Mature/Trusted Section?

[Blaquaza]

It's me again. Now here's something from PS that I think would be good here:

To my knowledge, there's no 'hidden' forum. What I mean is, somewhere for only certain members to have access to, after being approved by a mod or an admin.

What you could potentially do there is simple, really; you can either treat it as a more mature version of the Other Chat section, or make it more of an Advice Seeking forum.

It'll be so embarrassing if there's already one and I just don't know about it... I'll feel like you're all in the Stonecutters or something... :3

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Haha. We don't have a forum like this. It's an interesting idea... but we wouldn't probably make it anything mature. We are a forum for all ages and it wouldn't really fit in. A hidden forum is a neat idea though. Maybe it could just have certain requirements to get into it and people could post whatever they wanted? But it would still have to follow the PXR forum rules.

[Suicune's Fire]

If it's not going to be centered around maturity, then what else could it be useful for? I mean, I agree that we don't need mature stuff since it seems unnecessary, but I can't really think of a good reason as to why we'd have a section that's hidden and requires a "test" or some kind to get into it. It seems sort of unfair on other members, and then if everyone gains access there's sort of no point in it... xD I dunno, seems redundant to me.

[ray_quazaa]

Staff boards! :) just kidding, but I echo the above. Splintering a group or establishing exclusivity is fun for those inside, and much less fun for those outside. Unless of course, you do work for me.

[Ganyu]

Not really sure what this section could possibly entail but I'm assuming it's exactly like this thread on PC (http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=318508). With that said, I'm going to agree that it's probably pointless, as well as unhealthy, as it promotes elitism. Furthermore, I don't see why an Advice Seeking forum should be hidden to the general public. Also, do we have the activity and number of members to sustain the activity of the new board, before it just lies to collect dust?

[Corey]

We could have something like a VIP section? I remember that idea coming up in the past. Not exactly sure what or who would go in it, though. :P

[shaymin]

I do find it annoying how "kiddy" PXR is. As child-friendly as we are, we sure aren't really "adult-friendly". Maybe it's just me wanting to cater to everyone's particular interests to this forum, whether children or adult, where all sorts of discussions can be held here. That being said, I am not against a subforum being created for mature content, or even a thread for that matter. People need to get tougher and realize that the "think of the children" argument is quickly growing more stale, old, and generally not as effective. If children lie about their age and get there, that's on them.

Make the forum/thread/whatever, tbh. It shows we're an open-minded community thats at least open to multiple subjects. The more flexible we are, the better. Or at least allow mature topics in Other chat. That would erase the need for a subforum completely.

[Grassy_Aggron]

It'd be nice to have for stories and rp's that can be a bit more mature. I.E. My stories are usually PG-13, but there are chapters that do go R. Not because of, well, sex and such (although I feel touching upon some subjects is okay if done right and not going over a boundary...and a lot of warning. LOTS.), but because I tend to get a bit brutal in fight scenes.

Does that mean I'm not going to post that chapter? Heck no. I'll post the problem areas in spoilers, lots of red bolded warnings, and offers of a toned down version if needed (which has never been used before frankly :/ ). But being able to post it without said warnings could be nice, in a way.

But this is also where the line is skewed. Ones that occasionally breach is okay...but what about those that are usually R? I don't want to NOT encourage those to be posted here, but with the whole rating...

Augh, binds, binds, everywhere there be bindings!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

From the beginning, it was decided that PXR would be a child-friendly (PG-13) forum. It's part of who we are. I don't agree with allowing mature topics. With stories and art, there is a little bit of lee-way as long as what's posted isn't too graphic and there are clear warnings. But that's on a case-by-case basis. Most topics can be discussed in a PG-13 manner by limiting details and using appropriate language anyway. I don't feel we're limiting people that much.

That being said, a VIP board would probably be the only thing we could really do, and yeah, I'm not sure we want to encourage that kind of elitism/the formation of cliques and stuff.

[Blaquaza]

Now that you guys have said it, I think VIP is a better way of putting it. That's literally what I meant (only,it was called that Mature Section of PS; not because it was 18+, but because the mods saw these members as mature). Maybe there could be a sort of induction type thing for around 20 members who are brought in, and then it's like a +1 type of thing, where they get to suggest a member, who also has to go through the induction. However, the second group wouldn't be able to have a +1, just so not everyone in the forum ends up in there at some point.

And to be honest, I wouldn't like my problems being shown to whoever Googled/joined PXR, and I'm sure that at least some of you might feel the same way. That's why that could be in the hidden section; to ensure privacy, whilst the people who want it are still getting advice.

