Rules Reminder

[alfaowner]

Polite Reminder:
We feel we need to publicly remind troublesome members that seem to enjoy causing upset to others and enjoy raising pointless disputes on the AO site, disrespecting community members and the constant walking the line with our community STD rules will no longer be tollerated! We as an entire team have discussed this and we are not prepared to have this site spoilt by 10 or so members that get behind a computer screen and feel they have to fight the entire world! This polite reminder is also to state that we will start to remove these members one by one if their attitudes and posting habits do not take a very quick positive change of direction!

As you can imagine, taking no action against these account holders could wreck the future atmosphere of the entire AO community as others seem to learn by them and we cannot and will not allow that. There is not a single person on our team that would enjoy running a site that allows others to purposely upset and antagonise others. You should also note that any account removals will be permanent and will not be discussed or debated. Our word will be final and any PM's or pagers wil simply be ignored.

We only have rules and guidelines at AO for the sole reason to keep this site as useful, tidy and as friendly as possible, but just like real life, a few individuals think they are special enough to get away with abusing the community and it's purpose. Whilst our basic rules cover the most common situations, they cannot anticipate everything. Consequently we already reserve the right to take any actions we deem appropriate to ensure these forums are not disrupted or abused in any way and we will start to act on this paragraph of the rules very soon. If you are reading this and know any one that you feel fits the bill above, please point them to this thread.

I hope every member with a good level of respect can see why we would need to post this and that essentially this is a preface to what will happen if the rapport and conduct of particular members does not improve overnight, just to reiterate that all we want is a friendly environment and currently a few individuals are working against this.

Rest assured that we will only remove members in this way if at least 4 moderators and 2 admins agree the action is warranted.

Best regards,

Ian Bowles

[Gaz]

Well said Sir

[kurzon]

Wow! That's got to be one of the toughest stands I've seen in my time on AO.

I suppose it needs to be said (and done, depending on non-compliance) to tidy up a few troublesome loose-ends remaining in our community. *

Good luck with it guys.





[As long as I'm not on the list! ParanoidBOT out ]

[n13roy]

Seems quite a fair announcement to me, and one that probably needed to be written...........

[rafe005]

things seemed to have calmed down a bit lately to me, maybe I was just not coming across any antagonistic threads. Lets hope people take a look at themselves and really think what this forum is about, and you dont have to enforce this ruling Ian

[David P]

That's a fair statement I think Hopefully everyone will take the hint & no further action will be required


Long live the friendly AO

[Icheb]

Nicely put

[mudhut]

Good move Ian and team. Not before time though.

[NineOneSix]

fair point.

best check PM box in case of messages

Yes it is a very fair point, just a thought though, do the people in question know that they are being a pain in the *** and causing problems ? have they been told that the way they act is unacceptable.

*Also pops off to check PM inbox

[Johnbotch]

I'm at a loss as I haven't seen anything I would construe as being a pain in the *** recently.
I'm also a bit confused as to why threads were closed today.

Anyone care to explain?

[kurzon]

I don't think this is a Q&A session but more a statement of fact.
Threads closures don't even come into it unless it's yours and you want an explanation, then use private means.

If you think you are in the firing line then maybe change your ways and if unsure, again enquire privately.

This is IMHO BTW ... Just don't think there will be any public hangings (excuse bad metaphor ) open to debate.

[Mysterio]

Originally Posted by alfaowner

Polite Reminder:
We feel we need to publicly remind troublesome members that seem to enjoy causing upset to others and enjoy raising pointless disputes on the AO site, disrespecting community members and the constant walking the line with our community STD rules will no longer be tollerated! We as an entire team have discussed this and we are not prepared to have this site spoilt by 10 or so members that get behind a computer screen and feel they have to fight the entire world! This polite reminder is also to state that we will start to remove these members one by one if their attitudes and posting habits do not take a very quick positive change of direction!

As you can imagine, taking no action against these account holders could wreck the future atmosphere of the entire AO community as others seem to learn by them and we cannot and will not allow that. There is not a single person on our team that would enjoy running a site that allows others to purposely upset and antagonise others. You should also note that any account removals will be permanent and will not be discussed or debated. Our word will be final and any PM's or pagers wil simply be ignored.

We only have rules and guidelines at AO for the sole reason to keep this site as useful, tidy and as friendly as possible, but just like real life, a few individuals think they are special enough to get away with abusing the community and it's purpose. Whilst our basic rules cover the most common situations, they cannot anticipate everything. Consequently we already reserve the right to take any actions we deem appropriate to ensure these forums are not disrupted or abused in any way and we will start to act on this paragraph of the rules very soon. If you are reading this and know any one that you feel fits the bill above, please point them to this thread.

I hope every member with a good level of respect can see why we would need to post this and that essentially this is a preface to what will happen if the rapport and conduct of particular members does not improve overnight, just to reiterate that all we want is a friendly environment and currently a few individuals are working against this.

Rest assured that we will only remove members in this way if at least 4 moderators and 2 admins agree the action is warranted.

Best regards,

Ian Bowles

I think you already know, while there are so many people on this forum, everyone is going to have their own opinion about certain stuff, but nevertheless everyone should respect the forum rules and make this a pleasant environment for everyone who joins us.

Thank you
Robert

[kurzon]

Originally Posted by kurzon

If you think you are in the firing line then maybe change your ways and if unsure, again enquire privately.

