Things I don’t like or think is a gross overreach in terms of micromanaging:

“Do your best to be aware of how your words may appear through text — avoid harsh, mean, or aggressive behavior.””

I’ve encountered times where I was trying to be not harsh, not mean, and not aggressive and still other people were severely negatively affected by my existence.  Of course I’ll try to be respectful but if something I say becomes something 10x worse in someone’s head I’ll take no responsibility for it.

“Try to include positive remarks within your critique.”

Like… it’s one thing to simply suggest this and quite another to make it a rule in this way.  I’d almost suggest some sort of etiquette page that you recommend people follow.  Most people want to be nice.  I’m not sure how many want someone to walk behind them and yank their elbows off the table.

“If someone is posting spam, aggressive comments, and other content not suitable for carrying on a level-headed discussion, do not encourage them, refrain from replying, and report them to a moderator.”

What if the aggression is perceived?  Sure, hand it off to the mods but it’s a given that they care more about creating a safe space than looking for absence of malice.  That is certainly the vibe I get around here.

“This applies anywhere you disclose your identity as a member of Mycena Cave, including off-site.”

I’m conflicted on this.  It seems to specifically be for harassment done to MC people outside of MC to bypass MC punishments, and I see the value in this sort of safety measure.  Offsite is such a murky area, though.  Most pet sites that reach outside of themselves get a negative spin, so please be cautious here.

 

“If a topic/word makes you uncomfortable, politely request that it is dropped.”

Why is it worded this way when we have to obey?  If they are made uncomfortable we either have to drop it or get reported.  It’s not them requesting it’s them demanding because it will 100% of the time be an order, backed by staff.

“Do not inquire, publicly or privately, about a player’s pets or items that are not explicitly listed or marked for sale.”

I can see how it’d be a faux pas if you asked to buy something they weren’t interested in selling, but to make a rule against honestly curious inquiries feels like a huge overreach.  Instead of saying people can’t do that, why not just encourage people to put something on their profile to the effect of “if it’s not listed, I’m not selling”?

 

I think I’m in the minority here, but I’m slightly confused about this rule?

“Copy/pasting material such as your old stories or old roleplays from other sites to our paid forums is not allowed.”

I mean, I think I know what the intent of it is: to basically prevent people from moving an entire offsite roleplay on site post by post to get a ton of nuggets with no effort.  I’m guessing this is the intent at least?  It took me a minute to realize what was meant by ‘paid forum’.  But like, what about in character caverns, if it IS an old character and you wanted to use an old description/roleplay sample?  Is that not allowed?

I like no soliciting thing being an implemented rule, especially because of some users who have been doing it quite frequently recently. More harm than good comes from people privately messaging users asking to buy their items that haven’t been listed for sale. :l

Amaterasu  thank you very much for the example.  It seems gentle enough =)

Alright, I’m definitely not a staff member, so y’all feel free to drop me down a peg if I’m completely off base with this, but in response to this:

If you tarnish Mycena Cave by contributing to and/or allowing bullying posts to an anonymous blog, we will aggressively respond and investigate through legal avenues, and it will result in a ban when we determine who you are.

Many of the petsites that I’m on have added a similar clause to their TOS in response to the popular (and generally nasty) Flight Rising Drama blog, Dramarising. I think the staff are trying to prevent a similar site from being made, Mycena Cave style. What I don’t think they’re trying to say is, “we will be watching you, always, always, and if you heck up you’re off our site.”

Then again, that’s just how I’m interpreting it.

Dash & OregonCoast: To reaffirm what Amaterasu stated, players are welcome to contact the moderators regarding any disabilities or difficulties they may have if they are willing to do so. It’s not something we’ll enforce though.

And we will try not to hastily flag a post. For the most part we are more likely to observe first before acting unless someone makes a post similar to the example Amaterasu provided.

