The Dragon Tails IRC channel offers a dynamic alternative to the message board for talking with other readers of the comic. It's real time and topics are constantly changing.
The channel is moderated by ops, who can not only kick and ban troublemakers, or change channel settings, but are there to keep the place running smoothly. Be sure to follow their directions! If you have any problems with the ops, requests, or even just general questions, you're invited to contact me directly - either in chat (look for the username Sycle) or you could EMail me.
Rules
- Watch your language. The Dragon Tails channel is an all ages friendly place. Refrain from using bad language. If you inadvertently swear, don't sweat it, just please try harder in future.
If you witness someone else swearing, don't make a big deal of it, in fact, don't even mention it unless you think they simply didn't realise swearing is discouraged.
If you regularly swear, either intentionally or just out of habit, you're likely to be removed from the channel. Additionally, swearing at other channel users is not tollerated.
- Be careful with what you link. Do not link to 'offensive' content (for a better idea of what is considered offensive, consult the Message Board Rules) and avoid blatant advertising. Be responsible for any content you are going to effectively endorse to others.
Avoid making comments that are overtly sexual, perverse or just plain crude in nature. Also, this isn't a schoolyard, show respect for your peers.
- Be aware of, and respect, your current audience. IRC is a dynamic place, it is a conversation, not a message board where others can come and go and browse at their leisure. It's understandable that the discussion will drift into more specialised or even mature subjects at time, but if you are stretching a rule it is your responsibility to ensure you are not offending or excluding other participants in the chat.
If you are discussing more adult (sexual related) topics and someone asks you to stop or otherwise expresses discomfort, you should change subject, as should you if children are present. If you are not aware of which users might be young or who might be offended, then it's probably a good indicator that you don't know the channel well enough to be broaching risqué subjects.
Cyber sex and pornography (including 'furry porn') are never acceptable conversation topics for the channel, however.
- No auto kicks or spam scripts. If you're an op, it is unacceptable to have a bot or script that kicks or bans without human confirmation, for any reason. If scripts could be trusted to be an op, a bot would have been set up by now.
MP3 reporters and other scripts that spam the channel are not to be used. No 'auto greets', if you think about it for a moment you'll realise how stupid the concept is. User activated scripts are acceptable, although abuse of colours, ascii ornamentation and other 'l33t script' behaviour is discouraged.
- Don't 'A/S/L'. A/S/L, or asking someone their Age/Sex/Location, is the bad pickup line of the wired world, representing a chatter mentality so streamlined they're only interested in people they can hit on. It's not appropriate for the Dragon Tails channel, if you really want to know about someone ask them questions like a normal human being.
Hints and Tips
- If you want to report someone, take a log! If someone's made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome, or is doing something you feel should be reported, the most important thing to do is to make sure you have a log of the event. If you have logging turned on in your IRC client, you will be able to extract the relevant fragment at your leisure. If you don't have logging enabled, you can copy the relevant part of the conversation off of the channel window and into a text file (highlighting text in mIRC automatically copies it to the clipboard) - the important thing is to ensure you have a complete record of everything that was said, including what was said before and after.
Logs are just text - they are alterable and are not infallible evidence, however when the source is trusted, they provide a valuable record of what was actually said, and the context.
I cannot act unless you have taken a log of the incident - first hand or second hand accounts are just not good enough!!
- If don't tell me your grievances, things can't change! If you do not like something about the channel - the rules, the op structure, prevailing discussion topics - and feel it's unreasonable in some way, by all means discuss it with me.
I can't promise you a favourable solution, but I can offer a sympathetic ear, and who knows, maybe it is something that can be fixed. If you leave the channel in protest, and simply leave me in the dark, it doesn't help anyone.
- Artists welcome! Members of the chat are welcome to post links to their art for others to see. The channel topic normally includes a small selection of recent finished artwork - if you'd like something you've done to appear there, ask an op. If you're an op, remember, when adding a new image, delete the first image URL, and put the new URL on the end.
- The channel is a public area. Everyone in the channel, idle or not, is receiving the conversation, so it's only common sense to avoid saying things in the main chat that you'd prefer were kept strictly private.
But most of all, just try and be yourself, use your common sense, treat others with understanding and respect and have fun!
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