Bullying and Attacks

[Jadedcat]

In light of several recent events and the sheer vitriol that has shown up on the forums we are instituting a new rule.

Reasonable discussions of current changes to mods are allowed. Polite debates of opposing view points is allowed.

Attacks on mod developers will not be tolerated. This includes bringing up code that used to exist as a defensive or an offensive tactic.

You are allowed to have an opinion. You are allowed to not approve of a decision anyone makes. But the vicious attacks must end. The constant attacks by users against developers they don't agree with are fostering a community in which the "angry mob" tactic is becoming too common.

Mod developers are not always right. They are not inviolate. You may disagree with them, but the point at which it becomes bullying, harassing attacks against someone because you disagree with their choice is the point at which we are drawing the line.

We want the community to be a friendlier place. Allow people to have a different opinion from you without feeling you must convert them to your side. If you cannot have a reasonable discussion without throwing insults, mudslinging and flame-wars the posts will be deleted. Repeated bullying tactics may result in a temporary or permanent ban from the forums.

Moderators are the final judge of if something counts as bullying/attacking. Arguing with a moderator is against forum rules.

No bullying or attacking of anyone on the forums. This includes but is not limited to attacking mod developers over past incidents, name-calling of anyone, insults and mudslinging. This includes but is not limited to attempting to "sic the community" on a person you personally disagree with.

We are done with tolerating drama. We will not be condoning members using the forums as a platform to force their opinion on another person. You cannot make any community nicer by causing wars. You have a right to your opinion. They have a right to theirs. Attempting to force another person to change their opinion is bullying.

Posting closed source code is against forum policy at all times. It is a bannable offense.


Don't agree with a mod author's choices, you can easily disable any mod from the launcher. That's why we put that there. Use it.

TLDR: Bullying in any form whether against a mod author or another member will not be tolerated on the forums. Reasonable polite discussions are always welcome. Moderators decide what is bullying on a case by case basis.

 

[Jadedcat]

As a clarification this is not a retroactive rule at this point. But going forward follow it.

Also as clarification. This rule has the approval of Slowpoke and the Global Mods available for discussion. It is not up for debate.

As people have been asking elsewhere the following are examples:

Appropriate:

OP :I personally don't care for the recent change in xyz mod to xyz item. {insert reasonable discussion of your point of view with supporting arguments}

Response: I like the change because {insert supporting view point}

Response by OP: I hadn't thought of it that way, I still don't agree but to each their own.

Alternative response: I don't agree have you considered {insert something constructive that adds to the conversation}

Basically keep in mind that your opinion is yours and everyone has a right to their own opinion that may very well differ from yours. Attacking them for having a different opinion is inappropriate.


Not Appropriate:

XYZ mod sucks ass. I hate it. What kind of idiot even plays this?

You're a retard if you think...

XYZ mod author is a giant flaming douche and should drop dead.

I hate that so and so did such and such we should all let them know they suck. -- This invites the community to mob attack an individual any post of this nature is bullying.


As to past issues:


In a thread about a current mod doing something you don't approve of it is fine to bring up things that mod has done in the past. It is not ok to bring up what other mods or mod packs did in the past.

And for the most part if its more then 6 months old its not ok to bring it up at all.Especially if it predates the FTB packs.

Using every new issue with a mod as a time to bring up things some completely different mod did over a year ago is not acceptable. Only discuss code that currently affect players. And do not post closed source code ever.


For those that prefer a visual example Eunomiac pointed this out.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Graham's_Hierarchy_of_Disagreement.jpg

the first 3 at the top are the best the 4th row is okish, the last 3 are bad.

 

[hutchkc]

Rule one seems superflous since rule rule 3 includes everyone. All it does is increase the divide between devs and users especially since it's again mentioned in rule 3.

 

[Jadedcat]

Rule one seems superflous since rule rule 3 includes everyone. All it does is increase the divide between devs and users especially since it's again mentioned in rule 3.

Its one rule... with a really long clarification.

 

[Julian Zhou]

Hmmm... should I? Nah too much effort. I'm busy stalking the forums for something I really want.

 

[magicmad11]

I have been waiting for this, so many people don't realise (or realize (Australian and American English Versions)) that not all mod developers do it for everyone, that might just be incidental, they might have thought of a cool idea, and decided that other people might want it in their game.

 

[AlanEsh]

Great rules, but ... this is the internet so goooood luck

 

[Captainnana]

Not bringing up code that used to exist is silly IMHO, I can think of one case where usernames and passwords were getting sent to someone's server with this rule I would not be able to bring that up as a point against that specific person because it could be considered as an attack against them. If someone once did something then that shows the kind of person they are and people should be allowed to bring that up to form an opinion in my opinion.

 

[Eyamaz]

Not bringing up code that used to exist is silly IMHO, I can think of one case where usernames and passwords were getting sent to someone's server with this rule I would not be able to bring that up as a point against that specific person because it could be considered as an attack against them. If someone once did something then that shows the kind of person they are and people should be allowed to bring that up to form an opinion in my opinion.

I have to agree with the cap'n here. If someone finds an author has done something malicious with their code, it should be permitted to be talked about.

This does not mean I approve of posting said code here for any reason, regardless of if it is closed or open source. Simply posting the mod name and it's version would be enough for someone to look into it. If the accusation was wrongful, then the accuser would need to have a permanent ban.

Of course, this is all a fine line as to what is or isn't malicious code. The term "malware" has been being thrown around a bit to much being used in an extremely loose way that has made me want to slap t...

Ahem...sorry.

Do to the sensitive nature of the subject, I advise instead of making a general post with a concern, forum users should pm a moderator or member of the ftb team with the name of the mod and version number to be looked at. At which the team member can pass that info to someone who knows java well enough to check.

 

[Jadedcat]

This thread was not left open for arguments. It was left open for questions regarding clarification. Since everyone seems fine just assuming they know what it means there's no need to allow responses.

 

[Jadedcat]

Updated with examples