Forum Question

[hftmrock]

Since I believe there have been changes here on the forum as well as in the game (Thank you Linda for posting The new approach to the chat in the games), Bryan (or anyone with the knowledge)can you post the new approach or rules change here on the forum (if any)?

I fully believe that knowledge of all changes or approaches will help get people back here to the forum and ultimately back to the game.

If people are able to post their opinions (positive and negative) respectfully here at the forum, it would be good to let everyone know. A change to an approach or a change to the rules without anyone knowing could not be considered a change

Thanks

[BryanV]

The rules of the message board haven't changed, so this Rules post is still valid:

http://boards.phantomefx.com/showthread.php?t=7

We are open to any and all postings, as long as they follow these rules. The main reasons that posts would currently be deleted would be:

1. You post your comment in an unrelated thread. If you have a new question or comment, don't "hijack" a thread and post in it. Create a new thread by clicking the New Thread button in the upper left corner of the screen.
2. You post the same comment in multiple threads. Just post your comment once, and if you don't get a reply within 24 hours you can post it again in the same area. If we see the same post multiple times we'll delete all the duplicates.
3. You make a negative post about another player, group of players, Pit Boss, or Phantom EFX employee. No one likes to be attacked, and we won't stand for it here. We want this to be a fun place to visit and post, and not feel scared or threatened in any way.
4. You make a negative post about Phantom EFX or the game in a non-constructive way.

#4 is the only one that's tough to understand sometimes. People come to these boards to read about new development, find answers to their questions, get help, and have fun finding out about the other players. Criticisms of the game can be worded in such a way that they will be deleted, or they can be worded in a way that they are constructive to us at Phantom and to the other readers of the board. For example, posting "This game stinks. I crash all the time and you guys are terrible" is not constructive. Posting "This game is crashing all the time when I try to load. I get an error that says Direct3d Mode Not Initialized and I can't even play the game that I paid for!!" is constructive. We can read that and give you possible solutions to your issue and get you back in the game. Just think to yourself when you are posting: "am I just angry and blowing off steam without giving anyone the chance to help me out?" If so, you should probably edit your post to give us a chance to assist you with your issues, or understand what you are saying in a constructive way that makes the game better for everyone.

There are plenty of places on the internet to voice your opinion on things, and this board is one of them. However, we won't allow our message board to be filled with hateful or hurtful postings that aren't helpful to players coming here to find information. It's up to you guys to make the boards a fun place to visit and post again. We love all the topics that get posted in the General Section (birthdays, fun stories, updates on players, jokes), so please feel free to post! We won't be willy-nilly deleting posts and banning people (it's been a long time since we've banned someone for something other than spam messages), so feel free to post your thoughts and opinions and make this board a fun place to be again!

I hope this was clear. If you have any more questions just ask and I'll answer! :)

[hermit]

Bryan, I checked the date on that thread and it was 7/08/08.

If the rules have in fact not changed, then maybe hftmrock's question should be not have the rules changed, but has the interpretation/enforcement of them changed. I myself had many constructive posts deleted last summer, as did many other players - it seemed that it had reached a point where any post by a certain name was enough to get it deleted. Many, many players left due to a definite atmosphere of silencing ALL non pro-Phantom posts and in-game chat, constructive or not.

I posted that Phantom needed to encourage a dialogue pro or con, and listen to it - it wasn't the players who voiced their unhappiness that you needed to be concerned about, at least they still cared enough to say SOMETHING - it is the people who no longer care enough to voice an opinion that should be your biggest concern, because when you silence them you lose them. IT WAS DELETED.

So, I think the question is - has Phantom re-interpreted their position on the enforcement of the rules that will encourage players to speak up and get involved in Phantom again?

[BryanV]

So, I think the question is - has Phantom re-interpreted their position on the enforcement of the rules that will encourage players to speak up and get involved in Phantom again?

Yes, we are changing the ways in which we enforce the rules. The rules are mainly there to prevent non-constructive comments and/or attacks against players or Phantom EFX. We are encouraging everyone to speak up, get involved, and make this a fun community and family to belong to.

Does this mean that no posts are going to be deleted, and no posters are going to be banned in the future? Probably not, but if you are posting in a constructive way...in a way that you would talk to someone in person if you were face-to-face with them...then you don't have to worry about it. A little polite-ness goes a long way.