First Administrative Debate

Hello all and welcome to the first debate. Remember only I, Vipera, and Whoster can post here. Please direct all comments and feedback to the Open Thread and General Chat.

I shall moderate the discussion. Members can vote on who they think is doing better in the poll above. Vipera, Whoster, do not mention your or your opponent's progress during the debate. Only afterwards.


I'll start off our first topic of the evening.

> Caring for the club

Now, the both of you shall explain exactly what you plan to do for the club, what you'd like to change, what you'd like to keep the same, etc. You'll each take turns.

After flipping a coin, Whoster had won for first turn. Whoster, now voice your words.

Oh. Uhm, okay,

Well, firstly, one of the issues which GroxLord has addressed is that some members just don't create, and mostly just RP. I feel that, to help this to an extent with members that are newer, such as tonysaur, and people that apply for membership, we should require more than just one creation, if you know what I mean. I am not implying that tonysaur or other newer members have been lazy enough to make just one creation, nor do I intend to give up on the older members of RG who's creative properties, here atleast, are not being used, even if it may be difficult. I also think we should strongly hint at our appreciation for adventures, before they become mainly RPers in RG. I have made the mistake of trying to hurry members to the RP before anything else, which I realize may be why there are less people who actually create.

Now, on to the topic of updates and making sure the club, and forum are well cared for.

I admit that I'm not too familier with the controls of admin panel, as of late I've had no reason to go there. but to care for the forum I will most likely have to learn, and, in light of these debates and this election, fast.

But, I think that, if we can find a design that all members are fond of, which incorporates its recent design updates which already prove to be practical, we should keep that design, perhaps changing it only temporarily on things like RG's anniversary, which will be coming up in a few months.

I will make sure that all trolls are dealt with accordingly, and those that attack are given the necessary suspension. RG has been wounded in the past by such attacks, but, to me atleast, has always recovered because of the great people we have here who've helped RG.

One topic which I would like to address, is that of other clubs, possible recruitments, and enemies we've made.

Other Clubs

It is known that we've made some enemies clubs, including BAU, and, to a lesser extent thanks to Stryfe89, EAW. Some of the reason these clubs are "enemies" is because that a member of RG now was earlier a member of the club which now has a bad relationship with RG. The best thing is just to ignore the members of these clubs, unless they come in a peaceful manor. However, we have also made allies with other clubs and shops, such as Vipera's sig shop, or the LOL Dojo. With these ally clubs I believe we should maintain a good relationship, we alerady have a very good with Vipera's sig shop since she is a mod of RG aswell,

But yes, it is important to maintain a good relationship with our ally clubs.

Now, on to enemies of RG.

I can name two right off the bat, HangingDeath, and StinkyPachem. HangingDeath which I was already enemies with from EAW. The latter was introduced to RG by way of a flame-bait post which started an arguement, among other things, which lasted, very unfortunately, for quite a while. HangingDeath has now been banned from RG but continues to plague us with a random post or two, which we must and should either respond nicely or not at all.

Now, I believe that, with the experience I've gained from these earlier trials, my qualification to be RG's replacement leader is at a high.

But I cannot run RG alone, a single moderater cannot stand alone. I'll need the help of other moderaters, their advice, their support, I need them to be mods and do what they can to help RG as much as possible.


Thank you.

Nicely said Whoster. Now Vipera, when you arrive it will be your turn.

Okay, then. In Ruthless Galaxy, there have been several problems that were stated by GroxLord, as well as a few that I myself have seen. The first issue, is that people are not very active, and don't really make creations as much as they do Roleplay. Like others, I agree that there should be more than one creation, however, I feel that we too strongly rely on Spore for making creations. When Ruthless Galaxy first branched off from the Sporum, and created this Private Forum, we had a vision that someday we wouldn't need Spore for our creations. We could just draw and design pictures to represent creations. However, we also make adventures, which poses a problem, as you need creations to make them.

As a result, we have continued to make only creations in Spore to represent Empires, and our races. However, I feel that we would benefit if we allowed people to create races and submit drawings as well as creations. The Creations we made could be put in Adventures, but we could also make more detailed Races, spaceships, and planets. Despite the fact that drawings cannot be put into Adventures, I believe we could benefit from more creative freedom.