I really need someone from PS to explain my point... I'm not very good at this. :embarrassed:

[shaymin]

From the beginning, it was decided that PXR would be a child-friendly (PG-13) forum. It's part of who we are. I don't agree with allowing mature topics. With stories and art, there is a little bit of lee-way as long as what's posted isn't too graphic and there are clear warnings. But that's on a case-by-case basis. Most topics can be discussed in a PG-13 manner by limiting details and using appropriate language anyway. I don't feel we're limiting people that much.

That being said, a VIP board would probably be the only thing we could really do, and yeah, I'm not sure we want to encourage that kind of elitism/the formation of cliques and stuff.

(The following post is going to sound a bit rude, but bear with me! I suck at wording)

You have to realize that this is the internet. As we grow into a big community, we're going to be getting all sorts of members, and chances are some of them are not going to be kids. It's fine if you want to be child-friendly, but at the same time, be flexible and know that everyone from children to adults use the forum! If you want to make a hidden forum to discuss things that are 18+ or whatever (as long as it's not pornography, but if it's a topic discussing porn, then eh), then that's something I can roll with.

It just seems like we're bending over for children when in all honestly it does limit people: It limits people who want to discuss adult topics. If we want to grow, how are we supposed to do that without at least attempting to reach a compromise so that both sides can be happy? Children don't have to go there, and adults have a place to discuss mature content in a sensible, non-idiotic manner. I do not see any negative implications in regards to our forum as a result of this.

[[Desolate Divine]]

To be honest, I somewhat agree with Shaymin about bending over backwards for children. I think that it would be cool to have a board for more mature topics. Maybe 16+ or something.

[Apollo]

Could someone please elaborate on what they mean by Mature Discussion? Is it about debatable topics like Euthanasia and other very opinionated discussions. Or do you mean about stories which involve heavy swearing and content which isn't really appropriate for children?

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

(The following post is going to sound a bit rude, but bear with me! I suck at wording)

You have to realize that this is the internet. As we grow into a big community, we're going to be getting all sorts of members, and chances are some of them are not going to be kids. It's fine if you want to be child-friendly, but at the same time, be flexible and know that everyone from children to adults use the forum! If you want to make a hidden forum to discuss things that are 18+ or whatever (as long as it's not pornography, but if it's a topic discussing porn, then eh), then that's something I can roll with.

It just seems like we're bending over for children when in all honestly it does limit people: It limits people who want to discuss adult topics. If we want to grow, how are we supposed to do that without at least attempting to reach a compromise so that both sides can be happy? Children don't have to go there, and adults have a place to discuss mature content in a sensible, non-idiotic manner. I do not see any negative implications in regards to our forum as a result of this.

I do see what you mean, but when it comes down to it, this is a Pokemon forum. There are plenty of other places you can discuss mature topics if that's what you want to do. I just don't think that a Pokemon forum is a good place for them. But you are entitled to your opinion of course!

Here's another (related) idea - on a forum I used to be admin at a long time ago, we had "teams" based on the evil teams from Pokemon games. Members could join one team of their choice after being active for a certain amount of time, and each team had their own hidden board that only they could access. They could discuss whatever they wanted in there as long as it followed the forum rules. There would sometimes be competitions and roleplays held between the teams as well. Maybe having some kind of groups like that would be another way to have hidden boards without making it about elitism? I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not, just throwing it out there.

We also have Social Groups which can be made private, so you can always use those if you just want to discuss things with certain trusted friends. :)

[[Desolate Divine]]

Pokemon Trainer Sarah, I understand what you mean about that, but PXR has something that no other forum has. It's community. I value the opinions of people here more than almost anywhere else, and sometimes wish our discussions could be more mature. However I do like your idea of the teams!

[Caite-chan]

Child friendly? Technically you have to be 13 to join the boards. That's not a child that's a teenager and most 13 year olds are in middle school going into high school. You can't say we are child friendly and cater to all ages. We're either child friendly OR we cater to all ages. I'm not saying we make it rated R all over the place but if something is a bit more mature or graphic we just put warnings at the top. We can warn but we can't prevent people from looking and reading that's their choice.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Comatose - I get that, but I guess that's what Skype is for. I mean, the forum is technically PG-13. It was something Harry himself decided, after taking into consideration the opinions of the community. So I don't think that's going to change. There are very few topics that would be completely banned at a PG-13 level, as long as you discuss them tastefully. It's just really anything overly violent, sexual or illegal that can't be discussed. And those are the kind of things you probably don't want to be posting on a public messageboard for the whole world to see, anyway. I don't think it's that difficult to steer clear of those topics. You can still have discussions/debates about things like religion, euthanasia, current affairs etc. if that's what you wanna do.

