. So, not many mods are to be blamed. But all newbies learn eventualy... Even those who don't read the rules. (Well most anyway. )

 

[JoshYEAH]

The fact is Josh, we want them to be treated like everyone else and thats why the sarcasm and general insults are wrong

The point I was getting at, is that, if you break a rule, you usually get the receiving end of stick. Not that it is right, but, that is, how it works. ;[

And it's not a new rule. Flaming and Trolling have always been against the rules...this will just be yet another reaffirmation

I was looking for a "No more Sarcasm" rule xP

Other post still stands in regard to my full opinion.

-Josh

 

[Fox]

I have no problems with sarcasm used for general humor, but when used against users, then its going to be a problem. Sure, users may have not read the rules which triggers mini-modders, and sarcastic insults, however, those who are the mini-modders and sarcastic people themselves just show that they don't read the rules or disregard the rules as a whole.

Before its stated that those two items aren't written in rules, most of the mini-modders should know by now that it is not appreciated or taken well here, and those sarcastic people, well, flaming is against the rules already, so yeah.

 

[Eszett]

Eh? Sarcasm doesn't equate to flaming; I'm not exactly where you get that notion. You aren't necessarily being derogatory to another member when you employ a sarcastic quip. If somebody with an 800x800 BMP in their sig posts in the sig thread asking if it's okay, and I reply "It's fine.[/sarcasm] You need to severely reduce the image size down to at least 200x200.", I fail to see how that use and similar instances would equate to flaming. All I'm doing is reinforcing the egregious violation of the sig rules. If I started venting about how he was such an idiot for not reading the sig rules, that would certainly be flaming, but employing a certain literary construct in your remarks doesn't mean that you're giving derision to other members.

 

[Fox]

I didn't say sarcasm = flaming. However, sarcasm in general can lead to misunderstandings, unless made obvious that it is sarcasm, such as in your example. I was mentioning more of the sarcastic remarks that target a user in a derogatory manner.

 

[Serebii]

I said sarcasm = flaming because the sarcasm used by people here is just riddled with insults

 

[Alfonso]

I personally find it rather insulting when people put [/sarcasm] at the end of a sarcastic remark. Sure, it may stop someone from misunderstanding, but it's basically ruining the post point of making a sarcastic comment.

You don't use sarcasm when being nice to someone, so why sugercoat it. Might as well just not post since you're taking away the whole point of being sarcastic by making it incredibly obvious.

 

[Thriller]

I only do it because I really don't want to be taken seriously when I'm being sarcastic. It makes me feel bad when that happens.

Plus there are a lot of people who do take things seriously *Looks at the old "Imposter" Thread*

 

[Sammi]

I think the members here need to chill out and be nicer when someone breaks a rule. Every time there's a rulebreaker, the member snaps. They sound so inconsiderate. >>; I understand that it can be stressful sometimes, but you might hurt some feelings on the way by being mean, and that'd be bad.
But that's just me.