OregonCoast: No problem, I’m glad it was useful :D

luccamajere:

If it is important to your current characters that an old roleplay is moved on-site, contact a moderator

The instructions a moderator would give you is that any nuggets earned through this process would have to be sent to the Bone Monster. That way there is no ‘extra’ nuggets gained but your character content has been moved onto the forum :)

Character Caverns are unpaid and therefore are exempted from this.

(Edited as previously I had said Character Caverns are paid.)

“If you’re struggling with spelling, making consistent grammar mistakes, and/or our moderators are having trouble deciphering the content of your posts, our moderators will flag your post and give you information so that you know how to fix your post.”

So let me get this straight, if this “rule” is broken one too many times, will a person be banned from the forms permanently? This seems a little extreme to me for this specific rule. Will this rule be over all boards or just RP boards?

Getting flagged repeatedly for incorrect grammar and/or spelling makes people second guess themselves all the time. Users will be consistently wondering “Is my post going to be flagged?”

People can be very insecure over posts or even their own writing when they are being corrected by an outside source.

I’ve known many people whom have been corrected by others for grammar mistakes and spelling errors. This made them uncomfortable and they felt like they were being bullied by those people. If posts were flagged, some people may think the admins were bulling them. Overall possibly lowering the number of users who would want to interact on site.

To me this rule is very intolerant to anyone who could have any type of disability or even a lack of education. This site has rules for not being intolerant.

I know disability was addressed with a simple “They can inform us of any disability”. But the thing is, this is a site meant to be fun and encourage the arts. Users shouldn’t have to tell admins about their disabilities out of fear of being bullied by admins for posting.

All in all, this rule is very vague and you need to give users examples on what the admins consider bad/wrong.

Amaterasu  Okay, thanks for clearing that up! :)  I mean it most likely will never apply to me, since even if I brought an old character on site I’d write them a new description for the occasion most likely, but yeah good to know.

[@cavebopper] Many of your quoted examples fall back to our efforts to make the site a secure place for as many of our users as possible. The intention of the new rules is not to micromanage our players, but to provide them with more detailed guidelines of our expectations and what is and is not considered acceptable. In the past, we were less detailed in our explanations and this caused more incidents and reports of perceived injustice as players did not know precisely where the line was drawn.

Our goal is to make Mycena Cave a place where players feel comfortable expressing themselves in a constructive way, and these rules are phrased the way they are to help foster a more productive environment. Though many of these may be better suited to an etiquette page, we’re keeping them as rules so that everyone is on the same page as far as expected behavior is concerned.

Regarding your concerns about perceived aggression vs. intended aggression — our moderators take each report into careful consideration for this reason. They keep an open mind to both the perception of the reporting party as well as the intention and tone of the reported party before reaching any decision or judgment.

The solicitation rule was put in place in response to reports received from players upset by echoes with such inquiries. While we acknowledge that this is acceptable behavior on other sites, we feel that it does not fit within the culture that Mycena Cave has cultivated, and it has placed our players in unnecessary uncomfortable situations. If we instead require that players uninterested in solicitation inquiries must place notices on their profiles, then for the convenience of a much smaller group of players, the burden of responsibility falls upon the majority of players who go about the game keeping to their own independent play styles.

Hopefully this helps add some clarity to our intentions!

Amaterasu, quick question, since the Character Caverns is not a paid forum shouldn’t we not need to contact a moderator about directly copying/pasting info there? Like luccamajere, this probably won’t apply to me much, but your previous comment threw me off. I assumed that rule was just to prevent the gain of nuggets.

Nyfeaena  That’s correct; that rule only applies to paid forums, so importing old character descriptions, etc.  to Character Caverns (an unpaid forum) is something that is within the rules. :)

Nyfeaena Oh whoops! Good catch :D -goes to edit-

Mythic: Please refer to my posts here and here (for an example of what is ‘wrong’).

