I would say, instead of stricter rules on content, just stricter rules on self tilting would be the best way to go.

Just to be clear... you are talking about the mechanics of pinside & not about actual pinsiders right?

I sumtimes find simple math aint so simple

That's some great material no doubt, but remember coming from a gay guy, that stuff is obviously tongue in cheek.

full disclosure... we are avid consumers of the "entertainment" that is available on the internet in this household... and it is safe to say that people who know me would roll on the floor laughing if someone ever thought i was a prude...

the problem is robin, there is a difference between "nudity" (or what passes for it on today's pinside) and "offensive content"...

i see quite a few pictures of attractive scantily clad women and don't find that to be "offensive content"... however, i do also see some pictures/gifs (as well as some follow up posts to them) that i would be uncomfortable watching/reading if my mother were standing over my shoulder (and its not like i'm a teenager)... not necessarily because i find them offensive (although i do find some of the commentary highly offensive), but because i know SHE would be offended....

it's a blurry line, and not only is it blurry, people draw it in many different places... another of about a million reasons i'm glad i'm not a moderator...

It is just the raunchy stuff - somethings you just cant unsee

Were my nipples pierced?

I've always chosen to try to behave in online forums the same way you would if you were in a room with a friend's family, or a group of people you really don't know well. Most people when in that position tend to behave. When i'm at a friend's house and his wife, kids, or other friends are around there's no way i'm dropping the f-bomb, busting out porn on my phone to show everyone or getting into topics that are insensitive to general audiences so why do it in an online forum? The funny thing about the internet is that you don't actually have to see the faces of the other people in the room so people don't temper their behavior like they would in the real world.

When i'm with my close friends yea, that's different. Farts and bad jokes are everywhere, anything else and I have to make the common sense assumption that I need to behave myself a little better than that. Can't say it's always 100% successful, but that's the goal. It's all about knowing and respecting the room you're in be it real or virtual. In a place like this, you have to assume there might be kids in the room.

Just put on the discovery channel and you will see naked asses every few minutes on naked and afraid....

Should this get a Tilt warning?

Poor joke to inflame. You didn't quote anyone correctly from what I can tell.

There is little doubt that there are a limited number of posts which are abhorrent to common decency & respect.
I recall a couple of weeks ago there was a thread posted by a guy whose wife had just left him. Throughout that thread there were generalised references to women which were just plainly wrong & unacceptable not only on this forum but to discussion generally. That has to stop and in my view the best way to do that is to weed out the perpetrators not just the posts.
On the other hand there seems to me to be a group of individuals through this thread who are anxious to impose what appears to be their rather narrow social values on everyone else. That is just as unacceptable.

You'll die trying....

So be it.. but if it is not addressed (tilting does not stop the unacceptable) it will simply escalate

Im not saying I am one of them Im saying you will never be able to control the masses.

This is kind of a crappy excuse. I don't think racist or homophobic jokes would be tolerated even if they were told "tongue in cheek".

cliffy's for nipple protectors...

It was not a joke...it was a response to post made by someone else that I thought was in very bad taste...although now after reading and re-reading the original post I see that it was not bad taste, but it was bad punctuation that gave the appearance of a unacceptable remark.

I had to tilt toe-zilla, lol.

had i used a semi-colon, you would have been correct in your assumption (i also would have been pointing out 2 different problems, but that is beside the point )...

however, since i was directly addressing robin, i stand by my punctuation... i will allow that a direct phrasing would have been better, ex. "robin, the problem is...."...

that being said, my refusal to use capital letters and my ellipsis abuse is indefensible...

This may have already been answered, but honestly, I have lost interest in the topic. I believe TILTing is often viewed as uncool. Is there a reason we need to know who TILTed a post? Could making it anonymous make it more effectively used? Moderators would still know who is doing the TILTing if the feature is abused to attempt to silence views they disagree with.

speaking of things you can't unsee...

If made anonymous it will most certainly be abused.

^^^^THIS^^^^well said Chris.

Also saviours thinking that people cannot be trusted to self manage their own behaviour/s. Stop trying to tell everyone what to do based on your preferences, I am well and truly old enough and ugly enough to regulate my own behaviour thanks. If I can't behave reasonably then moderation and tools (TILT, report, ignore, drain etc) are available for everyone to use to help me stay on track, basically Robin has it covered IMHO.

Once the diversity and Fun (note the word fun and not extreme) element has been mandated from Pinside it will be a ghost site and become just a legacy tech help link from the "new" site we would have all moved to. Pretty sure nobody wants to go there, also there are enough other existing pinball sites that are not Pinside for those users that don't like the Pinside experience. Remember Pinside is international and not middle America exclusive.

I'll close my rant with this, use the tools available, follow your own standards so that you can sleep well at night while not trying to impose them onto others, above all else enjoy Pinside or Fu*k off (I mean that in an inclusive, sharing and caring way).

Hey Frax, what are you talking about? I had said:
"If any person realizes a topic on here that might offend them, then they shouldn't click on it."

Some threads can be pretty obvious to whom they may offend, wasn't the thread in question that started this topic called "hottest girls in pinball" ?
For the most part pinball is an adult guys hobby and most any forum on guy interests will have pictures of beautiful women that are sometimes naked with some raw humour.

As a classically trained artist I believe the human body is the most beautiful work of art in the known universe.
The human form, and the nude human form is beautiful. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It is amazing and fantastic. The structure, symmetry, strength, weakness, simplicity, complexity, variety, kinetics, aging, etc... are absolutely a work of art. Art to fold into our lives, our hobbies, our communities and conversations and into more new art.

