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The Giant
2003-09-21, 07:32 PM
The Voice of Mod:OK, so I had to lock two threads today, so I'm going to spell out some guidelines for posting behavior. Not all of the things I am about to discuss happened; I'm just covering every base I can think of. Please don't take them personally. In fact, since I'm sure someone will be personally offended by something, I am going to lock this right away.

1.) You can discuss D&D methods and techniques. You can disagree with other people, even strongly, and question their logic or conclusions. You can tell them they are wrong, and then explain why. You cannot tell people to shut up, or to not post on a subject. You cannot insult anyone posting on this board, and that definitely includes me. You cannot insult someone passive-aggressively, such as by not naming them per se, but instead insulting people who hold an opinion that that poster has already advocated. (For example, "Anyone who thinks that is an idiot.")

1a.) This is a board for all aspects of the gaming experience; belittling people who care more about the rules than roleplaying, or roleplaying than the rules, will not be tolerated.

1b.) Restarting a topic that has been locked is not allowed without specific permission from me.

1c.) Please do not carry over animosity from one thread to another at any rate; I encourage everyone to view each thread in a vacuum, without pre-judging based on what you know to be true of the poster from past discussions.

1d.) I encourage anyone who feels they have been insulted or otherwise offended by another poster's behavior to send me a message (via the board's messaging feature) or to contact me at [email protected].

2.) You can discuss the specific events of a campaign in which I am DM in the Campaigns forum. However, in such a discussion, I am still the DM and reserve the right to invoke any of the powers of the DM, such as the right to cut off arguements when they spiral out of control. Posting in the Campaigns section is in effect an extension of the game that I run. Just as in a D&D game, if you are not content to allow me that power as DM, I suggest you do not post in Campaigns and limit yourself to the other forums.

2a.) Discussions of rules interpretations that arose in one of my D&D campaigns belong in the Gaming section if and only if they are divorced from the specific events that caused them. Drifting them back to a discussion of the game will cause it to be moved to Campaigns, or locked.

2b.) Disagreements with posters (including me) personally that happen outside of the context of this message board do not give anyone the right to say whatever they want to that poster on this message board. Disruptive posting will be considered without regard for whether or not it is spillover from any other interaction. The only exception here is that disagreements from my campaigns can be continued in the Campaigns forum, but even then, all the other rules for this message board still apply.

3.) This is a message board run by two individuals for fun and entertainment. Since it's my name on the website, it's my job to keep things running smoothly. I won't even claim to be wholly impartial; this site is in many respects my personal means of interacting with fellow D&D players from around the country. I have a vested interest in keeping things as friendly and enjoyable as possible. In short, don't post anything you wouldn't say sitting in my living room. If I feel like I would kick you out of my living room for your behavior, or if other guests complain repeatedly about you, I won't hesitate to kick you off this message board. This isn't WOTC; I'm not obligated to provide anyone with a soapbox.

3a.) I try my best to follow my own rules. However, if I fail to at any point live up to this standard, it's not a free pass to violate that standard yourself. This is probably unfair, but it is the nature of things.

3b.) I don't want to ever have to ban anyone. But I will if I feel that the contribution a poster brings to the board is outweighed by the disruption that poster causes, they will at the least get a warning. (I'll give warnings through the messaging system on the board, FYI.) Once you have 2 warnings, I will feel little guilt about banning you, though of course I will still judge the severity of the warnings when making a decision.

3c.) In the interest of fairness, since I am just posting these rules now, no one will get any warnings for anything that happened before 7:30 pm, Sunday, September 21st, 2003.

4.) As a gaming board, many topics that are acceptable elsewhere are off-topic here. At the very least, the following topics are ALWAYS considered off-topic, and threads will be nudged away from their discussion (if not outright locked): real-world religions, politics, personal attacks, graphic violence, illegal drugs, criminal activity, explicit sexuality. There are plenty of other places to have discussions on these topics.

4a.) Insults or slurs based on anyone's race, religion, or sexual orientation are inherently unacceptable on this board.

The Giant
2004-04-10, 01:54 AM
The Voice of Mod: In light of some recent issues, I encourage everyone to reread these rules, especially #1.

In particular, note that telling people to stop posting is explicitly not OK. And as I expressed on a thread last week, I don't really want to see, "You obviously aren't reading what I wrote," pronouncements.

Also, since it came up, the language filter. It's pretty poor on this message board, but it's there because teens, possibly even young teens, might read the site. Consider it a PG-13 message board; if you can't hear the word on network TV, don't use it here. And that means don't "mask" it to get around the filter, either.

Oh, and in case no one figured it out yet: When I post in red with the "Voice of Mod" intro to my text, I am speaking as moderator of the message board. When I am writing in black text, I am just stating my (non-binding) opinion on the subject of the thread. They might be mixed and matched in the same post. Don't confuse one for the other; just because you argue with me over a rules point, do not think I will be biased against you when it comes to moderation. The blunt truth is, I don't care enough about message board debates to actually become biased. ;)


EDIT: The other mods each use the same system; each has a "Mod Name" that they use when speaking as the moderator.

Baron Von Mod = Baron
X the Mod = xthemage
Modotter = Bogotter

The Giant
2005-02-17, 11:55 AM
ADVERTISING: The Last Word.

Here are the more-explicit rules on plugging your site here at GiantITP.com:

1.) You may start one (1) thread advertising any non-commercial website or event. "Non-commercial" is any endeavor whose primary purpose is not to make money; if it's a webcomic and you happen to have a Donation button on the side, that's noncommercial. If your site exists to push a product, that's commercial, even if it has other content.

2.) Multiple threads plugging the same site will ALL be locked, and the URLs deleted from the post. One thread means one thread.

3.) Posting plugs for your site on any pre-existing thread is prohibited. Don't plug away on threads with high page counts because you think people will see it. Start a new thread or have the ad deleted.

4.) Any plug for a site that violates the standards of this site in terms of appropriate content (adult material, etc.) will be removed.

5.) Don't use all-caps. It's obnoxious, and will encourage the mods to smite you with the Lock Stick.

6.) Posts plugging webcomics belong in the Comics forum. Posts plugging play-by-post or online play sites belong in the "Finding Players" Play-by-Post forum. All other plugs belong in Friendly Banter—even if the website is gaming related.

Significant violations of these rules will result in IMMEDIATE banning; forget the "three strikes, you're out" policy.