The way things are going...

[Canadian Psycho]

as Much as I dislike being shut out as a responsible minor airsofter, i think this is defidently for the better of our sport.

1+ for age verify of gallery

[swatt13]

ya im sorry to all the younger players but we have to think about the sport as a whole. the needs of the many out wiegh the needs of the few. 18+. i would very much like to see a home page stating facts about airsoft (cannot be modified to fire, are not fire arms, are equvilent to bb guns, our views/ morals ect) just to imform people. have that as a home page that you must click a "I understand" button to procced to the asc home page. kinda the sa,e idea when you install something on your comp and you must read the waiver and click the "i accept" tab to proceed.

[Identity]

Originally Posted by Gryphon

I don't like the idea of suppressing or restricting our content because of the criminal actions of one dumbass, though life is ultimately about compromise. We have to weigh the political climate against our desire to enjoy this board and decide carefully what constitutes a reasonable course of action.

I vote for making the Gallery age verified only.

+1.
I'm with it even though I am not age verified yet. I am willing to help keep this sport alive!

[neil555688]

+1

as much as i think a disclaimer is a good idea, i think it should be something on the main page anyways.


I donno, I assume that we look at ASC as the way a never-heard-of-airsoft-before soccer mom would. A disclaimer on the frontpage may help, one on the gallery may also...But would a disclaimer on vampirefreaks.com changed peoples reactions?

I think the frontpage of ASC, a disclaimer should be posted. Large and bold. something like
"airsoft is a hobbie similar to paintball. Even though the guns look real, they are toy guns and cannot be made to fire real ammunition. ASC promotes a heathy hobby and healthy living."
There should also be a quick summery of what our age verification system.

I also think the basment chairsofting pics should be removed.

Things have gotten much better in the off topic. I expressed my concern in the past over how violent some threads got. Not flaming, but topics about criminals or terrorists where people make posts discussing vigilante actions, torture, etc.

Maby even a sticked topic for anger managment with links to self-help sites or stuff like that...not that we need it, but if its image we are talking about, it may be a responsible thing to do. But thats a bit much.

bah, Id like to see what some of the admins think.

[lyphe]

+1 on the age verified gallery, but I think we should take it a step further and completely close the gallery and forum (other then "welcome noobs" section) to the impressionable public. Yes it sounds a little excessive, but if you think about it, if the wrong person comes here it could be the end of the biggest airsoft site/forums in Canada (as far as I know we are), that would only worsen the situation. Worse case scenario, media puts a crazy spin on this; thousands of people across Canada are in some kind of crazy gun-ring.

Yeah maybe I’m over dramatizing, but is the extra effort of closing off the site to public eyes (and search engines) and keeping a low profile for a little bit too much work?

[edit]
i suggest people take questionable pictures of guns off their msn's, my spaces and any other place you may have put pics up.

[edit]
this guy knows exactly what i'm talking about
http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=33168

[Rico]

+1 to the age verification in the gallery.

We should also do the disclaimer on the main page too, a la Arnies.

[Flint]

I agree with Drocs idea! :cheers:

Originally Posted by Droc

as much as i think a disclaimer is a good idea, i think it should be something on the main page anyways.


I donno, I assume that we look at ASC as the way a never-heard-of-airsoft-before soccer mom would. A disclaimer on the frontpage may help, one on the gallery may also...But would a disclaimer on vampirefreaks.com changed peoples reactions?

I think the frontpage of ASC, a disclaimer should be posted. Large and bold. something like
"airsoft is a hobbie similar to paintball. Even though the guns look real, they are toy guns and cannot be made to fire real ammunition. ASC promotes a heathy hobby and healthy living."
There should also be a quick summery of what our age verification system.

I also think the basment chairsofting pics should be removed.

Things have gotten much better in the off topic. I expressed my concern in the past over how violent some threads got. Not flaming, but topics about criminals or terrorists where people make posts discussing vigilante actions, torture, etc.

Maby even a sticked topic for anger managment with links to self-help sites or stuff like that...not that we need it, but if its image we are talking about, it may be a responsible thing to do. But thats a bit much.

bah, Id like to see what some of the admins think.

[roberto]

Yeah it would be a good idea to lock tha gallery, you dont want airsoft pictures from the ASC gallery showing up on CBC news The National

[sukivan]

Wow, I am appalled at the attitudes of the people here.

By slinking into obscurity, we would only be validating the asinine assumption that there is something shameful about airsofters taking photos of themselves. Hell, there is nothing wrong with taking photos of yourself with real guns, either.

Any reporter trying to make hay out of a bunch of hobbyists playing with harmless airguns that shoot tiny plastic balls would get crucified by the public.

Oh, and for those who are calling for a minimum reading/posting age for the gallery - may I ask what exactly you are hoping to accomplish? First of all, Kimveer Gill was 25. Maybe you are trying to keep minors out of the gallery? If so, for what purpose? Do you think an unstable 15 year old is going to think "damn, if only I could post these photos of myself, I would be able to go through with my school shooting plan - foiled again"? Lastly, if you are trying to keep the gallery from the prying eyes of sensationalist press, don't bother - there is an ocean of airsoft photos available elsewhere on the internet, not to mention that it takes only a modicum of effort to get age verified.

Acting more secretive will only make this harmless hobby seem more suspicious to the uninformed John Q Public.

[sukivan]

I almost forgot - to those who want to get rid of "chairsofter" photos, let me make your agenda a tad more difficult.



I'm clearly a psychopath bent on mass murder!

[MMMiles!]

Personally I think that anyone that wants to misappropriate an image, or falsify what we do or what this site is about, will still go about doing it whether it's restricted or not - that's just my opinion though, I concede there is an arguable benefit to it anyway.

I find it pretty depressing to consider shutting parts of the site down because of unknown and unquantifiable risks (most of which have been prompted, in my opinion, by the recent customs issues on the west coast, which have nothing to do with the legal status of airsoft, and everything to do with import permits being stretched beyond what they were reasonably meant to do).

It's under consideration... I'm reserving judgement for now.

[Lakonian]

LOL CLEARLY!

[Cushak]

Sukivan, the purpose for age verifying the galler and/or forums would not to keep out youngsters, but an emergency measure to keep people we don't know who they are. Any reporter or politician with an agenda could come here and find enough photos and quotes to seriously hurt our public image. So, since the age veryfication forces people to attend games and meet in person, it's a good way to keep some control.

Besides, it was suggested as an emergency, to be reviewed later.

[Kuraitenshi]

maybe we are going about this the wrong way. Maybe we should restrict the site and sales according to IQ rather than age.