Return of Shipper Thread Guidelines--MUST READ

[Top41]

The two week moritorium on shipper threads is over, and the threads can come back to the forum. I'll be honest, though: not much has changed. Over the past two weeks, much of what we've observed has been immature, completely out-of-line, petty behavior. It's a shame; we had all hoped cooler heads would prevail during this shipper downtime.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. Both shipper threads (1 per ship at a time) and character threads (1 per character at a time) can come back. We ask that you do not fill either with pictures. A screencap or picture here and there is okay (remember don't hotlink; you must host the pics on your own site), but if it gets excessive it's spamming.

2. The rules are going to be stricter. Many of you have had a lot of friendlies from us; all of you know the rules by now. There will be no tolerance for flaming/trolling, and given the history, things that seem borderline might garner warnings, especially if the intent is under-the-radar trolling.

3. Please remember that the moderators aren't babysitters. We've been innundated with notify mod e-mails and PMs from shippers over the last few months. We're not going to police what people say about the characters: people have a right to post negative things about a character, 'ship or even to some extent an actor (so long as it's not libel or an outright flame). If you can't accept that, you might want to reconsider posting here. We're tired of getting notify mod complaints about someone criticizing a character.

I'd suggest you guys make an effort to work out some of your problems on your own. I'd also suggest trying to be less sensitive about your 'ships and the things people say about them. Enjoy posting with like-minded folks, and get along with those who think differently.

IDIC, folks, IDIC.

Related Links:

Mediation

Resolution

Moritorium

 

[indranee]

so what you're saying is that we can't have a "SB chest thread", am I right?

if so, I lodge a protest right here and now because, unlike me, there are a LOT of people who visited that thread (or its successor "Bakula by Popular Demand" which you closed) JUST FOR THE PHOTOS. they did NOT get into 'shipper battles, they did NOT get into trek/Ent arguments, they did NOT ask for any special treatment. they just wanted to come into this forum, look at the pictures of the character or the actor, post their admiration/appreciation, and leave.

IMO, what this means is that the moderators are effectively excluding those people from this board and this forum.

I really don't understand this. As far as I know, neither "The Chest" thread, nor the other one, were either hotbeds OR sources of 'shipper wars.

I don't think this is fair and I intend to take this to Moderator Actions if it is not addressed.

 

[LLAP2U]

Posted by indranee:
so what you're saying is that we can't have a "SB chest thread", am I right?

if so, I lodge a protest right here and now because, unlike me, there are a LOT of people who visited that thread (or its successor "Bakula by Popular Demand" which you closed) JUST FOR THE PHOTOS. they did NOT get into 'shipper battles, they did NOT get into trek/Ent arguments, they did NOT ask for any special treatment. they just wanted to come into this forum, look at the pictures of the character or the actor, post their admiration/appreciation, and leave.

IMO, what this means is that the moderators are effectively excluding those people from this board and this forum.

I really don't understand this. As far as I know, neither "The Chest" thread, nor the other one, were either hotbeds OR sources of 'shipper wars.

I don't think this is fair and I intend to take this to Moderator Actions if it is not addressed.

I hate to admit that I agree with indranee...

In the Malcolm rage threads and the Tucker Appreciation threads there were never any 'shipper' arguments or problems of that nature.

Personal 'ships' don't come into play in a rage thread... We may all believe that Reed should be with Hayes, Archer, Tucker, T'Pol or Hoshi but it is never an issue becuase we are discussing and sharing character moments.

If you are trying to save on bandwith then I can understand asking that we post a link instead of the pictures but if that is not the case then why can't we post pictures? That is one of the points of those threads is to look and admire.

Being someone that has never 'notified the moderator' or had warnings, I too would appreciate clarification for this moderator action. This has nothing to do with being a 'shipper'......

 

[Top41]

^We're trying to cut down on spammy-type posts, and those character-related picture threads are somewhat spammy. They aren't really discussion-type threads.

I'll rediscuss it with my co-mods and get back to you with a definite answer, but that's the way we're leaning right now.

 

[LLAP2U]

Posted by Top41:
^We're trying to cut down on spammy-type posts, and those character-related picture threads are somewhat spammy. They aren't really discussion-type threads.

I'll rediscuss it with my co-mods and get back to you with a definite answer, but that's the way we're leaning right now.

I do realize that there is a lot of chit chat in there but I think that so many people are excited and in the spirit of making a joke before someone else says it, or while you are in the midst of having fun you forget and it does look like your on a chat board instead of a message board so that is true... But I believe the pics have little to do with the spam...

I can however understand the desire to cut back on the 'chat board like responses'...

Another suggestion could be not to post the same picture more that once or twice during the duration of the thread... It can only be posted again when the new thread opens... that way once the pic is discussed we can move on to another subject instead of it being the same picture 'quoted' 10 times in a row...

That may cut down on the spammy part of it...

Could that help???

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^^ Well, you can always post links to pictures. It has been done before in those types of threads.

And as for ENT pictures in general I plan to (and have permission to) reopen my ENT Picture Thread in a couple of days. It's open for all kinds of pictures relating to ENT (characters, actors, screencaps etc). No one is excluded !

But it's not a "rage" thread per se so if anyone misbehaves in there I'll ask the mods to close it.

 

[Jenna]

I don't have a problem posting links to pictures instead of teh pictures themselves. I appreciated that over the summer.. some people access the board from work and can't have piccies of an actors naked chest popping up everywhere.

