Post by hoagiegal1970 on Jan 28, 2008 9:57:59 GMT
Rules of the Game Forum
1. Don't spam. Spamming includes:
A) Registering to the forum for the sole purpose of advertising your site;
B) Posting multiple threads of the same topic when there is a larger, active thread for that topic already; or
C) Multiple one-word responses, especially if they make no sense or off-topic.
Also try to avoid posting consecutive posts on the same thread (called double-posting or multi-posting, depending on how many posts in a row you made). If you just thought of something else to say, and nobody has made a post after you yet, use the Modify function on your post and add in what you had in mind. It's recommended you use the word "EDIT" before the addition. You may also use the Modify function to change what you originally had, for typos or something.
However, you ARE free to double-post within your own fanfic/fanart thread (to update it, say), and also when a thread hasn't been updated for a long period of time and you want to "bump" it.
2. Don't go off topic. Try the best you can to stick to the topic of the thread. Remember: if someone clicked on the Father/Chubbo Discussion thread it's because they want to read about Father/Chubbo -- not your visit to the dentist.
3. Try to be nice. This is split into two parts: First and foremost don't, whatever you do, insult people. This is called flaming and will land you in heaps of trouble. Second, when you do debate someone try avoiding language, polite that it may be, that is designed to offend. Condescension and needless heat will only land you neck-deep in a rather heated argument. This, while not technically against the rules, will make the mods upset. Upset mods are Bad.
4. Don't troll. Trolling is when you make a post for the purpose of provoking peoples' ire. One of the most common types of trolling is someone registering to the KND forum and making KND-bashing threads all over the place.
Another form of trolling is making a thread you KNOW will anger someone/everyone, such as one where you call out forum members and flame them in order to get them to respond and fight back.
Another type of trolling is more insidious and even more hurtful: The sympathy thread. Don't make a thread specifically designed to troll (there's that word again!) for sympathy. Complain freely, of course, but don't be manipulative and tug on our heartstrings for some selfish end. We'll find out, and when we do our anger shall be as unto an angry God.
Trolling is one of the fastest ways to get suspended or banned. Just don't do it.
5. Please try to write coherent posts. Try your best with spelling and grammar and always re-read to make sure your sentences make sense. We don't ask this because we're fussy schoolmarms not that there's anything wrong with that No, it's just that we'd really like to read your posts and that exercise is made all the more enjoyable if you write in English or some suitable approximation thereof.
6. No-one likes posts that make your eyes bleed. Avoid posting animated GIFs (unless it's a fanart thread or a thread for animated gif pics), overuse of smileys or writing in odd colours. Speaking of colours, note that when a Moderator edits a post, they may state what they edited in red or yellow.
7. Don't attack characters or ships you don't like. This is called character/ship bashing and will get you almost universally hated. Remember, YOU may not like Father/Chubbo but to someone else it's the perfect pair.
Note that you are free (nay, encouraged!) to dislike certain ships. Hate them, even. It's good to have opinions. And you can express your opinions. That's even better. However, on this forum, we'd like you to do it an a polite, non-flame-war-causing manner. Here's an example:
Father/Chubbo is LAME!!! And they should both DIE!1 Especially Chubbo that little pile of furry FAT! And everyone who ships this stoopid ship is GAY!
The above is bad. Very bad. In fact if you post something like this, I've heard that hamster ninjas will break into your home and eat your hard-drive.
So why is the post like that bad?
1) It insults the shippers of a given ship. That's flaming.
2) It insults the ship itself. That's ship bashing.
3) It insults the much loved character of Chubbo. That's character bashing.
A more appropriate post would be something like this:
I really don't like Father/Chubbo. It's so OOC that it ain't even funny and it's so far removed from canon as to be practically confiscated. Wasn't even a single frame when they were in the same shot, for Pete's sake. And Chubbo's dead. C'mon, people, give it a rest, eh?
8. Signatures are very nice. They serve as an indication of any sub-groups you belong to, identify your favorite ships and characters and can display absolutely adorable bits of fanart (A little bird told me that 62 makes some sweet graphic signatures). HOWEVER it is not your homepage. They have to be small because some people have smaller monitors and GIHUGIC sigs throw the whole forum layout off-kilter. Also a sig must take a small amount of (computer) space. This is for people with slow dial-up connections who'd rather not suffer though a several minute loading of your sig. First here's the rule for SPACE:
Second is the rule for size: Your signature in total must NOT be larger than 250 kb.
9. Don't steal fanart. This is one of the most heinous things you can do here. Fanartists are a treasure of the forum -- ripping them off is decidedly uncool. So, remember: when you post a piece of someone else's fanart (esp. in a signature get their permission and make sure you credit them. They worked hard to make the wonderful stuff we can see on the forum -- they deserve all the kudos they can get. Also, don't take anyone's art, change it a bit and then post it as your own. That's also theft. This also includes fanfictions.
In short, don't plagiarize.
10. Another modly duty is a lot less pleasant -- for you, that is. It is a mod's duty to issue sanctions against you if you overstep these boundaries. You may find yourself warned, publicly warned, banned for a short period of time or banned permanently. Don't let it be you!
Mods aren't infallible, though. We try our best but, sometimes, we make mistakes. To insure that no-one is unjustly modded into oblivion there's a couple of safety mechanisms:
1) When we suspend someone, or ban them, we'll put the name and the reason in a special thread and enable people to complain in yet another such thread.
2) You can always PM the admin, that'd be either Stardrifter or, preferably, Shwoo. They are the final court of appeal and their judgment is final and, if necessary, terminal.
11. If you have any troubles on the forum, or you don't know how to do something ask a mod. It is (one) of the jobs of a moderator to assist members, newbies in particular. Also remember: if you see someone break one of these rules it would be appreciated if you'd use the 'Report' button you can see on every post. Mods know how to handle trolls and trouble-makers (a lethal combination of automatic weapons and exotic martial arts in case you were wondering)
12. Remember the first rule of the forum: We are all here to have fun. Anything that impedes that is bad and anything that helps it along is good. All else is formality.
