See:
http://www.rpgwoforums.com/index.php?showt...t=0&start=0See:
How about keeping wolf on topic? If any topic gets more than 4 posts it in its someone posting some stupid irrelevant wolf.
...
Basically go read the rules on 8bit theater forums from years ago. Then apply them here
Hell, I'll do half the work for you...
Forum Staff
There are quite a few moderators and administrators around. Nasty little buggers. The head moderator is Brian Clevinger himself, known around here as Kurosen. There are super administrators, normal admins and moderators; every one of those has the same rights and possibilities regarding forum members, and no one's word stands above that of another's (except for Kurosen, who is our High Overlord). You can view who's what exactly in the Forum Leaders section, but for your everyday needs, this is who they are:
Kurosen
Mashirosen
shiney
Meister
RaiRai
Crodevillian Team
fifthfiend
Krylo
FenrisWolf
ProphetX (in the RaiRO forums)
Tyrazial (in the RaiRO forums)
McTahr (in the RaiRO forums)
They'll be patrolling the boards on a regular basis, and you'll probably get to know them pretty well, since they're just normal posters like you when they're not doing their job. ("They are mortal the same as we!") If you want to tell them about something, please send them a polite mail or private message about it and they'll do their best to get back to you as your message merits -- but bear in mind that they have lives away from the forum (no, really). If you want to bring a specific post to their attention, click the "Report Post" icon in the upper right corner of that post and state your reasons.
Moderator-Poster Code of Conduct
1. The moderators will do their best to be respectful and polite towards posters, but by the same token, respect is earned. If you're rude to a mod, don't be surprised if you're treated the same.
2. The moderators will do their best to be fair and patient, and to avoid pettiness; you will do your best to obey the rules and the judgment calls of the moderators without complaining or disrespecting their authority.
3. The moderators will not play favorites, and you will not expect special treatment from any particular mod.
4. Only Kurosen's say is final in any dispute; however, you will not bother him by contesting every little decision the mods make.
Please treat the moderators respectfully and argue maturely if you take issue with their actions. If you feel a moderator isn't neutral about moderating and can't come to an agreement with them, feel free to ask another moderator for input. Please do so only very sparingly, though. Keep in mind that the moderators have been chosen on their merits of maturity and ability to handle things maturely. No one will ever be banned for simply disagreeing.
Backseat moderating
Please don't try and do the moderators' job for them. If you see something that you think merits their attention, report it. Especially don't make decisions on what is spam/off topic/flaming, because you might be wrong. Of course, we're always glad to see you help a new guy out, but take care in wording it. A more detailed version of this rule can be found here.
In the same vein, you should refrain from making special rules for your threads. They will be considered invalid and you may well be sternly talked to if we catch you doing it. This doesn't go for threads in the Forum Games or Roleplaying section of course.
In General
A few things you should know about how this board runs.
* Page Limits: Threads will be closed at around 60 posts, 120 in Off Topic. This is done so people don't have to read though 10+ pages of text. Generally you can start a new thread about the same topic right away if you feel there's still a need for discussion, but only if the moderator who closed the thread didn't already say otherwise. The forum staff will review continued threads and close them if they feel they're just being remade for the sake of it.
* Tags: Here's a list of all tags you can use to enhance your posts.
* Status: Everone is equal here, and no one has any kind of privileges because of their post count, length of membership, friendship with anyone including moderators or status. (Except for the privileges we mods and admins need to do our job, of course. We have those. )
* Rulebreaking: If you break a rule, you will recieve a warning from a moderator - usually just a quick heads-up where we tell you what rule you broke and ask you to review the rules. That's also a sign that we're keeping an eye on you. If you keep breaking rules, you will be banned from the forums for a certain period at the moderator's discretion - anything from a day to six months or longer is possible. If you really keep at it, you will be permanently banned. Keep in mind that every moderator has the right to skip steps at their discretion, so you may find yourself permanently banned instantly after a particularly impressive display of rulebreaking.