Actually that's a little silly what I wrote there. I think you would have got a few warnings/infractions or public "calm down" statements as such on AO. So I think those that haven't are pretty safe for now. What I meant was, exercise a little common sense. I think most know when they are stepping over the line or are close to the mark.

[Johnbotch]

Originally Posted by kurzon

I don't think this is a Q&A session but more a statement of fact.
Threads closures don't even come into it unless it's yours and you want an explanation, then use private means.

If you think you are in the firing line then maybe change your ways and if unsure, again enquire privately.

This is IMHO BTW ... Just don't think there will be any public hangings (excuse bad metaphor ) open to debate.

I'm not after a Q&A, but simply a bit of clarification... whether in public or by pm.
The thread closures do come into it when a link to this announcement is given by way of an explanation.
K, I realise you have been here a long time and understand the way this forum works, but I'm pretty sure there are a fair number of 'newer' posters who are scratching their heads a little after believing things had calmed down over the last few weeks.
I'm not after washing dirty linen in public, but I am a bit confused.
I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one.

And thanks for clarifying part of your post. I would probably have taken it the wrong way.

[Morgan166]

BACK ON TOPIC: Good statement by Ian, gets the point across without coming off as being patronising, and forceful enough without being aggressive. As someone with a love of language, I know it's a difficult tightrope to walk.

Let's face it, no-one properly reads the terms and conditions/rules when signing up to anything, so a timely reminder of what is and what isn't acceptable on the forum is definitely needed, and as far as I am concerned, most welcome.

It's been a week since Ian posted up his rules reminder, and nearer two since all the trouble kicked off. Those causing said trouble, or actively encouraging it, have been given their marching orders. As a result, I feel AO has got back its "friendly" feel.

My only criticism (and it's a small one) is that we don't have any kind of "adult lounge", call it Adult Way Off Topic, if you will. Now, I'm not recommending we go for some kind of porn-sharing free-for-all on AO, and there would need to be posting rules as regards what is and is not acceptable, but at least there would be a clearly marked outlet for some of the recent threads that some feel were shut down and/or had links deleted unfairly.

The sort of content I'm talking about are "blue" jokes and "near the knuckle" YouTube videos, such as the now infamous "Rainbow" spoof, which had its link removed from a thread recently.

Those members who have no interest in smutty jokes and cartoon characters doing silly things could easily avoid such content by never viewing the AWOT section. This, I feel, would be far preferable to having to pick one's way carefully through the regular WOT section, hoping not to stumble upon content one may find inappropriate.

If inappropriate content does end up getting posted in the wrong place, it could be moved to AWOT, or deleted altogether if it breaks the AWOT rules.

This would keep the main forum of AO clean, with only a small corner for "schoolboy-type humour".

With clear lines of demarcation, we'd get a lot less in the way of members pushing the boundaries of acceptability in the main forum areas.

In fact, with a clear set of rules agreed and laid out, I would happily volunteer to be the AWOT mod.

It was debated not so long ago Morgan http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/way-o...dult-room.html (Adult room ?)

[kurzon]

Originally Posted by Rayq81

It was debated not so long ago Morgan http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/way-o...dult-room.html (Adult room ?)

Indeed Ray... and I still say no on this idea.

MHO.

[Gibbo]

This is the adult forum.

It isn't the rude or anything goes forum but there are plenty of those out there
on the internet if you want them.

I'm with Kurzon on this subject.

[alfaowner]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

This is the adult forum.

It isn't the rude or anything goes forum but there are plenty of those out there
on the internet if you want them.

I'm with Kurzon on this subject.

As much as we want to allow you all to talk and have fun, we must have limits as we don't want the smutty stuff on AO as it will spill out of the lounges and create a bigger problem. I am with Gibbo and K on this, so sorry.

Ian

[David P]

Good to have an official statement on this subject from the top, long live (the Family Forum ) AO

=======================
TOPIC CLOSED
=======================

[Morgan166]

Originally Posted by alfaowner

As much as we want to allow you all to talk and have fun, we must have limits as we don't want the smutty stuff on AO as it will spill out of the lounges and create a bigger problem. I am with Gibbo and K on this, so sorry.

Ian

Fair enough.

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.

[kurzon]

The "Family Forum" phrase still bugs me in that this place is Adult in nature. It's just that I don't want to support what some consider Adult to mean beyond being adult in a way of communicating and presenting material of interest which only adults should see and read. Still with time, I am seeing an adult approach to the direction of this forum and I can still feel confortable supporting it. That's my take on it and I'm welcome to it.

===

Now stop the drivel chat here, in this thread, children!

[alfaowner]

What I failed to mention in my previous post is that if we could please all people, we would try our hardest to do so! But its just not possible and we stopped trying a very long time ago, we will always go with whats best for the AO site or the majority members as long as this does not jepordise the site in any way.

I hope you all understand.

Regards,

Ian

[kurzon]

Originally Posted by alfaowner

What I failed to mention in my previous post is that if we could please all people, we would try our hardest to do so! But its just not possible and we stopped trying a very long time ago, we will always go with whats best for the AO site or the majority members as long as this does not jepordise the site in any way.

That is an adult approach to this site which some adults don't get and think adult means anything goes. As per my previous post, I support it. Family should be able to read this Forum under supervision in the sense we set an example on how to talk to each other and exchange ideas and voice opinions on difficult subjects. This is achievable, I can see this and therefore I warm to the idea of a "Family Forum" concept more. It takes time, but I think this place is getting there.

Respect!