The bare-minimum age a user can make an account on forums/social-networking sites has to be 13 (with parental permission by law in the US). If someone makes an account and is not yet 13, then the person is prevented from accessing the forums until they are at least that age.
Thanks for your reply, Anoni :)
1) I hope you don't change the rules to a more appropriate warning XD
2) As for mentioning the age of minors, I just had a question I thought of (nothing to do with the rules in particular): Is there an age limit to people joining? Basically, can anyone of all ages join?
I don't interwebs so well at the moment :S
3) Ah, that makes sense!
4) I can't recall exactly how the old rules were, and regardless if it wasn't changed, I thought the point of updating the rules was to make them clearer, more understandable, and less... loop-hole-y x)
I simply meant to state the rule seemed confusing to me. I didn't and do not differentiate between old and new rules. I just see the rules, as they are currently.
5) Ah, ok.
6) I didn't mean publicising the exact numbers of percentages. I meant the following:
When I -or someone else- gets a warning level, we see a certain percentage. Whether this is shown on their profile or not wasn't the main issue I was trying to point out (because I have seen percentages on members). Rather, there isn't stated in the rules -or the FAQ for that matter- how one's warning level can get decreased.
7) Ok, that makes sense too. I was just afraid from how I read it there would be an overflow of new threads, each referring to a previous one, etc. ^^;
But glad to hear/read that won't be the case.
(Btw, I hope you're ok I mentioned those points. It's just my experience reading the updated rules. )
(PS: I know this is off topic, but I randomly got logged out for some reason too while typing this.)
"When reporting to a moderator, only contact one at a time, and let any subsequent mods know who you contacted before them."
Signature limits have not changed and I see people with images in their signatures. We haven't changed your signature.
Did the size limits for images in signatures change? I don't see anyone's signature pictures anymore, mine included.
Can anyone else confirm?
As for warnings, they decrease in percentage over time.Hello Vosur :)
The bare-minimum age a user can make an account on forums/social-networking sites has to be 13 (with parental permission by law in the US). If someone makes an account and is not yet 13, then the person is prevented from accessing the forums until they are at least that age.Ah, ok. See, I don't (didn't) know if that is a general rule over the whole internet or not. I've heard about being 13 years of age before to do internet things, but the age minimum with a variety of things confuses me all around. Some websites, online games, and other forums require a different age minimum (for example: 14 years of age instead of 13, etc.). :)
Hello Vosur :)We do not state how much a percentage drops because that can be abused rather easily. As Nick stated, if a warning happens and the person warned can calmly and civilly validate how the warning should not have taken place to another moderator/admin, then the warning can be removed, otherwise it's just good behavior and time that will reduce the percentage.
I do know this (after reading tickets and talking with a mod about it), but I can't find it mentioned anywhere specifically. For such a thing that many members wonder and still (and will) wonder about, if it's such a common question, why can't I find said answer any place? (Rules, FAQ, or any other place?) If I would be a new member (or an old member) with the knowledge I got a warning level, but without any knowledge on how to get rid of it, then the only option available is to either scour the forums to find if someone else already posted the question some place (as a topic or a ticket), or ask it again some place by starting a new topic (or ticket). I've seen this happen several times over the few years I've been on the forums here, and that is simply what I wanted to point out.
Ah, ok. See, I don't (didn't) know if that is a general rule over the whole internet or not. I've heard about being 13 years of age before to do internet things, but the age minimum with a variety of things confuses me all around. Some websites, online games, and other forums require a different age minimum (for example: 14 years of age instead of 13, etc.). :)
Hello Anoni :)
It's nice to see new rules and the like being updated, with the goal of making things clearer.
However, if I may give a bit of feedback?
Here are my pointers right now:Some of the rules have a bit complicated sentence-build, or grammar. (And there are a few words here and there which I feel personally could have used a more well-known synonym which would be much clearer to the general public/members, but that's my own personal opinion.)
E.g.:
"(...) do not claim the art as your own and the artist has not made it clear to us or otherwise that they do not want other people using their art."
I'm mostly confused how to read the sentence after 'and'.
Also, using the term 'minors', it would be helpful to know what age exactly defines a minor from an 'adult', as members come from a variety of countries, which each have their own age limit on a variety of subject matters. So, in the end, my question would be: Which country does this forum fall under? What specifics would be important to know about?
Later on, in another rule, I indeed read about the US federal law. However, I would like to see the age for being a minor mentioned somewhere clearly.
"Talking about sex in a purely non-sexual way may be ok, if you are unsure whether a topic is too sexual you can message a moderator before you make the thread."
What do you mean exactly by this? Before it seems the rule states that anything to do with sexual content is not allowed, but then there is an exception. Would it be discussing biology and the like? Seems it could open a potential 'beehive' of issues here. Perhaps moreso left for the adult board, if anything?
"Anthropomorphic characters ARE allowed to be unclothed as long as they are covered by fur/scales/feathers/etc. Any clothing should cover about the same amount of area on the body as a bikini/swimsuit would. In addition to images, discussions on the public forum about having sex, turn-ons, etc. are not appropriate and will be removed."
I think, judging by the rest of the text in the rules, one could state PG-13 instead? I mean, someone could have a Sphynx cat as character, those 'naked cats', but if they are drawn without clothing and showing no anatomically correct features (just as genitalia and the like), then it should be alright, right?
But then I am confused when the rules go on to say that clothing should cover certain parts. I thought before they were allowed to be unclothed? Now I'm confused.
"When reporting to a moderator, only contact one at a time, and let any subsequent mods know who you contacted before them."
Not to be nitpicky, but do you happen to mean: "When messaging/PM'ing a moderator"? As a report, as stated prior in the rules, sends a message to all moderators regardless.
There is also no explanation what it means when one is warned or when one has a certain percentage of Warning Level. Only the more severe statuses are mentioned (like being moderated, etc.). I see warning levels sometimes on other members (which I get mixed messages of: Sometimes it is shown publicly, sometimes not?).
It's not stated that after a while the warning level decreases, which is odd, considering a lot of members have asked about this multiple times in the past how to get rid of the warning level.
Anyways, this is just my personal experience. I hope it helps in some shape or form.
PS: This was just a small thought I had, which I would like to share: It's a lot of rules and if each gets their own thread, that's a lot of threads. Making a new thread for every rule seems really unnecessary, (and not to sound mean, just pointing out what I've witnessed with these announcement threads: ) it's not like these announcements usually get a lot of responses. ^^;