Chat rules

[Zelgadis 638]

Just a friendly reminder about the chat rules. It's been a very long while since we've had a revision. Rules 7, 11, and 13, in particular, have been changed. Regardless of changes, please go over them carefully if you have not for awhile. The Administration has instructed the staff to begin enforcing the rules with renewed vigor.

Chat Rules

1. Keep it clean, profanity is not allowed, don't use language you wouldn't use around your mother or small children.

2. Capitalizing whole phrases is considered rude and also spam.

3. Use of Obscene linkage or Obscene language in the chat will result a ban from the chat, or a permanent ban from the website.

4. The primary language of Simtropolis Chat is English. If you would like to speak in another language, we ask that you open your own room.

5. No talk promoting piracy is allowed. If you admit to using pirated software, you may have your account temporarily banned from chat.

6. The Golden Rule applies! Treat others as you would like to be treated.

7. Religious and/or political debates have their place in the Current Events and Off Topic forums, not in the chat room..

8. Clones are only allowed when used in separate rooms.

9. Users are not to ask to become an op, mod, admin, or dirktator. If you have what it takes, you will be chosen.

10. Excessive repetition of words, symbols, numbers, etc is also considered spamming.

11. Do not attack another person, their heritage, their religion, their ethnicity, their gender, their sexual orientation, or their homeland. There is no tolerance for prejudice.

12. Respect others. Deliberate provocation of other users is not allowed. We reserve the right to exclude mean people. (Just be nice).

13. This is a PG-13 room. Material is expected to be suitable for everyone. Any discussion that is explicitly sexual is forbidden.

14. Chronic abuse of these rules will result in the user being banned from chat.

[Larks2242 251]

Glad to have something to link to in chat for new members, thanks for the update.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

PG-13 is different from "general audience." Rated G movies can be watched by 12 year old children and their 5 year old siblings without supervision. There are differences. PG-13 movies have violence, mild language, or an occasional strong word. Why am I arguing. I will just use facebook chat, skype, MSN Messenger, or whatever else to talk about anything of any entertainment value or intelligence. Civil rights and equality are both political and half the things other people talk about on chat when I am around revolved around that. I am a senior member with double digit reputation and thousands of posts.

Long story short, I will not use chat in the future and I will not be donating. I might even try to find new forums but last year I had a bad experience.

[jacksunny 741]

Shouldn't this be pinned?

  Edited July 24, 2011 by jacksunny  

[Ocram's Razr 963]

1. On the off chance I get back into SimCity 4, I will donate to get all the STEX collections.

2. I have created accounts at other forums and found some promising new ones but I doubt I will stop making good posts here.

[Larks2242 251]

PG-13 is different from "general audience." Rated G movies can be watched by 12 year old children and their 5 year old siblings without supervision. There are differences. PG-13 movies have violence, mild language, or an occasional strong word. Why am I arguing. I will just use facebook chat, skype, MSN Messenger, or whatever else to talk about anything of any entertainment value or intelligence. Civil rights and equality are both political and half the things other people talk about on chat when I am around revolved around that. I am a senior member with double digit reputation and thousands of posts.

Long story short, I will not use chat in the future and I will not be donating. I might even try to find new forums but last year I had a bad experience.

Thats fine, but you don't need to make a big deal out of it, Its understandable why that rule is in place not everyone is old enough for above PG-13, people can still have an intelligent chat without strong language, no need to get all angry and boycott chat about it.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I could dutifully notify moderators about every single chat infraction I notice.

[Titanicbuff 1,262]

Everyone talks politics in chat anyway- rarely does it offend anyone and everyone seems to join in.

[LReyome254 6]

I don't see anywhere in the rules that says that if you are a mod, you cannot open a room that is needed if the room is not there (Help Desk)

[deathtopumpkins 43]

That's because it doesn't? Anyone, mod or not, can open a room that is needed.

Note the emphasis, however. If a new room is not needed, I strongly discourage you from opening it, as it is usually unnecessary. The social lounge is typically able to handle many simultaneous conversations, and it helps to keep people there so they can help any new members who come in with questions.

[XV infinity VX 18]

So the help desk isnt needed? In many members view it is.

[Haljackey 17,241]

The help desk is a good alternate room to help members that need help when the social longe becomes busy and difficult to keep track of due to multiple discussions happening simultaneously.

I for one believe the help desk works well when this happens, because the creation of the room is warranted and is started by a member with a good deal of SC4-based knowledge capable of aiding other members who require help.

-Sometimes the help desk room will become flooded with experienced SC4 players, which is great as long as they're in a position aimed at helping other members out. However, some off-topic conversations may begin here which is fine, unless it gets to the point where they begin to overwhelm conversations between those who need help and those that are giving it. That defies the very reason why the help desk was created in the first place because it's basically become another social lounge at this point.

  Edited June 7, 2012 by Haljackey  

[b22rian 153]

I agree with connor that it is best to open the help desk when there is a need for a few help questions.

It is certainly a room that dosent have to be kept open 24/ 7 as others have mentioned to me it should be .

The one small advantage usually of help desk over the social lounge is , it is often easier to help others

in there with few people and distractions when the lounge is fairly crowded.

it just a better chat environment to help, similar to a quiet library over a noisy break room at work at

certain times. I will always be happy and willing to open the room if you feel we still have the need for it

here in chat. What do others think ?

Thanks, Brian

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Well, for instance, yesterday, a Help Desk room was opened, while the Social Lounge wasn't crowded at all and there was no need for members to be helped out. In this case, the Help Desk is useless...