Also, on how active people are. I understand that many of you are busy with real life. You could be doing anything that your friends online don't know about. Earlier, a friend of mine was not online, and he had been attending a funeral. Another friend had been suffering from Jet Lag, because he had been awake on a plane for several hours, and hadn't gotten enough sleep. They weren't members of Ruthless Galaxy, but they were busy with real life, regardless. However, an issue is that people might be roleplaying, and in the middle of character interaction, someone may mysteriously vanish, IC locking their friend. It's perfectly reasonable if you have things to do, but if you have to disappear, we appreciate a warning, so we can end the character interaction. You don't have to tell us where you're going, but we really would like you to tell us if you're leaving. That way, we won't have to deal with IC locks.

I have been an RPer for several years (About three), and have much experience in the area. I am responsible for the Ruthless Galaxy roleplaying guide, and for many of the high roleplaying standards that you see here. In fact, before Ruthless Galaxy was established, the people who began it consulted me for advice on how to begin it, on the word of sodbuster, a moderator of Ruthless Galaxy that is now inactive. Because of this, I am perhaps one of the oldest RPers here, and my advice is usually taken, and I am highly respected for my clean writing style. Before RG, people such as Grox had never roleplayed before.

Next issue, Ruthless Galaxy's enemies. As of now, we have about three distinct people, and two clubs that are our rivals. The people I can name are HangingDeath, StinkyPatchem, and RedMan9994. The two clubs that we are on negative terms with are BAU and The Epic Adventure War (EAW).

HangingDeath, a member of the EAW, is probably the worst troll to ever plague this club. Considering himself to be a Ling, he became such a figure of hatred that Whoster has declared himself the Anti-Ling, making it known that the two are enemies. The crimes committed by HangingDeath are unforgivable, no questions asked. There is no doubt as to why we hate him so much. The first issue was his attitude, which was demeaning, hurtful, and insulting. His cynicism made it only all the more unbearable to have him in the club. Later, we were lulled into a false sense of security, when he created a Private Wiki for us, and then defended it from Sharples, an evil troll that has become legendary because of his deeds. However, this was short-lived, when he ruined the wiki, by locking out all the members, and destroying all the articles and information we had put into it. We barely managed to escape with all our articles intact, and we are still reeling from that blow today. As a result, I will not let HangingDeath set foot in our chat box, and he will be brutally tossed out of the Private Forum if he dares to show his face here. Unfortunately, we can not keep him out of our Sporum thread, where he occasionally posts, almost for the sole purpose of mocking us. We must tolerate him, there, but we don't have to spare any kindness anywhere else. Just don't say anything to him when he shows up in the Sporum.

The next troll, StinkyPatchem, has not committed as many crimes as HangingDeath, but has dealt multiple blows to our reputation and self-esteem. He speaks to members of Ruthless Galaxy with terrible, derogatory comments, and has an incredibly cynical outlook on life that makes him hard to be around. His general behavior and treatment of RG members is demeaning and insulting, easily considered to be flamebaiting. StinkyPatchem is responsible for getting Whoster banned by Sporemasterblackbird twice, first for a day, and then an entire month. Whoster has been warned that his next ban will be permanent, which has led to us declaring StinkyPatchem an enemy. Do not respond to anything he says, should he show up in the Sporum. Like HangingDeath, we must tolerate him. However, we can feel free to be harsh, should he decide to arrive anywhere else, such as in the chat box, or in the Private Forum.

Redman9994, is a unique case, as far as trolls go. He does not treat members of Ruthless Galaxy like HangingDeath and StinkyPatchem, and does not share their cynical behavior. However, before joining Ruthless Galaxy, he was a member of the EAW, and was kicked out later (Or he left, one of the two). He then created his own branch of Ruthless Galaxy, called the Galactic Races of the Universe (GRU). However, he proved to be an incredibly irresponsible, controlling leader. He insisted on creating a Private Forum (This was before we found a way to make one for free) that would cost him five dollars or so a month, and ignored our demands that he stop. He also insisted on allowing profanity, and may or may not have wanted to allow sexual content (I cannot recall, I missed some of this). When he did not get anything his way, after losing an outfitting contest, he arrived in the chatbox, and behaved in a childish way, using profanity, and throwing a tantrum. I was not present at this event, but he was promptly kicked out of RG. Shortly Afterwards, he moped about and sulked, eventually getting GRU locked, and himself banned from the Sporum temporarily. Although he is not as hated as StinkyPatcem and HangingDeath, he has an annoying tendency of creating Sporum alts, and attempting to re-join RG, stating he is a 'friend' of Redman. When he does this, he states we are not 'Mature' and appears to attempt to get back at us for what we did to punish him. We must tolerate him in the Sporum, but we do not have to put up with him anywhere else.

