[jonathan888]

Hi there,

All the mods have been avoiding doing this (me included) because rulebound places are less fun. So, I'm going to call this "guidelines" and try to encourage the idea of self-responsibility (I like the spirit of the law better than the letter of the law). Lots of people have been asking for "rules"; instead here are some common sense guidelines:

Q- What can I say without getting in trouble? What's PG-13?
It's common sense: various opinions are welcome here, this is a diverse worldwide community: respect others - you can openly and vocally disagree in debate and still treat people with respect. Don't name-call in debate: it's begging for a flame war and flame wars are shut down quickly here. (more later)

Q- Why do some people get banned?
Banning is actually very rare, that said: don't say things even in jest that could be taken as bigotry ( racism, hate, intolerance ). Don't say things that threaten others, especially threats of violence or sabotage (yes, there is still room in RP for "fun" or "cartoon" actions: but, know who you are talking to, and be aware of the thread you are in: the bang and crash thread has a lot more room for cartoon violence than a strong debate.

Q- What's with poking and 20 posts?
This is my personal request, it's not an iron clad rule... I will continue to ask people to honor it: new members are really unsure when they first post here. Just so they don't get overwhelmed, be friendly without being too rough. Yeah, my request is please don't *poke* *gnaw* *chomp* *bite* *slug* *mallet* etc... until someone has 20 posts. Thank you.

Xuanwu made a good suggestion that I like: when someone proudly announces "I have #### posts!" the poking should promptly commence.

Q- What about this post that is just trying to get people angry?
Do not post topics with the intention of receiving angry or inflammatory responses. If you are unsure whether your post will bring about angry responses, then it is likely that your post is a troll post. Troll threads will be dealt with in the same manner as flame debate threads. It's ok to have strong feelings about a subject, it's not OK to try to get people to fight. If you see this please get a moderator so we can take care of it.

Debate/Philosophical Discussion Resolution.

Originally posted by Mental Flux, edited by pOnju
It has been decided that we will take that action that causes the least change to the forum concerning a possible debate forum. I am referring to this debate: ]http://www.ponju.net...=2&...b4b6609e2. The end count came out too close to show a want for a new forum or expanding another one. So to deal with the issue we will have you put debate in front of the topic name in the general forum.

Similarly, if you'd like to create a thread encouraging philosophical discussion about a certain subject, please preface your subject with the word Philosophy and then follow the same guidelines shown here for debate.

As in this fashion:
Debate:(noun),(so what about the noun?)
Debate:War – I hate it, . <--the first line
. Why should we go to war? . <--that second line
. . . . . . . or
Debate:(a general aim)
. Debate: I hate war!

five commandments: that you all follow anyway
1) no attacking any poster in the debate.
2) Limit your post to why you agree or disagree.
3) Keep all vulgarity to an absolute minimum. An occasional emotional outburst is ok. It is a necessary way to vent. Just make sure you aim it away from people and more to what they do. And above all censor it.
. . . . I hate how my brother f*c#ing steals my shirts . . not . . I hate how my f*c#ing brother steals my shirts
. . . . :details as to the theft:
4) No tallying of votes until after the topic starter has declared the topic finished and a time for summery is given. Those who wish to vote will declare it themselves.
5) contact a moderator or administrator for any questions or concerns

those whom display a willingness to break these laws will be reviewed on an individual basis.
If a thread is getting out of hand there will be one warning given before it will get locked


if you forget to put {Debate} or {Philosophy} in front of the thread name feel free to contanct a moderator to have it changed.

Now you all go out and and have fun with this.