Mycena Cave has always had the rule in regards to proper grammar and spelling. This new feature is essentially how we plan on enforcing this rule. This would be a quick flag and fix, instead of previously having a moderator echoing you regarding this (because being contacted by a moderator tends to make the issue seem more serious and heavy). That being said, if you have previously had no issues/ not been contacted by a moderator in regards to this you will not be singled out now. We are not changing how we approach this rule - we will not be actively policing the forums for infractions. I wish to emphasize that we have no desire to make our users uncomfortable by any means and they should not feel pressured to disclose any information they are not comfortable giving us.

Two quick questions:

If my RP partners were online and we wanted to move quickly through a scene, would we be allowed to RP in a chat room on the live chat, and then copy and paste the progress made into our RP forum so we could reference back to it? And would we need to contact a mod to do this?

For mature topics in RPing. What if an RP involves something that says it should be avoided, but does it in a PG 13 way? I have a character who is a spy and so investigates criminal activity/conspiracies. The way he goes about it is very PG 13, (similar to White Collar or Monk). Would I need to mark this as mature since it involves something illegal?

Okay, so head spinning from trying to keep track of all this, but echoing most of the sentiments already brought up:

“Do not inquire, publicly or privately, about a player’s pets or items that are not explicitly listed or marked for sale.”

This especially feels like over site policing. I mean, yes, I can see how absolutely annoying it gets. I owned pet #10 and this account on here, and I was treated to quite a few PMs on several sites either offering to buy him or be given both for free. There was one person who was especially annoying because of that.
However, I *did* end up selling him to someone who Echo’d me about him. I think a PETS ARE NOT FOR SALE optional tag on a profile would be ideal where a person can choose to be hard and fast about it and people should respect it, which makes more sense than a general ban on inquiries. One would be harassment because someone has explicitly stated something and the person isn’t taking “no” for an answer. The current idea reads that we’re being treated as children? Like the users aren’t capable of being polite mature adults about things.

The other thing is the being careful how comments across thing. I personally have always been horrible at trying to ensure my tone is transferred through text—which is why I adopted all these little expressions x3;;;;—but shouldn’t it be assumed that there is no malice until proven otherwise? I’m concerned because I’d probably stay off the forums completely out of fear that I’d accidentally said something that someone interpreted the wrong way. I’m still suffering from really, really bad post-concussion symptoms and it’s just too taxing.

Just a heads up everyone - most of the staff team is getting ready to head to bed for the evening, so any additional responses will be delayed. Just know that you are not being ignored… we are still reading each of your comments, and will reply to your questions and concerns tomorrow! Thanks for all of your feedback so far!

Okay so after reading all this, I have to say thanks staff for clarifying any and all questions I might have had. :) I’m really digging this new tagging system!! Seems very handy and useful.

Um, quick question about the copy/paste of old RPs… mine and Blemy’s was transferred over from Digis and is active here, but we had contacted Glitch about moving it before we did, so is that still okay for us to continue it? :o *wants to be extra sure*

(and to any staff heading off for the evening - thanks for your hard work! rest well!)

Amaterasu

Thank you for referring to posts I have already read. I’m sorry if I made that part of my post unclear. What I mean was that maybe an example could be posted under the rule. This would be for first time users. People who won’t see your post and be directed to it.

I’ve never had a problem with the rule in the past. I actively like rules that mention using proper grammar and spelling because it avoids the obsessive amounts of chat speak. What I don’t like is feeling uncomfortable. I know it’s mentioned that every post will not be policed for small mistakes. However, this rule could eventually allow for that to happen.

This rule change could very well make users feel uncomfortable. It hasn’t been stated how the flagging process works. Can everyone can see the flag or is it just the person being flagged? If it’s aired for everyone, this could make some users embarrassed for mistakes made.

To me this flagging system feels like you’re telling users that they are wrong and that they have to fix it, or else.

As I stated above: people shouldn’t even have to consider messaging someone about a disability. Some people do not what their disability known to strangers. People struggle with their disabilities in their own way and should be allowed to have the freedom not to disclose it if they choose. But the way this rule seemingly works, they have to disclose disabilities or their posts will be continuously flagged.

