Hi. Recently, I've felt that our current rules do not fit the current meta and playerbase, and are outdated in many aspects. I've been thinking about rewriting them in full, but I figured that a more open approach would allow for everyone to be more content if such a thing happened. I want to use this thread to talk about discrepancies in the system and how to appropriately fix or address them. I believe that the rules are not accessible enough based on website design alone and how they are handled. This leads to a lot of complaints that could be thinned down if people came together and defined the rules in such a way that can make everyone (mostly) happy. I want to use this thread as a placeholder and for people to be critical as much as they please with aspects of the report system also, and how we as a team could possibly improve it or get lucid to notice that it is in need of an overhaul. It's a very daunting task, but I want to believe that the people who spend their time in the complaints section, constantly riding on mods or problems with the site, finally will put their money with their mouth is.
The goal of this thread is to hopefully allow new and old users thoroughly understand the rules more clearly so the amount of reports diminishes and people have a more enjoyable experience.
deletedover 9 years
I'm on board with shortening the rules or doing what AMime suggested with the whole 'seperate page that summarizes the rules.' Now it's just a matter of getting the rest of my team on board instead of looking like I'm making all the shots.
deletedover 9 years
then they are wrong
deletedover 9 years
seriously do something about "trolling"
deletedover 9 years
Intent is part of the rule definition... it's not "precedent" at all.
it may sound a bit iffy but if you leave the rules more vague it gives moderators more power, not less.
deletedover 9 years
Okay, but what about people like me who scream when they see a mod giving someone GT disregarding their intent?
deletedover 9 years
I know it has, Calvin. And as I said, fixing it just isn't worthwhile because short of cutting out a bunch of rules, it'd just create opacity that would leave people always feeling hard done by by the mods - a worse situation than the present.
Modding by precedent has been, and always will be, a stupid idea that ignores the fact that almost no reports are identical. Using precedents takes away a mods ability to analyse things; and turns them into a mindless drone who can't use logic on reports which don't fit into a neat category/precedent.
as for other fixes, i think the organic approach is the best - people learn best when they play with friends or just friendly people. incentivize old players to go play red/unranked and teach new players. mentor system maybe? lol that's like the band aid solution that's always touted.
deletedover 9 years
"Hey, try out this fun new game. It's really cool, with teams of players working out who the liars are. But first, READ THIS 1000 WORD ESSAY AND MEMORISE ALL OF IT. Wouldn't want you breaking the rules!"
deletedover 9 years
I like this. I really do feel the rules need to be intricate for the modding aspect however so that the new mods understand precedents. How will we accompany that?
deletedover 9 years
yeah neither i just happened to scroll through the reports section and saw that report yesterday, also the disconnect has always been a part of EM and if you try to resolve that you're gonna end up creating new problems.
make the rules more accessible and easier to read. tie them to basic sportsmanship clauses rather than some arbitrary ruleset that this site just kinda has. i tried this with the wikia attempt: http://epicmafia.wikia.com/wiki/Rules main point: it's clearly written as a brief code of conduct rather than a reference book used to remember the specifics of the rules.
like, maybe keep the current rules as it is but have a separate page that summarizes the rules
deletedover 9 years
And well, Calvin, I haven't paid any attention to anything the mods have done since bell left. I barely log on once every couple of days as it is.
deletedover 9 years
The disconnect is there because nobody wants to read an essay before they play games. Nobody will ever want to read an essay before they play games. Go on the rules page on 90% of games websites and it's barely even needing a scroll. All the elaboration is the source of the disinterest.
Of course, taking away the elaboration creates a different problem entirely (perceived injustice). So the real solution is to take away (some) rules. But that won't happen; so the disconnect is here to stay.
deletedover 9 years
The problem is getting their attention.
deletedover 9 years
Caremad Idiot Talks To Himself, Spectators Watch In Amusement
the rule still lists it as "excessive insults" which doesn't make it seem like you'll get a vio for saying the n-word once but that's how it's being modded.
deletedover 9 years
The fact the rules page is longer than the Dungeons and Dragons manual is probably the big problem there.
