Set of rules and moderator

i have suggested in another thread that mabee the fanfic part of the forum should be moderated by its own moderator. i nominated Leo van Miert as he does fanfic and is a dedicated roboteer and generally a nice bloke. objections welcome its just an idea. also if you fanfic guys made up some basic fanfic rules then mabee ask the fra for help in making these rules so as to make the fanfic world a better place. we as roboteers have a strict set of build rules and saftey rules and a on light rule :) but fanfic could mabee do a set of rules to suit fanfic. well up to you guys cos its your forum.

Shane aka The Swan

(Message edited by swanaldo on May 27, 2008)

I second that nomination!

I third it :proud: although I do recall that there was a campaign to get a standard set of rules a while back, that apparently didnt go too well...Im all for the idea though.

Gentlemen,
Please see...
http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/discus/messages/760/12557.html?1211896591http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/disc...tml?1211896591

I agree that the fanfic section could use a moderator. While most of us only use this as a game of stats and words, some of us have begun to prove that todays vapourboteers are tomorrows roboteers, and itd be a shame if that enthusiasm got curbed by spammers.

I dont think we need a set of universal rules, but an agreed ettiquette would be good. Something like Read Marks posts and do the opposite... Or to put it another way, dont spam, dont bring threads back from the dead, dont harrass the tournie writers into moving at a faster pace, dont use vapours that havent been entered, etc. If this could all be posted in a thread and made sticky so it cant be bumped down the page, thatd be good.

But most importanly, if you find someone bothersome, dont post that no-one likes them and would they please remove their presence from the forum. Because what happened with Mark is the following:

Mark - I says something stupids!!
Someone nameless - Mark just GO AWAY!
Someone else nameless - I agree with nameless person 1. Were all tired of you.
Mark - Now I says something insultings to teh nameless peoples.
Someone nameless - Now youre insulting us, so Im going to list all of your faults, add in the fact that you dont listen and tell you to go away again!

...and so on. One stupid post leads to an entire argument because people simply cant ignore him. Its seriously tiresome to read through.

Id like to propose a solution, although I dont know if it will be possible. Some forums Ive been to have an ignore function where you can chose to have all the posts of someone removed when you browse the forum. They can still post, but you cant read what theyre saying. If something like this can be installed, itll remove the troll problem and the additional problem of people yelling at the trolls to go away.

I agree with most things said, and I think Leo would be perfect for this role. I rather dont see a regular vapourboteer take the role as our moderator since bias is around the corner. Some of us regular vapourboteers may have some very specific rules in mind, whereas I trust Leo to be neutral enough to pull this off.

If we are to addept a set of rules, I dont wish to see rules regarding specifically how to make a vapourbot or how to do a tournament, things along the line of the maximum weight limit for walkers should be 150 kg. I believe every tournament writer should have the liberty to set his own rules.

An example of a very good rule would be dont use someone elses tournaments/vapourbots/whatevers without their permission. Mark broke this rule on MANY ocasions, hijacking tournaments, using robots that are not his, using results of past tournaments for his own tournaments (like when Flick of the Wrist (which I NEVER entered in one of his tournaments) was a seed based on his performance in one of LIAMs tournaments, both I and Liam got angry) and even copying someones RPG directly. From a fanfic point of view rather than a general FRA point of view, Id say these are major offences.

Something else Id like to see as a rule/suggestion is for inexperienced people to start of in the How to improve topic. I also believe the How to improve topic could use a sticky ;)

Id personally rather not have stuff like dont use someone elses tournaments / vapourbots / whatevers without their permission as a rule. Its not that I see breaking it as something I want, but personally its just good etiquette to follow that, and having it as rules make it a bit too dictatorial for my taste.

I agree on the sticky for the how to improve. Perhaps also just a quick locked sticky thread acting as a welcome to the fanfic section covering stuff like the aforementioned etiquette, the basics of vapourboteering (what it is and how to do it) and some general newbie Q&As. Id be happy to write it if it sounds like a good idea to people.

I agree largely with what Martijn posted in the €œA Vacation€ thread. I understand the Forum Admin Team€™s decision to not suspend Mark€™s account earlier. To be fair to him, Mark was not breaking any of the forum rules, and so he had no reason to be banned. However just because what he was doing wasn€™t wrong, it doesn€™t mean that what he was doing was right. I hate to be critical, but maybe where this is where the forum rules could more specific. This is where there becomes a divide between the roboteering sections and the vapourbot sections of the forum. So I agree that a set of rules specific to this section would be appropriate.