Pinball machines are made up of:
1. art (paint, ink, form, etc)
2. wood
3. metal
4. electronics
5. brand experience
etc...

Fanatics of these Games often enjoy every aspect of them (including art).
Because art is an important part of the entire pinball package that fanatics enjoy, they will often visually express aspects of that art or other forms of art within the dialog here. Art (including the human form) are part of many peoples' (read: fanatics) thought reference points and a big part of their expressive communication. And that is ok.

I've found (aside from textual humor), that when many people I like, don't know at all, or those that i allow myself to be frustrated by, get into their usual heated debate (sometimes battles), that when someone posts a completely meaningless photo of an attractive person (mostly female) right in the middle of the battle, that all these amazing & diverse personalities often halt the negativity and suddenly snap to the fact there's more they have in common (pinball, the opposite gender, events, etc..). It is, a re-uniting stimulus to dialog like none other I've observed here. The conversation then often turns to a less negative tone and "rebonding" as a community. I've observed Moderators bring a halt to negativity before, but it has a different lasting effect. It kind of leaves an awkward lingering something in the air for while, no? It's more like silencing with a hammer (depending on the situation/etc.), versus redirecting with something beautiful or humorous (or both). Not saying one is better than the other, or that there aren't other methods. For me, sometimes it just takes someone i know on here to thump me on head and say 'stop being a douche' (like now ). I laugh and move on...

I'm not saying it's right or wrong... it's just an observation, and as such, fodder for thought?

I've also observed that (not all), but a lot of folks who explicitly post on "debatable" thread topics tend to often be on a more extreme end of a spectrum related to that topic. These extremes, often sensitive to be easily offended or desire to offend, tend to clash with a short fuse lit. Within that clash, some believe repetition is a form of changing an environment, and some are influenced through repetition. But repetition reinforcing an extreme perspective is not useful to the moderate middle or the other end of the spectrum. I often wish the lurking "middle" of the spectrum would speak up to reflect a central balance for all.

It may have been mentioned already, and I forgot (too much eggnog), but I wouldn't mind having a feature that let me toggle my own thread as "R" so that new posts to it didn't surface the "R" thread to the top of the forum home page. That might however imply there's a way to find/see those types of threads . But even with "R" threads, no nudity (as usual) and still Tilt. Just noodling...

Human form & nudity is beautiful & natural. It is simply part of the universe's art.

now...
Violence is bad.
Violence is worse than nudity.
Why aren't pinball themes based on violence getting this much attention?
Why aren't parents fighting to protect their children from these violent pinball themes?
Why am i not playing my MMRLE yet?
Why am i such a smartass?

All i can say is... i think you're all pretty cool, even if i may not share your particular value set. I'd like nothing more than to travel the world going to pinball/arcade events and buy you all a drink, but that's just me

The issue isn't pinball art.

or other visual representations of the human form...

I'll start posting random Mapplethorpe pics and see how long it takes to turn the tune.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! If you post a pic of a sexy woman, a sexy man, a deformed toe, a huge gaping wound in your leg JUST HIT TILT! You already went to the trouble of finding a sexy or disgusting picture, saving it to your desktop, and uploading it, CLICKING ONE MORE BUTTON WONT KILL YOU!

If you find pics of that nature offensive SET YOUR TILT TO ONE!

If we all did this we could all shut up about it. You all act like we were having our freedom of speech taken away, its really not a big deal. You all act like a pic of someone in their underwear will send you to hell, its also not a huge deal.

Why should you do it? Robin asked nicely, others asked nicely, its common courtesy and how people should treat other people.

really cool visuals.
often see similar variations in art studios and galleries.

the human body is beautiful. what can i say...

dohhhh...

YEEEESSSSSS!!! Steve, that is so.... practical. If you need the longer, slightly more middle of the road explanation, see my post above. For condensed version, that'll do! Its that easy! No rights or constitutions or senate judiciary hearings... Just common courtesy and respect... Sing it Aretha!

Well said! It all comes down to what each individual is comfortable with and that varies!!! Between tilt and drain what is the issue? No one needs to see things they don't want to. Don't stress over what may happen and what people may think.

I'm done here going to go play some ACDC and leer at Helen.

To an outsider (outside the US) this topic seems to be a battle of two opposite lifestyles within the US with either side seemingly not giving much ground. I reckon there should be a US sub forum where you guys can battle out your differences in your own continent so others can get on with enjoying this great pinball site.

Posting tits and ass to stop an argument is dumb, no matter how "classically trained" the artist or photographer may be. I like to read Pinside on my iPad while I eat lunch, and it was extremely embarrassing to have the waitress walk up behind me when I was reading one of those threads. Had to explain, "it's a pinball forum, these guys sometimes... well, never mind."

_{Post edited by swampfire: "dumb" is a better word here.}

it's just an observation... no matter how you "like to read Pinside on your iPad".
it's just that kind of snarky & inflammatory commentary that's problematic here. nice. way to contribute.

are you able to discuss a topic without making personal attacks, or do you always communicate in an infantile manner?

I would have asked her to sit on my lap and read it to me.

^^^^Would have been hotter if you self tilted your own post.

This is hard to take seriously. Of all the hundreds of threads on Pinside you choose 'to read' one of the very few with adult material while having your lunch and a waitress springs you in the act. I suggest you restrict your lunches to the overwhelming number of genuine threads. It will also probably help your digestion!!

I suggest he considers having lunch at Hooters.

How about choosing not to read a thread called "hottest women in pinball" around others if it would embarrass you. What did you expect?

+1

Myself and half of the guys in my 5th grade class would trade porn magazines like baseball cards.

If you had a bunch of Hustlers, you were the man!

Thanks, johnnyfive.