What are our site's most useless rules?

[Tefka]

In your opinion, lay it on me. What rule do you think to yourself "why does this exist" or "I wish this didn't exist."

Provide reasoning behind your statement, don't just be a yes man.

Offer something to the conversation.

 

[Lynn Nantaris]

[member="Tefka"]

3,4, and 5 of the general rules. Very important rules, but change some wording and you could condense them down to one rule, ni need to have three separate rules that fall under the same basic thing.

Also rule 15 that rules are able to be changed at anytime. Seems unneeded. Rules change which is a given and should they change an announcement covers that.

Seems less of a rule and more a disclaimer.

 

[Myles Vylumnar]

5. Swearing is strongly discouraged. Excessive and unnecessary swearing is prohibited.

I dunno, this is more of a personal opinion to be honest. I believe that swearing isn't a big deal so long as it's used maturely and obviously not used for the harassment of others. Swearing can help make dialogue and storytelling feel much more immersive, and not just like you're watching a disney movie where people are using silly terms like 'frick' or 'darn' (obviously Chaos is a bit different than that).

Just adding a few words to your vocabulary such as "****", "****", or "*****" can provide opportunity to give more depth to your character. Anyone can say "kark", which sort of takes away from the dirtiness of real swear-words. What do you think would be taken more seriously, "bantha poodoo", or "horse ****"?

Spoiler

Imagine any character on this board getting their hand sliced off. Maybe they'd say something along the lines of:

Spoiler

"Karking hell! I'm gonna kill you, damned schutta!"

Now, imagine a gritty, bitter alcoholic who also gets their hand sliced off:

"F***ing s**t! I'm gonna get you, you goddamned b**chf**k!"

Only a handful of words can add a really nice touch to immersion. I know at this point I'm really just gonna start rambling if I haven't already, so I apologize if what I'm saying seems a bit ramble-y. Also, please excuse the vulgarity.

tl;dr: I don't like censorship.

Spoiler

Doesn't really have to do with the subject, but I think that being PG-13 is too limiting of creative freedom. I understand the necessity, but perhaps a bit of lenience can provide for some really great storytelling. Some of the greatest stories ever told would probably be rated 'R'. Just my two cents.

[member="Tefka"]

EDIT: I noticed that my words were changed to 'kark' and 'poodoo', so I just threw in some asterisks so that this post actually makes sense.

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="Myles Vylumnar"]


Star Wars cussing is legal
Star Wars Insults and Expletives



And saying actual cuss words are discouraged. If you throw one out in a single post of a thread, not much will be done. Breaking any barriers to cussing and cussing up a storm, will get you in trouble.

 

[Myles Vylumnar]

[member="Vixley CM-01"] Yeah, I noticed that, but my point is that it should just completely be allowed, or at least to some larger extent. Also, the site automatically swaps out your words from "f**k" to "kark" I think.

Even then, if it's only discouraged then it's more of a disclaimer than a rule, isn't it?

 

[Tefka]

[member="Myles Vylumnar"]

You'll get the most bang for your buck in this thread if you read the rule you wish to discuss prior to discussing it.

5. Swearing is strongly discouraged. Excessive and unnecessary swearing is prohibited.

It's not a disclaimer.

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="Myles Vylumnar"]


I'd say a good rule of thumb is if you put 2+ in there you're gonna get eyes on you. But in general, like you, yourself, said...

I dunno, this is more of a personal opinion to be honest.

My characters would get offended by words like Sithspit, Hutt-spawn, and being called bantha poodoo. Bantha Poodoo is like being called worthless cow dung. Even cow dung has worth as fertilizer, to make something else better.

 

[Darth Metus]

[member="Tefka"]

The rule regarding NFUs being unable to start with lightsaber skills.

I don't see that any NFUs having their first thread being a lightsaber training thread. It just seems...obsolete to me.

 

[Negative Prime]

I think the partial Nudity rule. i mean nothing excessive. but Bikini's should be allowed say like a Red Sonja type thing.

 

[Myles Vylumnar]

[member="Tefka"] I did read it. I suppose I may have misinterpreted it then. Sorry if my post seemed more like a complaint rather than a discussion-starter.

[member="Vixley CM-01"] Unfortunately I don't really see much of that around here. It'd be great if people used a broader range of Star-Wars cuss words. I'll probably start expanding my vocabulary to promote such but all I've really seen around is mostly "kark", but maybe I just haven't been around long enough.

My point was that maybe the rules should be a little bit more lenient when it comes to swearing, or at least go a little bit more in-depth with what "strongly discouraged" means for newer players.

[member="Malok"] Agreed. There have been many NFUs in the Star Wars EU who have been able to wield a lightsaber. I would say that, while anyone can wield a lightsaber, it takes a Force-user to truly master it.

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="Malok"]


Owning a Lightsaber, or ability to effectively use it? Or... knowledge to create one? Could be a little vague. Lightsaber components wouldn't be hard to find, technology understanding wouldn't be that out of far reach to construct one... just not as easy as "here are the parts, use the force, A goes into slot B."

Owning one shouldn't really matter. But if you fight someone who has no training to learn lightsaber skill, I almost call that a given to beat them in combat. I say almost

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV6sjwqCQ2M[/youtube]

 

[Kami Meran]

[member="Myles Vylumnar"] i get creative with that. you son of a narlekian grunkle smuggler.

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

[member="Honoko"]

No, because then we get the lightsaber-resistant bikini...

