Make OB Less Kid Frendly

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]But come on, I hardly ever read the User Agreements. Unless it is something I am concerned about, I just click right on through. I've seen the same idea at another site, but I'm not really sure how effective it is. In the same amazing way that people can feel that p05t1NG lIEK tHis is acceptable despite all of the sensible and intelligible posts around them, people can look at every word and not read an ounce of it.

It would be a funny idea to have a whole section of links embedded in the rules that you needed to click through for account activiation though. And then a test on said rules :p[/size]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think we will continue to have some kind of user agreement, but my intention is to scrap the vB agreement and write my own. It'll be a lot shorter, a lot simpler and will be tougher to avoid.

I have some ideas about how we can redesign registration in our own way, by having a three-step process or something...it sounds like a lot, but it would hopefully be faster than what we have now. The idea would just be to help filter out the people who really aren't going to post with the kind of quality we're hoping for here.

Unfortunately we (and most forums) still contain a lot of the regular vB stuff. And that's fine, because it's all relevant to us...but I really want to scrap all of the default vB bits and write everything specifically for OB. I think that will make things a lot more logical.[/font]

[Baron Samedi]

[QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium]I think we will continue to have some kind of user agreement, but my intention is to scrap the vB agreement and write my own. It'll be a lot shorter, a lot simpler and will be tougher to avoid.

I have some ideas about how we can redesign registration in our own way, by having a three-step process or something...it sounds like a lot, but it would hopefully be faster than what we have now. The idea would just be to help filter out the people who really aren't going to post with the kind of quality we're hoping for here.

Unfortunately we (and most forums) still contain a lot of the regular vB stuff. And that's fine, because it's all relevant to us...but I really want to scrap all of the default vB bits and write everything specifically for OB. I think that will make things a lot more logical.[/font][/QUOTE]
[size=1]Nonetheless, OB is the most 'hacked' and unique forum I have come across. Of all the forums I have seen it is the furthest removed from the default layout and setup. Which deserves props to both designer and coder [loveya Justin!]

Can't wait to see the new OB, whenever it happens.[/size]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

Personally I have nothing against the current asterix system, although often it does have me trying to figure out exactly what curse word has been used. I think arguing whether or not to remove the censor system should be argued in tandem with whether or not it would improve the quality of discussion/material posted on OtakuBoards. In all honesty I think it wouldn't improve anything and might in fact prove detrimental to the quality here.

Just as I think of it, wasn't there a time when the swear word censor was disabled in the Arena ? [/SIZE]

[DeadSeraphim]

[color=indigo][size=1][font=arial]Unrelated to this debate...

Allowing swearing doesn't mean you'll suddenly get a flood of profanity, nor does it mean people will use it to try and look mature. Even at places where it's acceptable (the slower Gaia forums, for example) it's used as it is here - sparingly. I've gone to the Gaia tech forums for 8 months, and rarely do you get any sudden horrific outburts of swearing like you all seem to be anticipating. It's used in the way most people would use it - to add further emphasise to a point, or in a way that's decidedly not derogatory at all (think Bono saying "This is ******* brilliant"). I mean, people say 'damn' and 'hell' all the time in the same way here. They're just words, and they only have as much meaning as you're willing to give them.

It's not like you can't change the censor system as well - yet again, look at Gaia. They have an [i]optional filter[/i]. If you turn it on cursing is filtered - turn it off and it's not. It's just a small preference, and is on by default. You could put in the same system here, I think, with little hassle. It'd placate those who would prefer it to horrid asterixes, and make sure those who don't like swearing don't see it. What it won't do is create a swearing epidemic, especially with OB's emphasis on quality.[/font][/size][/color]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I am personally not concerned about a swearing epidemic, because I agree that if we switched off the censor tomorrow, very few people would be swearing regularly. I tend to think that higher quality posts also equate to less swearing, simply because people tend to have a slightly wide vocabulary. lol

However, it comes back to the issue of what members and their parents want. I think the big difficulty is that we're trying to walk a very fine line, so that the site is acceptable for younger teenagers but is also enjoyable for older teenagers and adults. Walking that line isn't easy, without doubt.

I'd certainly be in favor of an optional filter, if that can be easily applied. [/font]

[Gavin]

[quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium']I'd certainly be in favor of an optional filter, if that can be easily applied. [/font][/quote]

[SIZE=1]Well if such a filter could be implemented it would seem solve the debate, those that want the swear words can have them and those that don't can just look at the pretty little astrices. Hopefully of course the filter will be used responsibly and the moderators will continue to edit the odd very obscene post that pops up. [/SIZE]

[Sandy]

I'm not a big fan of censorship myself, but in this case I understand it totally. It's just that us Finns are known for our use of swear words ("perkele", anyone? :P ), and as a nation, I believe we see the good side of "letting out steam verbally".

