Forum Name/Rules Update

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]Actually, I didn't even notice the name changes until after I read the announcement.... :animedepr

Anyway, very interesting. Not what I was expecting (in that I was just surprised), but I like the theme. It has a very laid-back feel to it. (The Kiosk reminds me of a rest stop just after crossing a state line, but that's probably just me. :p)

Something caught my eye in the new stickies, though:
[QUOTE][I]Please keep these guidelines in mind when you take part in the RPGs. Ignoring them will result in warnings [B]and[/B] an eventual ban from the site.[/I][/QUOTE]
At first glance I thought, [I]"Dude, I thought these rules were more lenient,"[/I] but I got the intended meaning after a half-second. Still, what about saying [I]"...if necessary, an eventual ban...,"[/I]? I mean, I just don't want someone to read that line and think that we (you?) have a one-strike policy goin' on, is all.

That's all I have. Good job.


[B]Edit:[/B] No, I misspoke. [COLOR=DarkRed]Sandy[/COLOR], I thought your sticky was quite clear and helpful. I almost had a question about it, but I re-read the post and got my head straight. :animesmil[/FONT]

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1]I'm confused with "The Square", at first glanced, because I'm used to the Adventure Square and I'm probably going to get confused every time I post now. But I guess I'll get used to it though.

I'm a bit iffy about the 'Theater' for a name as well. For one being from Britain, I always think it's spelt wrong (our spelling being Theatre and all). That and I don't like change that much, haha. I'll get used to them, but the names for the Arena sound odd... or it the former Arena...?

Some of the names are cool though...[/SIZE]

[James]

[color=#606060]Well, most of the world would spell it "Theatre". Americans just have to spell things phoenetically for some reason.

But since most of our visitors are American, I felt it would be most logical to stick to American spelling.

We will continue to revise/edit/update as necessary, but this was definitely a bigger update than usual.[/color]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]Well, most of the world would spell it "Theatre". Americans just have to spell things phoenetically for some reason.[/color][/QUOTE]

Actually, it's becoming more common in America too, I think. Though it's kind of ironic that America is the biggest mixture of cultures out there, and yet we still do that. (Firefox says it's spelled "theater," incidentally.)

[James]

[color=#606060]Well, yeah, all other English speaking countries would spell it "theatre". So in that sense the majority of English-speakers would spell it that way.

However, as I said, most of our visitors are American. If that were to suddenly change tomorrow and 70% of our visitors were European...well, maybe we'd look at changing.

In any case, it doesn't matter too much. I'm used to seeing both International and American English spelling, so no matter what I'll at least know what the word says, haha.[/color]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Well we can't help it! lol It is what we are use to and if I spell it Theatre, then my firefox spell check and the check in word or other programs tells me it's spelled wrong! XP It's not like I don't know what it means though, regardless of how it's spelled. But that part of me that is use to spelling correctly... well it just feels the urge to correct things that are wrong! >_> Well according to how things are spelled here that is. In the end, I really don't mind either one. :catgirl:[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=arial][size=1]I was always taught "movie theater" and "I'm going to the theatre to see a play."

Maybe it's just me.


But yeah, I like the names, it's nice having one word instead of "Movies/Music/TV." Besides, we saw like half of these in the Graphic Worm at least a half a year ago.[/font][/size]

[Doublehex]

Its a nice change. It has a much more relaxed atmosphere than before, so I think its for the best. I think the new RP titles is actually quite fitting, considering the last time we had a Spar was when Hyper was around. xD

[Claire]

[FONT="Arial"]I'm American and I always spell it Theatre. :P

The new names are pretty cool, though I'm already having some nostalgia. I guess I can't type MM&TV anymore. D:[/FONT]

[Boo]

[quote name='Clurr'][FONT="Arial"]I guess I can't type MM&TV anymore. D:[/FONT][/QUOTE][size=1]Thank god we don't have to go through that torture anymore. x_x[/size]

[Claire]

[quote name='Boo'][size=1]Thank god we don't have to go through that torture anymore. x_x[/size][/QUOTE]
[FONT="Arial"]
Your forum didn't change so you just wouldn't understand! :P[/FONT]

[Korey]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]Well, most of the world would spell it "Theatre". Americans just have to spell things phoenetically for some reason.

