I work as a moderator for another site here on the mighty Internets, and I have watched the recent shitstorm with dismay. I haven't contributed because a) I'm rather new around here myself and I don't know personal history between posters; b) it was a rather stunning thing to watch (I don't mean that I enjoyed it, but I saw a lot of cross-messages and it took a while to figure out what was going on); c) it's not my forum to moderate.

Anyone who thinks herding cats is uniquely aphoristic has never tried to herd smartasses. This site attracts smartasses because smartasses make the best comics. Oh, the honeypot Brad has built here! It takes a special kind of dain bramage to separate smartassery from reality in order to enjoy the sheer brilliance of the words, and most people have that around here. That is what, I believe, the forums here intend to cultivate. Or at least the regulars.

For example, when I reflect that we should call couldawoulda's dad's ass Rock City, because every redneck for seven states has been there on vacation, I am not actually saying anything about couldawoulda's dad. I think that's a funny statement. Most people I have said it to, or aimed it at, have thought it was funny. It's not about anybody's dad. It's the dozens.

Lucky has mentioned rules in the same breath as an expression of despair that rules could ever apply here. I think differently. There need be only one.

Don't make anyone the butt of your joke that doesn't want to be.

If you say something that someone else finds hurtful, they say, Quit it, and you quit. You don't quit, you get banned. Further smartassery between the two of you can be worked out at a later date.

This only applies to people who are actually here, or who were here, like Kaufman. Fuck a buncha George Bush.

I think this is clear how the rule would work in the various sitches that sparked this recent shitfest.

We have given ourselves a peculiar license in our humor here. Almost no taboos are off-limits. Teh funny rules. And teh funny speaks to us all differently, and we mostly respect that. The few boundaries we should hold sacrosanct are the ones we determine ourselves.

With that in mind, I reference a favorite comic of mine here at SC.

/comics/boorite/182796/

PS: I don't even know couldawoulda or his dad. Actually I do. I am couldawoulda. I used my second SC moniker because I want to use someone who could not possibly be upset about being called out.

Sounds good. It covers lash and backlash of both coherent and incoherent subphilums. And I guess it's pretty obvious when somebody isn't really trying to attack a person't character. I'll take three.

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Lucky has mentioned rules in the same breath as an expression of despair that rules could ever apply here. I think differently. There need be only one.

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For the most part, boloboffin, I agree with you, except for two minor points:

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Don't make anyone the butt of your joke that doesn't want to be.

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Every schmuck who likes the sound of his own typing got to weigh in his opinion as if his opinion or indeed the whole situation matters in the least.

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If you say something that someone else finds hurtful, they say, Quit it, and you quit. You don't quit, you get banned.

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If you say something that someone else finds hurtful, they say, Quit it, and you quit. You don't quit, you get banned.

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That being said, there are times when someone can give another person so much **** it's just not fun anymore. People have been banned for it in the past (boinky33 and CHUBBY, for two). However, that went on for weeks, if not months, in every thread imagineable, until everyone was sick of it.

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But the best part is when shit goes on for months and no one fucking gives a damn and says basically "boys will be boys" despite the number of times someone told the asshole perpetrator to cut it out.

So even if that rule was implemented, I have absolutely no faith at all it would be followed. If I did, I'd still be here instead of cleaning house.

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So even if that rule was implemented, I have absolutely no faith at all it would be followed. If I did, I'd still be here instead of cleaning house.

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Hmm, if only there was a single forum where flaming were allowed so that it could be contained...

Hell of a thing, bannin' a man. You take away everything he has...and everything he's ever gonna have.

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Hmm, if only there was a single forum where flaming were allowed so that it could be contained...

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I found that child pornography to be extremely offensive and would like you to explain to us all how you find something like that appropriate.

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Yeah, that would be great. And if only the flames would actually stay there and not spread to other forums or get sent through PMs and chat.

I also want a pony and world peace.

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I'm not referring specifically to the crap that's gone on recently (I'm staying well away from this one), I just can't stand when people call for more censorship. If anything changes I'd like the emphasis being on where things take place is all.

Or if anyone is going to get banned, it should be a temporary thing for a set period of time.

