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Guidelines

 

Aloha.

We have revised the forum rules and hope this will make things absolutely clear to everyone, with no possibility of mis-interpretation. We have also detailed the "Warning" system for you so you know exactly how it works.

Once your account has been activated you can log in to the forum and start posting. Please remember to follow these basic Forum rules:

We have a Warning Point System in place.

Breaking a forum rule will result in one (1) warning point being issued, at the discretion of the moderators.

If a member accumulates three (3) warning points, their posting privileges will be locked for a period of one (1) month.

After posting privileges are reinstated after one month, if the member then accumulates two (2) more warning points (total of five (5)), their posting privileges will be locked for a period of 90 days.

After posting privileges are reinstated after 90 days, if the member then accumulates two more warning points (total of seven (7)), their forum membership will be deleted and they will be banned from forum participation.

Particularly egregious transgressions may result in banning before 3 warnings. 

*Warning Points Do Not Expire*

That said, we do take the age of the warnings into consideration when we need to take action. 

 

Forum rules:

  • No vulgar language or "fake" vulgar language (as in #&@$$!#$!! or changing the spelling of the word). Offensive language is completely unacceptable. Everyone here is capable of getting their point across without using crude language.
  • We do not allow political or religious discussions or comments. We know it can be tempting sometimes, but please don't. 
  • Derogatory comments about someone's sexual orientation or gender identity are prohibited, and may result in immediate banning. 
  • Personal attacks will not be tolerated. We believe that encouraging and/or constructive criticism can help, but putting a person down does not accomplish anything for the community. Also, flaming, name calling, and off-color cartoons, images, or content are NOT permitted. Personal attacks are grounds for immediate banning.
  • We strive to be a welcoming community and specifically prohibit derogatory comments about the following personal attributes
    • Religion
    • Sexual orientation
    • Gender identity (or lack thereof)
    • Sexist comments
  • If you choose to use a handle or user name that is not your proper name, then we prefer that you either A: put your full name in the signature box found in the Profile section of your account under Profile, or B: put your real, full name to the signature that appears at the bottom every post. Only one account per user/IP is allowed. Any attempt to create additional accounts, for any reason whatsoever, will result in the banning of the IP, deletion of the account(s), and all topics and/or posts that were submitted to the forum. Also, the use of a proxy service to access the forum/site is not allowed, and not recommended. If your full name is not present in your profile or signature, you will not be allowed to post in the Trading Post or Wanted sections.
  • We do not allow any illegal activity. Any posting of illegal material will mean immediate dismissal and banning from the board.
  • Links to other web sites and forums are okay if they are within the topic being discussed. Links to offensive material will be removed.
  • No buying or selling is allowed on the forums. Do not post links to items on eBay or other auction site. You may, however, post your seller ID. 
  • We take a very dim view of 'trolls' who come here simply to disrupt the forum. Activities deemed as trolling include (but are not restricted to):
    • Posting something deliberately inflamatory - either to start a "flame war" or simply to cause difficulties for the moderators
    • Posting continuous snide comments about another user
    • Posting continuous criticism of mods and their moderating**
    • Behavior which is continually disruptive to the general membership of the forum
    • Belittling someone because their beliefs are different than your own

In addition to the Warning Point System, moderators may at their discretion also restrict member posting by requiring a moderator's approval for each post made, regardless of total warning points accumulated, for a period of time to be determined by the moderator(s), based on the severity of the offense(s). This posting restriction may be applied on its own, or in combination with the Warning Point System, at the discretion of the moderator(s).

** Important: Moderator decisions are often a "judgement call," depending on the severity of the offense, the member's prior history, etc. The moderators do their best to enforce the rules fairly and equally for everyone, but please remember the moderators are humans, not robots. If a member has an issue, complaint, question or comment regarding the forum, the moderators, the rules or the enforcement of the rules, please PM a moderator with your concerns.

Signing up — We understand that people use VPNs, or proxies for various privacy reasons. Do not use them to register your account.  if you use one to sign up for your account, it will not get approved  

New Members -- Approvals generally take 3-5 days. Message us if it goes longer. Sometimes the spam filter gets overzealous. New members are usually moderated for a while. Nothing personal, we were forced to start this when an individual threatened to spam the entire board. We'll remove the moderation once we know who you are. 

Please note that, in general, we are not responsible for what is said between members in private conversations, on the board, through the Private Messaging system, but members do have the option to report offensive or disruptive messages which will bring the conversation to the attention of the moderators.

 

Remember... "ignorance of the law is no defense," as the old saying goes. The rules are spelled out in plain English, so please take a moment and read through them.

 

If anyone has any questions, PM a moderator (don't post publicly) and we will do our best to explain, or answer your comment or question.

Please note that all content on this board becomes property of the forum. 

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