Bittersweet Candy Bowl Forums

After 16 months of lax modding, the forum will now be strictly moderated for post quality. We want better discussions, limited drama and less nonsense. Shitposting will now have consequences, criticising mods will get you in trouble, and you should stay on your toes. Please read this post.


CONTENT AND CONDUCT

• Always be insightful, funny or entertaining.
  
• Never post anything that could be considered low on content e.g. memes, image macros, "I agree".
  
• Never discuss personal matters that only interest you and a small number of people. Smalltalk and favourite colours are out.
  
• Never criticise moderators or their decisions publicly, without explicit permission. Use PM or email.

POSTING GUIDELINES

• General "NSFW" content is fine to post or link to, straight out porn is not. The only exception is adult fiction, which you may only link to.
  
• Your avatar must be cute. Nothing ugly, nothing poorly resized, nothing stupid and nothing furry. Make something attractive.
  
• Topic titles must be useful and posts must be in the appropriate forums. Keep everything tidy.

For minor infractions of any rule, you will be warned by a moderator. Major infractions, you will be temporarily banned for a period of 1—10 days. We will use the forum's warning system to keep track of repeated bad behaviour. Every moderator can place temporary bans.


PERMABANS AND APPEALS
You get one second chance after your temporary ban. Next time, it's permanent. If you are permabanned, ask yourself "Am I likely to run into trouble if I'm let back in?"

If your answer is "yes", or "because the moderators seem to be unfair, yes", you cannot appeal.

If your answer is "no", wait at least a month for things to cool off, and email me with a request. I will consider unbanning you.


RESERVE POWERS
Posting here is a privilege granted by Veronica and myself. If you annoy us, you're out.

Sorry. We love that you read the comic and hope you keep doing it. But we've found it fundamentally uncomfortable to deal with a bunch of people we dislike on a daily basis, in a forum that exists as a favour to you guys. If this was your place, we're sure you'd understand.


NEW RULES IN ACTION
Recess is now closed. It was a forum created for chatter and forum games, which are no longer allowed under the new rules. For the recess posters who considered this forum a home for their friend group, please find a new forum as the "Random Chat" people once did.

Everybody that was classed as Special Ed is now banned. We used to tolerate people who broke the rules, but now we won't.

I have appointed LackLuster, Snooths and Susan as new mods, and demoted ILB. Mods are now instructed to ruthlessly enforce these rules by issuing warnings and temporary bans where necessary.


PERMISSIBLE TOPICS
The new rules mean game topics — "Which pony would the person above you most like to marry", "type the username above you with your tongue", etc — are forbidden. They are not insightful, funny or entertaining. Similar topics may actually be entertaining, and therefore permissible: things like "Real Life Picture thread", "Tales of Drama Survival", "IRC quote thread". As you can tell, this is subjective. Try to imagine what I'd think about it.

On the other end of the spectrum: there is a weird culture in Social Studies where people feel obligated to write super serious topics about transgenderism, liberal politics, abortion and Citizens United. Please remember: this forum is primarily about a webcomic and things surrounding it. Some current affairs are fine, but keep the community fun and lighthearted — all this super serious stuff makes it feel boring as hell.


THE OVERALL TAKEAWAY
Post less. Spend more time lurking. Spend more time thinking and drafting. We want this to be a forum worth visiting, and working hard to write quality posts is the best way to make that happen.

---

There are drawbacks to this method of forum moderation. Mods will go on power trips, you will feel more stressed being here, and those who only enjoy "light" topics will have to leave. But the benefits will be a higher quality community that aligns better to the vision of Veronica and myself. The Us vs. Them mentality that repeatedly brews in the Recess forum was inevitable — moderators and Recess did not respect each other. I have made the call to cut that problem off at the knees, and I hope that most of of you will understand my choice.

You may reply to this topic to discuss the rule changes. Comments and suggestions welcome!

"Never criticise moderators or their decisions publicly, without explicit permission. Use PM or email."

I'm probably not going to run into that anyway, but just out of curiosity, is this to avoid a public shitstorm like the topic that caused Recess to end?

