I think one of the issues is that the general rules for posting anywhere on this forum are repeated in each section, but there's no over-all set of rules posted over the forum. Because of this I think there's room for confusion.
In each section there is the two basic rules that we must always abide by:
Brass Goggles has always and shall continue to portray the "lighter side of steampunk" as coined by our retired founder Tinkergirl. To that end we have a few general rules which apply to all sections of the forum:
1. Please keep all posts within a Safe For Work (SFW) Policy. This means is that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Posts may contain, some strong language and innuendo, humor, mature themes, historical and fantasy firearms of the "Victorian Era", and some historical-political themes within the context of our 19th century speculative fiction genre. If your post contains partial (upper body) nudity or other visual elements which may not be approved for viewing within an office setting the post must be flagged Not Safe For Work (NSFW). This nudity clause is written in specifically for historical photographs and Steampunk art.
2. You are expected to maintain decorum and behavior appropriate for adult cultural discussion. This means that things which have been dubbed by the internet community as "trolling" are not allowed. Other behavior such as Ad Hominem arguments (attacking someone's argument based on the character or physical trait of the subject) and assuming one or many persona with the intention to deceive (what we've dubbed a 'sock puppet') are expressly prohibited. Bad or disruptive behaviour not listed here may also be identified by the Brass Goggles staff and dealt with accordingly.
Enforcement:
These rules are interpreted by our moderation staff and rule-breakers will be dealt with as the moderator sees fit. Punishments like a private reprimand, temporary ban, or a full ban are handed out based on the scope of the violation and at the discretion of the moderator.
Purposefully seeking grey areas between rules and their wording and/or experimenting by seeing how far you can stretch a rule are seen as rule violations in themselves and may be acted upon as a rule violation. If you are ever in doubt about your particular post, please send it in a PM to the moderator for the section you are using for a ruling before you make it public!
Which is then followed by the specific rules for the given section.
Because the Meta-clubs have their own "rules" posted,
Hi Folks,
This is the child board for clubs of people who do not meet in person. Sometimes silly, sometimes serious, this is a bit of an experiment. Should these clubs prove to be more role play than anything, then these may all get moved to portrayal.
for now, enjoy!
shaunathan sprocket
UPDATE:
Well I've let the experiment run nearly unchecked for about 10 months now. And I have some requests:
1. I've seen a great deal of role play rather than club activity. starting next Tuesday (10/13) I'll begin to move roleplay threads to portrayal where they would belong. This will be determined by the bulk of the posts.
2. If your thread is inactive for 6 months it will be locked. To get it unlocked the original organizer needs to PM me and it will be unlocked. If that person is no longer around I should be linked a thread where the originator of the club passed power to someone else and they will be able to give permission for it to be unlocked.
3. If your thread remains locked for a year, it will be deleted. This is for sometimes silly, sometimes serious meta-clubs, if you've got a real club going and it's serious enough to save for posterity, please archive your own information to your satisfaction.
As always our base rules apply here: [see above]
and nothing is mentioned about staying on the topic of Steampunk itself, it gets a bit gray.
I don't think that anyone intentionally sought out that gray area, I think that it inherently exists in the ambiguity of the Meta-clubs' existence.
Perhaps having an announcement post at the top of the forum, separate from all the other sections, that
clearly states the rules/guidelines and what is intended and then points out expectations for anything that doesn't fall under a specific section would be helpful.