The EAW, a club that we consider to be our rival, we have frequently been on bad terms with. The main issue regards that a few of our members, namely Whoster, are former members of the EAW. It has also been noted, that trolls such as HangingDeath and StinkyPatchem are members of the EAW, and are in positions of authority, turning them against us. Another important member of the EAW is yuzazi, a former member of RG that quit, and stated we lacked realism. It is possible that these three people have caused us to develop a negative image in their eyes. However, despite this, it appears from what Whoster said earlier, that someone stood up for us, and was able to relieve some of the tension between our two clubs. I also personally roleplay with a few of the EAW members in different places, and some of them are actually quite nice. Because of this, I have asked (And this rule was implemented) that we do not ask them for sponsorships anymore, and that we tolerate their members occasionally entering our Sporum thread.

BAU is an enemy that arrived via treatment of Grox. The main issue again is connected to HangingDeath, who supposedly turned them against us. One day, Grox arrived in their chatbox, and was insulted by the club (Although this may have just been a mistake), and called out because members of our club were spamming their old chat box (Which we are to be held accountable for). Although I am not sure how good our relationship with BAU is at the current time, I believe that it is possible to repair our relationships simply by deciding to stay out of their way for awhile.

In conclusion, I believe that I am ready, should Grox ever become inactive, to take on the responsibility of the club and its members. I am honored, that I am being considered for such a position.

Very nicely put Vipera, I envy your talent to express words in a fluent and un-spontaneous manor, unlike me.

Yeah, but I don't seem to have enough of a sense of humor. In fact, my own humor is so poor, that the only way I could get people to laugh was when I said I was terrible at making them laugh. Somehow, the 'it's funny because it's true' phrase applies to me. That, and when I roleplay, I sometimes put in some stuff that might be considered funny. For instance, one time during a fight scene, I had my telekinetic character throwing thumbtacks at her opponent. Now, the tacks hit hard, but it's ridiculously funny in hindsight.

Hmm, I see.

Very excellently stated, both of you. Now let's move onto the next subject.

> Behavior of Members

Whoster, go first.

Riley, did you even read my OP? Only Vipera, Whoster, and me are supposed to post here. It's their debate. You are only allowed to vote in the poll. Im going to delete your post.

Sorry for the delay, I'll hopefully have my psto up soon, but I've been busy lately and couldn't think up some good material.

Behaviour of members is an issue RG has had, since its early days as a club. However, an example of troublesome behaviour of members is MaxxToron. In his first days in RG, he had troubles with some of the rules and, and some of the unspoken guidelines. However, with some careful and peaceful...diplomacy, I persuaded him to stay, and to learn. To quote a Psalm, "A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grevious words stir up anger." This verse applies quite well to this situation. Later on Maxx was banned for an event in the chatbox which I was not a witness to, but I suspest he was provoked by one HangingDeath, a horribly misbehaved member. Of course This was partly Maxx's fault as I gathered from questioning several members, such as Zaroas. During his ban Maxx tried to persuade currently inactive member Aimbora to stay away from RG. Maxx was forgiven of this, and later allowed to return to RG. Aimbora, on the other hand, was so enraged that his anger seemingly drove him, to write an insulting and scream-raging post. Behaviour such as that, should not be tolerated, and when suspensions are due must be given.

What I believe is needed, is a strong leader. When leniency is required it should be given, but if harshness is to be needed a moderater should not hesitate to do what must be done when a member is misbehaving. If a group is to survive, it's members must know and follow the rules.

For reasons hinted above, I believe I am right for the role of head moderater should the job be needed in future. I would be a strong leader, a good leader.

Thank you.

Behavior, as stated by Whoster, has definitely been a major problem in the past, and it still might be. When Ruthless Galaxy first began, it wasn't as prominent, but then again, I wasn't even an authority figure at the time. I was only a member who was known to have been consulted for assistance in roleplaying rules. However, one of the original mods, Sodbuster, named me a moderator of the Ruthless Galaxy Roleplay, officially giving me the small title of an RP manager. Later, I became more involved in the club, and eventually, became a main moderator for the entire club.

