blonde poker forum

The blonde Forum has never had a hard & fast, pre-determined, set of Rules. We have "rules", of course, but they are informal, unpublished, & simple, & designed for the average blonde, who's adult, & knows how many beans make five. No flaming, no direct insults, or spamming, just common-sense really, so that the place stays the way most of us wish it to stay.

The Mods debated whether or not to introduce Formal Rules a long time back, 18 months or 2 years ago I think. The debate was "vigorous", with most, if I recall correctly, in favour of Formal Rules. But I do know for sure that I scuppered the idea, I simply refused to go down that road, I felt it un-necessary, & that the blondes did not need rules, they know the score, & the place would largely self-moderate itself. Those in the "we SHOULD have Rules" camp included, memorably, Tighty, who painstakingly drew up comprehensive Rules, only for me to say "no".

With age comes stubborn-ness, but it looks like I was wrong, & we are going to have to implement formal Rules. I'm not happy about it, but it's clear I read the situation wrong. 99.9% of all Posts & Members are just tickety-boo, but we have found ourselves with a handful of folks who have their own agenda, to do their own thing, for some reason they feel they want to sabotage the Forum. I no more understand why they'd do that than why folks vandalise 'phone-boxes or key cars.

So I have asked the Mods to draw up & agree amongst themselves a set of Forum Rules, & to get the job done within 7 days.

These Rules will very probably include "no trolling", because trolling has suddenly become a problem.

Put through Jungle Cat's ASBO analyzer, this comes out.

"If you describe a Mod as a "prick", you can expect a Ban. If you then allude to it provocatively, & deliberately, & think it's funny, expect a Ban. This is our Forum, & we make the Rules. If you don't like our Rules, well, fine, we will go our seperate ways. Please respect our Rules, or face the consequences".

A further 7 day Suspension has been invoked on a Member this evening. I'm non-plussed, to be honest. These are folks I am pals with, in "real life", get along with just fine, so there you go, my wish to provide an interesting & civilised Poker Forum, completely free to all users, has very probably now lost me a few more mates.  That's the price, I guess, but it's such a shame.

We'd welcome your views on the implementation of Rules, but it's almost certain we will do it. Please feel free to make suggestions (behave, now...) in this area, as to what is needed.

Thanks.

theres been more suspensions in the time since junglecat started the BB thread than theres been in two years including an unprecedented "self-imposed ban"

Everyone wants in!! rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Can we each pick our three favorite rules from the list and just stick to them?

As a Member of the BB Hoose "Elite Crew", you may well get special privileges.

1. Dexys Midnight Runners, playing free, daily, in the University library

NAME THAT SHOW!

The young ones?

whay put a "?" at the end, you just went and googled it so you KNOW it's correct                                               

;applause; ;applause; ;applause; I saw the "crossword" post earlier and was tempted to comment but to be honest I didnt think it warrented a reply. It showed the poster up for the petty minded person he was.

As has been pointed out many times the mods are not paid for the job they do, they do it because they love the community spirit of Blonde and they should NEVER have to tolerate any kind of abuse from any member of the forum.

Its a shame that it has come to the stage where rules and regulations have to be enforce but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

So it wasn't Flushy then?
 :dontask:

i guess i need to ask for a definition of   trolling please??

yes  i am serious.

Had to look it up myself.

In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding They may also plant images and data on networks that others may find disturbing (usually indirectly relating to the individual in person) in order to cause confrontation.


Geo

As a quick generalisation: Creating threads for the sole purpose of causing unrest on the forums , causing disturbances in forum threads, such as picking fights, making off topic posts that ruin the thread, insulting other posters or belittling other posters, making non-constructive posts etc...

Troll posts are not one off posts, they are usually established members that continue to try to disrupt a forum for their own pleasure/reasons.

cool, so I've heard the last about shortstacks then have I?

I'm in full support of clear forum rules. good luck guys  :)up

ty ginge  and geo.

Trolls are not usually one off posts and are usually established members. Not usually under the id that most would recognise though.

