Discussion of Ongoing Mafia Games is Not Allowed

[zoraster]

Discussion of Ongoing Mafia Games is Not Allowed

Recently we have had a spate of people discussing ongoing games. Though this has led to a record number of ongoing game bans, there may be a perception that there is some wiggle room when it comes to discussing ongoing games. This post is to tell you that there is not.

It does not matter if you are dead.
It does not matter if you don't think it will affect a game.
It does not matter if you aren't in the game.
It does not matter if you are posting about a game taking place on another forum or posting about an MS game on another forum.
It does not matter if you are moderating the game in question.

Discussing ongoing games by quoting or otherwise referring to an ongoing game is forbidden. There is no clever way around this rule. Don't try.

If you are unsure whether something violates the rule against discussing ongoing games, please don't hesitate to contact a listmod.

THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOU

Discussing ongoing games may result in a full game ban. This will mean that you are force replaced out of all your games, and you will not be allowed to replace back into them at the end of your ban. Further bans will be far harsher, including and up to a permanent ban from the site.

Game Moderators: Take IMMEDIATE action.

Game moderators are expected to step in and take immediate action when players discuss ongoing games in the game thread -- at least a public warning in the thread not to discuss ongoing games. This is not optional for the game moderator. You may not, as a game moderator, allow people to discuss ongoing games in your thread unless the other game allows for it explicitly in the rules.

Exceptions

There are three primary exceptions.

Communications with authorities

You may PM, IM or otherwise contact the game mod(s), listmods who aren't involved in the game, and admins who aren't in the game. Likewise, listmods and admins will sometimes discuss ongoing games for administrative purposes.

The Game Allows Outside Communication

Where a game allows communication, it may be allowed. This must be EXPLICITLY stated in the rules (and as a listmod, we'd appreciate it if game mods would give us a heads up when this is the case).

Please note that a game mod may allow communications about his or her OWN game to be discussed elsewhere, but he or she may

NOT

allow discussion of other ongoing games in their thread.

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This isn't a hard rule to stay on the right side of the line on. The listmods would like to never have to take action again. Please don't try and toe the line on ongoing games.

[PenguinPower]

Recent discussion of the use of [redacted] and similar phrases lead to the listmod team putting together this statement. I'm posting it here as an announcement and reminder that

discussion of ongoing games is still not allowed

. Attempts to bypass the discussion of ongoing game rules through vague but intentionally leading wording are also not allowed.

You're allowed to play in multiple games at once and read games you're not playing in. You're allowed to use what you read in one game to inform your play in another game. You're allowed to say that you are using another ongoing game to inform your play. What you're not allowed to do is break the discussion of ongoing game rules. This means you cannot reference specific details about the other ongoing game.

If a player is using [redacted] or a similar phrase in a way that is meant to imply specific details to the reader with out actually mentioning them that's still a violation of the ongoing games rules. We'd prefer that players just say they can't discuss something "because of ongoing games" rather than write out a sentence and substitute [redacted]. The former is much less likely to imply specific details to the reader than the latter.

I think Micc is town but I can't explain why because of ongoing games.

This is acceptable because no details about the other game are mentioned or implied.

I think Micc is town because his play here is similar to an ongoing game where he was town.

This is not acceptable because it mentions specific details about an ongoing game (that Micc was town).

I think Micc is town because [redacted] is similar to [redacted].

This is not acceptable because it implies specific things to the reader about the ongoing game (that they should look for things that are similar).

I think Micc is town because his play here is similar to something I can't talk about.

This is not acceptable because it implies specific things to the reader about the ongoing game (that they should look for things that are similar).

I think Micc is town because [redacted].

This is acceptable because no details about another game are mentioned or implied.

As always, feel free to send a listmod a PM if you have questions or would like further clarification.

This post has been superseded by the update below.

[lilith2013]

We have recently noticed players using the "acceptable examples" shown above to get around the rule about discussion of ongoing games, or inadvertently revealing relevant information about the ongoing game while staying within the lines of what we had previously indicated as acceptable. Even when players stay within the guidelines, there is a lot of potentially compromising information that is still being revealed. For example, if a player posts "my read is based on ongoing games" but that person is only in one other game, it's immediately obvious which game is being referenced.

We are therefore updating the rule about discussion of ongoing games to the following guideline:

Players are not allowed to reference ongoing games as a reason for a read.

You're allowed to play in multiple games at once and read games you're not playing in. You're allowed to use what you read in one game to inform your play in another game. However, you are not allowed to publicly share that the ongoing game is a reason for a read. This includes statements where it is clear that you're referring to an ongoing game implicitly, such as saying that you aren't allowed to explain a read.

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In addition, we would like to remind all players of the original guidelines posted above:

There are three primary exceptions.

Communications with authorities

You may PM, IM or otherwise contact the game mod(s), listmods who aren't involved in the game, and admins who aren't in the game. Likewise, listmods and admins will sometimes discuss ongoing games for administrative purposes.

The Game Allows Outside Communication

Where a game allows communication, it may be allowed. This must be EXPLICITLY stated in the rules (and as a listmod, we'd appreciate it if game mods would give us a heads up when this is the case).

Please note that a game mod may allow communications about his or her OWN game to be discussed elsewhere, but he or she may

NOT

allow discussion of other ongoing games in their thread.

The "Discussion of activity" exception has also been removed as of February 21st, 2022.

If your post does not classify as any of these exceptions and/or violates our new guideline, the listmods will take action.