Upon becoming more involved, and beginning my career in making signatures and banners, I began to note problems arising in the club. The first problem was that we seemed to be arguing often with the Epic Adventure War. Indeed, on multiple occasions, if we posted creations, or if a debate arose, their members would mysteriously appear in our threads, giving somewhat unwelcome criticism, or adding their own opinions when we did not want them. Eventually, these intrusions bloomed into rivalry, and even possibly hatred.

This was worse when HangingDeath and StinkyPatchem, two famous trolls in our club's history, began offering their own criticism. Their comments were incredibly cynical, sarcastic, and demeaning. They would flamebait our members, and they would fall victim to the taunts. Unfortunately, the flame wars that resulted were incredibly severe, other members joining the arguments, or lashing out unprovoked, behaving in an overall hostile manner. These flame wars have threatened the club's Sporum thread multiple times, as Sporemasters warned us that it might be locked if we could not stop them.

Later, when MaxxToron arrived, we had many arguments. He was not an experienced Roleplayer, and had not yet learned everything there was to know about how to truly Roleplay properly. He tried to introduce humans into Ruthless Galaxy (Ineffectively), and later made creatures that were supposedly relatives of the Karthla, and were much like spin-offs, or copies, of the originals. When asked to make something else, he reacted poorly, and an argument began. We continued the cycle, and by some means, he was banned from Ruthless Galaxy.

However, even though he was no longer in the club, he was in another Roleplay that was separate from Ruthless Galaxy, one that I ran. Regardless of what the other club members believed, I was patient with his mistakes in the Roleplay, and over time, his skill as a Roleplayer increased, until it was of an admirable level in that I could consider him worthy of a literate Roleplay. Even if he got mad and was disrespectful in the Out of Character threads, he would apologize, and I would forgive him and let him stay. This was why, when I received word that the others were considering to let him come back, I pleaded for them to let him return, and they did.

A little bit later, we still dealt with the occasional battle, the moderators began to debate who was more important in our club, Aimbora or MaxxToron, as we would clearly have to ban one of the two. Many people still held the crimes Maxx had committed before he was banned against him, and it appeared that they wanted Aimbora to stay more than they did him. However, there had been a quote from Aimbora, that became a centerpiece of the entire debate, and moved it in Maxx's favor. I stated my argument clearly, taking on the role of the defense for Maxx, as no one else did.

I stated that, while MaxxToron had committed crimes in the past, we had let him return, and thus, forgiven him, and that to hold pardoned crimes against him was the wrong course of action. Justice is not run by biased opinion, but by impartial judgement, and I sought to be impartial throughout the argument, despite being Maxx's friend, and thus, already biased as it were. I examined Aimbora's quote, and stated the situation as I saw it. Aimbora, while a good creator for Ruthless Galaxy, was probably not the best member to have. His words from the quote when he protested Maxx's return, were what I used to judge his character, with a gift of discernment that I was lucky to possess. Aimbora, while having great creating skills, spoke in a way that convinced me that Maxx was the better person to have in our club.

Aimbora came off as cold and harsh. He insulted us, and our intelligence, becoming what some might call a 'doomsday prophet' when he stated that letting Maxx return would someday be the downfall of our club. He almost called us idiots, and practically insulted us as people, as a whole. His words were so offending, that I begged the other Moderators and the Administrators to see that he lacked the character that we wanted for the club. In the end, we decided that, as Aimbora had already stated he was leaving for good, that Maxx would stay.

In all of this, I want everyone to understand what I am trying to say. Our members may fight, and argue, and as an Administrator, I must solve these arguments and debates, and in a way, expose myself to the stress of carrying the club's reputation and moral values on my shoulders. When an argument is over, It is my job to determine punishment.

A biased opinion in a place of power will only dig the club into its own grave, should a punishment be unfairly dealt. But impartial judgement, unhindered by a lack of willing to see from the other party's point of view, will build up Ruthless Galaxy. I seek to deliver justice that fits the crime, and nothing else, and I am forgiving, as well. If the crime was not severe, then even if I punish someone, I will give second chances.

I thank you all for your consideration.

Very nicely put Vipera.

Both of you very nice work. Next topic.

> Reputation of RG

Im sure as long as I may be head honcho of RG, the reputation of the club will be lacking. Thus, I will need someone to rebuild it when I am gone. Who would be able to do this? And exactly how would you rebuild or reputation? Debate now. Whoster, you're turn.

As it is clear, RG's reputation has had it's fair share of downfalls, yet people still join despite the past arguements, I believe because they recognize what a great club RG really is.

