Post by Stanley on Jul 5, 2011 23:45:32 GMT -5
Welcome to the Mizuho Forums. Like pretty much every other message board out there, we have a set of rules and policies that you must follow if you wish to stick around.
Common Courtesy
We are proud to run a forum where people can discuss things, show off their skills, and much more, all in a civilized manner. As such, we want everyone who joins up to show some common courtesy to their fellow forumers. You do not need to be the most polite person in the world, but unnecessary rudeness is, well, unnecessary. We're here to enjoy one anothers' company and capability. Always remember The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Avatars
The limit size for avatars is 100x100 and the maximum file size is dependent on your usergroup. You cannot have it any larger than that, otherwise, you will be denied to use the avatar in its current state.
Avatars need to be forum-appropriate. See the Rules section for details.
Signatures
Officially, signatures have a 400 character limit, and there is an "unspoken" size limit for sigs (there is, however, a limit to images in sigs, see below). If the mods or your fellow forumers feel your signature is too large, then you will be told to remove it (depending on the situation, the mods may simply remove it themselves without warning).
Signatures need to be forum-appropriate. See the Rules section for details.
If your signature has images in it, keep the file size to a minimum. Anything over 1 megabyte is entirely unreasonable, and even things over 500kb are stretching it. Keep the files small.
Bans & Suspensions
Depending on what rules you break and how many, you're banned from the board for a certain amount of time (the default is two weeks). When/If it's lifted, you'll be allowed back on the board, but disciplinary actions taken against you will be more severe from then on. However, note that if you severely violate the forum rules at any time, you can be banned immediately.
Announcements
From time to time, the staff may make announcements that will appear at the very top of the topic list in the relevant forum. It is YOUR responsibility to read these; if the information there wasn't important, it wouldn't have been made an announcement. If one of the announcements includes a change to the rules, and you do not comply with said change, you will still be held accountable.
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THE RULES
The following is a list of punishable offenses and situations, as dictated and enforced by the Mizuho Staff.
The rules, essentially. Follow them.
1. Flaming
Flaming is the act of posting messages that are, directly or indirectly, insulting to other users, be it a group or an individual.
2. Trolling
Trolling (also known as flamebaiting) is defined as intentionally posting material that will offend or annoy other users, thereby generating some form of a hostile response (usually having them respond with flames.) Please note negative criticism and trolling are two different things: Trolling is intended to offend, while criticism is merely feedback. If you are giving out negative criticism, it should be delivered in a constructive, civilized, non-offensive way. There are three levels of Trolling infractions:
3. Spam
Spam stands for Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Standard Spam is classified as posting material that has no relevance to a topic or board in question and is an offense. In addition, sending mass messages (usually advertising a place) through PMs is also considered spam.
4. Illegal Activities
Asking for or providing copies of software through illegal means is not allowed. This includes, music, pay programs, ROMs, Warez, access to free servers on paysites/paygames, site passwords, etc. Providing links to ROM hacks is allowed as long as the hack is actually a patch needed to be applied to the ROM in order to play it.
5. Nudity
Nudity is for the most part disallowed on the board and will result in a severe warning. Do not post anything that would be deemed sexually explicit anywhere on the forum.
6. Multiple Accounts
You are permitted to have only one account on the forum. If more than one person is using your computer to access this place, or if you have a LAN, you will be sharing an IP address, and we will see it as having multiple accounts. If this is the situation, inform a staff member first to get clearance (note that this will require some measure of proof). If you are caught with more than one account without permission, all of your accounts will be banned.
7. Ban Evasion
If you're banned, you stay banned for the specified amount of time. If you want another chance on the board, contact a staff member OUTSIDE THE BOARD (AIM, MSN, etc.) about giving you one. If you are caught doing otherwise, you're not coming back.
8. "Joking"
Saying "I was just joking" doesn't make everything okay and won't get you out of trouble. If your joke offended someone or broke one of the rules, it usually won't matter what your intentions were. If you're planning on making a joke thread or joke post, and the contents of the joke are stretching the rules, pass it by a member of staff before you go through with it.
9. Think Ahead
All in all, if you're behaving yourself and not doing anything that might get you in trouble or even disliked in the real world, you shouldn't have any trouble here. If you think that you might have to defend something you're about to post, you're probably better off not posting it at all, or finding some other way to say what you want. If you can't say something nice...
10. No Loophole Abuse
Trying to circumvent the rules with a loophole isn't going to work. If a mod or admin tells you not to do something, don't do it.
