should we bend or break the rules?

[tox]

sometimes...
i have been here for some time now, there is infrequently a lot to talk about.. and the thought came to mind if we as a responsible and fun having group of NG'ers should break or bend rules in special circumstances from time to time to allow the overall group to proceed forward in our online world..
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1205 978
this for example (i know that i have involvement in it) but he got 3 nice responses..
he was honest, to the point, and forthcoming.. and in the NG society this is EXACTLY what we strive for.
i also know that there are others behind me on this one,
that believe that in RARE occasions a rule or two should be bent to allow something to happen like this kind of thread to "fly"... {mods i take exception to you because i know that its your job that you signed up for}
are the rules (although they keep the BBS and NG'ers in line) fallible?
should we bend them from time to time (proposing like once a week) (MAYBE...)
or should we follow the "rules" to such a degree that we become a society of post Nazism command structure legionnaires, instead of a society based on truth, justice, and fun...

thoughts and discussion.

[quanmandetil]

Yes, it was very stupid to ban the guy from Argentina on his first post, considering he probably couldn't speak English very well and didn't know to check the forum guidelines.

[AlexThreeKsKeller]

Rules are made to be challenged.

[Auz]

I understand what you mean and I would be in favor of being more flexible with the rules in some cases, just to increase the fun. The problem is however, if you're gonna bend the rules for once, there will always be users who seize the opportunity to fuck things up.

What you see in almost any topic created by a new user (who kindly introduces himself or asks a question) is that fairly quickly some users will pop in to say mean things, be impolite with helping or try to fool the new user.

The last thing we'd want is that the first impression a user gets from our forum is a negative one. Hence why you probably see most of those topics locked quickly with a kind response from a mod.

At 10/20/10 03:45 PM, quanmandetil wrote: Yes, it was very stupid to ban the guy from Argentina on his first post, considering he probably couldn't speak English very well and didn't know to check the forum guidelines.

Banned? He didn't get banned for it. We just locked his first topic, that's all.

[High-Dark]

Bend the rules!

[Killinkyle]

Banned? He didn't get banned for it. We just locked his first topic, that's all.

we know what you really did...

we know.

[BrainworkInProgress]

bending or breaking the rules...

You will summon the wrath of a great evil stirrin beneath these boards! A being superior to the banhammer itself. It dwells feeding upon those bending the rules, even thinking about doing it will make it feast upon your soul and for you to never be seen again! You will die a horrific death! So I tell you now on this day on: Do not bend or break the rules for it will find you!

poozy is evil :(

[nakedxbabe]

Bend them, he does not speak english well as well as i do, at least i speak enough to know to knowwww AM I RIGHT!

[Ptero]

Fuck them until they limp.

[BrainworkInProgress]

At 10/20/10 05:58 PM, MisterWonderful wrote: Bend them, he does not speak english well as well as i do, at least i speak enough to know to knowwww AM I RIGHT!

no, you are not.

[FireWOLF109]

Well there are TIMES where you have no choice but to break the rules, but those are the only times that you should be able to break a rule

[DP]

I would hope he wasn't banned to bad for that, i feel that Auz had it right saying that there are way to many new users on NG everyday and if we bend the rules for some of them then we have to change the rule completely because it would seem that we let some users post "I'm new" threads while some aren't.

[Auz]

At 10/20/10 06:15 PM, DP36 wrote: I would hope he wasn't banned to bad for that

Again, Schlash was not banned for making that thread (he posted again later that day). As far as I know, a user has never been banned solely because he made a "Hi I'm new" topic.

Also, a locking or deletion of a thread does not necessarily have to go with a ban for the topic starter if that's what you guys were thinking. Often no ban is handed out at all.

[Gagsy]

I just want to say that I completely disagree with the mods who lock those topics quickly. I understand that they all should be locked in the end but I think it would be in the new users best interest if the thread was left open for a bit so they can hear responses first to their questions or even just hellos back.

Seriously I don't think as a new user I would want to spend a lot of time on a forum where my first thread got locked within mere minutes with the simple message of "read the rules". Sure I know the example had better responses from the mods in question but I'd seen my example happen too many times to count from others here.

To be frank, I never read the rules when I first joined, I imagine many of you were the same too. So yeah I think the mods should be a little more forgiving for that and actually give the new user time on their 'hello' thread before locking it and making them look a fool.