If you know me then you know I'm not big on formality. The boards will remain pretty laid back if everyone just follows a few basic rules:
1) Be good to each other. You can agree, you can disagree, and you can agree to disagree but don't get personal about it. We're all friends here, and we're all fans so let's just leave it at that.
2) Please don't hotlink anyone's images. Seriously, I hate this. If you need image hosting for something, there are a ton of free sites out there. Heck, if nothing else, email me and we can work something out.
3) Net feuds. I hate these. I hate "net politics" and sites trying to undermine each other. It just doesn't float with me. Again, we're here to hang out and talk about Joe, or movies, or how stunning Evangeline Lilly is, etc. The last thing anyone needs is "ABCDEF.com sux" or "toysitex.net is full of crap". Just leave it at the door.
3.5) Personal feuds. Pretty much the same as "Net feuds" above. Keep your personal grievances with other posters at the door. If there is an issue between two board members then it should remain between those two board members. It should NOT get dragged out in public. I also will not tolerate people posting text from PM's or emails publicly w/o the other party's consent to "prove a point." This happened at EZboard and it has happened here. It's a quick way to get on my bad side and it's the fast track to being banned.
4) Duplicate accounts. Plain and simple-- it really ticks me off when someone posts on a board and then responds to their own posts under a different name. C'mon people, we'er not in junior high here. One ACTIVE name per poster. If you want to change your name-- you can do so from your own profile but don't try to pass yourself off as different individuals.
5) Pics from Ebay. In past incarnations, there's been a "no linking" policy for ebay proto auctions, etc. Anymore-- I don't care if you post links or not. Sometimes these can be quite informative as we get to see unfinished prototypes. Just don't hotlink the pics and I'll be a happy camper.
6) Blatant trolling. I'll be blunt on this one-- I don't care if you post links to features/reviews/dios/etc at other sites. What I do care about are people who only pop up to promote their site and don't otherwise contribute to the community in any way. This is "trolling for traffic" and I think it's a pretty sleazy thing to do. If you want to post links to your own sites/customs/work/etc, that's great and I encourage it! However, just don't show up to promote yourself and then leave. That's a quick way to get on my bad side and earn a one-way ticket to the "Village of the Banned".
6.5) Harrassment of other board members. Technically, this is a subset of "Blatant Trolling"-- hence the numerical designation. I regard unsolicited PM's asking for goods and/or services in the same manner as I do "spam" email or telemarketing phone calls-- it's harassment. If a member is constantly bothering people asking for favors, etc and other board members find this annoying, it will be dealt with. We all have spam filters in our email accounts these days so I'll force one here at the forums. Excessive harassment will result in first the suspension, then the termination of a user's account.
7) Appropriate discussion. C'mon, do I really need to talk about this. Seriously, is this third grade where someone heards the name of the planet Uranus and starts laughing like a moron? I like a good discussion and I love the use of innuendo. However, I don't need to see discussions like: "My
is so fracking big. I love to eat . " Etc, etc. Seriously, there's a time and place for that kind of discussion. If you're that hard up and need to engage in that type of talk-- I suggest going to one of those "pay sites". I won't have it here. You can use innuendo but there is a line that can be crossed and all posts that cross it will be deleted. 8) Enjoy yourself. Honestly, I love the JBL forums. I used to go the old EZboard to unwind with friends, or de-stress myself after a hellish day at work. That's my goal here-- not to try and impress anyone or get traffic, but just to have a place to hang out with people that I rarely get to see in the real world.
That's it-- that's all the rules I've got right now.
