Rules Thread - Signups.

[jestingrabbit]

Hello Mafia People,

Recently, a post by a non player, non mod was posted in an active game thread. That seems like the sort of thing that should be against the rules. But currently there is no specific mafia subforum rules thread. There are threads explaining how mafia works, but not what is and isn't okay to do in this subforum.

So, what should be the rules here?

edit: rules so far, which will go at the start of the OP here.

To play, sign up for a game in the sign-ups thread where game mods are recruiting players. If you are not in a game do not post in the game thread, though you are welcome to read and follow along. Always follow the rules of the game-mod in the games you are playing in, which are found in the first post of the game thread.

Once you join a game, please be sure to check out Gender pronouns for our players thread to avoid confusion and be polite when using pronouns to refer to players when you are not using their screen name.

Discussion of ongoing games belongs in The Gojoe Memorial Discussion Thread. You will notice a lot of spoilers. This thread is for players who are in a game to post their (spoilered) thoughts and provides some extra fun for those who like to read-along with games they're not playing. If you are in a game, you should not read any spoilers about that game, but everyone not playing in the game can. Never discuss an ongoing game anywhere but in The Gojoe Memorial Discussion Thread.

To see upcoming games that are not yet in signups, check out the Pre-Signup Queue. This is where games mods queue up to start games, so its a good way to find out what games will be signing up soon.

To moderate a game, its probably best if you play a few here first, and go from there.

[roband]

"Don't post in a thread unless you receive a PM from the 'mod' of that game, telling you that you are an active player in that game"

maybe?

[t1mm01994]

Thank you, jestingrabbit, for bringing attention to this point. Our guide post is pretty much our ruleset, but it is lacking. I've been trying to get to redesigning but not to success so far.. So, anyone up for making the guide clearer? I don't mind doing it if you guys do.

[jestingrabbit]

"Don't post in a thread unless you receive a PM from the 'mod' of that game, telling you that you are an active player in that game"

maybe?

Sure, that's a good one for that situation that I mentioned. I suspect it would also cover a bunch of other situations. But are there other things to mention? Is the signups thread working out okay, or is there drama from there, or what?

Basically, I want to know if there is anything going on that is irritating people here that there ought to be a rule about, so that when people break these currently unwritten rules, they can be told "look here at the rules, you're breaking them, stop."

Thank you, jestingrabbit, for bringing attention to this point. Our guide post is pretty much our ruleset, but it is lacking. I've been trying to get to redesigning but not to success so far.. So, anyone up for making the guide clearer? I don't mind doing it if you guys do.

The guide covers how the game works, and that's necessary for the games to work, but I'm not sure that, what with all the variations, that there can be forum-moderator actionable rules that can be distilled from it. There's obviously game-moderator actionable stuff, but its not my business to hassle people about that stuff. So, what is stuff that people could do that would harm the ability of people to play fun games of mafia here? I don't really want to get into how the games are played, I want to get into what would prevent people from being able to have fun games.

If the regulars here generally want a rewrite of the guide, then we can work out how to make that happen. But at the moment, I'm focusing on what behaviour, that isn't covered in the general forum rules (eg "don't be a dick"), should get a pm from me, or a warning, or a thread locked, or a forumite banned.

[t1mm01994]

Well, basically don't be a dick covers a lot of it, as I can see now.
The only thing special in this forum that I can think of is not to post in active games that you're not playing... Or outing the stuff that's inside spoilers in the discussion thread. Can't see why anyone would want to do that though.

[Sungura]

In all what, four years? this is the first time I have heard of such happening. Usually it seems people get the idea you a) sign up for a game then b) play said game and follow the rules in the OP by the game-mod. As for general mafia-subforum-rules not really sure how many there would be. I mean, could make a list of the general rules of mafia-playing but those are often edited by game-mods for their unique game.

A better (I think) idea would be to add this to the "How to play Mafia. A noobs guide"
- Firstly, change the thread title to "Step 1: Mafia Forum Rules & Instructions"
-and add at the top of the OP at the top:
"In short, to play, we ask that you sign up for a game in the sign-ups thread where game mods are recruiting players. If you are not in a game, you may not post in the thread but you are welcome to read and follow along. You are also welcome to read the discussion thread. You will notice a lot of spoiler usage, and this is for players who are in a game to post their thoughts about said game, for spectators to read and yet keep it hidden from other players in the game (if you are playing in, say, Mafia Game 1, you would not be allowed to read any spoilers marked Mafia Game 1, but everyone NOT playing in the game can). This just provides some extra fun to those who like to read-along to have extra knowledge.

To see upcoming games that are not yet in signups, check out the Pre-Signup Queue and perhaps you may find a theme or type of game more to your liking. And always follow the rules of the game-mod in the games you are playing in, which the game-mod will post in the OP of said game.

