A Few Rule Revisions

[Musicman247]

From time to time the Moderating Team takes a look at the current rules to see what fits for the forums as they exist. Sometimes they decide to make large changes (as The Tom and the rest of the team did several years ago), and sometimes they decide that a few things just need tweaking (as we did about six months ago). Today we have a few new tweaks and one new rule that we hope will make things a little easier for new users and veterans alike.

So first of all, the tweaks.

Double posting has been against the rules for some time now. We have gotten many comments and laments about this particular rule and decided it was time to make a change. Here is what the rules now say:

Double Posting: Double posting is a term we use to mean posting right after yourself. Double posting is allowed as long as a day has passed between your posts. If you need to say something else immediately, simply delete your own post (you can do that if no one has posted after you) and then repost with the addition. Or you could use the Edit button. Double posts also fall under the purview of the Spam rule and will still be checked for content and relevance.

You read that right, you can now double post as long as a day has passed between the two posts. As the rule says, spam will still be treated as spam, so don't think you can just post three or four times in a row just to bump a thread.


Warnings have been confusing to members in recent months. People aren't sure if they are getting a mark on their permanent record when a Moderator PMs them with a "friendly warning". We're going to make it a little clearer today. We already have a "Three Strikes Policy" in our rules, so we decided to change the name of "Official Warnings" to "Strikes". Here is the way the policy was worded, followed by the new version.

Old Three Strikes Policy - If you consistently break the rules we may issue a warning. Your first official warning may be accompanied by a 24 hour ban from the forums if we deem your action egregious. A second warning within the same year will carry with it a week-long ban from the forums. If you accumulate three warnings within a year of each other, we will ban you permanently from the forums.

Three Strikes Policy - If you consistently break the rules we may give you a Strike. Your first Strike may be accompanied by a 24 hour ban from the forums if we deem your action egregious. A second Strike within the same year will carry with it a week-long ban from the forums. If you accumulate three Strikes within a year of each other, we will ban you permanently from the forums.

"Strikes" are what end up on your permanent forum record, so unless a Moderator tells you they are giving you a Strike, permanent action has not been taken. Note that the first Strike may carry with it a day ban if the Moderator deems it necessary, and the second Strike within a year comes with a week ban automatically. Three Strikes and you're out.

OK, on to the new stuff.

Disputes are something we would like to see less of, but if they are going to happen we'd prefer they don't spill over to the entire forum. We've added this to the Posting section of the rules.

Disputes - If there's an argument or debate going on in a thread, keep it there. The forums are much more friendly when they're relatively drama-free, so spreading it through the rest of the site - whether through offhand comments, signatures, or just plain discussion about it - will be subject to moderation.

We hope that's easy enough to understand.

Finally, we've had a few people ask about username changes. We've decided to move this section from the New Members FAQ (found here, in case you didn't know about it) into the FAQ section of the Rules.

Can I change my username? How do I do this?
You are allowed to change your username, but be advised only once and at the moderators' discretion. We'd like to ask you try to stick with the clever names you used when you first signed up on this site, if possible, but we understand some longstanding members change. If you'd like to be considered for a name change, PM a moderator your request. If approved, you must insert into your signature "Previously know as [prior username here]" for one month, to avoid confusion.

These changes are effective immediately. The posts the new rules can be found in are linked to in their respective quotes. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

tl;dr

• You can double post a day after your first post. No spamming, though.
• We give Strikes instead of Warnings now
• Keep disputes in their own thread
• You get one username change. Use it wisely (or preferably not at all).

[MARS]

Cool, this is all pretty reasonable. I'm especially pleased with the tweaked Double Posting rule and the addition of the Disputes one.

[perylousdemon]

Thank you for changing the rule about double-posting. I can't tell you how many times I've been forced to edit my post in the photography thread because no one posted in the day since I made my last post.

[Ursula R. M.]

I approve, and will PM a name revision. Thank you for all you do.

[The SheoDovah]

Thank you for changing the double posting rule as it will make posting in the TES RP thread easier due to the amount of stories that can happen between posts and editing it in can result in a large post. Hopefully, the dispute rule will see a decrease of disputes being dragged all over the forum.

[Rose of Sithis]

Solid. I'll probably still hold my inexplicable grudge against double-posting, but I can live with that rule. As for the rest of it, like I said: solid.

[baratron]

Thanks for listening .

[OblivionDuruza]

The new Double Posting rule especially will be interesting to see in practice, but it seems like a common sense decision to me - especially considering that the previous rule itself was a stricter variant of the former rule on the matter.

Just one minor thing, I know that it's completely reasonable in this context to assume that egregious is used for its more modern meaning, rather than in its original form, but it might be prudent to change the wording to something that both cannot be interpreted as meaning the opposite of the intention, and doesn't require the average user to get out a dictionary to understand. I don't mean to nitpick, it's just that the drafting of legislation is now one of my main areas of study, aside from my history as a public speaker and debater.

Also, while we are on the subject, any word on Necroposting? I assume it will remain the same, but is there any chance that it will be reverted back to its original state so as to exclude the Lore Forum, or extended to allow for revivals within a longer time period, rather than duplicate topics?

Those matters aside, this certainly looks to be a wholly positive step for the Forums, and hopefully their implementation will benefit the community across the board.

[Musicman247]

Would love to hear your suggestion on a new word, Duruza, as I agree completely.

As for necroposting, we haven't discussed it recently, but it will go on our ever-lengthening list.

[OblivionDuruza]

Thank you! Certainly no rush of course, but it is good to know that you do intend to consider it at some point

Would something like 'particularly inappropriate' or 'particularly damaging', even 'particularly heinous' be appropriate enough for what you intend by the rule? Alternatively, you could restructure the sentence so as to read: "[...] may be accompanied by a 24 hour ban from the forums [at the discretion of UESP Staff where it is deemed necessary]." An additional sub-clause explaining for what it is necessary (e.g. "for the prevention of further offences" or "so that further investigation/moderation may occur"), might also make that new style of revision clearer.

[Lindai]

How does one find out how many strikes they have?

[Alarra]

I don't know if it's visible to you on your profile, but if it's not, you can just PM a mod and ask and we can tell you. The system also automatically sends you a PM whenever you receive one.

[K Candyman]

seems sclear to me!

[The SheoDovah]

With the removal of double posting from the report. Will there be a double post within 24 hours option or will that just be under other? Just wondering.

[Musicman247]

There is a Spam option that you could use for reporting a post of that nature. We're probably not going to be real sticklers for "24 hours exactly", which is why in the rule we left it at "a day". If it's been 19 hours and someone gives an update on something right after their own post I'm probably going to let it slide. If it's just a bump or some other spammy post then I'll take action.

So yeah, use Spam as the reason, I guess.

[the Savage Hippie]

Can I get a username change? I'd like to be the Savage... Oh wait.
Also, for a more thread-related issue: sometimes double posts can be the result of a bad internet connection - I think I kinda, almost experienced this last night. Are such mistakes considered as "bad! Shame on you" in these revised rules?

[Musicman247]

Mistakes are considered mistakes.