This page in a nutshell:
Don't attempt to use loopholes.
To game the system is to use policies in bad faith in an attempt to disrupt the flow of discussion and editing.
The process of gaming the system is accomplished by attempting to find within polices a justification or reason to perform abusive actions. Finding a supposed justification or reason is often done by warping policies out of context, "reading in between the lines", stating that the policy doesn't say something just because it doesn't explicitly, or taking things far too literally. Also attempting to fraudulently cite a policy on another user is gaming the system, a policy should only be cited if a user is in clear violation of it.
Examples
- Using policies against each other.
- "You cannot block me, my vandalism to Team Killing was in good faith because no one likes team killers."
- The user here would still be blocked for vandalism, regardless of the article vandalized.
- "I told XxIhateCODxX to fuck off, because no one likes him. I ignored UTP because the Wiki would be better off without him."
- The user here would still be blocked for abuse against another user, especially since UTP cannot be overridden by IAR.
- "You cannot block me, my vandalism to Team Killing was in good faith because no one likes team killers."
- Taking policies out of context on purpose.
- "We don't care that the Stapler Wiki has a green background. Because you have used another wiki as an argument, we are not allowed to support this proposal per COD:NOT"
- "Per COD:AEAE, I should be made an administrator, as otherwise I am not equal."
- These are not valid arguments, as they are taking a policy out of context.
- "Redlining the policy" - Purposely staying just out of a policy's reach in order to disrupt without punishment.
- This would eventually be caught on to and a punishment will be issued.
- Attempting to get away with something because it isn't written down in policy.
- Not every iteration of disruptive/non-constructive behavior needs to be written down in policy. If you know something you do will have adverse effects and/or is not constructive at all, then don't do it.
- Using this policy when it is not valid to do so.
- So, you are in a discussion with someone and they cite a policy which you do not happen to agree with. What better thing to do than cite COD:DGTS at them! Right? Wrong.
- This is a delicate policy and requires evaluation to be cited properly. These examples are basically the only reasons why COD:DGTS should ever be cited. There may be more obscure reasons which may not be listed here. Make sure to be 100% sure you are providing a valid citation of this policy, otherwise others may look poorly upon your argument.