[shaymin]

Child friendly? Technically you have to be 13 to join the boards. That's not a child that's a teenager and most 13 year olds are in middle school going into high school. You can't say we are child friendly and cater to all ages. We're either child friendly OR we cater to all ages. I'm not saying we make it rated R all over the place but if something is a bit more mature or graphic we just put warnings at the top. We can warn but we can't prevent people from looking and reading that's their choice.

To me, I feel like it's a bit child-friendly, or at least the forums seem a bit "kiddish", yknow? A large problem I have with Sarah's argument that "it doesnt belong on a pokemon forum" is that it applies to our off-topic sections too! Like, what belongs in a Pokemon forum? Obviously Pokemon sections, but you want to make people happy who don't always talk about pokemon and add off-topic sections, also. Like music, forum games, and other stuff like that. But do we get rid of them, because they have nothing to do with Pokemon? Of course not, we keep them because we're flexible and it'd be boring and stale talking about Pokemon all the time. It's possible some people would join that arent even interested in Pokemon and want to just for the community itself. There are many things we have to consider here before making that argument.

I'm going to go a bit off-topic here (but for good reason) and say that we really need to be more flexible as a forum. The more open we are to topics and discussions, the better off we'll be in the future, and that's what it is when concerning Pokemon forums. PXR is literally the only forum I frequent that has such strict limitations on what you can discuss and what you cant discuss. Being a forum admin of this place, even I don't know whether or not debates belong in General Chat, and I think it would be ludicrous if debates like marijuana legality or abortion or sex before marriage couldn't at least be discussed there.

How I see it is this: If you want to look at it, absolutely no one is telling you to. If you're curious enough to browse threads that arent suitable for the typical child/early teenager, then that's on you. That's your responsibility. And heck, to even enforce this further, I'd go ahead and make [18+] or [Mature] tags myself on threads that are mature in content. If you want to ignore the warning and look there, and you get offended by what you see, that is your fault, and you cant yell at anyone for it. There was a warning, you chose to check out the thread anyway.

tl;dr we need to stop being so restrictive and overworrying about whether or not people would get offended by the content here. If we put warnings or disclaimers, then we'll be fine, no one has any right to get mad at anyone if they get offended anyway. I really feel we're not really going to make much progress as a forum if we keep being like this.

[Corey]

Few of you will know this, but there was a huge spill about this in the planning stages of the forum. It was then that Harry decided PG-13, which was surprising because he never wanted his word to be the final say, he wanted everyone to discuss and get the majority to agree. He eventually had to rule with an iron fist and say that PG-13 was the limit for the forum (it was that bad xD).

Caite is right, no one SHOULD be on the forum if they aren't 13, but I was on PE2K when I was 9 ha ha. There are tons of kids on the internet whether they should be or not, so we have to take them into consideration. That doesn't mean we have to dumb down the language we use or the content we post, it just means we have to set a limit on what can and can't be posted (PG-13). It's not solely because we want to keep the kids shielded, but also because many people find this content distasteful. As an example, even though cursing doesn't personally bother me in the slightest, the rules state that such language is allowed in moderation. Not just because kids on our forum shouldn't see those words excessively, but also because a lot of people frown upon the use of cursing.

I don't think we really need a section to put sexual, violent, or otherwise inappropriate content because this is a Pokemon forum and there's not really a need for it. xD I don't see a problem discussing/debating social disagreements such as religion, politics, abortion, marijuana legalization, pre-marital sex, same-sex marriage, or other controversial topics as long as it's kept civil. I mean, if there was a discussion on the morality of watching porn (or something to the tune of that), I think that you're right shaymin, it's be okay so long as there were no pornographic images, links, or descriptions involved. I don't even think a warning would be needed for discussion, since it's common sense that other people will have opinions contrary to your own and that you shouldn't get offended by it. No one should be offended as long as it's kept civil anyway, since we're not going to allow members to insult one another's opinions.

No one really brings controversial topics up even though we allow it, so I guess I can see why some might think we're catering more to kids. I think people just don't want to offend. I encourage people to bring those topics up, though. I'd love to have some civil discussions with other members. :)

[shaymin]

I mean, im not jumping up and down for topics like "how often do you have sex pxr??" but something slightly more mature than what we allow currently, or maybe something that'd fall within a grey area.

[Corey]

I mean, im not jumping up and down for topics like "how often do you have sex pxr??" but something slightly more mature than what we allow currently, or maybe something that'd fall within a grey area.