In more crowded situations AND when people really need help AND there's some expertise available in the Help Desk then yes, a Help Desk would be usefull. But this is not always the case...

[Vahr 341]

We are still in process of reviewing operational policy for the Help Desk. In the meantime, the room can be opened after asking a moderator and gaining their approval, for seminars, and for extended help sessions. You may create an alternate room if you feel uncomfortable in the social lobby and would rather socialize with a select few others, but no room abuse.

[elavery 1,013]

I think you guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill.

[Boggy1 45]

Hello, I would like to bring up the issue that I think a lot of the time the moderation in the chat is heavy handed, unfair, bizarre, and random. I think that the chatroom as it stands currently is not a nice place for a lot of people to be in a lot of the time. Can this please be rectified?

[Timmystwin 201]

^I agree. I know there is a job to be done when it comes to moderation, and I know that chat has to be kept PG 13, but I think that recently there has been a general increase in the penalties. Normally I wouldn't care, if you do break said rules you deserve it. But on borderline cases, where the vast majority of people would think what happened was fine, kicks and bans have been handed out with no warning.

I wont mention names, but is there anyway something can be done? I'm not asking for a re-write of the rules, they're decent enough. But just a slight ease in the harshness of the moderation.

[CaptCity 4,669]

Please remember that Chat is a place where everyone is welcome and should feel comfortable while participating. The rules above are taken serious by the staff at Simtropolis and all attempts are made to enforce them in a serious and consistent manner.

Regardless of whether the majority of the participants view something as appropriate or not. the rules are in place for a reason. That said, if any situation arises that needs further clarification or explanation, feel free to contact the administration. Specific issues will not be discussed in an open, public forum.

Thanks

[Boggy1 45]

Hey captcity, actually zelgladis told me I could bring up any issues in this thread specifically.

Anyway, considering most of the userbase thinks the rules are being too harshly enforced; created an awful unwelcome atmosphere, don't you think you guys are doing something wrong, not us?

[riiga 233]

Chat is a place where everyone is welcome and should feel comfortable while participating.

If people don't feel welcome as described by boggy1 and timmystwin, then the above statement doesn't add up. I find that a bit contradictory.

  Edited June 25, 2012 by riiga  

[chicah 20]

Just a tip: You say everyone should feel welcome, but NO ONE feels welcome if you can get banned before you have the time to spell out the word "revolution". Don't ged ahead of yourselves - this is just a SimCity website, no one died and made the chat mods kings.

[Meg 368]

Okay, I was reading through the past few hours of the chat logs. What I saw was people, who know better, being rather nasty about other people, some of whom were in the room and some of whom were not.

It's a simple rule, folks: discuss the issues, not each other. There is no reason to be making snarky comments to, or about, other people.

[Zelgadis 638]

Hey captcity, actually zelgladis told me I could bring up any issues in this thread specifically.

That I did.

If anyone has general questions or issues about the rules or how they are enforced, you're more than welcome to bring them up in this thread.

Addressing particular events should be handled in private, or, at the very least, without naming names. No good comes of individual incidents blown up even bigger in the public sphere.

ISF

[Zelgadis 638]

Hello everyone,

In light of recent issues regarding the chat room Help Desk, the chat ops have done some work in order to make the room into something semi-official on the site. Here are the new Help Desk guidelines.

Help Desk Rules

The chat room Help Desk is a quasi-official room to assist any user who's having problems with SC4 or ST. All normal rules that apply to ST chat apply to the Help Desk. Additionally, anyone who enters the Help Desk is entitled to receive consideration to their inquiries.

Who runs the Help Desk?

The Help Desk is run by ST staff and users selected for their knowledge and dedication. The current users selected for this are:

b22rian

tigerbuilder

mayorm

dcmetro

Only ST staff and the above listed users are permitted to create a room in chat entitled "Help Desk" or any permutation thereof. When none those in charge of the Help Desk are available, the room shall be closed. Opening of the Help Desk by anyone other than those listed will result in a stern warning. A second offense will result in an automatic 7-day ban from the site.

How do I get on that list of people who run the Help Desk?

First of all, you don't get there by asking, so don't. You get there by being a helpful, polite member of the ST community. We notice such things and when there is an opening, we will contact the people we feel are suitable for the task.

Can I socialize in the Help Desk room?

Yes. However, be advised that the primary function of the Help Desk is to provide assistance to those who ask. If any ST staff or the above listed users ask you to settle down so they can better assist someone, please do so.

[zaclovesdogs 1]

i think some rules are just rediculos ...

though alot are reasonable, like pg-13 rule

[elavery 1,013]

I think it is a shame that Help Desk has died out, I know I received so much help from fellow players there.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Well, the regular chat is also open for help and most of the time, I saw people ended up there, disregarding the help desk at all. It became a more glorified chat room than an actual help desk...

[Haljackey 17,241]

The 'Help Desk' is really only needed when the social lobby is quite active and the majority of the discussion is not-SC4 related or becomes to difficult to participate in a conversation where someone is trying to help another out. This room provides a heaven free of the rest of the chatter and is set up once the conditions are right.

At anytime another room or a private chat with the member trying to help you can always be set up as well. Just because there isn't a help desk does not mean help will not be provided in the chat room.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I think the point of the help desk in chat is a place to which to adjourn when you are having trouble with the very busy social lobby and you are trying to help someone. Anyone can always suggest the request for assistance interaction be moved there.