cheever (cheever) wrote in news, @ 2003-04-19 16:11:00

	serotonin_lily 2003-04-20 03:13 (link)
	I'm pleased that the site will be enforcing the 18+ rule on free accounts. I am glad that Blurty sticks to its ideals. It makes this place even better, in my opinion. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	poeticdesire 2003-04-20 05:11 (link)
	Yep, it's a good idea. However, I don't know how they can do that. At least, not by looking at the birthdate in the userinfo. Many people on Blurty use journals for Roleplay. And some people they roleplay as may be under 18. ^.^ Just a bit of an obstacle there, unfortunately. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

serotonin_lily 2003-04-20 05:58 (link)

That's true. I don't think that there is an easy way to enforce the rules. I think the idea of credit cards being used to verify ages has been suggested somewhere [possibly another journal site idea] but would you want to give out your credit card details to gain a free account? There are other journalling sites that can be used instead, which just have a 13+ restriction. So I'm not sure either how they will enforce it. It would be good if they could find a way, just so Blurty retains its uniqueness. Again, RPG is a huge part of journalling. As you rightly say, the people RPG-ing might not be 18+. I wonder how they will handle it? Or whether RPG will even come into the equation... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lhstrawberry 2003-04-20 12:02 (link)

I don't think the credit card thing would work either, cos not everyone has one. I am soon 20 and don't have a credit card, and don't plan on getting one any time soon. And even if I had one, I wouldn't be comfortable to give out my number just to prove my age... it's the internet after all. I don't think there will be a way how to enforce that rule though, how can they keep people from lying about their age? I for my part wouldn't want to lie about my age in my journal, but others would (plus I don't have to lie about it *lol*) ♥ Love, Lifehouse & Strawberries ♥ (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: poeticdesire 2003-04-20 14:33 (link)

RPG needs to come into the equation, considering I've seen some communities with 50-100+ members. Though it may not be a huge chunk, it's a very good one. I've already seen people jumping to new journal sites such as NeedlessPanic.com because of how the Free User accounts are here. You're right..not many will want to give a credit card. The best way to do it I'd guess is put a birthday field where you sign up, but not have it go into the userinfo. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

goldchaosdragon 2003-04-21 20:22 (link)

They could do what Ebay does: if you have a hotmail account or other free email account as your primary email, then you have to supply credit card info (or check card info if it's something like Visa Check Card).. otherwise, you can supply a paid or college email. They can check the age of the person with the email account against the company that provides the email: services like AOL would probably have biographical data on a particular email, and for college addresses you obviously have to be enrolled in college, one of the alumni, or a faculty member. Yeah, you can still abuse this sort of setup, but it's harder to abuse. And for RPG journals.. why not just make it a rule to disclaimer RPG journals with a little "this is not a real person. if you want a real person, see [whatever the player's Blurty or normal journal or normal e-mail is]" message. The authorities could check the player's background info and the random browser would know the nature of the roleplay journal without leaving "You're a freak!" messages. ... Hell, if the roleplay demographic is that big, why not make a future (far future) project labelling all the rp journals as such.. we already have a /users and a /community depending on the type of the journal in the normal URL.. why not a /roleplay for roleplaying journals? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Okay.. peripheral 2003-04-22 17:37 (link)

I'm not exactly sure as to why RPGs seem to need this special attention in regards to this matter? It doesn't seem to fit in with the natural order of things. It is natural for individual users to keep journals, as demonstrated with the /users directory. It is also natural for communities to form, hence the /communities directory. So why exactly should role players get the benefit of an additional directory, when blurty was not necessarily designed for them? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Okay.. poeticdesire 2003-04-23 04:06 (link)
	Because there are hundreds upon HUNDREDS of people who use these journals for RP purposes. RPers are usually some of the first to flock to new journal sites to try them out. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Okay.. peripheral 2003-04-23 14:18 (link)

Aren't there other sites where people can roleplay? I don't think the intent of Blurty is to use their services to pretend to be someone else (real or not). It's like a smoker getting irate about not having special accomodations made for them, despite the fact that they made the choice to become a smoker in the first place. There simply is no need for a seperate directory for "roleplaying" on a service that just was not intended to be used that way. /users and /communities is all that is truly necessary. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Okay.. poeticdesire 2003-04-23 16:13 (link)
	Actually, I haven't seen a journal site specifically for roleplay. I didn't say I was for or against a seperate directory for roleplay, but I'm just stating roleplayers make up a large portion of journal sites. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Okay.. offcenter 2003-04-29 15:31 (link)

I agree with the idea for a separate directory for Role Players. As Poetic Desire (sorry if this is spelled incorrectly), RP journals make up at least 1/3 (maybe more) of Blurty's population, and are the biggest supporters of this site. It seems to me that you were basically saying that Role Players shouldn't have a spot on Blurty period, and that makes me mad. That’s like saying that you shouldn't be here if you talk about sports in your journal, or talking about all anime. Role Play is a hobby, just like sports and anime are, so why shouldn't others be able to express their hobby? And as I said, since they make up such a large part of the population, shouldn't they be rewarded, or at least acknowledged with a separate link, or directory? How is it going to affect you? If you aren't into Role Play, just ignore it. Don't shoot down something others like to do, just because you don't. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Okay.. kerochan 2003-04-29 18:06 (link)
	Blogging and Roleplaying are two COMPLETELY different hobbies. Blurty was only made for one of them. Talking about anime, sports and what not all fall into the category of blogging. Roleplaying is a whole different ball game. -kerochan (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Okay.. kerochan 2003-04-29 18:15 (link)
	Oh and... um... did you just say... they should be "acknowledged" or "rewarded" because they waste bandwith and space with fake identities? Or because they annoy the hell out of people? Or because it's an offense to the people they pose as? -kerochan (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Okay.. offcenter 2003-04-30 15:37 (link)

I did have a nice, long, mean reply to this, but it got erased by accident, and now something more important has happened in my life, and I'm to upset to really care about re-writing my reply. I will say though, that I'm sorry you didn't agree with the things I said, and I hope that my opinion on this subject doesn't change what you think of me (which I hope is a good thing) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(Reply from suspended user)