For years we have all enjoyed the various forms of communication our community has taken to. The first major form of connecting to one another was the advent of the QBoard. Shortly there after, #terrafusion was created while the community was discussing the concept of a web portal of the same name.
Other sites came about such as Peej 'n' Frib's, and QMap. Each of these different, yet similar sites each held a unspoken code of conduct. Certain behaviors were expected of one another to keep all the information within the sites easily obtainable and junk free. Places were set aside for normal bickering and bantering that always took place.
These sites were havens for many different opinions and ideas to be freely exchanged with little or no prosecution. If someone created an thread that for one reason or another failed to meet the criteria agreed upon, they were politely corrected and the issue was taken care of. This thankfully has continued through each generation of our boards.
Advanced forms of idea discussion were created as the next logical step beyond typical threads. For instance, Peej 'n' Frib introduced the concept of columns. After each entry the readers were encouraged to leave some comments and continue the discussion on the given topic. This acknowledge the idea that everyone has their own opinion on others opinions.
For sometime I was a moderator at Qmap. I and the other moderators adhered to the ideas of what constituted new threads, news, and what should of been placed where. During this time I tried my hardest not to play moderator of opinion, but play an invisible entity that allowed everyone to have their opinion properly expressed. Each moderator strived for this concept of letting everyone get their say in, just in the right place.
As each new site was created to replace the old and broken, the code of conduct slightly changed and morphed. Anyone who has spent any amount of time within any of the sites understands these unspoken rules of conduct.
However it has become increasingly clear that #terrafusion has moved away from these rules. Instead it has become a space for mindless abuse. When it first created it was based on the idea that no one held power over another. Countless times people would step down from op position after making any adjustments to the channel. The point was not create a sense of elite ness which everyone agreed would stifle discussions, ideas, and opinions.
So as a result I per pose we develop a quick bill of rights in a sense. For instance, what constitutes a ban or kick. It doesn't have to be like the 10 Commandments of TF, but just a general rule of thumb on how to act there. Now that the room is moderated rather strictly, I believe it is best we have some rules similar to the unspoken ones I touched on above.
I hope everyone takes a quick moment to give their opinions on this subject.
