| Flaming warnings, especially repeated ones, can often count towards a ban. Flagrant offenses can lead to an instant ban.
No flaming - Don't resort to petty insults, name calling, or personal attacks.
No flamebait - If a moderator thinks your post is baiting flames, they have every right to close it.
Obviously, bigotry is not allowed - This includes using "gay" or similar terms to express disapproval of something.
Don't bring fights here - If you don't like someone, take it to email. Our forum is not a place for you to let loose grudges.
I was just kidding around! - This is not an effective excuse for flaming. When you're just kidding, try to make your intent explicitly clear by saying so, including a "j/k," adding an appropriate smiley, or using some other method. If the staff interprets your statements as a deliberate attack, you can be warned. Having a bad day or other excuses don't work either. |
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| Severe cursing, lewd material, and rude innuendo are not allowed. Inappropriate material warnings can often count towards a ban if they are repeated or blatant. Flagrant offenses can lead to an instant ban.
Cursing - Don't dodge the censor by replacing only 1 or 2 letters of a swear with symbols. Note that the censor does not filter @$$ or other "mild" swearing.
Keep posts at a G/PG rating - Obviously, the definition of these terms is subjective. In general, don't post or link to anything most people wouldn't want a 10-year old to see. Besides, most of the older posters don't want to read (or see) "offensive" content either!
Links - Don't link to porn, ROMs, warez, anything illegal (that includes Sonic cartoon episode downloads or full issue Archie comic scans), or images that redirect to anything inappropriate for this board. |
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| These are additional notes, rules, & guidelines that are very important, but don't fit in the other categories.
Finding Problems - If you notice someone breaking a rule, do not engage the person. Just bring it to the attention of a moderator or an administrator by posting in the Emerald Visitor Center forum, or by contacting a moderator or administrator via IM or email, if you would like to remain anonymous. The same principle applies if you feel someone has broken a rule and it has not been noticed by a moderator or administrator--make a post in Emerald Visitor Center or contact a mod/admin via IM or email. Under absolutely no circumstances is anyone allowed to pretend to be a moderator or administrator. Impersonating a moderator or administrator will result in an automatic official warning that counts toward a ban.
Thread space - Don't start a new thread addressed to only one person, unless it's something everyone can respond to or unless its urgently drastic. If you're going to be making a lot similiar-subject posts (such as questions, a "quote or post of the week," or episodes of a story you're writing on the forum), bookmark that thread and post the other posts as responses to it. This will bring it to the top of the forum automatically. Besides increasing the response you get, this makes it easier to archive the forum, and to find your similiar posts. :)
Posting in the right forum - If you're posting on the Segasonic forum, we dont need to know everything about the characters in Archie Sonic. We do allow some "crossover" in replies. For example, it's ok to mention Archie in the SegaSonic forum, or vice versa, if your reply is relevant to the discussion. Initiations such as newbie eating are allowed only in MF Central and the Spam Protection Agency. Take big debates over rules to the Emerald Visitor Center.
Sig/Photo/Icon rules - If your sig is larger than the post you're writing, please uncheck it (there's a checkbox under the posting form) when you post. Your sig and photo should be under 50K collectively. Keep photos 125 pixels wide or less. The maximum sig dimensions are 325 pixels high and 575 pixels wide (including text). If your sig, photo, or icon is considered annoying, rude, offensive, or a violation of another rule, you may be asked to turn it off or receive an official warning depending on the severity of the offense. |
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| These are things that just make you look very clueless on the board. Please avoid them. Warnings can count towards a ban if the user repeatedly acts annoying, ignores requests to stop, or appears to be blatantly or intentionally annoying others.
Make your posts readable - Don't type everything in caps, and please try to use something that resembles proper grammar in your writing. More than 3 smilies in a row is usually annoying.
Be patient - Just because your post doesn't get replies quickly, that doesn't always mean that noone read it. We get a high volume of traffic and sometimes topics can be moved down the board. Sometimes people may not reply because, quite frankly, they dont have anything to say. :P Don't clutter the board with "WHY ISN'T ANYONE RESPONDING TO ME YOU ALL DONT LIKE ME!!!!" |
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| Note: These rules don't apply to the spam forum (unless the spam is used too excessively). Spam warnings can count towards a ban if a user spams repeatedly, ignores warnings to stop, or the spamming appears to be intentional or malicious.
Pointless posts are spam - This doesn't mean you can't post wackiness--by all means do. But your posts should have some entertaining, informational, or intellectual point. Try to keep your posts interesting and full of content that everyone can participate in. Encourage discussion rather than discourage it. Replies that do not add anything to a topic may be considered spam.
Spam examplesAvoid posting one-liner topics. Sometimes such posts can be valid responses, but don't make one-liner responses excessively. Don't make posts specifically about your post count unless it's a 1000-mark. Remember that most of the things you might say in a poll can be said just as well in a regular topic. If you post a poll, make sure that there's actually a point to making it a poll. Keep site ads in your sig. Refrain from double posting. If you think of something new to add or want to bump your own topic, do it by editing. Bumping old topics is perfectly fine as long as you don't spam. Don't bump a poll or topic unless you add something insightful or interesting to the discussion, and make sure that you are not repeating something that was already said or answering a question that was already answered by only reading only a couple of pages out of a 10-12 page topic (read all the pages first). |
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