Why hello thar mods
I try very hard to follow rules. I've even sat in Discord and waited for hours to ask a mod whether content I intended to post was appropriate. I've also requested an opt-in manual review to preapprove posts. However, as I'm sure you've noticed, the rate at which I violate Boards rules (judging by my removed posts) has not only not decreased to zero, it is accelerating. The most recent one was the most perplexing (to me). I was participating in a thread about paying for opportunities to get an in-game advantage. Unfortunately, one of a few people who didn't understand this concept began to get very agitated and confrontational, shouting in caps, calling people a "waste of time," and so on, finally announcing that he was going to leave in a huff before mods got him for swearing at people. I explained that swearing isn't a guarantee of mod action, but screaming, baiting, calling people a "waste of time," etc. are more likely to attract notice.
As it turns out, replying to someone after they've basically given you the finger and stomped off constitutes harassment, because obviously they were tired of your stupid shit, right? And you kept being an idiot and wasting their time - sorry, not wasting their time, but being a waste of time - so if you do that, you've broken the rules. Doesn't matter that you're patiently and politely trying to turn someone from a raging, baiting troll into a constructive Boards poster; doesn't matter that they don't have to read your reply; hitting that reply button is not allowed. Here's a direct quote from my mod message:
If someone is trying to tell you they're done with a conversation, the appropriate response is to leave them alone, rather than responding to their most recent message in order to have the last word. Continuing to infringe on someone's boundaries can constitute Harassment and isn't tolerated. Additionally, if you see something that breaks the Universal Rules, please don't respond to it, and instead report it and move on. Responding to bad behaviour [with or without] bad behaviour isn't necessary, and causes unneeded clutter on the Boards.
I'll be sure to keep this in mind. If someone starts to annoy me, I'll tell them I'm done with the conversation. If they reply to me, I'll report them and eagerly await the post's removal. Because merely replying to someone who's told you not to on a publicly-accessible forum is Harassment. Capital H. And notice that there's no limitation by thread - all you have to do is tell someone you don't like talking to them, and from that point onward any attempt at interaction with you would be Harassment. The content of the post is immaterial. It could be as simple as "ya, I like cheese, too." The important part is that their posts infringe on your boundaries, and that's not allowed.
And hey, I even got a nice little threat that if I keep breaking the rules I CAN'T FUCKING AVOID BREAKING BECAUSE THEY'RE EQUAL TO WHATEVER A MOD FEELS LIKE AND THEY'RE KEPT INTENTIONALLY VAGUE SO THAT MODS CAN DO WHATEVER THEY FEEL LIKE, I'll be banned. :)
While there are going to be no actions against your account at this time, be aware that continually violating the rules will result in further consequences, up to and including suspensions to your Boards access.
I'm trying to understand your rules.
I cannot understand your rules.
I'm trying to follow your rules.
I cannot follow your rules.
You create vague, generic rules, you refuse to provide clarification before the fact, I try my best to remain calm, polite, and objective, but all you're doing is waiting for me to fail, and then you jump in with condescension and threats. Meanwhile, the person who baited me into this is probably sitting there giggling at the drama he created.
Mods, if you're thinking of replying to this post with a nice little patronizing "but your behavior wuz mean, and Rules say don't be mean, so obvious," don't. I hereby explicitly am not interested in being condescended to by people who keep the rules secret and then smack Wesley down when he trips over a fence into a flowerbed. If you do so now that I've specifically said I don't want it, it would fall under Harassment by the rules you interpreted at me and you would have to penalize yourselves.
I'm really tired of your games, basically.