Once you join a game, please be sure to check out Gender pronouns for our players thread to avoid confusion and be polite when using pronouns to refer to players when you are not using their screen name."
^note, I'm not sure how to make the links go to the last post in the thread, which would be better to link to as the stuff at the beginning is, obviously, old.
-I would then recommend change the title of "Sign-ups (for PLAYERS)" to "Step 2: Sign Up to Play Mafia"

I think this would clarify things better and give newcomers to the subforum a clear path of what to read first and then wehre to go to sign up, or, if they are already familiar with mafia, just jump to signups.

[jestingrabbit]

Okay. What I would edit into the start of the Guide thread would be

To play, sign up for a game in the sign-ups thread where game mods are recruiting players. If you are not in a game do not post in the game thread, though you are welcome to read and follow along. Always follow the rules of the game-mod in the games you are playing in, which are found in the OP of the game thread.

Once you join a game, please be sure to check out Gender pronouns for our players thread to avoid confusion and be polite when using pronouns to refer to players when you are not using their screen name.

General discussion of games belongs in The Gojoe Memorial Discussion Thread. You will notice a lot of spoilers. This is for players who are in a game to post their thoughts about said game for spectators to read. If you are in a game, you should not read any spoilers about that game, but everyone not playing in the game can. This provides some extra fun for those who like to read-along.

To see upcoming games that are not yet in signups, check out the Pre-Signup Queue.

XXX Something about starting a game goes here XXX

The language is a little less flowery, but the intent is a little bit clearer imo.

What should go under "XXX Something about starting a game goes here XXX"? Looking here, the stuff under "How to get a game started" seems a little out of date.

[Misnomer]

It might be an idea to explicitly state that forum users shouldn't make any posts discussing ongoing games except in the discussion thread.

[jestingrabbit]

Another good suggestion. Editing that in I get

To play, sign up for a game in the sign-ups thread where game mods are recruiting players. If you are not in a game do not post in the game thread, though you are welcome to read and follow along. Always follow the rules of the game-mod in the games you are playing in, which are found in the OP of the game thread.

Once you join a game, please be sure to check out Gender pronouns for our players thread to avoid confusion and be polite when using pronouns to refer to players when you are not using their screen name.

Discussion of ongoing games belongs in The Gojoe Memorial Discussion Thread. You will notice a lot of spoilers. This is for players who are in a game to post their (spoilered) thoughts and provides some extra fun for those who like to read-along with games they're not playing. If you are in a game, you should not read any spoilers about that game, but everyone not playing in the game can. Never post about an ongoing game anywhere but here!

To see upcoming games that are not yet in signups, check out the Pre-Signup Queue.

XXX Something about starting a game goes here XXX

So, I'm still looking for a "how a mod should start a game" and maybe when they should feel ready to (do you guys mind new people turning up to do that?) section. Somebody must have some ideas about that. Please?

[roband]

I think generally we'd like people to make themselves a part of the community before modding a game (if anything, they're more likely to get signups if that's the case), but there's no requirement to be experienced AFAIK.

As for wording that in a nice readable way? I don't know

[jestingrabbit]

Alright, how about this?

To play, sign up for a game in the sign-ups thread where game mods are recruiting players. If you are not in a game do not post in the game thread, though you are welcome to read and follow along. Always follow the rules of the game-mod in the games you are playing in, which are found in the first post of the game thread.

Once you join a game, please be sure to check out Gender pronouns for our players thread to avoid confusion and be polite when using pronouns to refer to players when you are not using their screen name.

Discussion of ongoing games belongs in The Gojoe Memorial Discussion Thread. You will notice a lot of spoilers. This thread is for players who are in a game to post their (spoilered) thoughts and provides some extra fun for those who like to read-along with games they're not playing. If you are in a game, you should not read any spoilers about that game, but everyone not playing in the game can. Never discuss an ongoing game anywhere but in The Gojoe Memorial Discussion Thread.

To see upcoming games that are not yet in signups, check out the Pre-Signup Queue. This is where games mods queue up to start games, so its a good way to find out what games will be signing up soon.

To moderate a game, its probably best if you play a few here first, and go from there.

Its not perfect, but it seems pretty workable atm. People who hang around for a while will probably work out how the game queue works so we won't have to explain that.

But, seriously, a little more brainstorming on stuff that needs to be there, or shouldn't be there, or points that need more or less focus?

[Sungura]

Looks good to me!

[mpolo]

Tiny suggestion: change "OP" to "original post" or "first post in the thread", just in case someone draws a blank on the abbreviation.

[jestingrabbit]

Done. If noone has anything else to say by this timeish on sunday, I'll make the proposed changes.

Still very open to further suggestions.

[roband]

Howabout something like "If roband tells you to 'fuck off' - he doesn't mean it. He's just tired and grumpy and disagrees with what you just posted, regarding his alignment. Please take no offence."

[jestingrabbit]

Okay, I've made the edits. If there's anything else that someone wants in there, feel free to post it here, or pm me.