I recently noticed that the terms of service and code of conduct for the BioWare Social site have been updated, and I have a few outstanding questions about a few of these. Yes, there is an elephant in the room regarding the motivation behind these changes but I won't bother with that because it's not really relevant. And no, before I go on, this thread is not intended as trolling, or a personal jab at BioWare staff or volunteers, or the community - I am completely serious in asking about this.
Specifically,
Aside from the fact that this seems to be poorly worded (I assume you mean any negative discussion targeted towards an individual), these terms are extremely vague. Joking banter? Sarcastic quips? Outright insults? Are certain insults more or less appropriate than other ones? The rules themselves state the following:While we continue to value all of our customers and fans, participation in the BSN and engaging with staff and like-minded community members is - to be abundantly clear - a privilege, and not a right. Members may continue to discuss and critique our games and products in a civil manner, but any form of discussion targeted at an individual will not be tolerated. New and existing members who cannot adhere to the code of conduct, or maintain a civil demeanor at all times, are encouraged instead to contact customer support for any game related issues they may have.
So, basically any hate speech is outlawed. Makes sense to me, but then, that seems pretty standard for just about any forum community. But what's this about personal attacks? What qualifies as a personal attack, exactly? Is it just bigotry, or is there more to it? What if I call David Hasselhoff an idiot, and it turns out he has an account here after all? If a staff member feels threatened even though there was no intent at harm and the user apologizes, is that still grounds for a ban? What about if a staff member provokes an attack? How about statements against BioWare or EA regarding their business practices and/or game content?Content that is insulting to anyone based on gender, lifestyle,
religion, ethic group, race etc. is unacceptable and will be deleted
without warning. Anyone posting a personal attack on staff, moderators
or other Community members will, at the sole discretion of staff or
moderators, be banned from the BioWare Social Network without notice and
is no longer welcomed.
The same goes for terms like "civil demeanor" - what does that mean, exactly? Is casual swearing civil? What about making offensive, non-personal, light-hearted jokes at the expense of certain groups? Not adhering to a particular dominant socio-political ideology held by the staff or community at large, and expressing one's self in accordance with it?
I realize a lot of this is interpreted contextually and comes at the discretion of moderators, but I think there need to be more clear terms to follow, more nuance to the rules, more leeway, etc. Not that I wish to play the "draconian!" card, but "we can ban you for any reason whenever we want without warning or discussion" is not exactly encouraging from an end user perspective, nor is it friendly.
I don't post here often, and I fully admit sometimes I'm a bit crass and blunt about things, but these new terms make me wonder if I could even express my opinion here, without sugar-coating, and not end up banned. I've moderated and administrated forums for years, and the job is as much about setting positive examples for other users as it is about dealing with issues. If users have no idea what constitutes a bannable offense, or what sorts of opinions they are allowed to express (and how) then I don't see how these rules are effective as they are.
In any case, could we please get a solid, concrete understanding of what qualifies as "personal attack", what qualifies as a "civil demeanor", and so forth? There needs to be a more definite set of guidelines for posting and more subtlety in enforcing the rules before the banhammer comes down, and more transparency and discussion with users as to their motives and reasons for their behaviour.
Modifié par sea-, 02 mars 2012 - 02:35 .
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