(HINT: it's to avoid the dangerous mob mentality of a public shitstorm so that Suitcase, our autocratic leader, can deal with you quietly and subtly)

I probably shouldn't have said that.

This post has been edited by Dr. Klaus: 25 March 2012 - 03:12 PM

Think of the regulations as being like the Gestapo, except without the style or the professional courtesy.

I wonder how much of this he was contemplating before the shitstorm that closed receess, and how much was a sudden decision.

This is why I should've been a mod, Sammy, everyone knows I'm haemorraging courtesy.

Lux Aeterna, on 25 March 2012 - 03:09 PM, said:

I'm not totally sure, it just seems like good policy. It will hopefully discourage fights about pointless things.

Johnny Hurricane, on 25 March 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

It was being considered before the BasketCase thread. I had this change in mind when I originally posted it.

Wow, these rules are...
Oh wait, I can't say that, that would get me banned.
Let me put it nicely.
I completely disagree with you in every possible way, and I have a serious dislike of literally every change you've made.
Well done.

Haha, that's clever. Among these rules, one of the rules removes the power behind questioning the rules.

So now noone can say they don't like any of the changes being made because they might be banned.


Orwell, anyone?

Well hey you're free to leave and form your own forum with your own set of rules than sit around bitching passive aggressively about a piece of internet space that does not belong to you, and is instead a privilege not a right.

So it's either get out or we get you out.

Heavy warning now.

I honestly hope that this doesn't get outta hand, I mean the comparison to 1984 or Nazi Germany (You know people are thinking it) is a little extreme for a web-comic about cats guys.

Yes these rules are harsher and I don't agree with all of them, but I see where Suit and Taeshi are coming from and they have their rights as owners to do what ever they want.

Hell I'm surprised that Recess lasted this long and the Us vs. Them mentality has always broken this forum. Do I think this will solve the problem? If it does not immediately, people will leave and that fine, I doubt a large portion of the comic readers will be in that group.

It all sums up to you can leave if you want, get a new place where you are in control if you don't like it, or sit down and shut up and deal with what almost every other forum on the internet does.

I initially had misgivings with this new rule set as it was being written. Not because I disagree with the new rules, but because I understand that a shit storm was going to brew as soon as they were instated. However, I've come to a point where I don't really think that matters in the slightest. To paraphrase something SpaceMouse said to me earlier:

"This is Taeshi's forum. Taeshi's comments section. Taeshi's comic. Her focus should be on enjoying herself, and creating her story. If somebody is upsetting to her in some way, be it through annoyance or active confrontation, she should not have to deal with that in her own space."

I feel this is a very true sentiment. Taeshi is not a terrible person who turns a blind eye to criticism, so that's a non issue. Hence, if she doesn't want people who annoy her around, then she shouldn't need to cater to them. Simple as that.

Maverik, on 25 March 2012 - 03:41 PM, said:

It actually makes me think of someone walking into another person's house and insulting them about their life and whatnot when it's put that way...

The only rule I actually disagree with is the criticism part. While I understand why it's being enacted, I'm a tad worried about how extreme it is. Likewise, I don't agree with all of the moderator choices, but as long as they are able to operate semi-impartially you won't see me kicking and screaming.

The big problem with Recess was that there was an Us vs Them mentality. This mentality popped up in Random Chat, which led (in part) to it being closed, and it popped up again later when people felt they were being treated unfairly. I'm kinda meh on it being gone; I enjoyed wasting my time there, but it's not like I don't have other things I could be doing. All in all, if it makes the forum stronger, it's good, if not, well, as others have said it's not MY forum.

I do want to reiterate Suitcase's point that while small talk is gone, this forum isn't becoming serious business. You just won't have the forum games and mindless chatter you did before.

Lux: And it actually does genuinely feel that way sometimes!

Like having people passive aggressively bitch about how the IRC is a cesspool or how the forum is terrible even though.. the comic can exist without all of this! It is given so that people can meet and interact! And then this sense of entitlement builds up where it's just this needless bitching while being in the place you supposedly hate/are ungrateful about. And that was going on WAY before the strict rules, so if the strict rules are going to chase out the ones that weren't happy and were passive aggressively bitchy in the first place, it will at least be an infinitely less stressful and entitled environment than I was seeing before.

