Town Hall Meeting W.R.T. Da Rulez

[LordRetard]

SO HOSSES, I've been doing some thinking (hahah!). Anyway, this occurred to me:

1. People like SMBComics.
2. They see the forum link, and go to the forum.
3. They think, "okay, I'll announce that I am new!" They find the new people thread, only to find out that global mod/local honky LordRetard has put a notice recommending the reading of the rules. That should be simple.
4. Oh no it isn't! They're suddenly bombarded by a series of unfamiliar in-jokes that they could NEVER possibly remember to execute with any skill. Bloody Shitcakes! Whatever will we do?!

IN SUMMARY, in the interests of possibly increasing some traffic it might be good to hammer out some solid rules that would be more useful for newbies, as opposed to us, who already know everything. It'll make things more friendly for people who are new to the forums, right up until they actually start talking to us and we totally flip them the bird. SO! This thread is to see if we need to re-evaluate the rules, what rules we need to tell newbies, and what to do with the old rules (no use getting rid of them, anyway). DISCUSS!

[mountainmage]

I would never say any of those things, but I picked the option closest to what I had in mind.

[Cirtur]

I picked the one that allowed me to express the greatest amount of disdain for LR.

But, the rules. I like 'em. It keeps away all the new people who are always shit.

I WAS NEVER NEW

[Lethal Interjection]

I'm not against it, but is it needed? I don't know. I'm cool for whatever, though, and I voted for the 3rd option.

Not needed because we are pretty loose here.
Ones I would love to see kept in a shorter list:

- Some combination of 1 and 8. I don't want this place to turn into a haven of cursing and nudey threads.
- Preferably something to the tune of 11 and 12. Not so much because we need to tell them, but to have recourse if 'punishment' is needed to some degree.
- I'd kind of like to include 15, but I think that is a loosing* battle.
- Number 25. There is no discussion necessary on that one. Must be included. And I'd tack on avatars, not for the size, but for the grossly animated ones I've seen elsewhere.



*Comedy!

[mountainmage]

Perhaps, at the top of the rules, something along the lines of "Pay special attention to Rules X, Y, Z, etc"? I'd be willing to make that compromise, and we could highlight the "real" rules.

[LordRetard]

Well, that's basically my idea. Well I think we could split it into two threads. That seems simplest to me, and then we have serious newbie-rules in one thread and in-joke rules in another. How does that sound?

[mountainmage]

I don't want to separate them though, since all of them together make up the rules.

[LordRetard]

Aren't they all just a bunch of in-jokes though? They're not really helpful to someone who joins the forum. And a complex instruction about what rules to follow doesn't seem much easier. I dunno, I don't see what's the trouble with making things more accessible around here but maybe there's something I'm missing if you guys don't like the sound of it.

[mountainmage]

I don't see how "Pay special attention to these rules:" is complex.

[Euclidthegreek]

I like the rules. I think a lot of the in-jokes in them are actually useful, as they help the n00bs* understand some of the in-jokes.** Most of 'em are funny even if you don't understand the context. When I joined, the rules were entertaining and just made me more interested in the forum.

If you're really bent on remodeling the rules, maybe reorganize/renumber them so that they're ranked in order of importance, with the serious ones first.

*Sorry, I just had to use that word

**You know how confused by jokes I was/am? Think of how many more stupid questions there would be from me, and all the additional confused idiocy caused if I was asking why you're insulting Tucker's mom, for example.

[LordRetard]

Well what you'd just rattle off a litany of numbers? It'd be easier to separate the lists, even if they were in the same thread. It's not as if it's a lot of work to do.

[Euclidthegreek]

Well what you'd just rattle off a litany of numbers? It'd be easier to separate the lists, even if they were in the same thread. It's not as if it's a lot of work to do.

But they're both real rules! And it adds to the humor that "Infanticide is essential" is included in the rules! Seriously, I'm pretty dense and I understood that.

[mountainmage]

I think Euclid hit the nail on the head. The in-jokes are a part of the forum, and they have their own significance to us. The rules attempt to introduce new members to our wacky humor.


EDIT: If the in-jokes in the rules cause them to leave, would they have honestly survived as a well-rounded member anyways?

[LordRetard]

Well I dunno, it doesn't seem like a lot of new members are showing up the way things are. Anyway I guess they stay. Well should we at least reorder them, to make things a bit easier?

[mountainmage]

Ed was pretty set on having the "original" rules in the right order. I stand by pointing out the important rules if you're so set on change.