 

[indranee]

Posted by Top41:
^We're trying to cut down on spammy-type posts, and those character-related picture threads are somewhat spammy. They aren't really discussion-type threads.

I'll rediscuss it with my co-mods and get back to you with a definite answer, but that's the way we're leaning right now.

I get you. but we need to then come to a compromise (maybe link the pics) but those threads need to come back otherwise this board is just not fun for a large number of fans of the show and its characters/actors.

I have had a lot of PMs from these people lately. they are upset and feel that they are being unfairly treated thru no fault of their own. that is NOT the kind of reputation this board should have, IMO.

I hope you guys see that and discuss a compromise. thanks!

 

[LLAP2U]

Posted by Jenna:
... some people access the board from work and can't have piccies of an actors naked chest popping up everywhere.

As I said I don't have a problem with links... Links are fine for me if it is a bandwith issue and/or 'controversial picture' problem.

But as a means of content control so 'shippers' don't get 'out of hand' I do have an issue with that because I have not seen 'shipper' issues arise in those threads.

 

[pookha]

while i dont totally understand the picture thing in the character threads (we need some guidelines) and not a lot of fuss has came from the character threads there is a reason why they might need to be tied into the
shipper threads as something that could be lost.

while some would miss the shipper threads and others wouldnt i think more people across both groups would miss the character/actor threads.

in a way they are the carrot/stick of the issue.

yes it is unfair to some people., especially people like the jen who likes malcolm and who never was in the middle of this stuff..

but, losing the ship threads was going to hurt some people who never got a friendly even too.


.

by increasing the stakes of what could be lost maybe it will encourage better behavior just a little.

this is just my opinion because i doubt if it will be popular with either side.

 

[Tzigone]

Well, I for one perfer the threads without tons of pics. They annoy me. I go to threads for discussion. And then the posts keep moving as new pictures are loaded. And it takes bandwidth. Plus, it seems to me that threads with lots of pictures don't have as much discussion, and that's what I like. Separate threads for pictures, maybe?

 

['Shippy]

I still don't think that the official T/T, official A/T, Bak thread, and CT thread were not the source of the problems.

Because diff. 'shipper groups don't interact there. Most of the problems I've seen happen in threads that are NOT actor or pairing rage threads. Threads where 'shippy things come up and both groups discuss it.

 

[Spy of P'Jem]

Posted by Top41:
^We're trying to cut down on spammy-type posts, and those character-related picture threads are somewhat spammy. They aren't really discussion-type threads.

I'll rediscuss it with my co-mods and get back to you with a definite answer, but that's the way we're leaning right now.

I can't say that I'm really an actor-lover and a character-lover myself, but I did fall into the Bakula 'rage' thread a few times and can't imagine why you moderators would have an issue with them. Spammy?? Please. Now you're just making stuff up to defend an indefensible position. C'mon. Let them have their 'rage' threads. Honestly, the mods spark more contention regarding this matter than the threads did.

 

[Anna Yolei]

By spammy posts, I think the mods were referring toa senario like this: Poster A places a pic in his or her thread, which is followed by Poster B quoting the pic and giving a one-word reply. This is followed by Poster C link a fic so big that most viewers have to resize their web brosers to read all the rest of the posts on the page, and so forth. I find this practice very annoying, and I for one am glad that pics are banned.

(Plus, I really hate to be scrolling dowm a page to find a hugh ass photo of T'Pol dropping her robe in what I think to be one of the worst scenes I've ever had the misfortune of seeing on Star Trek. All, IMHATPLO )

 

[Ravnos]

Ok, I'm really curious now ... whats a 'shipper' ?

 

[Anna Yolei]

A 'shipper' is someone that really likes two of their favorite characters to pair up. For example, I've always thought Riker and Crusher would make a striking pair. Therefore, I'm a Riker/Crusher shipper (Or just R/C shipper), because I support the pairing of Riker and Crusher.

 

[Ravnos]

A 'shipper' is someone that really likes two of their favorite characters to pair up. For example, I've always thought Riker and Crusher would make a striking pair. Therefore, I'm a Riker/Crusher shipper (Or just R/C shipper), because I support the pairing of Riker and Crusher.

I feel like an outsider to this whole thing, and i don't understand it, why woukld you need mediation, and a mortorium etc for people who support pairings of characters? What so big about pairings?

 

[LLAP2U]

Posted by AnnaYolei:
I find this practice very annoying, and I for one am glad that pics are banned. <snip>

The pics were not banned, they are to be far few and in between......

And I am one that is not happy with not being able to post pictures in the thread when I want. I can understand controversial pics being linked. Or pics over a certain size being linked but not having pics makes it a bit boring for me......

Maybe I am just a woman with a little too much testosterone because I enjoy the visual!

 

[Brendan Moody]

Posted by Ravnos:
I feel like an outsider to this whole thing, and i don't understand it, why woukld you need mediation, and a mortorium etc for people who support pairings of characters? What so big about pairings?

I think we all wish we knew the answer to that question, Ravnos.

 

[Jenna]

Posted by RulanAllwine:

Posted by Ravnos:
I feel like an outsider to this whole thing, and i don't understand it, why woukld you need mediation, and a mortorium etc for people who support pairings of characters? What so big about pairings?

I think we all wish we knew the answer to that question, Ravnos.

Because the vast majority of shippers are very absorbed in the show and the wellbeing of the characters they like. Thus, when to shipper groups are in direct competition (ridiculous) sparks can fly.