Carcharocles: I think it depends on a case by case basis, like we aren't going to ban you if you have a differing opinion about abortion for example. Like if I'm in a religion thread and you so happen to have a differing opinion, that's a case of differing stances in a debate. If there is clear malicious catty antagonism, though, that is the criticism bit of it. And that is what's not tolerated.

Also one thing to note is that people like snooths and lackluster and susan are mods, and they aren't exactly role models for serious business suit-wearing professionalism. You can goof around, just not in the unmoderated dumb recess way that was allowed before.

We are guests in their house. They have house rules. If we don't follow their rules we aren't welcome.

Yeah that seems alright.

Okay.

Oh, so another question then: Are MMG's still okay threads?

This post has been edited by Dr. Klaus: 25 March 2012 - 03:50 PM

Well I'm just curious and I didn't see it addressed anywhere (of course I might just be blind) but is there any new stance on the Creative Art's sub forum? Can I continue to post my work there, or is it now only for BCB related art? Sorry if this has already been answered, I'm just honestly curious is all. c:

That makes sense Tae. And if there is a complaint, there's no reason not to use the PM's, otherwise you're just stirring shit anyway.

Edit: Don't worry Rakshiv, I doubt there's a new stance on artwork.

This post has been edited by Carcharocles: 25 March 2012 - 03:55 PM

Dr. Klaus, on 25 March 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

Only if the deaths are now extremely detailed and gorey.

Klaus let me answer that for you, is it a game? Yes, Is it allowed still? NO.

Personally I feel that it's about time you stepped things up, SuitCase. As evidenced by everything thus far the whole lax moderation style has done little for this forum, and I'm glad we have a rigid set of rules and regulations. Hopefully that means I won't see as much inane bullshit as I did before.

Those who would liken this to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia or whatever nonsense they wish to spout are very, very stupid people. You had your chance and you instead ran amok; this change does nothing but help the overall quality of this place which was suffering. It was like trying to read one of Amazil's fanfics.

What you do is perfectly fine Rakshiv. This is more of a Social Studies-Recess thing. Creative Arts has always been the silly forgotten sister that always behaved but nobody paid attention to her in exchange for the bratty active younger brother

There would never be a "bcb art only" rule implemented, that's for Candybooru.

Ah, thank you for the answer, Taeshi. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. c:

Not a lot has actually changed. I just figure everything will be treated like Social Studies has always been. The public criticism of mods had to be thrown out to minimize drama that could be handled privately. It'll be a culture shock for a lot of Recess-only members but you get used to it and you'll be better for it.

So basically this whole thing is "Be a decent human being."? Well golly, I would hope most of us could be that with out having to be told to but Lord knows I've seen first hand that we can't.

Never criticize moderators or their decisions publicly

I'm seeing people saying "THIS MEANS WE AREN'T ALLOWED TO DISAGREE WITH MODS!" and I think that's a faulty interpretation of that rule. It pretty much just means, if a mod steps in and says "I'm putting my foot down on this issue", be it by banning somebody, deleting a post or locking a thread, you are not to then immediately call them out on that decision in public, but rather privately voice your concerns with them in a PM. If you still feel they were being unjust, then take it to SuitCase and he'll have the final say.

It does not mean "You're not allowed to discuss the new rules in the thread where you have been asked to discuss the new rules", nor does it mean "You are not allowed to voice an opposing opinion on a topic a mod has voiced an opinion in."

Organise your exodus privately, please. Next person to post a link to anything like that will be banned.

Maverik, on 25 March 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

Because doing so publicly wastes space for otherwise intelligent conversation. It doesn't say "don't criticize them at all" it just says to handle it privately.

Maverik's post is spot on. Also, RPG threads are fine, but do a favour to the structure of the forum and try to minimise the amount of related threads. I moved the major one out of Recess, and will be happy to move more out if that's what you RPG people want me to do.