I understand that this is meant to educate the userbase on proper grammar and spelling. However, to the average user it could feel like this is something that undermines users who are being flagged.

Thank you taking the time to listen to the concerns of a user. I’ve voiced my concerns. This will be the last post I make about it as I do not want to get into trouble for discussing this for too long.

I have a question about the thread hiding. If I make a post and hide it, would it then only be visible to myself and I assume staff? Would there be no other way that regular users could search for the the thread (such as viewing my post history or searching the boards for specific terms? And if so, would others be invited specifically to view the thread or would they simply be able to access it by having the link?

I am also curious as to the intent behind this. If users are using the proper tagging system as for their content and following site rules, why then would they also want to make the thread completely private save for staff and perhaps one or more other allowed users?

edit: Mythic while I can understand your concern about people not wanting to have to reveal their disabilities, when you have a disability, if you want accommodations in school or on the job, the only way you get those accommodations is by telling the school or employer. That is reasonable in the real world so, personally, I feel the same should hold true here. As a disabled person, I would feel much more comfortable telling a staff member so that I were not penalized for my disability. I am fortunate in that my disability doesn’t affect my ability to post clear and concise posts (though in large part that is due to taking a lot of time on my posts as well as relying heavily on spell check and occasionally using fonts specifically designed for people with dyslexia that make reading much easier); however, if it became an issue, I would still be glad to ask for accommodations here (or wherever else I might need them.) Personally, I don’t think it’s fair to give everyone accommodations because they might have a disability and some with disabilities may not want to come forward and admit it, even in private to staff.

Arintol: If you are bringing it over from a Mycena Cave live chat, then you can copy/paste it on the forums (as it is technically original content made on Mycena Cave).

As for your second question I’m going to double check on that before giving you an concrete answer just to make sure the information I’m giving you is accurate. (It might be in the morning EST because many of us have turned in for the night).

Lala: With that specific rule we’ve had users come to us uncomfortable with being asked for things that were not up for sale, never intended for sale and have personal significance to them. It’s unnerving to some people just being contacted by someone they’ve never talked to before privately going “Hey can I buy this”. And while we believe our users can handle that situation, we do not wish to put them in that position if we can prevent it. If you are welcome to inquiry about sales not specifically stated, for the moment you are welcome to post it on your userpage and/or sales thread.

In regards to the second point, the transfer of tone through text is always something tough. We always want to assume the best in each other and this rule really just stems back to our original “don’t be mean to each other” rule but was found that was too vague and not specific enough. I’ve briefly looked through your post history and I think the way you express yourself sounds very honest and polite and I’m sorry I can’t give you a better answer at the moment. You would never be unreasonably banned for one awry post - at most we would contact you in regards to that post and help you understand where the misunderstanding occurred. 

[@Toothless]: Anything that has previously been given the okay to be posted on site in regards to copy/pasting is still allowed. Plus what you are writing now is new content! :D (We’ve always had the rule about new content - we’re just now explicitly stating it and how to deal with it if you -have- to move something to Mycena Cave).

Mythic: That is a good suggestion and that could be something we edit into the rules to ease the fear of being flagged. In regards to flagging - the only people involved in that would be the moderator who flags it and the person who is flagged. No one else will know - it will not be a public icon and is cancelled as soon as an edit is made to the post in question. (We may add that addendum/ clarification that all flags are private if it would be better for it to be clearly stated.) We would never publicly embarrass an user over something that can be privately solved. Again, if a person doesn’t want their disability to be known to me - I honestly wouldn’t have a clue that they had one. Looking at all the incredible content that has been posted on Mycena Cave I could count on one hand the number of posts I would actually consider using the flagging feature for. It’s more of a new alternative to how we approach this rule as people tend to be more intimidated when we echo them in regards to their posts. I understand if you do not wish to discuss this further on this thread but if you would still like to discuss this with me privately, please let me know.

malkav: It only hides it from the Recent Posts, it does not hide it from all users. Private threads are not a feature of Mycena Cave.