Trying to cirpigvent a rule will not end well for you. We trust you're mature enough to discern and follow the spirit of the rules. We do reserve the right to ban anyone for any reason, but we promise not to abuse this right.
* Mod Error: If you feel you've been banned unfairly, contact us - once and politely - and we'll see what can be done. Whining or harassing the forum staff isn't very likely to improve your position.
Caution
These are guidelines for behavior around here, for your benefit and everybody else's. If we find you not abiding by these you'll generally be reminded of the rules or warned.
* Think before you post: Do you have something to contribute to the conversation, or are you just padding your post count? If you're in a heated debate thread and are starting to take things personally or get overheated, walk away from the computer until you've calmed down -- the thread will still be there when you come back, and your opinions will be respected a lot more if you stop yourself from using arguments like "your mom!".
* Respect: Be courteous to and respectful of your fellow posters. We're acting on the assumption that you're capable of behaving like a decent person -- please don't prove us wrong.
* Spamming: Spam is everything that doesn't contribute to a thread's topic, any post that has very little actual content, any nonsensical post or the likes thereof. If the tone of a topic is goofy, you obviously will have more leeway. If it's a topic that's stayed on topic and doesn't have many weird influences, best to stick to the straight and narrow. It takes common sense and a tiny bit of thought. Not too hard really.
* Annoying links: Like spam but extra super disallowed. Those stupid screamer videos or links to Rick Astley that make your browser window starts jumping around your screen so you can't switch the damn thing off or whatever of that kind of thing. Basically if you're posting something explicitly designed to annoy the wolf out of people as much as possible don't be too surprised when it works.
* Multiple posting: Also known as double posting. This looks a little like this:
SomeUser: blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah
(posted at 5:15:05 PM)
SomeUser: oh, and blahblahblahblahblahblah too
(posted at 5:15:07 PM)
See? So what you do, if you have something to say right after your first post, is you go back and edit it into the first post using the "edit" button to the bottom right of your message. If you accidentally double-post something (not likely to happen with this type of messageboard, but you never know), don't worry, we understand that stuff acts funny sometimes. Just go back and delete the extra post, which you can also do by clicking the "edit" button.
* Thread Bumping: Don't post in a thread just to boost it on the list. Sometimes it takes people a while to notice a new thread. Sometimes a thread just dies for whatever reason. And poop happens -- sometimes people just aren't interested in talking about a subject. Please be patient waiting for replies to your thread, too. It may take a few hours or even days.
* Gravedigging: If the last post in a thread is over a month old, and off the first page of the thread list, just start a new thread for the subject. If you want to refer to something specific from an old thread then just link/quote the old thread when you start a new one.
We'll try and go through and close any threads past that sell-by date but that's no excuse to be thread necromancing if we get a bit lazy about it.
* Grammar and spelling Please use somewhat normal and correct grammar and spelling. We don't demand perfect Oxford English from anyone, but typing in all caps, using chatspeak or leaving out interpunction make a post hard to read, plus having to read abominations like "pl" or "ne" makes modly blood boil. Obviously we're not going to be harsh on you if English is your second language or you're just not good at it, but please make the effort.
* Spoilers: If you absolutely must post a spoiler about any film/book/video game, mark it with the appropriate tags so no one can read it accidentally. There are two sorts of spoiler tags, use them according to preference and length of the spoiler. If you come across weird seemingly blank spaces in a post, those are probably spoiler-tagged sections (or it's a drunk member). Highlight them to read. (example: "I was really surprised Darth Vader said he was Luke's father.) If you want to make a thread especially for one single film/book/game that contains spoilers, put a warning into the thread title (again, example: "The Empire Strikes Back thread (Spoilers!)"). It must always be clear what film/book/game is being spoiled.
Here's the link to the forum tags again, including the spoiler tags.
* Signatures: We ask that you keep your sig down to a length of seven lines' worth of normally-sized text. If you have more than one quote you want to sig you can always use ordinary old quotation marks instead of the [qu ote] tag and if you really have that much to say then just cut down the font size a bit.