Spiteful, stupid post from Cloud. Detention'd, and 10 day suspension.

What? Now there's a new forum? I feel like I've entered a 1940's Germany and people are escaping to other countries. I feel that non-members reading this are having second thoughts about joining.
(waiting for suspension)

This post has been edited by asdf: 25 March 2012 - 04:25 PM

I'm curious, this isn't all that large a forum, are 8 mods really needed?

well i'd have to say the new rules are.....interesting. a lot of them make sense. i can see its gonna be a bit more strict around here. i only worry that some of the people that post here are gonna start droppin like flys. though in the end that might result with a better forum experience.
rest in peace recess.

I see why some people wouldn't see why you're sending parts of your community away. But I also see that they're not parts of your community that you want hanging around. It is your website, you have the right to choose who uses your services. It's fine that you only want certain groups of people on your forums. Some might argue that it's not very diverse, but it's fine if you don't care about diversity.

If this at all comes off as criticism, I assure you, it is not intended as such.

You want an elite streamlined forum, not a diversely messy one. I get that.

This post has been edited by Dr. Klaus: 25 March 2012 - 04:41 PM

Dr. Klaus, posts like that are fine in my opinion. You can criticise the new rules in this thread, just don't be a cock about it. I am happy to make adjustments where need be.

MiwAuturu, on 25 March 2012 - 04:37 PM, said:

They're not, but in the past we found mods weren't really doing much of a job. If we can't find mods that are going to be super alert and active in patrolling things, having lots of them may pick up the slack.

SuitCase, on 25 March 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

Surely it would make sense to thus have mods in more than one time zone? America makes up a large part of the site's demographic, but there are other nationalities on here.

That too, I guess. (You know where Lack, Maverik, Vero and I live, right?

Australia, as do I.

As much as I completely understand why you made such a drastic change, I feel as if these new rules are a a little, dare I say it, crazy.

Please don't ban me, ha.

I used to come here and feel welcome and happy to post. It was a place where I could come and be myself and not have to worry about the random shit going on in my life. I think now I'll be afraid to speak my mind at all and that makes me terribly uncomfortable. I will try my best to post within the guidelines though, SuitCase. I hope this decision turns the forum in a better direction, and not the opposite of where you wanted it to go

So were all the special ed people banned, I can't find them on the members list.

Quote

Make sure to read the whole rules!

I personally welcome the rule change. People were beginning to become unruly. I mean, they were constantly challenging authority, which on a forum about cat comics, is completely unnecessary. I think these changes should make the forum a better, more fair and intelligent place.

Taeshi, on 25 March 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Sorry Taeshi, I just kinda derped there.

So, I was just thinking. Now that the site is considerably more controlled and acceptable, there doesn't seem any reason to have member titles anymore. Or least the extremely hostile ones like, say, Klaus's.

How about making them into a badge of honor? Giving positive titles like the ones Tae and Wacko have? It would offer a little incentive to the problem who are a bit shaken up by the sudden change in rules.
I guess certain offensive titles are more acceptable than others (in all fairness, mine is not specifically bad), but some do seem to reflect the forum at worse time.

Just food for thought.

This post has been edited by Meowth: 25 March 2012 - 05:15 PM

Amaris, on 25 March 2012 - 04:58 PM, said:

If you're naturally funny and entertaining, you'll have no issues at all! If not, just do your best to seem that way, and you'll have no issues at all!

The thing that people don't realise is that Lackluster, Snooths, and Susan aren't exactly suit-wearing professionals. Nor would I want it to be all depressing and serious business. A lot of what this is getting rid of is the muffled passive aggression held with the us vs. them attitude, and I feel even though a lot of flies will drop, if you don't have some beef to prove and want to stay just to reply to topics it will be beneficial and more quality in the long-run.

Yeah, I don't intend to be a super-serious Gestapo officer

No, really, I'm not going to do anything like that. I'm just going to do my job, and that is to uphold the rules. So all of you worrying about power trips or bias or anything - think again.

If I don't know what to do, I do nothing. I'm pretty indecisive so I'm not quite sure why I wasn't demoted too.

you are all banned