My main gripe in the censors of this forum is that I can't say the word that starts with "a" and has a double "s" following it. Come on, it's a part of everybody's bodies (and saying "bottom" feels childish to me), not to mention it's also an animal, and a part of many useful compound words. ;D

Hmm, I wonder if I can say... assassin! 8P

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]Arse. The actual word. Uncensored.[/size]

[DeadSeraphim]

[quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1']Arse. The actual word. Uncensored.[/size][/quote]
[color=indigo][size=1][font=arial]This is Americans we're talking about Baron, they don't know how to write proper English.[/font][/size][/color]

[Sandy]

Thanks, Baron. You solved one of my biggest problems in life! ;D

... Yeah, I really don't have many problems anymore. XP

Anyways, the little foreigner me forgot that there's such a word as arse. I still have to call donkeys 'donkeys', though. :P

[Gavin]

[quote name='Sandy']I still have to call donkeys 'donkeys', though. :P[/quote]

[SIZE=1]You could call them mules, or jennets or some other variety of the donkey family.[/SIZE]

[Retribution]

[quote name='DeadSeraphim][color=indigo][size=1][font=arial]This is Americans we're talking about Baron, they don't know how to write proper English.[/font][/size'][/color][/quote]
[size=1]Would it not be "[B]These are[/B] Americans we're talking about"?

I think things are just fine as they are, really. I could care less if I could swear or not -- I find those words don't really help to do anything, the exception being to occasionally stress a point. Then again, good writing doesn?t really need profanities.[/size]

[Katana]

[size=1][color=royalblue]I've been sifting through this for the past ten minutes and have generally made up my mind of what to say. Err...

I joined OB when I was merely in sixth grade at the age of eleven. Up through that age and still now, I was/am quite good at, persay, manipulating my age through the way I write. So when I became apart of these message boards, nobody could really tell that I was some midget sixth grader. It's like what Baron said before: On the internet, very few people know who you are in real life. Which is what makes it great.

I was brought up in a fairly normal household. We were neither very religious nor Satanists, and in the very middle of middle class. So of course, I picked up some swears throughout my aging. My favorite and most used three are still damn, hell, and dammit. - -;; But even though I'm your average swear-ist (swear-ist? what?), I do get a little shifty when people start flinging out the F-bomb like no tomorrow. There is no need for the word, but people generally think that by saying it, they are more mature or cooler. Peer pressure, I tell ya!

And have you ever role played in one of the M-rated threads? The majority of the time, those threads could be dubbed with the PG rating (because that is good up 'til the age of 13 ^_~). Most people, unless they are serious about sex and blood (*cough*), just put up an M rating to be more on the safe side than anything else. I generally think people don't want to talk about immense violence. And even so, when you try too hard, it comes out really cheesy. ^^;;

Crap, I lost track...

What makes the OtakuBoards stand out from every other message boards is probably the atmosphere. People are generally polite to each other, and even when arguments burst out, they are usually resolved (I think X3). Throughout the years, the attitude of this being a place for everyone, not just people 16+, has really set this apart from every place else.

And not having a dark color scheme helps too. :3[/color][/size]
[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]Would it not be "[B]These are[/B] Americans we're talking about"?
[/size][/QUOTE]
[size=1][color=royalblue]Sorry, couldn't help it. XD[/color][/size]

[Raiyuu]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I think all the arguments are pretty much sorted now, but one thing in this thread caught my eye:
[quote name='persocomblues][/font][/color]...the middle ground seems to be to have a site that favors high quality posts, intelligent conversations, and keeps a watchful eye on the younger individuals...[color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] No. We keep a watchful eye on bad posters, we keep an eye on frequent spammers and flamers. I've [b]no [/b]idea how old most of the people on this forum are. I'm just not bothered.
[quote name='Retribution][/font][/color][size=1]Would it not be "[b]These are[/b] Americans we're talking about"?[/size][color=DarkGreen'][font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] [b]Zing[/b], DeadSeraphim. [b]Zing.

[/b][My mistake] [/font][/color]

[Saya]

[QUOTE=Raiyuu][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I think all the arguments are pretty much sorted now, but one thing in this thread caught my eye:
No. We keep a watchful eye on bad posters, we keep an eye on frequent spammers and flamers. I've [b]no [/b]idea how old most of the people on this forum are. I'm just not bothered.
[/font][/color][/QUOTE]You took what I said entirely out of context. I meant as far as the discussion between Baron Samedi and myself was concerned - the middle ground of the discussion in which both our points can be addressed and where we can both be relatively satisfied. But you are right in your assessment? that argument has been sorted out as well.

[Raiyuu]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Okay, I see. Sorry for misunderstanding, but there was a heck of a lot of text to wade through. That particular passage just jumped out at me, so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that I had it out of context.[/font][/color]

[Guest kuroinuyoukai]

Well I swear in real life and in emails but I personally don't want to see a post with a thousand curse words in it. I find some of those offensive and that's bad coming from someone like me with a bad temper and a dirty mouth. That's my opinion. Plus you never know who's on here. We do have some young members.

[Baron Samedi]

[QUOTE=Raiyuu][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS] [b]Zing[/b], Baron. [b]Zing.[/b]
[/font][/color][/QUOTE]
[size=1][b]Zing[/b], [i]DeadSeraphim[/i], [b]Zing[/b].[/size]

[Panache]

Yea I know I curse alot. So my oppinion on this topic is not woth much. So wtih that said I think we as otakuboard members not curse in anime threads foryounger kids (pokemon,sailormoon,ect.)

[Ikillion]

[quote name='Avenged666fold']Yea I know I curse alot. So my oppinion on this topic is not woth much. So wtih that said I think we as otakuboard members not curse in anime threads foryounger kids (pokemon,sailormoon,ect.)[/quote]

[COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Well you also need to remember that even though it is an anime lounge. There still are some members who are still of the older age. If you were to argue about something in the anime lounge between older people. Would it be fair that they arnt able to use it over an anime subject, when then can over some other one?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]