(I will be turning in for the night now as I have an early day tomorrow. I’ll answer more responses tomorrow when I can. :D )

Alright, thank you Ama and all the other staff members for your hard work and quick responses! c:

My thoughts on the changes…I’ll keep it brief since I don’t have too much to add at the moment:

- I do love most of the upcoming features. The content descriptors in particular will be useful, since [M] doesn’t mean a whole lot as it encompasses numerous things.

- I don’t like the flagging for grammar one, not as it’s currently described. I don’t like the idea of people being banned from posting in the forums until a post is updated. We should encourage good writing, yes, but people shouldn’t have to feel like they’re in English class. If there wasn’t the posting ban, I’d be okay with it. Ploo summed up my thoughts perfectly. Looking through, if it’s just a spam-preventative measure, then I don’t have problems with that. Come to think of it, if it were utilized as some members were fearing, then that would contradict the rule about not giving criticism unless it’s asked for.

- I don’t have any major issues with the rules or the tweaks. I can understand concerns about MC rules extending off-site—it’s a similar issue I’m facing as staff on another site—but, it’s always been a rule. It’s nothing new. I interpreted the second bullet point the same way Tarot did.

Pine Yes, it’s essentially part-content, part-grammar, part-spam measure as those tend to go a bit in hand as we would only use it in extreme cases (as in my example with Firkasa as my scapegoat). No one is going to flag a post for they’re instead of their or anything minor. As long as we can still reasonable understand what you are trying to express, there will be no issues.

(I swear I’m going to put down my phone and go to sleep. :|! )

Arintol Just checked in with some other members of staff. If someone portrays a mature subject in a PG-13 manner, it’s fine to not mark it as mature. If a player is conflicted about how to tag a subject matter, per our revised rules:

Note: If you think your roleplay falls “in between” a category, or if you are unsure of which category, it is best to pick the category that promotes the more restrictive viewing.

Thanks for your patience. :)

malkav okay, i’m sorry if i’m kind of butting in here, but i feel that i want to say something. and also i’m sorry if anything i say comes off as attacking or aggressive or anything — if it does, I DON’T MEAN IT AT ALL, but please tell me what it is i said that comes off that way.
okay, so, i get what you mean, but… to put it simply, not everyone is you. yes, i agree it’s reasonable in the real world to let people know you’re disabled so they can accommodate you, but even despite that, not everyone is that easily comfortable with sharing that information, whether that is practical and “realistic” or not. for some, telling other people you’re disabled is a struggle in itself. some people are more than just mildly uncomfortable with it; some people could, for example, find themselves constricted by anxiety so much that they’re completely unable to get themselves to say it, no matter how much they want to try.
and what is “realistic” does not make it any less of a struggle. in fact, those kinds of expectations requiring them to do something they’re uncomfortable with doing or have trouble doing is often what makes their lives harder, rather than helping them become more open about their disability. and the fact that they’d be telling complete strangers about it doesn’t help.
thus, i believe that disabled people should not be expected or required to make it known that they’re disabled. and i can only be glad for you that you don’t have as much trouble with this particular obstacle as other disabled people do.

and now for the staff… seeing as, out of all the posts on mycena cave, you could “could count on one hand” the number of posts that would actually be considered for flagging (quote Amaterasu), the whole unintelligible posts thing doesn’t seem like that big a problem. so do we really need a “make one post and your forum activity is temporarily suspended” rule? like, it’s just one post, and as of now, people only make that kind of post every once in a blue moon, from what i gather. so does the rule really need to be that serious and strict about it?
as far as that goes, i’m more leaning towards Nyfeaena’s suggestion: “Perhaps, if it’s a fixed idea, have it so that once you reach X number of flags you are unable to post.”
it seems like it’s only really a problem if a user continuously posts completely unintelligible content. what’s the harm of one or two of those posts, when other users could just either scroll past or ask to clarify what it means? that’s why i think the rule is too strict — if we even need it in the first place, with these kinds of posts being rare and of little concern to begin with.
and one more thing. i think maybe some people have said something along these lines already, but i think the rules should be worded more clearly to convey that the flagging is targeting confusing posts rather than just posts with flawed grammar and spelling, because there’s a lot more of the latter than the former. and having examples on the rules page, like the one Amaterasu gave, would definitely clear a lot of things up too.