[member="Tefka"]

2. Keep your posts constructive and on the topic your post is in.

You've often said that the forum effectively polices itself, particularly with regards to the Factions, Ranks etc. This surely fits in the same category. I understand why it's there, but it strikes me as un-needed.

9. Committing or promoting any type of illegal activity is prohibited.

Except ICly, because we obviously have our crime syndicates etc. Perhaps this should be amended to 'IRL illegal activity' or something along those lines?

15. These rules are subject to change without notice.

Surely 'without consultation'? Without notice means you can change them on whim, and we can break them before they've been formally established.

Also:

• Characters who use the Force must undergo training from a master.

This is a great rule, but not always the case: indeed, the RPJs have often cited that you don't need a Master or Teacher to advance in rank as a Force User, so your training can easily be conducted by yourself (or via an NPC). I can't be sure if this is obsolete or simply not enforced.

• The Character account requesting must have 50 posts or more. Writer profiles are exempt.

I know this one is used to save staff time and effort, but it's resulted in new Character profiles spamming the Water Cooler forum instead of putting time and effort into writing IC posts - to me, that seems as though it is simply imposing an arbitrary limit that is easily reached with a little posting game spam. Is that really what we're aiming for here?

 

[Kami Meran]

[member="Malok"] wouldnt swordsmanship skills factor in to that slightly though? while i play Kami kapable with a blade i make her mediocre at beast with a saber,

 

[thegreatbeyonder]

• Characters who use the Force must undergo training from a master.

The above rule seems obsolete and I've never seen it enforced. My own master PC was entirely self-taught in her ways of the force.

 

[Tefka]

The Character account requesting must have 50 posts or more. Writer profiles are exempt.

I know this one is used to save staff time and effort, but it's resulted in new Character profiles spamming the Water Cooler forum instead of putting time and effort into writing IC posts - to me, that seems as though it is simply imposing an arbitrary limit that is easily reached with a little posting game spam. Is that really what we're aiming for here?

Give me another sustainable solution and I can consider changing this up, but there is absolutely no way the Administrators can withstand the blatant amount of whimsical rank title changing without a severe overhaul of how the system currently works.

Your answer is yes. That is what we're aiming for. There's about 100 active users per 1 administrator, and more than a thousand accounts per administrator. I understand that you don't understand, can't understand, but this rule exists for a very real tangible reason.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Malok"]


Yeah, all us NFUs are clamoring for a lightsaber

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Only one that comes to mind:

"Characters who use the Force must undergo training from a master."

Never really seen it enforced, self-trained Forcers can be some of the most interesting ones, writers of characters from obscure traditions shouldn't feel a need to settle for Masters of more mainstream traditions, and it's not really consistent with the ability to just have an RPJ evaluate you for promotion if no Master is available.

 

[Jsc]

EDIT: - As of this post, this complaint was rendered invalid. Cira edited the starship section just one hour after this post was made.


"1. An individual character may not own a ship greater than 400 meters in length." - Starship Information and Template Pinned Thread, Starship Creation Forum.


I've hated this rule since forever. No, not because it isn't effective. It works fine as a threat honestly. No, I hate it because I have no idea where the number 400 meters comes from. I mean, why 400 meters? Is there some just magically bad ship design that exists at exactly 410 meters or something? Was this something to do with Fleeting back in 2013? Why is 400 meters our line in the Alamo sands? Oh. And why length too? What's wrong with using width or height as a contributing factor eh? Also. And why are there rules in a pinned thread called "information". Shouldn't we put rules in a thread called "rules" or something? And, why are there even "Factory Rules" like this that can't be reached from the Top Banner under "Factory/Codex Rules". Shouldn't all these rules at least have a link, or a word, or maybe few sentences towards their namesake in said article? How would a new member even know where to look?

Anyway. Le sigh.

I say we pull this silly rule and the accompanying one about Minor Factions owning 400 to 1000 meter vessels too. (Naturally, leave the rule about Minor Factions having a glass ceiling of 1000 meters. That's fine.) And, sigh. Yes. if you're still worried about players abusive starships then at least give us a reason, or proof, or a round table discussion about why anything above 400 meters is immediately considered the devil. After all. We gave the Corporations, (1 player factions btw,) their own defense fleets and tiers, and they've been rather responsible with them. Seems as good as any reason to get ride of this rule to me. (Or at least give the Judges a chance to revise it.)

Anddd. ...Nope. That's it. All done now. Did I mention I love cheese?

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

Give me another sustainable solution and I can consider changing this up, but there is absolutely no way the Administrators can withstand the blatant amount of whimsical rank title changing without a severe overhaul of how the system currently works.

Your answer is yes. That is what we're aiming for. There's about 100 active users per 1 administrator, and more than a thousand accounts per administrator. I understand that you don't understand, can't understand, but this rule exists for a very real tangible reason.

Oh, I understand that well enough (and you do me a dis-service to imagine otherwise), but as I said, it's created a system whereby the loophole can be easily circumvented through perfectly acceptable spam. I've literally had people brag about the fact that they've racked up 50 posts in the space of a day in order to request their rank titles: does that make the system effective, if they can do this?

Perhaps it would be better to insist on those posts being IC, so at the very least the writer is showing a willingness to establish their character (and increase the likelihood of them keeping it long-term), rather than simply allowing them to spam the OOC forums in a vain effort to fight their way out of the loophole? You're seeking to reduce staff involvement and the amount of time they are required to put into the Rank Title/Name changes, so why not make it an IC requirement, and reduce it down even more?