Animation Source Forums

What's becoming very popular among the board is people obsessing over rules. This insanely strict system, chock-full of nitpickers will drive away potentially great assets to this community.

Lay back on being so tight, most of you members are children. Why so many strict rules? You're bossing around the younger folk here, and annoying the older members.

Show more patience and respect to other members and you won't need so many rules.

The reason for the strict rules is because of the number of members that sign up,or register here,I mean if it weren't for the way the rules are,Animation Source would fall apart.

Actually I think Lennox is right. If it weren't for so many people constantly complaining about people not following a rule(s) to the exact letter then there wouldn't be such strict rules but most are so picky about it that they just cause trouble for everyone else and break rules themselves and generally ruin the atmosphere for eveyone else who's online.
I don't like being mega-strict on everything but if people continue to completely ignore or complain all the time, how else to make it enjoyable for the majority?

Ok,I'll go along with Lennox being right about the rules.

That's the problem with this place. You can't hardly say anything without offending someone or breaking some ridiculous rule. Heck, I'm probably breaking one now for all I know!

Then I guess that's how much more fair Steet is about the rules,huh?

I agree that the rules here are very strict, but, from what I've seen, it has been necessary, and belive me when I say this; you have no idea of how many people our rules system has actually saved.

I doubt if my letting this out right now will be appreciated by the other moderators, but if it can make you realize why we have these strict rules, it's worth it.

Not long ago, BaltoSource was bombared with stalkers, sick and twisted people, flamers, cybering teenagers, and all that kind-of crap. We've gotten PM's from concerned parents who found out that one of their kids who had a member on this website had been having sexual talks over PM to another member. The member in question got banned while we investigated it further, but... there is one example.
People, this website is for children. We have children of nearly all ages here, we have adults and people up to even 40 years old, perhaps even older.

Since this is a children's website, it is also target for pedophiles, predators, or whatever other sick and twisted people who are looking for just that careless kid who could very well be one of your friends. This actually happened a while ago, but it was hushed down by the moderators to avoid your aquiring knowledge of it.

What if the rules suddenly disappeared, and the moderators enforcing them lost their jobs... all of them. And with Steet, and how busy he is... What would you think this website would become?
It would become a source of voilations, harassment, perhaps even kidnaps.

Because this is a children's website, sick people turn to this website type all the time. Look on every other children's websites on the internet, and you'll see equally strict rules there.
If it weren't for those rules, and for us moderators enforcing them, who knows what would become of this website?


I agree that the rules are a bit too strict, but... you have no idea on how much it helps. Though even then, it happens that we get sick people on this website. But they are dealt with, and they are dealt with harshly. We even report Internet Protocols to the correct authorities, should we ever come across someone who openly seeks to track down one of our members, or if we discover it. Safety is top priority here. I am amazed that you people can not realize that.

But yes, some of the rules could be cut away from this site, to be honest.




Can you please stop voicing these statements if you can not supply sufficient proof of their existence? I am getting rather tired of you.

But moderators "drive people crazy", as you say it, because you break the rules, and/or we need to enforce something, or if it's for security reasons. One of the things we moderators are trying to be a bit strict on, is letting out your MSN or e-mail address in public shoutboxes (really, it's a very bad idea. Use PM's), and other things which could compromise your security.

I must agree with you.
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Its insane to let the rules go and then have people possibly get harassed, kidnapped, etc. But with all the sick people out there, its hard to tell if someone you are talking to is a 9 year old, or a 39 year old. And thats why most of these rules are inforced. To keep *YOU* safe. Lets imagine this little number....

Player: These rules should be dropped they are unfair.
Mods: Alright...

So lets imagine every single mod lost their job. You say it drives you crazy when you see people dissobeying in the forums... So what would it be like without the mods? Lets continue shall we?

Player: You all are sooooo stupid.
Player2: Thats not very nice.

See this person is trying to keep control. So meanwhile all these kids like Wolfux stated, it would be insane. You would be getting all kids of stupid emails EVERYDAY... Say you had children on here... What would happen? They could get a stalker. You wouldn't be very happy.

I think you would like it better this way than with all of *strict rules* as you call them... Than with stalkers, sick, twisted, and weirdos...

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Gold Kitty

They drive *you* crazy because you broke the rules and they were inforcing it. Do you seriously think that Steet would hire all these mods if they were no good at it? You would think he would fire them. And all of these mods have been living up to expectations obviously because Steet has said good things to them. Do you think if they weren't good mods he would let them continue to be moderators???

Uhhh No. You think they are ''unfair'' because they inforce rules on you, you don't like. I do not wish to sound rude or anything, but you might as well get used to it. Because you can't always have the rules you want. You learn to Deal With It because the rules you hate won't magiclly be taken down from the Rules Post. Because the only reason these rules are like this, is so YOU are safe. Not just so the mods can boss us around repeatedly. And I am beginning to think thats what you think. Its not. Its so you are safe.

I think you're blowing this out of proportion. Just because a group of people who want to play rebel start complaining about the rules, doesn't mean the rules are strict. It means said group can't handle simple rules being imposed on them. So they whine and complain.

Bottom line. The rules here aren't strict. They're simply common sense, and little more.

I think ya totally missed my point there. There's a difference between common set guidelines and nit-picky rules.

Do you really think typing in "SMS language" is unsafe for children? Do you think writing in all caps, or hot-pink text is going to be dangerous? Do you think leaving a signature on in a "role play" board is going to result in a mysterious kidnapping in Wisconsin?

What I'm saying is, members here are jumping the bandwagon, thinking it's cool and hip to come up with and constantly reinstate petty rules on this particular board.

Heh. I agree with Togo there. If one actually looks closely, the rules aren't too strict.

However, they are in the way in which areas they are enforced. Moderators don't just make them up... They are adapted to members as time passes. It's a way to reinforce order, and believe me, without them there would be total chaos. Either way, the topic here is different:


These as you call them "nit-picky" rules are actually quite useful. Imagine all people typing in SMS language and everyone with oversized hot pink signatures? Not such a good image. If this rule didn't exist, a lot more people would do so. These "picky" rules provide a cleaner and tidier environment for the members. It's true that sometimes they seem a little annoying, but they never ask much of you.

What you seem to be getting at is the fact that many members obsess about these rules, and are constantly bullying others about them. I've noticed this a lot... And to be honest it really annoys me. Many try to play the "police" and report members in an absurd fashion. An example would be one "yu" in a whole page of shoutbox conversation. First of all, it looked more like a typing error, and the member's following "you's" were typed correctly. Second, the member reporting wasn't kind enough to tell the other member that SMS is forbidden. Frankly, these types of things are a waste of time for those who read a full page of chat history more than once a day, and can't seem to find the problem...
Tolerance is a problem with the members on this site. I agree with Lennox; people should show more patience and respect to other members. Not doing so simply results in stricter rules to protect the other members. And more rules is what everyone seems to be complaining about, so why not make sure it simply doesn't happen?