Forum Rules, clarrified

Hello all and welcome. This thread's purpose is to clarify the BBS rules as per the GT Forum Rules.

We, the moderators, are charged with enforcing the policies outlined above in the rules page. This tends to breed user resentment, unfortunately, as the rules above are designed to be as terse and concise as possible while still getting across the basics of what is and isn't acceptable on these forums. Ultimately, the rules page above is unclear in many instances to a great many users. Those who have read the rules don't necessarily know that posting "rape her is rape" is posting spam. Why? Because there is no specific rule against posting "rape her is rape" in any thread, yet there is a rule that covers the post's unacceptable brevity, a guideline that covers the post's unacceptable lack of adhesion to the conversational subject, and the common sense knowledge that something you heard and laughed at elsewhere becomes unfunny the instant you try to tell the joke again.

So where does that leave us? Well, first it left us with the creation of several different "new rules" threads. In these threads, moderators would post whatever new fad they have seen and increasingly banned for, simply to warn users that the behavior would no longer be tolerated. Users complain that it's unfair for us to "make up rules" to enforce, failing to realize that we are simply clarifying that existing rules DO already cover the annoying fads, it's just that we hadn't really noticed it was a problem quite yet.

Another attempt is embodied in Gen's Rules Blog. While this is by far the most useful of the attempts, it's unfortunately restricted by it's lack of advertisement. You have to be interested in visiting Gen's blog in the first place. This topic will be floating around the BBS, advertised simply by the little news symbol next to it's name.

Anyway, the point here is that none of that really worked. There's a ton of individual threads that users may not see, and a general resentment toward their existence. Here, I'm hoping for a different approach.

Throughout this READ ONLY THREAD (it will remain locked at all times, if anything is posted here by a regular user, or doesn't follow format and is posted by a moderator, it will be deleted), CURRENT site moderators will frame past and CURRENT user posting trends in a light that serves to explain why it is against the rules, if at all. Every post will include a quote of the rule/s that apply/ies, an example of the user behavior that breaking said rules, and an explanation of why particular rules apply to particular examples.

Hopefully, by framing these "new rules" in this light, users will realize that as moderators we're really just a go-between for administrative policy and the forum userbase here. That we're NOT the enemy, we're just carrying out our responsibility to the forum we've come to enjoy. Consider this the regular's insider view into the mindset of BBS moderation.

In an effort to keep this opening post a little more brief than it might become otherwise, I'll be posting throughout this thread insights into WHY the rules are the way they are, and WHY we're told to enforce things in a certain way. My first response should serve to explain one of the great mysteries of BBS moderation to you, and my personal hope for this thread is that it allays some of the bitterness of users who've been banned over the years, in addition to detracting somewhat from the enigma that is BBS moderators.

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Note to moderators: please read my accompanying post within the Mod Forum before attempting to contribute.

In understanding how moderators moderate, you guys first need to understand that we are volunteers. Our position is offered to us by the administrators after we're known to be trusted users who want to see GT continue to succeed. However, we're told right from the beginning that our position if volunteer-only. Most of you know what it is we DO moderate, but almost none of you realize that a relatively reasonable amount of the time we choose to simply ignore things completely.

Why would we ignore something we see on the BBS? Well, there's a few simple reasons:
- We aren't sure if it's against the rules
- We aren't sure what level of punishment is appropriate
- It may just be hilarious enough that we want it to stay
- We don't know if it'll end up being a problem or not, so we decide to sit on our hands and wait until there's clearly a problem arising from it.

Administrators themselves tell us: "if you simply aren't sure if you need to moderate something--DON'T." Administrators would rather see users have fun on the forums then a PERFECT forum where there's no repeat topics, etc. When a new site feature is launched, even if there's a rule against tons of repeat topics, we're typically going to let a few of them slide. Why? Because the administrators LIKE seeing users excited about the site. They like to see all the feedback, I mean, we're the entire reason they're in business in the first place.

So consider these things the next time you decide to complain about a moderator not taking action against a lot of other threads similar to yours. It's not because YOU made the thread, it's because we simply weren't sure it was a problem up until your thread was created.

"FACEPALM", or posting just to insult a topic.

Often I come accross posts which are just the word 'Facepalm' accompanied by that Captain Picard facepalm image.
It's difficult to ban a user just for this as it's only a slight infraction on many rules and guildlines, but it's certainly not a welcome contribution to a topic.

Observe -

** Making multiple short posts (five words or less) over a short time period.

**Trolling: cruising the boards looking for a fight.

**Posting flashing or strobing images, or picture spamming: repeatedly posting the same picture or posting irrelevant / overused images such as the FAIL picture.

Basically, by posting a large "Facepalm" image what you're essentially saying is -
"I dislike the content of this thread. I find it to be unworthy of discussion and therefore I'm going to flippantly insult the thread and indirectly insult the topic starter while contributing nothing of conversational value."