Sandy

Rules should not be needed - people should have a general regard and respect for one another. I object to having rules set purely because it suggests I need them and that I may not have the qualities expected and need to be told how to behave.

Childish as it is rules actually make me want to break them. I don't like being told what to do.

Sorry but I think it stinks.

Thought I said they weren't one off posts and usually established members? ....  ;)

The spoof accounts we pretty much can see a mile off with the odd exception, blonde sadly seems to have more of a problem with the established kind, rather than someone that wants to hide behind a fake ID.

Great news. Too long members have been allowed to troll, stir, name call and bump 1 year old threads to just be arses. More bannings!

I think you will find that you are not alone in that thinking Dingdell, they shouldn't be needed at all. Sadly we live in a world that is not ideal, and a small minority of people are trying to spoil it for the many. The rules won't affect 99% of the members on blonde in any way at all.

in ur opinion obv  .

is calling peeps  arses   just what these rukes are trying to prevent??

or did i miss some new moderator positions??

intriguing.

Well I was vehemently in your camp Trace, but circumstances have forced me, reluctantly, to re-think.

Pretty much the argument on the Mods board against rules Dell.

Recently though things have got out of hand. If you've not been part of it it doesn't apply to you and the rules won't affect you.

Edit : I see Ginger's said much the same.

I know what you're saying - I live ina very regulated world with rules all over and I see Blonde as my little bit of freedom where I can be silly and let vent if necesarry, with a bunch of guys some of who I call friends/mates. To regulate it seems to take that fun element away.

I can understand the need - but it doesn't mean I have to like it!   ;marks;

Your the bumper who stirs shit, so yes your an ass.

Your partly the reason of these rules, gratz

and thats flaming Acid.

Cut it out guys please, would ne ironic to have to mod a thread about rules lol

I've been on holiday so I don't know wtf's been going on but some people seem to be soooooo sensitive now. If you think about the blondes A) who have posted in the past on the PHA board but don't anymore B) could be posting on the PHA board but don't, it's unreal. You have some of the best poker brains in the country who for whatever reason don't post strat.

Why? IMO you have some people who post crap that would be laughed off the forums on 2+2. Now there's nothing wrong with this, everyone has to start somewhere and nobody knows everything etc etc. But it seems like some people post a load of nonsense and are extrememly sensitive and defensive if anyone trys to put across a different way to play no matter how gently they do it. Flushy is a huge asset to the PHA board, yet it's like nobody wants him to post there. It's like people don't want to improve their games so why should people like flushy bother to try to help them?

I got a PM a while ago from someone who is pretty much a Blonde poker hero. This was a bit of it


We're missing out guys.

Precisely, the trouble with rules is that there is little room for manoeuvre.

What is the point of written rules anyway?
Someone gets banned for trolling now, with written rules they get exactly the same ban but someone sends them a link at the same time?
Can someone explain what difference/effect it will have?

I still go allin under the gun with AK :D
I agree about flushy but he needs to get someone else to interpret his thoughts onto the page :D :D

I'm sure the fun posts will continue as normal - that's what makes the forum a community as well as being a poker forum.  The banter, the jokes and the 'fun' is like being down the pub with your mates.  The rules are there to stop anyone getting out of hand after they've had a few too many.

So no more trouble-making from you... ;D

Sometimes it's the problem of the way people interpret what's written.  Humour or sarcasm can be lost, and it's easy for someone to get hold of the wrong end of the stick.  I for one like to hear Flushy's opinion on hands - he plays the game very differently to me (he makes lots of money), and so it's always good to see the thought process behind a different style.  So I definitely want Flushy to post constructive comments and opinions on the PHA board.


That wasn't from Kev then... :dontask:

I will try Ian

At the moment it is comparatively simple for us to spot flaming, and deal with it. Often this is behind the scenes. More recently it has been more upfront and more widespread.

I regard this as nothing more than the growing pains of a successful and busy forum.

