LO chat rules need to be updated

[Demandred]

Well before I start I just want everyone involved in the LO chat to know that I appreciate their work, and while I haven't actually been on and chatting much recently I do enjoy it.

Anywho, down to the nitty gritty....

I was chatting tonight with other members and we got on the topic of society, and peoples abilities and chances to further themselves or not (based on laziness, temperament, drive, etc.). We were asked by a mod to cease the topic at hand, which we all did without argument.

However, I was told to refer to the LO chat rules so that I could see what in the topic at hand was forbidden. I had read the rules several times before when slight misunderstandings had happened, but I decided to go back and read them again. I read the rule on "Topics of Discussion" and couldn't find anything that expressly or even came close to forbidding our topic of discussion.

7. Topics of discussions
As the chat room rating is PG 13, the topics discussed must also reflect this. There are certain topics which must not be discussed. These are: topics of a pornographic nature. Racism and/or sick jokes fall into this category and are not permitted.
Topics dealing with real life politics, sex or "recreational" drugs, blasphemy or theological flamewars are also not permitted and will be stopped as soon as possible.

So, I think that the rule for topics of discussion needs to be either clarified or changed (as the title so easily stated ). It would also help if when a mod informs us why a discussion isn't permitted, they could possibly explain to the chatters their reasoning. Just saying "refer to the rules" isn't always as illuminating as one would hope. I don't ask so that a mods decision can be second guessed, more so that if I do accidentally start discussing a topic that isn't allowed I can know the reasoning and make sure not to make a similar mistake again.

Because frankly the nearest forbidden topic I could imagine to what we were talking about is politics, and we weren't talking about anyones governments, any politicians or people in any sort of office/position of power, or any sort of policies. So it would be nice to understand what each mod thinks politics (real life or imaginary ) are.

Have a great day

[Karmoon]

Demandred,

It was a judgement call. The conversation wasn’t going in a way which would have been productive for the room.
None the less, it’s everyone’s room.

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the rules?

No politics. No Sex. No religion.

The rules DO need to be clarified. I am open to suggestions.

Also, please understand that hard and fast rules legislating for every situation is just a recipe for trouble.
The reason LO chat works (and it does) is that the moderator team know the room, and understand the room. Every moderator in LO chat is also an LO chatter, and has been one for quite some time.

For this reason, we ask that the users of the room trust in the judgement of the moderator team.

I had no intention of ‘punishing’ any of the people in the room at the time. However, it’s a topic which Blackhat himself has deemed he doesn’t want on LO turf – hence the closing down of the enhanced forums.

These are the rules we must follow when using his resources.

Thanks for your post.

[mpdscott]

I know that since I've never used LO's chatroom, I probably shouldn't put in my two cents (and that's about all it's worth )....
but.....
.....since when has a chatroom needed to be productive...let alone have a purpose?

[Karmoon]

It's simple. IF you have no kind of guidelines or anything for a chat room, and it will quickly disolve into a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Where people link filthy documents, insult eachother and generally waste time.

It isn't unreasonable for LO's dedicated Chat room to have the same purpose as the forum.
In fact it makes sense. I personally couldn't have created and completed my nid army without LO Chat. Additionally, the coaching which Minus T and Cheredanine gave me over LO chat have improved my painting skills phenomenally.

I am a balanced and normal person, so I too like to discuss politics/religion/sex. However, I respect LO - so I go elsewhere.

It's really simple. But it also works.

[Sammy the Squib]

As I (unfortunately) have little to do with the hobby these days I actually prefer it when the topic of LO chat isn't space marines or whatever. It's a good place to chillax and chat to some of the people I have got to know through this site.

When I talk about off topic I don't mean talking about DnD, War machine, BFG, roleplay, computer games etc. I mean genuine discussion which pertain to this "real life" which every seems to think is so important!

In such discussions one can almost always find a link back to one of the "big 3". Whilst sex and religion is usually easy to see (and stop), the word "politics" covers such a large spectrum that it comes down to a judgment call on what is acceptable and what isn't. As Ricky Gervais says, politics is all around us.