Direct your attention to this line of text in the rules -
Before posting a topic, please ask yourself the following question: "Am I making a post which is either funny, informative, or interesting on some level?" If you can answer "yes" to this, then please post. If you cannot, then refrain.

When you post a Facepalm image in a thread, you're trolling. Since your post has no conversational value, it means it's also considered spam, and you will be banned for it.

This goes for any other short, facetious (argumentative) meme you post in any other thread. You're obviously contributing nothing of value (which can get you banned anyway) and you're trolling at the same time.

When you see a thread where someone says something utterly stupid or asks a really dumb question, I know it's tempting just to insult them.
From now on, when you feel like posting a short, insulting jab at someone, just click the 'Back' button instead of the 'Post it!' button and save me some time, because I'll probably end up banning you for it.

C-C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!
Or more accurately, the posts preceeding that.

I've received a surprising amount of PMs and AIMs from people who I've banned for posting in 'nested quotes', 'post chains', or whatever you want to call them.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at these two examples.

At 00/0/00 00:03 AM, Person D wrote:

At 00/0/00 00:02 AM, Person C wrote:

At 00/0/00 00:01 AM, Person B wrote:

At 00/0/00 00:00 AM, Person A wrote:

I think you suck

Seconded

Thirded

Fourthed

It doesn't have to be simple posts like 'seconded' or whatever, it could be a repeated phrase, whatever. That's not important. Posts like this pretty much solely feature people jumping on the bandwagon. And while you can look back on that and laugh, I only chose that topic because it's easy to search for. Some that just weren't that funny consisted of 10-15 pages of just "Why is there a cock in the top left?" and "You should've grabbed her cock". It's always amusing when someone gets in a witty and caustic remark and everyone laughs, it's not amusing when you see that post 50 times.

So, to stop that happening, we like to keep these stacks from forming asap. Generally as a personal rule, I won't ban the first person to write whatever, because in all fairness it's not their fault (though I don't speak for any of the other moderators), but everyone else posting can expect a 3 day ban.

what rules does this break?
These posts break a few quite big rules quite plainly. I guess people think they can get away with it for the sake of humour, but as I explained eariler, this shit just isn't funny.

To an extent, it breaks the following 'big' rule, as you will often find in quote stacks, many people just repost and repost and repost.
- Making multiple short posts (five words or less) over a short time period.

And then it breaks pretty much every 'General Conduct' rule in existance, in particular:
- Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse not to follow them.
- If you're about to make a post that you're not sure is OK, whether covered by the rules or not, don't.
- If you can't make a positive contribution to a topic, don't post.

These posts are clear examples of spam, and are in no way allowed within the rules. If you find that your posts aren't deleted, you better thank your lucky stars that you're fucking hilarious, because generally these are a fast track to staring at a ban message for half a week.

BBS Signatures - Part 1

Showing off your bans.

It's said clearly in the BBS rules:
Complaining or boasting about any ban, including comments in signature text.

This rule applies to BBS signatures as well.

The reason for this is that showing off your ban is doing two things -

1. Showing that you obviously didn't learn your lesson from your ban since you're treating it as a trophy of your recent rule-breaking.

and

2. Encouraging other users to misbehave so they can eventually be banned and have their own ban signature to show off.

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Being banned from the BBS isn't meant to be a good thing. It's not supposed to be another excuse to show off.
It's supposed to be a private, user-specific notification that you broke the rules or overstepped your boundaries.

If people continue to put their bans in their signatures, the bans themselves will have less and less impact because they'll be a common, trivial sight of everyday BBS browsing.

BBS moderators can delete your Signature text and picture, so uploading and replacing something that was deleted will be seen as an act of defiance to this rule, and might get you banned.
If you notice something missing one day, try PMing a mod with a link to your missing signature image and ask them if it was breaking any rules.

Complaining about bans.
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Applicable rules:
- Complaining or boasting about any ban, including comments in signature text.
- Insulting or harassing the moderators or administrators.
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A lot of you seem to think that the above rules only apply to the BBS. This isn't the case. If you contact the moderator who banned you in an argumentative, uncooperative manner, then that moderator reserves the right to increase your ban length as they see fit.

The word "contact" applies to ANY form of contact, whether it be the PM system, email, instant messaging, etc.
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Applicable Guidelines:
- Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse not to follow them.
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Perhaps you were unaware of the rule that you broke. This is NOT an excuse, nor is it the fault of the moderator who banned you. Don't contact a moderator simply to attack them because you weren't aware of a rule, or even because you think a rule is stupid.
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Why?

Moderators are not here to take your abuse and smile. We're here to keep the forums clean and free of rule-breakers, and that's exactly what we're doing if we ban you: our jobs.

If you feel the need to contact a moderator about a ban in a civil manner, that's fine. We're understanding for the most part, but complaining, harassing, or flaming will get you nothing but a longer ban.