The Super Serious Forum Game Rules Thread

Sticky plz.

Alas, this is not a game.

Following the events of [REDACTED], we should probably get some rules in this place. Not hard-and-fast, you-will-obey, on-pain-of-death rules, of course; more a sort of guideline for how to keep things fun and entertaining for all involved. Obviously, FG is all about fun, but these rules are intended to make sure it stays that way.

1. Try to stay vaguely on topic. You can be flexible; sometimes the rules need changing, and OPs, there's no point in trying to make Tropers play a game they don't want to. But if the game is "let's pretend to be kittens", don't derail into "let's pretend to be robot samurai". Remember, anyone can make a thread here, so if you don't see a game that interests you, make your own thread for that. You don't need to ruin other people's games.
2. On that note, please don't turn every thread into a free-for-all fight. There is a thread for that. More generally, you don't need to derail every thread into a roleplaying game. As it happens, we have an entire subforum for if you want to roleplay.
3. If you are supposed to be roleplaying, please refrain from godmodding. It's not funny, it's not fair, and it disrupts the game. That means no playing unbeatable characters. Be especially careful when killing other people's characters. Give them a fair chance; rather than writing "*shoots That Troper's head off*", consider "*fires gun at That Troper's face*". The line between Godmodding and regular fighting can be somewhat nebulous, so please exercise your common sense and personal judgement.
4. Be wary of conversational derails. They're a fact of life on these forums, but try not to go overboard, or you may find there isn't a game left.
5. Take your drama someplace else. FG isn't the place for that shit. We're here to have fun, not start a Flame War.
6. Don't write your posts in a way that makes it hard for other tropers to participate in the game: Remember that forum games are a collaborative project, not a competition. Please do not write your posts with the intention of trying to one up other people by making it hard for them to build upon your post in a constructive way.
7. No sex or fetish games. Let's keep this vaguely family friendly.
8. Please bump responsibly. Due to the amount of games played every day, it's normal for a thread to be knocked off of the first page within hours. With that in mind, regulars will wait several days or a few weeks before bumping. Please use the same amount of courtesy. Threads that are time-sensitive (such as YIAY) do allow a bit of leeway regarding this rule, in case the user presenting the prompt needs to be pinged or if there are not enough responses after time has passed.
9. Above all, have fun! This being Forum Games, that's what we all want, right? These rules are not intended to oppress anyone, but rather as a gentle reminder of how to avoid that dreaded Internet Backdraft. That way, we can all enjoy ourselves. ^_^

EDIT:

• The avatar minimum and the keep sockpuppeting to a minimum rule have been removed from the rule list.
• Don't write your posts in a way that makes it hard for other tropers to participate in the game rule has been added to the rules list
• Added "no sex or fetish games" rule.
• Added a rule regarding thread bumping.

Edited by Berrenta on Dec 1st 2023 at 1:10:52 PM

Thank you so much Bobby! ^_^

I apologize for breaking some of those rules myself... I really am sorry if I ruined anyone's enjoyment. I hope this works.

edited 6th Oct '09 6:06:26 PM by melloncollie

Well, if you want to try and maintain order in a board made for chaos and nonsense be my guest.

"Forum Games" and "chaos and nonsense", while they may seem similar, are not in fact the same.

Forum Games, above all, are supposed to be fun, not necessarily unfettered. The latter gets you 4chan.

I support this being stickied. Everything on the list seems reasonable and a lot of it is common sense anyways. I'm also glad I'm not the only one that was getting tired of all those sockpuppets springing up.

so, pretty much I can never post with a sockpuppet again.

I'd actually say a better plan would be for you to never post at all again, but yeah, you're the main culprit of this sockpuppeting thing, Nick.

I think the point is that sockpuppets can be fun, but use discretion. If the sockpuppet thing monopolizes the thread and derails it, that is notgood.

Sockpuppets in "Fictional Character Therapy": good.

Sockpuppets having a fighting RP in "Troper   ^*

edited 6th Oct '09 6:39:28 PM by melloncollie

Sometimes it's fun to gastonish people though.

@Mellon: I can agree with this.

edited 6th Oct '09 6:41:01 PM by Hilarity Ensues

well, its obvious to me now what I have done. Yeah, I will keep the sockpuppets in threads devoted to them, like the Fictional Character therapy thread. I am now just having an aggravated feeling of guilt, that nobody is joining my RP because nobody likes me anymore.

You kind of gave your whole suckpuppeting deal away in the Halloween thread where you said you'd be going as Urixo, calling him one of your Big Bads, in your John Doe account. Well, better a sockpuppet than a plagiarist I suppose.

Supporting sticky. That is all.

Well, okay, not all. Well said, Bobby! Someone had to do this.

This was melloncollie's Idea.

Great Job Bobby G. I will remember this!

edited 6th Oct '09 10:38:13 PM by vandro

I don't think we can put in place some bunch of arbitrary seeming guidelines without consensus. Crowner?

And Bobby's execution was brilliant.

AOD: I see nothing on the list that seems problematic. I've head no issues from others here. Is there something you take issue to?

edited 6th Oct '09 10:40:13 PM by GoggleFox

Goggle Fox: Off-topic posting dude. Try to do better, eh?

We could just say that threads where the rules will not be followed be denoted as such in the title—fair warning and all that.

AOD: One, look again. Two, utter failure to understand the rules as written.

Please try again.

I have no problem with what is written here. I like you all at your best; to see the opposite disturbs me. This appears to cover the things that cause that.

Thanks to those who expressed support. Those who have objections, please don't hesitate to post them. I'm sure we can arrive at a set of rules that most tropers will agree is reasonable.

I agree with melloncollie and Hilarity regarding sockpuppets. I'm not requesting that anything on the list be banned, nor am I suggesting post thumping here or anything so extreme. If the rules seem arbitrary, it's because they were created as a response to certain specific behaviours which people were complaining about.

Good work, these rules are a good idea. Hopefully it will keep things fun without it getting unreasonable.

Awesome!

well, I thought it was obvious then that these accounts were one and the same. I just used this account to start a new RP. I was afraid if I started another one in the first account, I would be attention whoring.

But then you started another RPG in that same account.

I found out in this account that some people, like you, were starting more R Ps, so I thought it was ok. Obviously, it wasn't. And I will just shut up now, because anything I say makes me look even worse.