I'm suggesting a thread be made where the general rules of the forum be removed, rules such as Naming and shaming, insults, and all the rules where arguments are supposed to be prevented. It would be a thread where you could get all the petty bickering and arguing that goes on on about 90% of threads on the site, and condense them all into one thread, thus freeing up the rest of the forum from arguing.

The obvious response to this would be "well just don't argue", but i think after nearly 10 years of this site being around, one thing that can be guaranteed is that arguing is going to happen. On a competitive site like this, tempers are flared too easily and it just spills out over like i said, 90% of threads.

If you've got a problem with someone, a clan game, anything at all, you take it to that thread and that thread alone.

"Controlled" - Moderators clean up this thread only when either racism or a death threat occurs. I would like to say that swearing would be allowed, but i think that would probably be a push too far at the moment, and anyway, no swearing creates a requirement to be more creative in your argument!

In order to protect the "Family Friendly" nature of this site, a user agreement in the form of a pop up notifying the user that this thread is going to be filled with angry words from angry people, so dont bother entering if you're a bit sensitive.

I know it seems like a joke, but i genuinely think this would clean up the rest of the forum.

This is a great idea, might stop me having to trawl through pages on my thread everytime Ash makes a sub and everyone jumps on him...

Thoughts from the admin and Mods would be really great here.

Agree with sam 100% its a great idea but not if the__priest gets on

the_priest

Agree with the others, very good idea! Well thought of, alot of planning has gone into it from Sam

Took me longer to think of the name of the thread than the actual idea

I happen to think this is a ridiculous idea, there is no harm with voicing an opinion, expressing ones views, it's the other crap that accompanies it.

IF people knew how to say their piece then "let sleeping dogs ly" then most of the arguments wouldn't even occur. A lot has to do with respect for someone's feelings and respect for others, (ie their thread). Also a lot to do with brovado, just because some have been on here a lot than others doesn't give them any more freedom or speciality than a newbie.

I have no problem with people offering constructive criticism it's best to have things out in the open (in moderation). Offline messages are there for a direct link from one player to another, as long as you adhere to the 'messaging rules', specified for this site then there will not be any problems. All that is required is some self-control and knowing when enough is enough. There's a difference between expressing an opinion and ramming it down others throats. Just gives others the green card to jump on the same band-wagon.

Giving a place for any one to express anguish, discontentment, voice angrily will more then likely intensify the prospect of a player or players feeling victimised or even bullied as make the banning's imposed on others past or present seem pointless.

Sorry silly idea.

Edited at 14:53 Thu 20/03/14 (GMT)

ONLY way would be to create an 18+ room where BULLYING and EXPLICIT language still not be tolerated. Make all who enter use their log in details so all are recorded.

Still impose bans, as without any rules then chaos will erupt and the site is already dwindle ling down on players as it is, this could be the death of the site.

I think it would get more people on the forums, if they know they can have some banter and a bit of a laugh, it'd be like being down the pub with your mates.

As long as nothing got taken too far, then I can see no reason why this room could not be made, only thing would be, how would you stop under 18's from getting access?

Admin and Mod's lol (Bouncers)

But in that case what you're saying is that you're perfectly happy for arguments to spring up on every other thread on the forum. Like i said, it's alright saying all that's required is self control and knowing when enough is enough, but in all the years i've been on this site i've learnt one thing... That's that people don't know when to shut up, myself included!

I think if you create an environment where people are allowed to voice their anger or discontent not only would you see it disappear from everywhere else in the forum, but i think in general people would stop getting as worked up about things.

They legalise alcohol in France at age 14, and they have some of the lowest rates of teenage binge drinking and alcohol related violence. Why? Because it's controlled and accepted into society. Granted that's a stretch from this but the principle is the same.

I contemplated the idea of an "18+ room" but realised that some of the most angry and argumentative people are aged 12-18, so i think it would slightly defeat the purpose. Hence the user agreement notifying that this is an area where people can talk smack about each other. If you feel like you aren't going to like what you see in there, or it's going to make you upset and that you cant defend yourself in that environment then you just don't go in there.

This is why i suggested moderators continue to monitor the thread, and i think any hint of racism/death threat should be the only thing removed and warrant a banning etc in this specific thread.

As you said, it will hopefully make the mods/admins job a slightly bit easier, as most of the threads will be kept to their own purpose, and they know that is (in general) this thread is their first port of call when they are on duty.

It is a great idea, just need the opinion of a higher being now... anyone know which mods/admin are online, would be cool to get their opinion on matters.

The Team threads should simply and solely be for: Clan related issues. (Fixtures, Results, Messages of Support, Encouragement etc)

Discussion threads should simply be for: Discussions not heated or raised atmospheres.

Another thread say called (Angry Thread) for voicing opinions, expressing views, could be set up but same rules still apply. The use of foul language displays a lack of wit. IF people in society didn't swear and expressed themselves with terms which actually make sense then maybe most arguments wouldn't get so heated in the first place.

This is an online pool game not a society, more meant to be an online community but as you stated yourself it's pretty much every one out for themselves. It's a dog eat dog environment initialized by being part of a competitive one.

Good point.

The whole thing seems a honest and fair way to iron out some differences but i just cannot see this being implemented...not enough mods on to keep watch..as kids can still read what is said before it gets (edited) so i don't know.

Yet arguments on here manage to get so heated without swearing?

Like i said before, i'm on the fence with the swearing, i would like to be able to swear 'cos i like to swear, simple. However, as Fran has said above, a thread where differences can be ironed out would be a great asset to the site in general. It will decrease the amount of crap that goes on everywhere in the forum currently.

To clarify, i spoke to fastboysam about this before i posted it here, and he seemed to think it was a relatively good idea. However, the more admin/mod's that give their opinions the better we'll be able to tell whether this has a chance of being implemented

a thread where differences can be ironed out would be a great asset to the site in general. It will decrease the amount of crap that goes on everywhere in the forum currently.

I don't think so, it will just be another place where people (certain) can socialise with their mates and team up on anyone they don't agree or get along with.

I have a place for them...it's called another chat room on another site.

That's what makes this site different from others, it's a controlled environment, moderated on a daily basis. People who cannot adhere to rules either learn to adapt or simply learn the hard way and face a ban.

Also think about those on here who actually have kids, would they want to know that their child (ren) can view such stuff. No with the set protocols and control in place that ensures some parental control too.

This is an online pool site not a playground or a pub.

Ash i don't think you really understand the real world in that case. Like i said above, kids aged 12-18 are more verbally abusive and violent than any other age group in my opinion! There isn't a kid out there in that age group that hasn't heard every swear word under the sun and thanks to Urban Dictionary some even more outlandish ones! If there are kids that are sensitive to that kind of language, or insults, or any of that stuff, then it's simple, you don't need to go on this one thread. This one thread that's gonna be hidden away in Gen Chat, away from the clan forum/game shouts/fun & games all that stuff.

It really is pretty simple, if you don't like it, you don't need to go on it. I'm just sick to death of seeing arguments spill out over every single clan thread on the site.

I think everyone has a right to voice their own opinion, obviously with no swearing, but as someone ^^^ said, it just makes you more creative with your words.

All this is to do, is bring the arguments away from the clan threads (which is where most of the arguments are), and at least stop the cluttering of those threads...

I personally vote for this, I believe it is a good idea to stop the cluttering of threads, allow the mods an easy starting point in their search of wrongdoers, and provide a healthy amount of banter back to the site.