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If someone goes around all over the forum posting about how they hate a person, then they should be banned for spamming, not being mean. Words put on the Internet only have as much influence as people are willing to give them. Just because someone says I eat babies or club seals doesn't mean I have to let it upset me (in fact, I'd probably laugh).

One feature that might be nice: an ignore list. If a forum member is being annoying, addign them to your ignore list means their posts will no longer appear when you browse the forum. Chat rooms use this to great effect. Having it on a forum would be nice, as well.

An ignore list would be freakin' sweet. And bans for spamming are a different thing, I'm all for those.

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I disagree that... ...They never, ever work.)

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So even if that rule was implemented, I have absolutely no faith at all it would be followed. If I did, I'd still be here instead of cleaning house.

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So even if that rule was implemented, I have absolutely no faith at all it would be followed. If I did, I'd still be here instead of cleaning house.

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You bloody people post in a lot of threads for people who aren't here.

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show us your tits.

You first.

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show us your tits.

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You first.

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Just to let everyone know: I've been keeping up on the drama around here and will be doing something about it shortly.

Mainly I'll be looking to decrease the amount of nonsense posting around here and hopefully increase the intelligent (though still funny) discussion. Tough job.

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...Mainly I'll be looking to decrease the amount of nonsense posting around here and hopefully increase the intelligent (though still funny) discussion. Tough job.

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I'm sorry for all the trouble, Brad. I know you like to keep it free and easy here and I respect and agree with that and always have.

I started the fight purposely because I thought these forums had gotten a little too free and easy, crossing the border of elitist and cruel. I thought this place needed a little more policing to promote growth. I thought these forums had become stagnant and, more often than not, mean. And more importantly, much less funny.

I know I went about it poorly, but from past experience I knew just saying, "Hey guys, let's be more interesting and stop being such jerks", accomplishes nothing. I thought I needed to make a grand, suicidal gesture to ever hope to make anything better for the new users and the community in general, as I was pretty much done with these forums anyway and was deeply unhappy about the place it had become since I started posting here.

I honestly never thought anyone would leave because of my kamikaze run. I mean, besides me. I figured I'd be chased out of here with pitchforks and torches and maybe some attitudes would change a little.

As of right now, I promise to stop antagonizing people and to stay in the background, silently observing. I hope something good will come from my actions, because I shook up this nest of hornets with good intentions.
Well, mostly good intentions. I cracked a few eggs making this omelette and I had my own selfish reasons for choosing those particular eggs. I really didn't want or expect them to leave, though. That messed up the whole plan. Collateral damage is a bitch.

Oh, P.S., if I'm going to be banned, please don't delete my comics. I'm kind of proud of some of them and I know a few people who like to read them. So if anyone's thinking ban, I totally understand but I don't want to lose those. They're my mutant babies.

You see what happens when a noob proposes a rule? I didn't realize that banning evokes the eradication of comics around here. I am not proposing that at all.

Now Injokester's comments are in sharper focus for me. Hell, no, comics shouldn't be erased. At my other forum, the disruptive newbie trolls get their posts deleted on banning, but it's a laborious process. Sad to say, we've had to ban longer members as well, because of flamewars that simply would not quit, and deleting posts isn't something any moderator would feel like doing, much less want to do. I don't know if Brad has a one-step nuke option, but ick. Just plain ick.

Also, because I didn't make it clear, if this is a rule that Brad and the moderators want to adopt, modify, and enforce, I wouldn't expect any ex post facto bannings. Everybody starts with a clean slate. That's the only fair and decent thing to do.

Banning from the forums does not automatically result in deletion of comics.

Comic deletion is generally reserved only for extreme, extreme cases. Flooding, spamming, etc.

CHUBBY's comics are still around. I thought he was a spammer. Or is it forum spamming rather than comic spamming? Someone told me there was a rule that says after so many comics in a row, you get temporarily cut off at the bar.

Yes, if you make too many comics in quick succession you trigger an auto-ban on the creation of strips. You can still post on the forums, however.

It won't delete anything you've done.

Once this door is opened sooner or later someone's going to lose their work. A months suspension and a couple of warnings that they'll lose comics if they continue should keep anyone in line. Or better yet just make their comics disappear for a while, and agree to bring them back only if they behave.

i think it time to get rid of the stripcreator. there will be no problems with nowhere to have them.