There are some unofficial rules of FanFic that we expect people to adhere to. Common sense would tell you that stealing other people€™s designs or tournaments is against the €œrules€. However, as this sort of common conduct is not an official rule, it can be abused at ease. Both Tim and Mark have shown this in the past. As unlikely as it is that someone else will successfully abuse these rules again - it€™s a problem that needs to be solved.

As Martijn said, I believe the problem is the divide between the two areas of the forum. As I€™m sure many people know, I do not agree at all with the FanFic section being moderated by someone who has a very limited knowledge of what we do here. That is just my opinion, and I know a lot of others agree with me. But at the end of the day that is down to the administrators. What I am trying to say is that we need someone who properly understands the situation. Mark posting old PTT3 battles in a new thread means very little to you guys. Where as we take it as an offensive action. It is something we just don€™t tolerate.

I hope you understand where I am coming from, and am not in any way criticising the moderation of this area. Last time we requested a moderator for this section, it would not have been appropriate. I believe now is the time to give someone the role of overlooking this area. I thank Shane and Leo for understanding what we do here, rather than laughing it off like many others do. I appreciate your support very much, and I agree 100% that a moderator of this section and also a specific set of rules would work very well. Likewise, I thank Geoff for listening to our suggestions and hope that something can be made of this.

However my only complaint would be that if a moderator is in fact chosen, I believe it should be someone more experienced. No offence is meant to Leo, or whoever else, but I think if this was to go ahead then someone with more knowledge of this game would be required. Should the decision for a moderator go ahead, I too would wish to apply as a candidate. I hope a solution can be worked out from this and I thank everyone for helping out. :)

A moderator just for the fan-fic section is a good idea because he or she could edit or delete any posts which cause arguments or libellous.

i suggested Leo for his maturity and his non biased attitude he would have. i believe he has enough knowledge of fanfic to be a moderator. a set of basic rules about fanfic and how to behave here on a sticky (as you describe it) is a good idea.

I agree on the non biased issue - nothing at all against Andy, but I think Leo has adequate knowledge of what goes on while being suitably distanced from the interpersonal issues that might crop up in order to have responsibility. Admittedly, my opinion doesnt count for all that much :) but its what I think.

I think a sticky is an excellent idea, as when I arrived I had no idea I should read How Can I Improve... As at the time it was quite low down and even if it had been at the top the title doesnt actuallys scream out to newcomers. After Martijn directed myself and Mark to that thread people gave us both very good advice in a friendly manner. I followed the advice and Im not doing at all badly now, Mark, on the other hand ignored the advice and did the same things over and over, and got steadily worse when he started stealing vapours etc.

How Can I Improve... Is a fantastic idea of AJs, but a sticky for newcomers would help a lot- take a look at Robot Coliseum... and youll see why:)

I agree with much of what was said up here earlier, but when it comes down to picking the moderator, it can get a little tiresome. Id certainly be a candidate for being the mod of this section, but I dont think the past three months are good examples of my leadership. :)

If I were to recommend a moderator, I would recommend Frank Goacher. Hes actually quite known to the entire forum, and has been since the FRA Forum started. Not only that, but he is one of the main ones who started Fanfic robotics, so I believe he has earned much credit and deserves the position more than any of us.

Gentlemen,
Im all for healthy debate, but this needs to go before the committee before anything happens.
So can we wait for due process before getting too carried away!

Yes, I think I went on a little too long. Apologies for jumping the gun.

You gotta hold a meeting just to assign forum moderators in a section that is fan based..... Your kidding right? :lame:

How long till we have to pay FRA membership to post here? :uhoh:

quote:

You gotta hold a meeting just to assign forum moderators in a section that is fan basedOf course, the forum is a FRA regulated thing and you are its guests. Whatever changes happen on this forum needs approval from the committee.
quote:

How long till we have to pay FRA membership to post here?You already should have, years ago, Ill send you my bank account number so you can make your deposit. :)
But seriously though, that this is not something you decide without approval of the FRA main body is self evident.