Author Topic: Forum Rules and Precepts. Please read.  (Read 49791 times)

Offline Blaze

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Forum Rules and Precepts. Please read.
« on: December 16, 2010, 03:03:26 AM »
Forum rules:
By participating on these Boards you agree to conform with the following rules and precepts.

Please, understand that these rules have been generated through need rather than the whim of the Moderators.   We started with no rules, so these have been generated as a direct response to some active necessity.

General Precepts:

Participation in this Forum is a Privilege not a Right.  This privilege is maintained through courtesy and respect to the forum owner, the Moderators and your fellow members.

If a Moderator (including Bartenders) asks you to stop what you are doing, stop.  Stop immediately.

All rules valid for the Forum are in effect for the Chat function.

Member Responsibility:
Members should always strive to practice positive attributes:
--Read carefully and post entertainingly, informatively, and economically.
--Acknowledge other people, assume good will, be quick to praise and slow to criticize, add knowledge, offer help, be slow to anger, apologize when wrong, politely ask for clarification, and exercise patience when your temper flares.
--Welcome new people.  Point newcomers to these rules, links to related conversations.
--Bring your situation to the moderators if you are angry, puzzled, or otherwise uncertain about what to do.

Segmentation of Topics:
--Post items on the appropriate board.

Spoilers:
--Spoilers should only be posted in the designated section.
--Do not post the spoiler directly in the subject line.  (Everyone can see that.)
--Use spoiler tags if you post something not covered in that topics subject line. 

Forbidden Discussion Items:
 
Include, but are not limited to:
Theft of intellectual property
Stalking
Politics
Religion outside of  Book Canon
Personal Attacks
Sex, Sexism
Other Touchy Topics

Promotional Posts:
The ability to make promotional posts is a privilege earned by active forum participation, not a right. If you make promotional posts without participating as a real live human in discussions elsewhere on the board, those posts are subject to deletion. Promo-only user accounts can be considered to be spammers and may be deleted as well.

Avatars:
--Personalized avatars must avoid touchy topics. 
--Please keep avatars to a size  not to exceed 150 x 150 pixels.

User names:
--Refrain from user names that include any extended ASCII characters in them (e.g.: Ü,ô,ñ,ƒ,í). 
--You may not combine words that would result in a phonetically offensive name.

Support:
Everyone is encouraged to utilize the Site Suggestions and Support board to discuss the rules.

Response:
Any user who violates site or specific forum policy, including those who ignore personal direction given to them by a moderator, will be reprimanded and may be banned according to the following guidelines:
--Immediate bans may be issued without warning in circumstances including but not limited to those involving SPAM, explicitly prohibited activity, excessive harassment, or any behavior deemed malicious.
--A first offense for minor infractions will result in a written warning by moderator either via Private Message, or in the thread where the incident occurred.
--Upon second offense, the user will receive a temporary ban of anywhere from 3-30 days with a brief explanation of the reason behind the ban and the duration of the ban.
--Repeat offenders who continue to violate policy and/or moderator direction, will be permanently banned.
--The Moderators reserve the right to place bans immediately if, in their estimation, it becomes necessary to do so.

Recourse:
If you feel that you have been unjustly moderated:
--Do not argue in the topic. 
--PM the Bartender/Moderator and ask for clarification.
--If you disagree with a Bartender's policy interpretation, contact a Moderator. 
--If you disagree with a Moderator's policy interpretation, contact Iago.
--To request to change or clarify policy, start a thread in Site Suggestions.   
« Last Edit: November 12, 2012, 07:56:23 PM by Blaze »
Chi pò, non vò; chi vò, non pò; chi sà, non fà; chi fà, non sà; e così, male il mondo va.

Offline Mickey Finn

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Re: Forum Rules and Precepts. Please read.
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2010, 11:36:22 PM »
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,21393.0.html

Because knowing is half the battle.
We are not nouns. We are VERBS. -Stephen Fry
The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms. -Muriel Rukeyser

Podcast: http://thegentlemennerds.com/

Wormwood Mysteries:
"All The Pretty Little Horses" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W8FE3FS 
"Sign of the Times" http://tinyurl.com/DirtyMagick

Offline Blaze

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Re: Forum Rules and Precepts. Please read.
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2011, 06:26:09 AM »
DoTArchon did a nice page of abbreviations and acronyms, (which may include some spoilers for those of you are aren't read up top date...)  http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,27282.msg1168434.html#msg1168434
Chi pò, non vò; chi vò, non pò; chi sà, non fà; chi fà, non sà; e così, male il mondo va.