HOWEVER

By no means should we do nothing to improve RG's reputation. Should I win this election, and should Grox ever leave, I would encourage members to be very polite when visiting other clubs. Another thing we could do is ask for sponsership from other clubs who have a good or no past relationship with RG, and in turn accept any sponsership requests from them.

One thing we could do, which some may find slightly silly (Which I can understand. ) is to accept sponsership requests from newer clubs and members who have recently joined the Sporum, or to give them friendly advice for creating or helping their club. Doing this could result in, later, the members who recieved friendliness and also because of sponsership, maybe because other clubs would not sponser them, they think highly of RG and inturn, may suggest it to other people who are seeking to join a club. I find this to be a good tactic, and if in testing it works as well as in theory as I suspect, then I think it would be a very good idea to practice it. It may take time, but it should pay off in the long run for RG's reputation.

Enemy clubs >

Enemy clubs who we have, over time, built up a sour relationship are best left alone. It seems when any activity, friendly or otherwise, seems to agitate them enough to come and troll RG. This is true particularly of EAW. When these enemy clubs are left alone RG seems to be more productive and outwardly positive, which inturn helps its reputation.
I would, will and can encourage our members to leave these clubs alone, and when their members insist on talking on our thread to be polite. The chatbox and the private forum are another matter, and if those who visit there are attacked or trolled in any way by the members of these enemy clubs, then they should contact an RG moderater ASAP.


I believe that if these things stated above are followed and put to use, RG's reputation would continually rise.

Thank you for your time.

In Ruthless Galaxy, we have received a mixed reception from various people. We have had members join, but many of them are not very much roleplayers as much as they are creators. Initially, normal groups leave us alone, as long as we leave them alone. However, due to a variety of causes, we have created for ourselves a negative image in the eyes of groups such as the Epic Adventure War, and BAU. However, these relations are often kept by the members of both clubs. In reality, it is actually an easy problem to fix.

The first reason why we have negative relations is that some members of our club have somewhat hot tempers, and can become angered easily. It does not even have to be a flamebait, as even a misunderstanding of another person's words can evolve into an argument. It does not matter if they are speaking to a club on our behalf or not, as what they do will reflect on us, regardless. This is evidenced by the phrase, "You are judged according to the company you keep." When one of our members frequently starts arguments, we develop a bad reputation, as people come to see us as no better than the one who began the fight.

However, hostility between clubs does not always have to exist. It is not impossible for us to mend relations, even if there are one or two trolls that try to convince everyone else that we are not good. The best way to avoid trouble first is to simply give people their space. Don't intrude on their chat boxes or spam them. We also should not keep asking for sponsorships, especially if we know that the particular club in question doesn't like us. Instead, we should wait for them to come ask us, as just physical distance can allow hatred to subside. Should members of our club encounter members of another, we should not instantly react in a hostile, guarded way. We should welcome them into our conversation, and be open to ideas. Doing so will help us become friends with members in another club, and the more friends we have, the better our overall relations are. I may also note that if we are not hostile with another club, we also spend less energy worrying about what they're doing. Distance has already shown to ease tension between Ruthless Galaxy and the EAW, and we have even become friends with a few of their members. Just for what I believe, nobody wants to argue, in reality. It would be easier for everyone if we were just friends.

Regarding trolls, some of them are just people we had misunderstandings with, and can become friends again, while others appear to be more like fiends, and will likely never try to befriend us. They will do everything in their power to hurt us, no matter how low they decide to sink, ranging from petty flamebaits to serious offenses, like destroying our wikis. As if to add insult to injury, they appear in our Sporum thread, and appear to deliberately seek a fight with their presence. When we (Politely) ask them to leave, they state it is a public thread, and that they are entitled to post there. It is almost as though they are children, shaking dark bottles, hoping that some of them contain soda, and will explode, making a mess. However, we must not be like a bottle of soda, ready to explode when shaken. We must be as reactive as water, so that no matter how hard they toss us about, we cannot create a mess. We must relax when they appear, and never fall victim to their petty actions.

All I can say is, that if I become the new leader, I will do my best to give the club a good image. I want us to be friends with everyone, not just specific clubs. I wish to repair damaged bonds between Ruthless Galaxy and others, and show that we are not as hostile as some people believe. A bad club will attack strangers, but a nice club will befriend its enemy, until they become allies.

Excellently stated both of you. Now onto a subject that has nothing to do with trolls or bad things. But more about the forum.

