Apparently there was a problem with some inappropriate contacts being made, so the Admin put those policies in place to help curb that. I dunno, seems mostly common sense anyway, so I don't see a big problem with it...
The thing is with this, is that say someone unscrupulous came onto EC (It has been done before) and all he wanted to do was to find some innocent member and engage in innapropriate contact with them. Of course, this forum is moderated thoroughly (we are able to keep an eye on dodgy threads, posts, PMs and Chatlogs). However if someone posted any way they could be contacted offsite, what is to stop this unscrupulous character contacting people? We can't moderate what is being said to members offsite, and should it happen to end badly, EC would be held responsible and could potentially be taken down. I'm sure you'd all rather a strict EC than no EC at all. However this does not stop you from PMing the said offsite contacts to members that you have gotten to know. With the full member system, only members who we have confidence in get to be full members and are able to PM each other. This lowers the chance of people just coming on to find unmoderated contacts, and it allows you to share with only certain people that you wish.
why does everyone think the rules are strict. if we didnt have rules EC would just turn into another myspace...meaning that everyone on here would be complaining brats haha. :]
The rules do appear quite strict to those who do not understand the reasons for them. I've said many times that they create a Big Brother atmosphere and I am not surprised to see people finding them overbearing. If you know the story behind them being implemented then you'll understand why they are necessary, but I imagine SpielDog wasn't aware of this before he started the thread. To those who aren't aware of the background the rules can quite easily appear to be very restricting. As Holly said though, it's either this or no forum. A lot more people will benefit this outcome rather than the other one.