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GENERAL ANNOYANCES
Some of these are disallowed; some are merely frowned upon. But NONE of them are encouraged. Try to refrain from doing them too much—or, preferably, at all.
If you're going to "backseat mod", learn to do it effectively. It's nice having help, but at least know the rules and what's going on before you attempt to take matters into your own hands.
Having a valid point does not exempt you from the rules. Don't use it as an excuse.
Learn to take criticism. Taking constructive criticism as a personal attack is a good way of getting yourself in trouble.
Put some time into your posts. This is an English-speaking board, so make your posts at least SEEM like they were typed in English. You don't need to be perfect, but your posts need to at least be readable.
Do not multi-post without reason.
Don't God Mode in roleplays.
While still on the subject of roleplays, do not jump into any RP if you did not sign up for it—assuming the roleplay GM required their participants to sign up beforehand.
Excessive swearing doesn't make you cool. Profanity isn't disallowed, but it isn't a necessity, either, and your posts should not be trying to prove otherwise.
Don't excessively use emoticons for no reason. This includes using them en masse (lots of them all side-by-side), putting them in the titles of your messages, etc.
Do not beg for help with art, writing. sprites, or other such things. If nobody's around to help you or doesn't respond to it, tough luck. Either be patient and wait, or try someplace else.
Don't ask/beg to be a moderator.
Complaining about the rules when they're being enforced is, quite frankly, ridiculous. It's your own fault for breaking them, so don't try to pin the blame on the staff, your brother/dog, etc.
If a staff member tells you to stop doing something, it's okay to ask why. It's also okay to try to prove what you were doing was acceptable. It's not okay to keep doing it (see "No Loophole Abuse").
Using gratuitous amounts of large text or posting in clashing text sizes/colors makes your posts an eyesore and hard to read. Don't do it.
If it's outside, leave it there. Mizuho is not a place for you to find ways or reasons to abuse other Internet users, or to continue a personal vendetta. If you have a problem with someone because of something that happened off of Mizuho, resolve it off of Mizuho.
This doesn't mean there's some arbitrary yellow tape surrounding all content outside of Mizuho. If you say on a messenger program you're going to harass someone, we can't really do much. If you say you're going to harass them on Mizuho, then we can take action. For some things, it doesn't matter whether you say it on Mizuho or off; if it has to do with the site, it's damning.
Mod Abuse?
If you think a mod is abusing their power, contact another staff member about the offending mod's behavior. It will then be discussed with the other mods, and a decision will be made from there.
Common Courtesy
We are proud to run a forum where people can discuss things, show off their skills, and much more, all in a civilized manner. As such, we want everyone who joins up to show some common courtesy to their fellow forumers. You do not need to be the most polite person in the world, but unnecessary rudeness is, well, unnecessary. We're here to enjoy one anothers' company and capability. Always remember The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Avatars
The limit size for avatars is 100x100 and the maximum file size is dependent on your usergroup. You cannot have it any larger than that, otherwise, you will be denied to use the avatar in its current state.
Avatars need to be forum-appropriate. See the Rules section for details.
Signatures
Officially, signatures have a 400 character limit, and there is an "unspoken" size limit for sigs (there is, however, a limit to images in sigs, see below). If the mods or your fellow forumers feel your signature is too large, then you will be told to remove it (depending on the situation, the mods may simply remove it themselves without warning).
Signatures need to be forum-appropriate. See the Rules section for details.
If your signature has images in it, keep the file size to a minimum. Anything over 1 megabyte is entirely unreasonable, and even things over 500kb are stretching it. Keep the files small.
Bans & Suspensions
Depending on what rules you break and how many, you're banned from the board for a certain amount of time (the default is two weeks). When/If it's lifted, you'll be allowed back on the board, but disciplinary actions taken against you will be more severe from then on. However, note that if you severely violate the forum rules at any time, you can be banned immediately.
Announcements
From time to time, the staff may make announcements that will appear at the very top of the topic list in the relevant forum. It is YOUR responsibility to read these; if the information there wasn't important, it wouldn't have been made an announcement. If one of the announcements includes a change to the rules, and you do not comply with said change, you will still be held accountable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE RULES
The following is a list of punishable offenses and situations, as dictated and enforced by the Mizuho Staff.
The rules, essentially. Follow them.
1. Flaming
Flaming is the act of posting messages that are, directly or indirectly, insulting to other users, be it a group or an individual.