Offline Mickey Finn

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Re: Forum Rules and Precepts. Please read.
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2016, 04:34:10 PM »
Reposting from Blackstaff in another thread:

Quote
Forumites,

Since you all have so much ardor in the discussion of Murphy, this topic is being assigned special rules, rather than being made verboten -- You must all go and reread the Precepts and the Book of Don't before you post on the subject of Murphy's *anything.* Motivations, beliefs, belongings, politics, favorite color, food preferences...then if you violate these rules you will incur Instant Doom - an immediate three day ban from the boards.   

Post at your own peril.

The Mods.

PS: Playing silly buggers with this rule, such as trying to bait someone into falling into it, will not be met lightly.

The reason this was done because it's not fair to people who want to discuss Murphy to completely ban discussion on her because some people come to blows on her over time.
We are not nouns. We are VERBS. -Stephen Fry
The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms. -Muriel Rukeyser

Podcast: http://thegentlemennerds.com/

Wormwood Mysteries:
"All The Pretty Little Horses" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W8FE3FS 
"Sign of the Times" http://tinyurl.com/DirtyMagick

Offline Blackstaff

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Re: Forum Rules and Precepts. Please read.
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2016, 01:15:14 PM »
This post is to clarify some things about warnings.

Warnings are not meant to embarrass, humiliate, shame, or wield power over anyone.
The policy of respect and politeness on this board is unusual on the internet and the Mods understand that people can forget that, or forget to mode-switch when coming from elsewhere, or simply get emotional. That's why there are warnings.

There is no desire for a Mod to "Be Right" or "Exude Power" over someone...one of the primary requirements for being considered as a Mod is to lack such desires.  The goal of the mod where tensions run high is to return civility to a discussion.
As such, if you're being called out on your actions in a warning, even if you are the one who reported it to the mod, the 'good & proper' response would be one of the three:
1) Own up to it...this is the path the vast majority of people have done.
2) Politely disagree and state your case if you think the mod was incorrect. If you wish to take it to PMs, that's cool. If you're worried about face, you can post that you wish to discuss this in PM, and then do so. This needs to be a discussion and not a twisting of words or any other manipulation, including emotional or trying to get under someone's skin.
3) Quietly see it and not do it again. There is no requirement by staff or policy that you apologize to anyone. The Mods are not your parents and no one is being punished or made to shake hands.  If a ban occurs, it's to separate attitude from community.

A Report to Mod is just that. A notification. It is to make us aware of situation so we can deal with it. It is not a weapon to be used against someone you disagree with:
1) Telling someone you're reporting them to mod and then getting a last word in is both engaging in the behavior you're reporting and using Mod as a weapon. Just report it and move on.
2) If it's not clear,  trying to goad someone into losing their cool is bad....trying to goad them into losing it so the mods do something to them instead of you will not end well. No playground chess games. 

How the mods deal with it is subject to our view, outside of the head butting you're encountering. It may not be the perfect solution for you, but you're in the emotional thick of it.

If it makes you uncomfortable that reporting to the mods can backfire on you if you've also been 'acting out', remember the idea here is that everyone gets treated equally when it comes to warnings...if you act out because someone got under your skin, you're going to get called on it as well (reporting to mod by itself is not remotely acting out. How you reply in the post and what you put in the report can be).
Remember, you can try to deescalate the situation yourself (politely) before reporting, if it's simply butting heads. You are not required to, especially if its OTHERS butting heads and you see it spiraling out of control.
If you "get uppity" and inappropriate because someone else is breaking the rules at you, and you have an issue at the mods calling you on that, you're weaponizing the "Report to mod" feature.
"They did it first" is never a defense.
I am the Blackstaff. I speak for the Senior Council.