I speak in past tense because as time went on, that "tease" thing I was talking about somehow turned into "flame" somewhere along the way, and it happens all too often lately... R&R is/was a great outlet to vent frustrations, no matter how trivial. But there is becoming more and more contemptuous, conceited, and disrespectful replies that do nothing but shoot people down, effectively closing the "outlet"... seeing as people are having to step more and more lightly in this place because there is always a horde of people who either are just plain assholes, or seem to think "tough love" (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean) is the answer to everything, people no longer feel comfortable venting here.
People have bad days. Whether this applies you to personally or not, venting DOES help... The more public, the more it helps. It doesn't take a pshych degree to know this aspect of human nature. When some kid is frustrated because he couldn't find the nerve to ask someone out, THAT IS ALLOWED HERE. Just because there ARE worse things doesn't mean they are not allowed to vent relatively trivial frustrations. I don't like to see people get shot down for trying to relieve frustration.
I'm not saying "No more negative comments ever" seeing as sometimes, in the face of extreme stupidity, pointing and laughing can be very appropriate.
Something else I am also NOT saying is that I want you to pretend to be nice to people because it's the "rules". No, not at all. Here’s an idea, though... If you think someone's rant is stupid and trivial, DON'T REPLY! Then the system of a threaded forum will actually work the way it is supposed to. Unpopular threads sink to the bottom because there are no replies. If you have nothing to contribute except for a "That was dumb" post, generally you shouldn't contribute anything at all. It's not only disrespectuful, but counter productive on ALL sides of the issue.
I can't set a solid list of rules in stone to follow, seeing as it's a matter of respect that I rant about now. And that is, of course, open to interpretation. Well I can tell you that I am the one who is going to interpret. I can also tell you most people will disagree with me from time to time. A few may never disagree, and a few may always. TOO BAD! I promise to be as fair as I can, but if I see anyone acting like a general ass, I am going to start deleting posts, or taking it further if problems persist.
Rants are posted in a manner that adheres to emotion rather then reason, and because of this, flaws can be found in most true rants... whether they be grammatical, ethical, hypocritical, or whatever. If this kind of thing bugs you, don't even read this forum.
People are ALLOWED to make dumb mistakes in their life, and they shouldn't be ruthlessly belittled for venting about them.
People who generally have a good life are ALLOWED to have bad days, and shouldn't be the subject of contempt simply because they decide to rant about something when there are other "real" problems in the world. Small frustrations are just as real, and this is the BEST place to vent them. Or it SHOULD be...
point to note: seeing as I have not much time lately to read the forums, you may find posts that were made 2 or 3 days prior fall under my scrutiny. Just a warning.
[/rant]
To summarize:
- Always try to show due respect. If you believe the poster in question has no respect due toward them at all, don't post at all.
- Never make posts that effectively do nothing but shoot down the thread creator.
- Posts that I find blatantly disrespectful or offensive I will delete on sight, followed by a warning. If the problems persist, offenders could face losing access to the rants and raves forum completely.
- Posts in reference to deleted posts will be edited or deleted as not to create "holes" in the topic
- Remember that this should be a place where people can feel comfortable venting about their frustrations, mistakes, and insecurities. Do not look down on people for making mistakes, or venting about trivial things, as this should be a good place to do both of those. If you don't want to read about it, either don't read this forum at all, or don't read/reply to the thread you don't like.
- Never create a rant about another forum member. No exceptions ever.... I even locked and deleted rants about Mew Guy.
- If you have a problem with myself or another mods actions, take it up in PMs.