> What will you change/keep the same about the forum? Is there anything you'll add or take away? Anything you'd like to move around? Any new stickies or special threads you think you should add?

I don't really think there's a whole lot that needs to be changed in regards to how the forum is arranged. We have a whole bunch of threads that cover pretty much everything. However, you may notice that we have several locked threads present. Some of these threads are important, and are locked only because we don't want anyone posting in them, but others have no real value, and are simply there, and it clutters up the Forums. I would prefer to completely delete those threads to keep the Private Forum looking neat and tidy. Everything else is pretty much fine the way it is.

I think I'm in agreement with Vipera, deleting some of the useless threads is a good idea, but I would add an thread in the RP section, a sticky, for people to put RP ideas in. Plus I'd change the color of the names of moderaters from red to blue.

Okay good. Whoster, they were blue but I changed it because they were impossible to read. Now next subject.

> Ban System. What would you like to change about the ban system? Or even the forum guidelines?

So far, we have a pretty good ban system and forum guidelines. I wouldn't really change anything, unless something came to be in question. On that note, I would probably put up a poll and have the members vote on it, to decide whether or not a rule or guideline should be kept, removed, or changed. As for banning, the only issue is that most moderators and Administrators on this forum have trouble giving people a second chance. I completely understand the feeling, though. If you tell someone to stop doing something, they should listen. But as most trolls do, they say something that is purely aggravating, and it makes you wish you could punch them in the face through the computer screen. Of course, we can't, so most of us settle for banning them forever, when it should be the ban according to the guidelines, such as the first offense being for 24 hours. That's probably the only issue, really. We need to follow our own rules.

I think Vipera made a good point. Man would it be sweet if you could punch troll's faces through the screen.......ah, but enough day-dreaming, I suppose there's not much I would change about the forum guidelines, they seem pretty well-made already. Now, the ban-system, I think, should be stricter, but it would also depend on the person. A member who we know as a joker would probably be allowed far-more.......chances, before a ban, whereas actual trouble-makers would recieve a lasting banning, say after an offense after being warned multiple times banned for 12 hours, then the next offense 36, and so on. I find this to be true of many occasions, perhaps except Alteran-Dude on some occasions.

Whoster, It's good to allow second chances, but we have to keep in mind that we don't know everyone in the forum. If we allow more chances to one group than another, by letting bans depend on the person, then we might make a poor judgement, as it would be biased towards the people we know. As for 12-hour bans, people have to sleep at some point, and when we ban someone, they are banned for the designated amount of time. To not ban them for at least 24 hours lessens the effect of it. If we banned a school-aged person for twelve hours at eight-o-clock PM, and they went to bed at nine, then we could say that was one hour of their sentence. Then, they wake up at six, and that's ten hours gone. Then, let's say they don't get on in the mornings, and get ready for school. Basically, the ban has little to no effect on them, because they spend a majority of their time doing something else.

I'm not saying we should instantly ban anyone, but to lessen a sentence to twelve hours for only certain people, because we know them, would be unfair, and would have little weight in regards to a punishment, because people can go do something else and wait out the sentence. I'm sure most of the people in Ruthless Galaxy are around school-aged students, maybe in their mid-teens or so. We have to take into consideration that as Administrators, we must remain impartial as judges. We actually shouldn't have to worry about banning anyone unless a huge argument starts over a misunderstood joke, and turns into a flame war.

I think you misunderstood me. I meant the 12 hour ban for all offenders, but I can see how it would be too short. All I meant was people we know like to joke around might get more chances than those who seem to be seriously insulting.

Whoster, If people are known to joke, and nobody complains, I see no reason to ban them in the first place, especially if it was definitely a joke, and not offensive. We don't need to worry about banning anyone unless someone starts to argue, in which case that person will probably say they were joking, and it would likely be over. If someone doesn't get a joke, they can choose to ignore it, or to not get angry. We only have to get involved if it escalates into an argument, in which case the people can stop arguing, or both be banned according to their offense. Sometimes, we read a post, and think someone is implying something insulting, when they aren't. I've fallen victim to that multiple times, but I've learned that if you ignore what you might've found offensive, and simply act as though you see nothing is wrong, you realize they harbored no ill intentions at all.

However, regarding jokes, the people who joke would apologize if someone didn't get it. In which case, it's the person who received the joke that should be carefully watched. Jokes are probably the main wildcard in any forum, as you cannot always be sure if they are serious or not.