But since most of our visitors are American, I felt it would be most logical to stick to American spelling.

We will continue to revise/edit/update as necessary, but this was definitely a bigger update than usual.[/color][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Just as a corollary to this argument...there is a slight difference in the words "theatre" and "theater" in the English language. Theater is the building itself, where people gather and watch performances, movies..etc. Theatre, on the other hand is the performing arts within a theater. Theatre is the performance, theater is the place.[/FONT]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[quote name='Korey'][FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Just as a corollary to this argument...there is a slight difference in the words "theatre" and "theater" in the English language. Theater is the building itself, where people gather and watch performances, movies..etc. Theatre, on the other hand is the performing arts within a theater. Theatre is the performance, theater is the place.[/FONT][/QUOTE]You beat me to it. ;) Since that has always been my understanding of how the words work. Though I have always seen it spelled as Theater regardless of what it was referring to.

Anyway, the change is nice and more relaxed. The only thing I think is a bit jarring is the abbreviation used for the entertainment section. AV District just doesn't fit with the casual names the rest have been given. Perhaps it would be better if you fully spelled it out as AudioVisual District instead. Or even Recreation District or Entertainment District.

[Vicky]

[img]http://www.prideofmanchester.com/restaurants/photos/royalexchange.jpg[/img]

[SIZE=1]Buildings are spelt the same, at least in Britain, you can even have a look on all the theatre listing sites. The only difference is probably the American-based Movie Theatre companies. Though I'm not sure why I'm defending it.

Just a quick question, will the Ratings ever be back or are they gone for good? I kinda liked them as well XD[/size]

[Sandy]

[quote name='Vicky'][SIZE=1]Buildings are spelt the same, at least in Britain, you can even have a look on all the theatre listing sites. The only difference is probably the American-based Movie Theatre companies. Though I'm not sure why I'm defending it.

Just a quick question, will the Ratings ever be back or are they gone for good? I kinda liked them as well XD[/size][/QUOTE]

This whole Theater-Theatre debate is kind of absurd and pointless: the form [I]theater[/I] is American-English, while the form [I]theatre[/I] is British-English - there's nothing else to it. It's just like [I]meter-metre[/I].

And the ratings will not come back, since they proved to be inefficient and uninformative. Honestly, most of the games with the [M-VLS] rating had it just for a precausion, and didn't include much mature content at all. I'm guilty of using that rating for the same purpose as well, mind you.

[Allamorph]

[quote name='Vicky][SIZE=1']Just a quick question, will the Ratings ever be back or are they gone for good? I kinda liked them as well XD[/size][/quote]
[FONT=Arial]I share your sentiments – I thought it was a convenient way to warn members of possible content issues – but the system [strike]is[/strike] was far too open to abuse as it stood. Since the rating was determined by the individual creators, there were a lot of cases where the [M-LSV] tag was thrown on simply to cover all the bases instead of actually representing the RP's content, and that essentially defeats the purpose of the ratings period. The best way for the system to work would have been for an unbiased independent person/panel to apply ratings to threads based on their creator's posts (and personal input if asked for), but that's much too involved to actually be effective, or to be anything but aggravating.

So I doubt it. :animesigh

[B]Edit:[/B] Aaand [COLOR="DarkRed"]Sandy[/COLOR] got there first. Oh snap.[/FONT]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

I'm not thrilled by the lack of ratings either, in a sense they've been abolished because people are too silly to rate their threads properly. I can understand it and yet at the same time it now leaves me in the position of having to literally look at things to know just what is involved since for the most part I avoid mature stuff. :animesigh

Sorry James, I understand why you did it, but that doesn't make it any less annoying to one such as myself who likes to have some idea of just what she is getting into. And Sandy, yes I know, people were guilty of not using it properly. I just find it kind of sad, this is from the standpoint of a parent mind you. Since I dislike not having any means to determine what is going on without needing to look closer.

I'll leave it at that since I already understand how the system just did not work here since it's not like movies that are rated. Those are easier since the content isn't up in the air like it is in an rpg.