2. Trolling
Trolling (also known as flamebaiting) is defined as intentionally posting material that will offend or annoy other users, thereby generating some form of a hostile response (usually having them respond with flames.) Please note negative criticism and trolling are two different things: Trolling is intended to offend, while criticism is merely feedback. If you are giving out negative criticism, it should be delivered in a constructive, civilized, non-offensive way. There are three levels of Trolling infractions:
3. Spam
Spam stands for Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Standard Spam is classified as posting material that has no relevance to a topic or board in question and is an offense. In addition, sending mass messages (usually advertising a place) through PMs is also considered spam.
4. Illegal Activities
Asking for or providing copies of software through illegal means is not allowed. This includes, music, pay programs, ROMs, Warez, access to free servers on paysites/paygames, site passwords, etc. Providing links to ROM hacks is allowed as long as the hack is actually a patch needed to be applied to the ROM in order to play it.
5. Nudity
Nudity is for the most part disallowed on the board and will result in a severe warning. Do not post anything that would be deemed sexually explicit anywhere on the forum.
6. Multiple Accounts
You are permitted to have only one account on the forum. If more than one person is using your computer to access this place, or if you have a LAN, you will be sharing an IP address, and we will see it as having multiple accounts. If this is the situation, inform a staff member first to get clearance (note that this will require some measure of proof). If you are caught with more than one account without permission, all of your accounts will be banned.
7. Ban Evasion
If you're banned, you stay banned for the specified amount of time. If you want another chance on the board, contact a staff member OUTSIDE THE BOARD (AIM, MSN, etc.) about giving you one. If you are caught doing otherwise, you're not coming back.
8. "Joking"
Saying "I was just joking" doesn't make everything okay and won't get you out of trouble. If your joke offended someone or broke one of the rules, it usually won't matter what your intentions were. If you're planning on making a joke thread or joke post, and the contents of the joke are stretching the rules, pass it by a member of staff before you go through with it.
9. Think Ahead
All in all, if you're behaving yourself and not doing anything that might get you in trouble or even disliked in the real world, you shouldn't have any trouble here. If you think that you might have to defend something you're about to post, you're probably better off not posting it at all, or finding some other way to say what you want. If you can't say something nice...
10. No Loophole Abuse
Trying to circumvent the rules with a loophole isn't going to work. If a mod or admin tells you not to do something, don't do it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL ANNOYANCES
Some of these are disallowed; some are merely frowned upon. But NONE of them are encouraged. Try to refrain from doing them too much—or, preferably, at all.
If you're going to "backseat mod", learn to do it effectively. It's nice having help, but at least know the rules and what's going on before you attempt to take matters into your own hands.
Having a valid point does not exempt you from the rules. Don't use it as an excuse.
Learn to take criticism. Taking constructive criticism as a personal attack is a good way of getting yourself in trouble.
Put some time into your posts. This is an English-speaking board, so make your posts at least SEEM like they were typed in English. You don't need to be perfect, but your posts need to at least be readable.
Do not multi-post without reason.
Don't God Mode in roleplays.
While still on the subject of roleplays, do not jump into any RP if you did not sign up for it—assuming the roleplay GM required their participants to sign up beforehand.
Excessive swearing doesn't make you cool. Profanity isn't disallowed, but it isn't a necessity, either, and your posts should not be trying to prove otherwise.
Don't excessively use emoticons for no reason. This includes using them en masse (lots of them all side-by-side), putting them in the titles of your messages, etc.
Do not beg for help with art, writing. sprites, or other such things. If nobody's around to help you or doesn't respond to it, tough luck. Either be patient and wait, or try someplace else.
Don't ask/beg to be a moderator.
Complaining about the rules when they're being enforced is, quite frankly, ridiculous. It's your own fault for breaking them, so don't try to pin the blame on the staff, your brother/dog, etc.
If a staff member tells you to stop doing something, it's okay to ask why. It's also okay to try to prove what you were doing was acceptable. It's not okay to keep doing it (see "No Loophole Abuse").
Using gratuitous amounts of large text or posting in clashing text sizes/colors makes your posts an eyesore and hard to read. Don't do it.
If it's outside, leave it there. Mizuho is not a place for you to find ways or reasons to abuse other Internet users, or to continue a personal vendetta. If you have a problem with someone because of something that happened off of Mizuho, resolve it off of Mizuho.
This doesn't mean there's some arbitrary yellow tape surrounding all content outside of Mizuho. If you say on a messenger program you're going to harass someone, we can't really do much. If you say you're going to harass them on Mizuho, then we can take action. For some things, it doesn't matter whether you say it on Mizuho or off; if it has to do with the site, it's damning.
Mod Abuse?
If you think a mod is abusing their power, contact another staff member about the offending mod's behavior. It will then be discussed with the other mods, and a decision will be made from there.