Forum:Replacing wiki general policies

I'd like to propose that we make a change to our current General Policies. I'm proposing these changes for several reasons; 1- current policies governing users are scattered across multiple pages on the wiki, 2- The language on General Policies is outdated, and often not specific enough to serve as a good rule for users, 3- The current policies often list penalties for rule breaking, where these penalties are often not enforced; if they were followed as written, it would bind the administrators to a specific outcome when it might not be proper to do so.

I've written up a proposed policy version which I would like to suggest we adopt. I tried to closely follow current policies, while also including some rules which are currently included in Guidelines. I chose to include some "guidelines" because they have been enforced as rules in the past, and as such should be included in a list of actual rules.

The main goal here, for me, is to come up with a definitive list of rules that govern all users, and to have that list of rules on a single page that can be linked to and referenced. There are other policies which govern the creation and management of content, and those should remain separate from the policies which govern user behavior, but our current setup has user-directed policies in different places. Ultimately I think bringing all the user-oriented policies together will make it easier to enforce them, easier for users to find and understand, and will ultimately make things a whole lot better.

With all that said, I'm open to any questions, or suggested changes to what I've written, or to any discussion or thoughts you may have. Fire away. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 22:46, September 20, 2013 (UTC)


 * Addition: - I forgot to mention, my intent (assuming the new policy is adopted) would be to move the page to "The Sims Wiki:User policies," and to move the IRC Channel, Chat, and Forum policies to that page as well (since they govern user behavior on their respective mediums). --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 22:47, September 20, 2013 (UTC)

Discussion
I actually like the looks of this idea as its a bit of a pain to have all the policies spread out over different pages and the idea of a cover-all page sounds pretty good to me. Just a couple of things I noticed: Other than those two ideas it looks pretty solid.
 * Profane language and content are not allowed - I'd add some sort of distinction in regards to chat and IRC which are somewhat more lenient on language (assuming that isn't changed by some other policy)
 * Maybe add something in regards to evading blocks i.e. punishment that can be applied
 * Those ideas have been added into the page now; take a look. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 01:59, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

I think the idea of having all the user-related rules on one page will help readers and editors alike immensely, as it will be more easily accessible and readable. As for the actual content of the rules, I don't see any problems with them, and I believe adding some of the guidelines in there as well was a good decision. Well done LiR! ~ Waikikamukow  ( Anyone wanna chat? )  01:21, October 2, 2013 (UTC)