Over the last few days I must admit I have seen some of the chat mods be a little overzealous in their stifling of some discussions. But as I'm only too aware, mods have differing opinions too...^_^

Stonehambey

[Zema]

Ow, i got another good rule: no jarjar-speak, if anyone says even "mesa", perma-ban! IP Ban even! Cancel their internet connection!

[Tekore]

In my experience, hard and fast rules would be a mistake for what you folks are trying to accomplish, as then you'll have all sorts of loopholes and such. Any attempt to close those loopholes by mods will bring us right back to where we are now, which is a matter of personal decision making by the mods. Honestly, the best bet is to promote decent people to moderator and hope they make the right decisions. A big help to that is when, like Demandred, someone feels that a moderator has overstepped those bounds, to bring it up in LO respectfully for discussion. This provides feedback for the mods, which in turn should help fit their behavior and ideas to the population.

Just my two cents.

Tekore

[Karmoon]

Tekore has pretty much summed up exactly how I feel about the situation.

With communication we can tackle pretty much all problems.

@ Stoney

Obviously, it still has to be fun. And there's a LOT of talk which isn't tabletop gaming related, and to be honest, I think our team are pretty relaxed overall.

In fact, recently we've had two members who aren't actually wargamers at all join the room, and everyone has fun.

It's not a battle of egos. We're just trying to preserve the room and make it friendly and accessibly to all. If the moderator team ask you stop a conversation, it's not a personal affront - it's just thinking of the room.

A certain ex mod sneered at LO chat, saying it'd last no longer than 2 months.
With hard work, effort and great respect, we've managed to keep LO chat going strong for a long period of time. Despite being off line and being hit by other things.

When LO has been down, LO Chat still stays up. It's a great place to promote our community spirit. Certainly I have made great friends with people I would not come across in the forums.

So, while of course we aren't perfect and we have room to improve, I'd like people to trust us in that we have done a good job.

I always keep in touch with Cal and the big boys to make sure that I am running the chat room accordingly. I also try to gauge the Chat room atmosphere, and if the majority of LO do not want moderating in our style, I'll stand down - no problems.

But until then, I'll do my best.

[Tekore]

Tekore has pretty much summed up exactly how I feel about the situation.

With communication we can tackle pretty much all problems.

@ Stoney

Obviously, it still has to be fun. And there's a LOT of talk which isn't tabletop gaming related, and to be honest, I think our team are pretty relaxed overall.

In fact, recently we've had two members who aren't actually wargamers at all join the room, and everyone has fun.

It's not a battle of egos. We're just trying to preserve the room and make it friendly and accessibly to all. If the moderator team ask you stop a conversation, it's not a personal affront - it's just thinking of the room.

A certain ex mod sneered at LO chat, saying it'd last no longer than 2 months.
With hard work, effort and great respect, we've managed to keep LO chat going strong for a long period of time. Despite being off line and being hit by other things.

When LO has been down, LO Chat still stays up. It's a great place to promote our community spirit. Certainly I have made great friends with people I would not come across in the forums.

So, while of course we aren't perfect and we have room to improve, I'd like people to trust us in that we have done a good job.

I always keep in touch with Cal and the big boys to make sure that I am running the chat room accordingly. I also try to gauge the Chat room atmosphere, and if the majority of LO do not want moderating in our style, I'll stand down - no problems.

But until then, I'll do my best.

You the man now, dog!

Tekore

[gingerninja]

Well being a moderator on this particular chatroom, I do find that gentle persuation is the best way to go. I personally don't mind letting chats go, so long as all the members realise the moment that it starts to stray too close to the edge that I will attempt to step in a stop it.

I also try not to kick for a first offence, merely try and explain to a chatter, normally by PM, that their attitude/language/choice of topic, is not generally accepted and try not to do it in future. If you keep these little pushes in the right way, I think the room can continue to flourish

ninja out