[mod]Alright, this is likely to be fairly long, so I will eschew mod tags for most of it. Consider this all mod tagged anyway, please.[/mod]
Here is a good overview, because it is one of the major guiding ideas behind the moderation philosophy here (presented in a bit of a different way in the rules and guidelines, but still):
[mod]Everyone should feel free to RP the way they would like to RP. This does not obligate anyone else to change their RP to accommodate yours, nor does it obligate them to react to you the way you want or planned on them reacting, nor does it mean that they are out to get you when they don't do either of the previous, nor does it mean that they are obligated to RP with you at all. The reason that 'You're Doing It Wrong' is and can be banned on this forum without harming the quality of the discussion is because it isn't needed: RPers have and will continue to self-regulate by how and with whom they chose to spend their time. If your RP isn't something other people want to be involved with, they won't involve themselves, and you will be RPing alone. That is not everyone else's fault, and your entertainment is not their responsibility. If people criticize you, you have the choice of ignoring it, ditto if people say unkind things about your RP. In the end, the question is, 'Is what you're doing resulting in you having a good time?' Other people do not have to like your RP, and they do not have any responsibility to you to spend their time participating in it.[/mod]
Given the size of the thread, and how mixed decent advice and flamebait/trolling/off topic bullshit are, I'm locking the whole thing. As usual, please feel free to repost a similar topic or any of the off-shoot topics, but if the mods see people committing the same offenses, warnings and bans are likely to be forthcoming. I'll read through the thread here and try and mention, in a general way, issues as I run across them:
1) Don't insult other players or board members.
2) Don't engage in 'You're doing it wrong', including but not limited to: Calling certain RP stupid (No matter how right you think you are, it doesn't mean you can break the rules), calling people 'special snowflakes', deriding people for not being 'special snowflakes', etc.
3) Don't post off-topic - particularly in regards to unrelated feuds
4) Don't engage in flamebaiting or trolling, most often represented in this thread by assigning negative motives to other players (Attention-seeking, quashing creativity, the community at large is after me, etc).
Please remember that part of what makes for a constructive post is one that encourages people to engage in a useful discussion rather than flames and argument. Words matter, which should be self-evident on a forum, but apparently isn't - the same idea expressed different ways will be received differently and have different results. As is shown in the FAQ (which I recommend everyone review - look for the one talking about hippies).