"Trolling" is far trickier. It tends to be far more subjective and open to misinterpretation and yet in the last two months the incidence of "troublemaking" posts, goading people and trying to kick things off has risen dramatically. At the moment the mods struggle to deal with this, as we as individuals interpret it in different ways sometimes

We spend an awful lot of time, wasted time, on dealing with the aftermath of such posts..PMs of complaint, other PMs saying "what's the problem, you are far too sensitive" etc

With a set of published guidelines (ie with a bit more flexibility to use them than firm rules) we feel everyone will know where they stand, what is acceptable and what isn't and thus when such trolling does occur we can react quicker and stop it spoiling the tone of the forum as we have something to back us up.

Can we have a pokergirlie day in memory of the buxom wench?

What happened in the crossword thread, i genuinely posted what i thought was the answe. Didnt realise there was some hidden agenda?? once i replied, never looke at it again. Would appreciate someone telling me what happened, on here or by pm.

Much appreciated
KP
(luckbox winner of blonde league event 9)

pm sent KingPoker

diolch robert

Just a thought but were tighties rules that bad you need to start again from scratch?
I'll never believe he deleted them, he's the type to keep the receipt from his first ever AD&D action figure!!

we are using the old rules as basecamp and are currently on the lower plains working towards the summit

At which point we will need airlifting to an oxygen tent

Agreeing with Byron...If you post on the PHA board and then get worried about being laughed at then there is no reason to post, and fair enough if it bothers you then don't. At the end of the day it will make more of an impact if your play is taken apart than if everyone goes "well it wasn't that bad, here is an alternative suggestion, not saying you're wrong". Teachers aren't allowed to tell school children they are "wrong" anymore, suck it up and see the constructive side, if there isn't one, who cares ignore it, it's just a bit of writing. I've posted plenty of donk hands/even replies myself but I don't regret the fact some of them were laughed at given the reason behind it.

So are you saying you have to be rude to "Teach people a lesson"?

This is exactly why people don't post there. That style of poster is obviously not helping.

I think this is one of the best forums on the net, it is open and honest and considering what I do for a living I feel that I am lucky to be allowed to post some of the things that I do. My job advert for example. I love the fact that there is so much open debate but fail to see why it sometimes leads to the rude and insulting actions of a few people, that does not mean that a heated debate is not a good thing but there are lines. If that means that rules are put in then I believe they are there to protect the majority and the staff who support this site. It is a rare privilage to see a community such as this and I would hate to see it ruined by petty arguments. I hope that this forum continues to grow and attracts more people from around the world, it will only do so if there are some forms of respect and order for all those involved.

Rules have always been there, it's just that Tighty and co want to make them clearer so that people know their boundaries and newbies know what is and what isn't acceptable.

Which makes good sense.  I think they (the rules) will mainly stop inter-mod arguing about how to deal with cases - it will be much easier to decide if someone knowingly oversteps a line, and then they can be banned or suspended, or whatever, nice and efficient-like, while it will be equally easy to ignore over-sensitive cases of people taking offense because they have too much time on their thin-skinned hands.

Perhaps this will create a better atmosphere for posting about actual poker, as suggested by byronkinkaid...

I'm not a Mod, but I am interested in working in a civil environment on updates etc. while at the same time vehemently anti-censorship or interference except in exceptional cases (namely, threats or racial/religious etc. abuse).  That's not enough rules for here, so I am happy to follow whatever TightEnd and the Mods decide are a realistic, comprehensive set - they're the ones in this area day in, day out.  Hopefully one of the rules will be "Ignore timewasters, if they break a rule, deal with it, then."

Rule 7 (b ).............25% of photographs uploaded during tournament updates will be " norkage "

Rule 9 ( c ) i...........40% of live updates will utilise the skills of Dana

Rules 1 & 2

You do not talk about the Blondepoker forum.

The rules (agreed by the mods in advance) are a great idea for their own sanity.  If someone gets out of line and mods have to delete posts or dish out a suspension, they won't have to defend their actions.  Just copy/paste the rules (which would have been posted for all to see anyway) with the member's offense highlighted and discussion is over. 