[Allamorph]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']...and yet at the same time it now leaves me in the position of having to literally look at things to know just what is involved since for the most part I avoid mature stuff.[/quote]
[FONT=Arial]I understand that, but considering the use of the highest rating as a coverall, the ratings did basically nil for you before the change. In a sense, they also restricted your participation and killed your curiosity by their lack of honesty. Now, since you don't exactly know what's going on in a given RP, you'll be able to get a better idea of what each RP has in it, instead of allowing a inaccurate rating to serve as an instant turn-off.

Think of it this way: you're not so much [I]forced[/I] to look at each RP, but you're [I]allowed[/I] to make your own decisions by being more informed, whereas before you might have passed over a great RP that you might have thoroughly enjoyed had it not been flagged as [M-VLS]. And really, aren't the Death Card series mature in their own right, with the possibilities for all three of the Mature categories present?

The old system was dysfunctional, and only a few creators chose to use it correctly. If the system had worked, I'd mourn its passing more than I am now.[/FONT]

[Guest The Blue Jihad]

I'm sorry, but the new look and all...isn't gay enough.

Have you learned nothing from Mel Brooks or The Producers?

[CENTER][IMG]http://z.about.com/d/theater/1/0/N/2/Prod1.jpg[/IMG]

[COLOR=Magenta][SIZE=3]"Make it Gay!"[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[/CENTER]

[Rachmaninoff]

Well being American, Theater is what I am use to, however, it doesn't really matter one way or the other to me. We have a combination of both when it comes to how it's spelled here in Salt Lake City. Though when I see Theatre I tend to think of foreign productions instead of local material.

Also, even though my first instinct is to be bothered by the lack of ratings, at the same time, they were utterly pointless since so few people even used them correctly. Though the threads do look naked without them. Though I'm sure I'll get use to it. lol

Anyway, over all, I think the new names and such are a lot nicer. :catgirl:

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I also used to think "theater" referred to the building and "theatre" referred to the actual performances. But every dictionary I've looked up "theater" in has listed definitions for both the building and performances. So I don't think that's actually correct, even for American English.

And for another point of view, the lack of ratings actually seems more natural to me since that's how it had been for years before they were instituted. Which, incidentally, was back when I actually role played regularly.[/color]

[James]

[color=#606060]Yeah, I'm not sure where this "performance" and "place" differentiation comes from. In Australia, the building is spelt "Theatre" - it is spelt this way for all English speaking countries other than America.

Because of the nature of the internet we're always going to have these issues I think, haha. At least we all understand what the word means though.

Ratings are great - and I would prefer to have them - but only if they work. Most agreed that people weren't using them properly, so we ended up with pretty much all RPGs being M-rated. If the system doesn't work, then there isn't a lot of point keeping it really.

In terms of knowing what you're getting into...the only way to know is to read the Auditions thread. And really, this would be the case anyway. Given that just about all RPGs were M-rated, it was always necessary to read the sign-up so that you had an idea about the premise. Nothing has changed there. All we've done is remove potentially erroneous ratings - if anything it might allow you to join an RPG that you would otherwise have avoided based on an incorrect rating.[/color]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]I love how James and I just said basically the same thing. :p


All right, look. The difference in the words is simple. In "theater", you pronounce the "r". In "theatre", you don't.

:D (Ain't I a stinker?)



[B]Edit:[/B] So, did this new skin just happen, or have I missed something for the past...however long I usually miss stuff for?

Kinda cool. Like OB Negative version.

[B]Edit 2:[/B] Oh, duh. There's an announcement. :p[/FONT]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I also just wanted to mention that I've kept the post backgrounds the same shade of off-white that they are on all other skins.

The reason for this is functional; in RPGs and other types of posts, members often use that background colour to create transparencies in their images and such. So I think we will probably keep that same off-white background in all future themes.

This also makes it much easier to view font colours. When we experimented with darker backgrounds, we found that there were many font colours that displayed incorrectly or were impossible to read. I thought I'd point that out just in case anyone is wondering why that aspect wasn't changed.[/font]

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]I just noticed this: on the Who's Online screen, the IM service symbols all have little white pixel-bits around their edges.

Nothin' serious, just an aesthetic thing.[/FONT]