Yeah, I understand. xDD Discussing stuff like abortion or the legalization marijuana would be okay, I think. I doubt any of the other admins would have an issue with it as long as it was kept civil and people weren't posting pictures of aborted fetuses or anything of the like. I don't think anyone is saying they want to allow that though, and I don't think anyone would do it regardless. But I'm definitely down for discussing controversial topics and I see absolutely no fault in that. :)

[Dragon Master Mike]

All though considering I'm 15 I have no idea if you would let me on to a section like this, and I don't think my say is going to mean that much, I just wanted to say that I agree with Shaymin, and I do think that a sub forum like this would be good. Corey does have a point though.

Just another quick idea: What if you made a sub forum for civil and respectful debating and conversation on the kinds of controversial subjects Corey is talking about?

[Corey]

Just another quick idea: What if you made a sub forum for civil and respectful debating and conversation on the kinds of controversial subjects Corey is talking about?

There's not really enough activity in that department for a whole sub-forum, so if someone wanted to post a topic, they'd just post it in Other Chat. :) If there is ever so many debates/discussions, then the forum staff would probably consider a sub-forum. But as of now, there's zero, so. xD

[Blaquaza]

Yeah, I understand. xDD Discussing stuff like abortion or the legalization marijuana would be okay, I think.
We did debating stuff like that back in our Trusted section. I think it was so that immature members who could post offensive comments on such touchy topics weren't able to.

We had other kinds of topics there, too; advice ones,and ones that gneerally related to things that you wouldn't want EVERYONE to know. For example, our 'How do you look?' thread was in the Mature section.

[Grassy_Aggron]

All I know is I am going to raise a fuss with some people with my stories XDDDD I like to touch on iffy subjects because it makes it more "real life" :P

As a whole, I'm neutral. As long as it doesn't really impede stories, roleplays, and such, then it's fine being as it is.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Pretty much what Corey said. Debates on "mature" topics are currently allowed (in general chat or in a relevant sub forum). It is possible to discuss most topics (even if they're generally considered "mature") appropriately for a PG-13 audience. It's all in the use of language and details. There really aren't many things that are off-limits, so I guess I don't really understand what the issue is here. :(

[Caite-chan]

I think it seems people are worried a bit about their writing as well. Hence the whole mature warning labels. I mean some stories can and might have sex in it. Now if done right it could be tasteful and it doesn't seem all that bad. Some people write that way and shouldn't feel like they are being limited or it might prevent them from posting future writings. As for cussing dear God it seems like everyone cusses now a days unlike back in the day. Not to mention just about everyone that was a kid on PE2K is much older now.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Stories and art are on a case-by-case basis and kind of a separate discussion. We allow people to post things that might be over PG-13 as long as they have warnings, but still nothing overly sexual or gory is allowed. Yes we are limiting people in that way, but there are plenty of other places to post your stories if those are the kinds of things you want to write about. It's not just kids that don't want to read those kinds of things. They make plenty of adults uncomfortable too, and this is supposed to be a safe, friendly place for everyone to be able to enjoy.

[Lord Celebi]

All I know is I am going to raise a fuss with some people with my stories XDDDD I like to touch on iffy subjects because it makes it more "real life" :P

As a whole, I'm neutral. As long as it doesn't really impede stories, roleplays, and such, then it's fine being as it is.
My general opinion on content in stories/role plays has been that as long as its tasteful, well-written, and works with a story there's no point in banning it. IF that kind of content is present in those stories following those rules, I don't think children would really even be *interested* in getting to said "mature" parts. I guarantee you no eleven year old wants to wade through all the political drama crap in my current story just to get to the few sex references I made.

[Rival Max]

From the beginning, it was decided that PXR would be a child-friendly (PG-13) forum. It's part of who we are. I don't agree with allowing mature topics. With stories and art, there is a little bit of lee-way as long as what's posted isn't too graphic and there are clear warnings. But that's on a case-by-case basis. Most topics can be discussed in a PG-13 manner by limiting details and using appropriate language anyway. I don't feel we're limiting people that much.

That being said, a VIP board would probably be the only thing we could really do, and yeah, I'm not sure we want to encourage that kind of elitism/the formation of cliques and stuff.


Even so how could be sure kids were not posting there. You can make up whatever age you want on this forum when you sign up..I think its best to keep things the way they are.

[shaymin]

Even so how could be sure kids were not posting there. You can make up whatever age you want on this forum when you sign up..I think its best to keep things the way they are.

Their problem, not ours. If they lie about their age, then it's their responsibility if they get offended by anything. We're not their parents, nor should we assume that role.

[Rival Max]

Their problem, not ours. If they lie about their age, then it's their responsibility if they get offended by anything. We're not their parents, nor should we assume that role.

Why even assume the risk. No section is active enough to justify making a whole section just for mature content. Also Sarah said it best ,the forum was created for a younger crowd and it works well the way it is.