Mods don't get rich doing their job.  It's purely a love for the forum that keeps them dealing with all the rubbish when it hits.  If they wanted to be well paid police, they wouldn't be here...no offense meant.  99% of the members aren't a problem and the 1% that are...well, they're obviously well able to voice an opinion and will bash the Mods to no end,  even with rules in place.  Posting a set of rules just makes their job of replying a bit easier.  One reply, end of...NEXT!     

We've never met but  :-* Thanks!

The rules won't solve everything in and of themselves.

A rule like 'no links' can be fairly easy to manage, as it's obvious what a link is. But 'no trolling' is more difficult, as it effectively becomes 'no posts which, in the opinion of the mods, could be considered to be trolling' so immediately there is a grey area.

Essentially, the new rules will boil down to 'no posts which, in the opinion of the mods, go against the Blonde spirit' which is the exact rule we currently have.

I think mods on this site don't do enough to clamp down on the blatant harrassment of female members by the obviously oversexed male majority.

ps. how're YOU doinnnn?  :kiss: :kiss:

Laxie, I think I love you!  :goodpost:


The point is Andrew, that we don't have a set of rules at the moment.

We, as mods, have a general held view of what is acceptable and what isn't, and we hope that the majority of the members feel the same way. However, there are many grey areas and the new rules are designed to help make our job a little easier, and to warn those posters that know they are walking a balancing act (trolling etc) that there now is a system in place that will not allow them to carry on spoiling the forum for others.

Until now, it was basically "no flaming" but membership numbers have increased to the point where that simple unwritten rule is no longer adequate.

How does a new poster know the the blonde spirit is?

Fair point, but I don't think it's been new posters that have been causing the problems.

Its 3-4 old time posters who everyone knows who they are and yet reluctant to do much tbh..:) It's like the unspoken troublesome ones.

Ginger made a good point about the changes in numbers on the forum. We have about 7000 members now and increasing on a daily basis. We need to have a set of rules for the protection of the mods and viewers. The mods do this for their love of the site. They at times need protection from abuse. We all know that this comes from a very small amount of members. The rules make no difference to almost all of us. I don't like sensorship either, but as we have learned in the past we need to take care of the forum for the good of us all.

When a mod is chosen it is because they have an even disposition and are trusted by Blonde. In turn we ask you to trust their judgement on what is right and wrong. The rules are just measurements/guidelines for them.

So now that theres no ambiguity surrounding the rules why still have mods? surely you just need one to enforce the rules and apply applicable punishments to those that break them?

Not at all. In fact I think alot of the replies which tell people their play sucked without explaining why are pretty moronic. It seems to have got to a point where alot of people are either sensitive or OTT with their replies anyway. I was saying in principle there's nothing wrong with a bit of a joke about it as long as the person then takes the time to give their opinion why. Personally I will never care about being insulted about it, but I guess alot of the time people are proving that without rules it's not really working...

Bear in mind that an awful lot of the new members are spam accounts.

May this year had fewer posts and fewer new topics than May last year. By that rationale the forum isn't growing at all.

Yeah, but that was because Tightend passed QQ on the bubble.............

i am sorry about that i will try and tone my posts down in future

but i would prefer the term more mature rather than old time as i aint that old yet

How many of the 7k members actually visit the forum?

 :hello:             i do

5000 are currently on a ban

A very small percentage.

rotflmfao

Countless numbers, to views your indepth analysis

xx

That is correct. During the *ban*, numbers dropped off to just 3, and hand analysis replies were performed by a supercomputer running Sarcasm Simulator 1.91

I just want to let you know that ive reported your avatar to the mods, feline bullying just isn't funny. theres a lot of cat violence going on in the world and avatars like that just perpetuate the problem.

I'm sorry this upset you I have changed it immediately to something more suitable.

original here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8UpHqtvSY

If you own more than one cat as I do, you'll know that tail swishing is a sign of pussy-very-upset.