Some of the rules on this forum...

The thing that annoys me the most is when you get banned from a particular thread without being given a reason!
It's happened numerous times when tbh I haven't even said anything to offend anyone.

I can guarantee that you have never been "banned" from a thread.

What probably happened is the thread, or part of it, was removed from the public site meaning you (and all other members besides moderators) can't see the removed content.

It may be possible to prevent members from accessing specific forums, at least for a set amount of time, but such action is very, very rare. But we don't (and can't) ban people from threads.

Thanks for a pretty detailed response. I understand a bit better why it happens so much in discussions about rape, but I still think I've seen individual comments being highlighted as off-topic, when they are pretty relevant (and also not victim-blaming). I also think it would be helpful when mods post a general reminder after deleting comments to maybe indicate that they've been deleted? Because if that's where I've got the impression the rules are really strict and anything can be construed as off-topic, I imagine plenty of others have too.

I also think it's often the case that people have contributed something very useful to the discussion, but not particularly useful to the OP. If the thread has gradually gone off-tangent, then sure, a polite reminder is probably pretty helpful, since people can take the debate elsewhere. But I've also seen a lot of OPs blindly refusing to listen to certain points, or accept them as relevant to the discussion, when they really are. To be honest, I'm not sure I've seen many mods backing them up, but it's another situation where I've often wanted to make my point, but as the OP obviously doesn't want to hear it, I don't because I might be breaking the rules.

I think overall you've settled my concerns anyway, so thanks

They give me blue cards every two seconds for stupid reasons

I can guarantee that you have never been "banned" from a thread.

What probably happened is the thread, or part of it, was removed from the public site meaning you (and all other members besides moderators) can't see the removed content.

It may be possible to prevent members from accessing specific forums, at least for a set amount of time, but such action is very, very rare. But we don't (and can't) ban people from threads.

Please don't exaggerate.

And although we can't discuss the reasons they were given, they aren't for stupid reasons, they're because you broke the rules. It's pretty clear but I'm afraid.

Please remember that blue cards are meant as a reminder of the rules, rather than anything to be particularly concerned about. A handful of blue cards for minor rule breaking should not affect your TSR experience.

Off topic is the one that annoys me. I've never been carded or given warning points or anything, but so many times I've seen mods post warnings "these are examples of being off-topic...please stay on topic" or without even highlighting things they think are off-topic, posting a "polite reminder" to stay on topic.
I've seen it mostly in threads about religion, or sexual assault, but for goodness sake, if A posts "is this rape" then posts discussing the definition of rape and giving scenarios where something is or isn't rape are as on topic as it can possibly get!!!

I've quite often not posted in threads (on less controversial topics) because I'm worried that my post might be considered "off-topic" when I'd really like to find out what a particular poster means by a comment they have made, or I want to point out something the OP has overlooked.
This post could even be considered off-topic by some, because this thread is someone having a rant about the TSR rules, not discussing what counts as being the topic of a thread....It's such a ridiculous rule

Nearly 100 posts in and the only rule that has been criticised specifically is that discussions about warnings stay in AAM/SL (so one sided/unbalanced accounts aren't spread - because the mods don't/can't discuss warning reasons and few people who get warned are able to present their story in a balanced way).

Has anyone got some examples of rules that are actually rubbish rather than a bunch of whinging about how mean "the mods" are?

Off-topic. What does that even mean, a thread evolves naturally and if it makes you think of something surely that is "on-topic". Additionally, some things might actually be about the same topic, but not what the OP was getting at and thus deemed "off-topic".

Spam. What mods sometimes consider spam is a joke. Literally, sometimes a joke is deemed "spam".

Hey Jenn, we don't allow people to discuss cards openly on the forums. You're meant to discuss them in AAM

Also, we don't allow unrestricted freedom of speech. It doesn't exist in law either - If we allowed true freedom of speech, TSR would probably end up like YouTube comments..


Until this post, I honestly had no idea who you are, and again we're not one single body. There are around 60 of us, all with different opinions

Off-topic. What does that even mean, a thread evolves naturally and if it makes you think of something surely that is "on-topic". Additionally, some things might actually be about the same topic, but not what the OP was getting at and thus deemed "off-topic".

Spam. What mods sometimes consider spam is a joke. Literally, sometimes a joke is deemed "spam".

First rule of TSR, you do not talk about TSR

Haha, everyone's rebelling against those asinine rules.

"Viva la revolución! Long live the revolution"
TSR shouldn't forget that it's WE, the people, who make TSR such a great place. So, they should do anything to please us (lol).

Yes, you, the people who have been members for 2 months, who are crucial to the site.

Hahaha, you trying to be funny? Every member is important.

The rules on both of those are pretty straightforward though. To paraphrase: "Posts should be relevant and add something" so having a chat about someone's avatar or posting just a smilie/gif etc

I'm sure if someone wanted to suggest clearer wording for the rules pages that the mods and CT would be happy to discuss that: it is in their interests for users to know and understand the rules so improving clarity would be welcomed.

The issue this thread appears to be discussing is a lack of awareness or understanding of the rules and inconsistent enforcement of the rules.

No. I was picking holes in what you were saying.