Our new commenting and community guidelines

Today Blizzard Watch is announcing a set of commenting and community guidelines. It’s our hope that these guidelines, which will live permanently right over here, help shape what we already know we have in abundance: a healthy site for a great group of people that enjoy gaming. The guidelines for all comments are as follows:

• Content beyond a PG-13 rating is not permitted.
• Harassment is not permitted.
• Sharing the private, personal information of others is not permitted.
• Sharing information or links that advocates disruptive behavior, whether or not it’s against Blizzard’s terms of service, is not permitted.
• Creating multiple accounts is not permitted.
• Moderators have the final say in the conversations that happen on the site.

Why these guidelines?

We’ve gone for a long time without a comment policy because we felt we didn’t need to spell out what was and wasn’t appropriate — but it’s become clear to us that this isn’t the case. We’ve been seeing an increasing number of cases in which discussion degrades into personal attacks and harassment. That kind of behavior isn’t conducive to discussion and it kills off any fun commenters might have been having. It’s simply not acceptable, and we want it to be clear that we won’t tolerate this kind of activity.

We also see a lot of inappropriate content, especially in The Queue. Though you may post it in fun, we have a wide range of people who visit the site, and off-color or downright pornographic content is not something everyone wants to see. This kind of content can drive people away from the conversations we hope to see in our comments section — and it’s no more appropriate than harassment.

We want Blizzard Watch to be a safe space for all players, regardless of their opinions. Whether you agree or disagree with us, your fellow commenters, or with Blizzard itself, you’re welcome to participate in the discussion here so long as you do so civilly, and in line with our commenting guidelines.

Why can’t I post videos in comments anymore?

We recently disabled the ability to embed videos in comments, more because it was having a negative impact on site stability than due to content. Especially on posts with large comment sections, like The Queue, many commenters embedding video could slow down the site’s response time and impact everyone’s experience. Image embeds, while still allowed, can have a similar impact on performance, so we ask that you please use them in moderation.

What happens to people who break these guidelines?

Depending on the severity of the offense, commenters may receive a warning or comments may be deleted. Repeat offenders, commenters with multiple accounts, and new accounts that have done nothing but violate our community guidelines will be banned.

Our goal is to have an inviting community for all to enjoy — and having a safe and respectful community is one of the most important, if not the most important, things we need to achieve to make that happen. We hope you’ll join us in ensuring Blizzard Watch remains the kind of community we’re all glad to be a part of.