Hi, I have just one question. This part perplexed me a bit.

(Excuse the wonky formatting, I’m copypasting.)

Categorize your threads based on type of content:

  Public and not tagged with a content descriptor.
...
      May contain mild violence, infrequent use of strong language, and/or minimal suggestive content/themes. Liken a public, un-tagged thread to a PG-13 movie.
        Example of use: If your character gets hit, don’t go into graphic detail. If they curse, then it’s only a couple of times.
      Avoid topics that discuss anything illegal.
      Avoid controversial subjects.

  Public and tagged with a content descriptor.

      Anyone on Mycena Cave can view a thread tagged with a content descriptor, but the viewer is informed that it may contain sensitive content, whether it be topic, themes, or language. If you tag a thread with a content descriptor, we recommend filling in the content notes to detail why the thread is tagged with a content descriptor, so that other users can make an informed decision about viewing the thread.

      Strong language, heavy violence, and/or sexual content/themes are allowed. Liken a public, tagged thread to an R movie.
        Example of use: Your character curses like a sailor and injuries are detailed more explicitly.
      Respectful discussion, roleplay, art, or creative writing involving controversial or sensitive topics is allowed.
      Be careful to not sanction illegal activities in discussions or roleplays.
      Be cautious and respectful when discussing or roleplaying controversial topics.
      ...

I’m just puzzled as to what “public, tagged thread to a ___ movie” means. Do you mean like a movie trailer, or TV advertisement?

I ask because I write stories that, according to guidelines on other writing sites, tend to fall into the PG-13 category. Mild swearing, mild adult situations (nothing overtly sexual, but occasional references that would not be appropriate for a G rating), but especially violence. The violence in my PG-13-rated stories goes way beyond a character getting hit and not going into graphic detail. It isn’t what I’d call R rated, but definitely more than just a hit.

So for me to tag such writing as the equivalent of R rated is odd to me, since I do have other writing which is more R rated and it’s not nearly as mild as my PG-13 stuff. :/

...

*deletes a paragraph*

...

I’m not sure I’m making sense or even understanding this subsection at all. :/ Basically, as it’s currently phrased, it seems that PG-rated stories on Mycena Cave should be rated PG-13, and PG-13 content should be rated R.

...

No, that’s not right, either. I guess it’s the bit about if your character gets hit, don’t go into graphic detail. I guess that’s really the point that puzzles me. Take a look at just how graphic PG-13 movies can be nowadays (even in terms of sexuality). What would constitute being too graphic in regards to violence in a PG-13 story? And as I said, the “public, tagged thread to a ___ movie” bit confuses me as well.

...

OR, is all that you’re really saying here is, “This is a PG-13 or below thread so it’s safe and you don’t need to tag it; and this is an R-rated thread so it’s not safe and you do need to tag it”? Basically, “safe” and “non-safe” threads? If so, all right, but I still wonder what counts as too much violence in “safe” threads.

Sorry for all this, I’m more perplexed than I thought. I’ll regret posting this, as usual. ;_;

I have to agree with the others who have commented that these rules are worded oddly. It makes it seem more concrete and absolute than it actually is, while also confusing in some places, like

“Post new, original content.
Copy/pasting material such as your old stories or old roleplays from other sites to our paid forums is not allowed.”

