Sunday, May 18, 2008

Game Room Code of Conduct

The JG500 club needs a Game Room Code of Conduct. Here is a suggested code based on The International Online Bridge Club.

Ethical 500 Card Playing:
adapted from The International Online Bridge Club
www.bridgeclublive.com


Code of Conduct
  1. I will be polite, friendly and courteous at all times – whether chatting or contributing to the Forum.
  2. I will respect other members' rights to have different opinions or ways of thinking.
  3. I will conduct my chat in a proper, mature and inoffensive manner taking into account that the internet environment is without feelings and deprives us of the real voices and smiles that take the ‘sting’ out of face to face chat.
  4. I will assist new members and guests and try to show patience and understanding.
  5. I will ALWAYS make sure that a "HAND" is completed. What this means is that I will not leave any table without first being sure that the score has been registered.
The ‘Dos’ and ‘Do nots’
The DO'S:

  1. DO announce your bidding system and any additional conventions BEFORE you start play. Make sure you know what system your partnership is playing before starting play.
  2. DO wait for a player who has disconnected from your table – whether an opponent or partner. Despite modern technology, the internet can still cause bad connections. If you are disconnected or your computer froze, or some other emergency, DO send an email or Forum note of apology to the other 3 players explaining the situation.
  3. DO Kibitz - but quietly please. We all love to watch others, but when kibitzing, please don’t dominate the chat during the bidding or the play.
  4. Misbids and Misclicks DO happen. If you misbid or misclick, it is better to say nothing at the time and then, at the end of the hand explain what happened.
  5. DO enjoy the game. But be thoughtful of the other players.
  6. If you open another account DO inform the membership that you are playing with more than one account.
The DO NOT'S:
  1. DO NOT ever leave the table before finishing a hand.
  2. DO NOT deliberately lose a game to another member.
  3. DO NOT discuss the bidding or the hand during the play of the hand. This is called “Table Talk”. This includes text references such as “WTF!!” and “Hmm” as well as smilies such as Wink or Sad .
  4. DO NOT swear or use abusive language anywhere in our club – it is a friendly place. Please do your part to maintain this atmosphere.
  5. DO NOT criticise or gloat at your opponents’ expense.
  6. DO NOT take excessive time to play a card or to play the next hand. It is absolutely correct to take some time to think during a hand but try to keep the game moving at a comfortable pace. If the phone or doorbell rings or if you have a minor emergency - type 'brb' (be right back) BEFORE you leave to deal with the interruption. Be as fast as you can. Also when a hand is finished, some post-mortem analysis is reasonable, but not too long and certainly not spilling over into the next hand.
  7. DO NOT forget your table manners when sitting down or leaving a table. Say hello or welcome when you join, and goodbye/thank you before you leave. Otherwise you will be thought of as a rude and unsociable person.
  8. Other than using the game's chat to hold a post-mortem after a hand DO NOT discuss an ongoing game with your partner outside the game environment (eg MSN, phone, Skype etc).
Enough with the table talking already!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

All sounds very fair and reasonable to me Daffy. As a new member, I find it unusual that we don't have a game room code of conduct. Any idea why?

Geoff said...

I think its due to the combination of several factors: the reality that this site is a hobby rather than a thriving business and Richard has to make a living like the rest of us; because this forum has for years had an abusive culture that discourages many members from active participation; because JG500 is not really a club and we have no elected committee; and, because Richard only seems comfortable in collaborating with programmers rather than those of us interested in developing a healthy online community. That said, despite my disappointment at the current quality of moderation, I think our new fledgling Code of Conduct may help move us into gentler waters.

Anonymous said...

Daffs, something got left out. Having fun, lol. Seriously, I agree that the points mentioned are valid, but has anyone ever played bridge. I did, and believe me, the people are usually nice enough but there is absolutely no fun in it. Even though some players on this site may bend the rules on the odd occasion they rarely go beyond that. Lets keep the site as it was originally meant to be - a pleasant way to pass the time.

Geoff said...

Of course, Angie, you are right.

I just had a friendly relaxed game with Scissors, Alicia and Kev and we all had lots of fun despite crossing the line with a bit of harmless TT after the games were in the bag but not finished. The suggested code is only a guideline with no enforcement or nasty "site police" behind them - just a guideline so that new members have some idea of how we play, and so that we have some expectations of how more serious tournaments can be played. I'll modify the DOs so that the first one says "Above all, DO have fun, its just a silly game of cards on the Internet."

Cheers - Daffers

Anonymous said...

Very good screed Daffy very much in the spirit of the game. It has my vote.
Unfortunately people ruffle one anothers feathers occasionally wherever you might be
and if I may have overreacted to situations in forum recently I apologise for that.
It seems everything can get back to normal again hopefully.

Geoff said...

Onya, Glenn
_________

I just came across this article, "Conflict in Cyberspace: How to Resolve Conflict Online:" The full article can be read at: from www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/conflict.html

Geoff said...

The JG 500 Forum Code of Coduct



Preamble

Welcome to the Julianne Giffin Forum. Please feel free to contact the friendly moderators at moderators@juliannegiffin.com. Discussions about forum moderation should only occur via this email address and no other method.

The aim of this forum is to enable positive, supportive, healthy debate and interaction, a fun experience for everyone in a safe environment. All productive communication is welcome and polite dissent with well-reasoned arguments is encouraged.

Use of the Julianne Giffin Forum constitutes acceptance and agreement to the Forum Code of Conduct. Repeated violations of the Code of Conduct will result in the site owner exercising his right to suspend or terminate your membership.

Forum Guidelines

This Code of Conduct was created to provide a basic understanding of what is accepted in the Forum. These are guidelines but common sense should always prevail. The moderators, together with the site owner, will determine what breaches the intention of this Code.

1. Ensure a friendly atmosphere for forum members
2. Ensure the privacy of members and that of others
3. Comply with existing laws
4. Encourage freedom of expression and exchange of information in a mature and responsible manner
5. Use positive language: keep it "G" rated as this is a family friendly site. Swearing, pornographic and offensive content breach this guideline
6. Posts that promote violence, threats and illegal acts or contain pornography, obscene, hate or racist material are inappropriate
7. Respect each other: abusive, harassing and defamatory comments, insults and personal attacks should be actively avoided
8. You are responsible for the content and legality of postings written in your member name
9. Posting on behalf of a suspended or banned member is unacceptable