Hello, my fellow Alacrites!
I'm here to discuss something very important with you. I ask that you please take the time to read this news post in its entirety. As always, if you have any questions, need clarification, or want to address individual concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to one of the Staff members - we are here to help each and every one of you!
The wonderful, giving community on Alacrity has always been one of our strongest and most compelling features, both to new players and old. I have noticed a lot of negativity, complaining, personal attacks on other members, disrespect towards other members and moderators alike, and generally no-good-very-bad behavior all around as of late. We do not want to lose the tight knit, friendly community feeling that makes Alacrity a wonderful place to hang out, so I am going to spend some time clarifying some rules, as well as discussing some new directives.
Complaining: One of the awesome things about alacrity is that listen to our user base - we
care about your opinions and want to make this place somewhere
you want to be. With that said, aimless complaining is no longer going to be tolerated, as it is detrimental to the community as a whole. I'm sure most of you remember the New Riddler Image incident but not a few days ago.
Complaining about a new feature or a change on Alacrity without offering constructive, thoughtful solutions to the perceived problem is not acceptable.
Let's take a moment to visit acceptable and unacceptable responses.| Unacceptable Comment | Acceptable Alternative |
|---|
| "I don't like the new riddler image!" | "I appreciate the hard work the artists put into the new image, but I preferred the old image because of the silly grin on his face. I would love to see that translated more into the new image!" |
| "Why would you restrict the number of times we can bathe our dogs? That is SO unfair!" | "Only being able to bathe our dogs three times per day is going to make it harder to boost health when it is most needed. Perhaps instead of limiting grooming sessions to three per day, you could increase it to five per day?" |
| "It's so unfair that Guess What contests are done when I'm not online!" | "I get so disappointed when I log in and see that I've missed another Guess What contest. Perhaps you could post a news post the day before to give us a general idea when to be on the lookout for the next one?" |
|
Disrespect: Disrespectful behavior is
never acceptable. If a Moderator or Site Administrator asks that you do something (or cease doing something), whether it's altering a behavior in chat or changing something in your profile, you are to comply. I don't want to see anymore questioning of a request in chat - the moderators are doing their jobs and having the members voice dissent publicly is demoralizing.
- If you have a concern about a Moderators request or actions (in chat, or otherwise), you are more than welcome to bring it to the attention of a Site Administrator for further investigation.
- If you have a concern about a Site Administrator, your only recourse is to appeal to Robyn, the site owner.
Members are also to respect each other. Direct attacks, passive aggressive behavior, and comments which intend to offend will all be met with corrective action.
A Few Finer Points:
- Constructive Criticism: Alacrity is founded on art. Sharing one's art can be difficult, especially knowing how critical the public eye can be. If you see someone's art and feel like something could be improved upon, please keep the following general guideline in mind:
- What do you like about the piece of art?
- What would you do to improve the piece of art?
- Rudeness: I expect each of you to be on your best behavior. If you can't picture yourself saying something to your mother/father/grandparent/younger sibling/teacher/boss, please don't say it here.
- Appropriate Use of The Forums: The comments section in news posts is not always the best place for your constructive feedback. Sometimes an issue is larger and should be taken to the suggestions board, the debate board, or the general discussion board over on our forums so that other members may voice their opinions as well. Please use your judgment on this one. If you need a news post edited to include a link to the discussion thread you've created about the topic, please message an admin to have it included :)
Please note that this discussion pertains to all areas of Alacrity, including chat, the forums, in user statuses, on user profiles, and in news posts comments. Failure to adhere to these general guidelines will result in corrective action such as fines, chat bans, forum bans, etc.