I might just be tired from work but my brain stopped working for a second trying to figure out of you guys put in a new Premium paid forum or something, and that wasn’t the only spot. XD

Personally I’m happy with most of the rule changes. Some stuff like the grammar rule I’ve never really seen happen in the forums for it to be a big deal, much like a couple others. In fact some people expressing concern about it seem quite literate to me. I can understand the worry for disabled people, but if they’re able to type in the forums and have their message be understood, it will never be a problem. If they can’t type coherently then there is voice typing software that, while not infallible, would make it easier, and some of them are free. I’m not trying to be mean, just helpful. If someone can’t type coherently then chances are they aren’t going to have a good time on a forum unless they just like lurking. As moderators addressed, it would just be targeted to stuff that looks spammy like gibberish strings or like you rolled your face across the keyboard.

I am happy about the no soliciting rule. It has happened to me before where someone echoed me asking about something I didn’t have for sale, and while they’ve dropped it quickly after I tell them ‘no’, it made me annoyed because I clearly have a Trading Thread for a reason. The people made a conscious decision to contact me, while I did not ask for solicitation, so a rule like this does place the responsibility on the person making the decision rather than the people who aren’t. I shouldn’t have to add a note to my profile just to get people to not echo me wanting to buy stuff that’s not in my trade thread. I know one or two people recently have had people contact them that wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, wouldn’t stop hounding them, adjusting offers that were flat out rejected, etc. 

If you are open to trading out side of your Trading Thread, that is your decision to make clear in your profiles.

It’s kind of like, as someone expressed before, someone barging into your house and making an offer on your couch. It’s rude, it’s annoying, and if someone seems to really have their heart set on that couch it makes you feel like the bad guy despite this person coming in uninvited.

The no off-site bullying rule isn’t that unusual, and basically what it just means, as I interpret it, is that if you use your Mycena Cave name and imply/state that you’re affiliated with MC, and then proceed to bash, harass, abuse, or otherwise bully someone, you will be banned here because that type of behavior isn’t something that anyone should want spilling into our forums and chats, and if that behavior off-site is directed at a user here then the person doing it doubly doesn’t belong here.
I can see some issues with this one with Identity Theft type bullying… Will there be consideration for this type of behavior if it ever crops up?

[@cavebopper]
“If a topic/word makes you uncomfortable, politely request that it is dropped.”

Why is it worded this way when we have to obey? If they are made uncomfortable we either have to drop it or get reported. It’s not them requesting it’s them demanding because it will 100% of the time be an order, backed by staff.

I think this is more meant for genuinely uncomfortable topics, but I might have missed a moderator response reading through all of these posts.

It’s like, if someone asked me to stop talking about a murder reported in the news, I would stop. But if I were having a discussion with someone about my bipolar II diagnosis I would not stop because it’s a real event that personally effects me. I might move it to a different chat room, or mark the thread, but I would not stop talking about it in general. But reading back through the mod responses I don’t think that this was addressed by Dove or Amaterasu?

My biggest concern is the off-site “policing”. While I’ve never posted and/or contributed to an anon blog, although I know they exist for certain sites, and I know they can get really nasty.

Even so, I think anon blogs and the like do serve a purpose in other ways. They are a way for people who may not feel comfortable posting their opinions—nasty or not—on site for a number of reasons.

I think to some degree, it’s a way to vent frustrations about how staff and/or mods handle certain issues. I think as long as these types of blogs do not target any users in particular (named or unnamed), I think they can be useful in terms of feedback.

Just some food for thought.

Solitude hit the nail on the head for my biggest concern in the rule changes. Policing off site behavior on anon blogs is bad practice imo, unless it directly correlates to breaking a rule on site that can be proven (like someone admitting to scamming or something and the person can be traced back to Mycena).  Otherwise opinions are just that, and if offsite anon blogs and the posts contained are possible punishment fodder, that is uncomfortable. Like Solitude said, the commentary can be constructive at times and useful. Yes, it sometimes is less tactful and can sound mean. But it’s toeing a fine line. You’re going to have anon blogs just due to being a pet site. I think there’s one for most growing, bigger sites, so as long as targeting and illegal activities aren’t included in these blogs, policing the ‘bullying’ is imo near impossible for them.