* Personal Problems: Nobody here is too inclined to spurn anybody looking for help, just please bear in mind that the online community of a sprite-based webcomic is not the ideal place to come for counseling and support. Online friends are great but they can't always be there for you the way people in your real life can, so if you're having a serious issue, please try and find someone in a position to help you deal with it seriously.
And if you're just looking to be dramatic for the pure emo thrill of it, then take it to Livejournal or somewhere.
* "Dead" Jokes: Declaring jokes dead is officially dead. If it absolutely has to be done then a moderator will do it. The last thing this forum needs is a bunch of self-appointed killjoys sitting around deciding how long everybody else is allowed to find something funny.
* 8-bit fanskits: They go in this thread. No exceptions. If it involves making the characters say things that they didn't actually say in the comics, then put them in that thread. If you absolutely feel the need to say that fanskit in the conversation thread, link to it, but keep actual thread-discussion content in your post or you are, of course, in violation of the spam rule.
* Pestering Moderators: Despite the fact that we allow, and even encourage, contacting moderators if you feel you have been warned or banned unfairly, this is not to be taken as free reign to bother moderators about every little thing. There are times when all the moderators have talked about a punishment already, and when this has happened you will be informed and it is expected that you do not bother us further. We are volunteers, and, though we try to be patient and friendly, there are limits.
And remember -- don't take anything on this board too seriously or personally. Online words are only as real as you allow them to be.
Warning
These are serious offenses around here, and if you get caught doing any of the following, don't be surprised if you get banned for a few days.
* Flaming: Do not be aggressive towards or insult other forum members, whether actively ("John, you're a monkey") or passively ("anyone who likes Pokemon must be retarded").
* Hate Speech: Similarly, racist or homophobic statements, or any statements disparaging a specific group, will not be tolerated.
* Trolling: Do not make statements only to get angry responses. Do also not reply to such statements, just report the post and leave it alone.
* NSFW: This is an all-ages forum, which means nothing pornographic or exceptionally gross / disgusting. This applies to images, links, quoted text, or in-thread conversational content. Remember kids: NSFW=NSFNPF
Red Alert
This is what'll get you permanently banned right away, no questions asked.
* Ad-Spam: If you sign up only to promote any kind of business (be it Free XBox, Free Viagra or Free Carpet Cleaner), your ass is banned, your link or contact information will be removed and you will almost certainly be publicly ridiculed.
* Promotions: If you sign up only to promote any free services... well, reactions will vary. If you've read this forum for a while, and you think, hey these people could be interested in my website, and that would just happen to be your first post here, don't be afraid to post it. If you're uncertain, send a private message to a moderator or admin first. However, if you're just spreading something across as many message boards as humanly possible without regard for rules or members, your ass is banned, your link or contact information will be removed and so on.
Really, if you sign up for any other reason than interest in the 8-Bit Theater community, you know what happens to your ass, link and self.
* Ban-Dodging: If you get temporarily banned and decide to simply sign up again using a different name, both your accounts will be permanently banned. Likewise if you re-register after a permanent ban - you can return if you're bearing a new and improved disposition, but to be honest we're not holding our breath on that. Generally, when we find out someone's been permanently banned before under another name, off they go.
Topics and threads in general
There are some topics we decided to ban altogether because experience has shown that nothing but grief comes off discussing them.
- Anything illegal, obviously.
- Hacking related stuff.
- Religious topics. See the Discussion forum rules for more information on this.
Linking:
Some things we'd prefer you didn't link to:
- Anything illegal, obviously
- Hacking related stuff
- Porn, again
- Any kind of online petition.
- those sites where you can view nasty pictures of traffic accident victims and whatnot
- those flash movies where a screaming zombie head pops up and scares you to hell[/size]
Another good one is "Rule 7":
7. YOU MUST post in plain, discernable, correctly spelled and capitalized English! Repeated failure to do so will result in disciplinary action. Threads that contain posts with poor grammar (regardless of whose it is) are subject to being locked.