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#1 zombiegleemax Oct 05, 2003 23:32:15

Everyone who wants to post anywhere should read this! Remember the Golden Rules! "If in doubt, leave it out!" “It is ok to disagree with what someone has written; it is not ok to attack the person who wrote it. If you can't tell the difference then maybe you shouldn't make the post!" ________________________________________ The Code Of Conduct When you signed up to these forums you agreed to follow the Code of Conduct If you haven’t read it yet then read it now! Among other things this means you agreed to not do the following - Harassment of another specific person (e.g. persistent flaming or continued personal attacks on the boards or "in-character harassment" without prior out-of-character permission.) Trolling or baiting by putting to the screen inflammatory statements designed to illicit a negative response from the community Profanity, vulgarity, or explicit content For example: "masking" by using alternative characters/spellings and spaces to get around profanity filters, leet-speak, and combinations of words that produce an offensive result (e.g. ura hugeazz, Tow El Head); "filter testing"; discussion of or in-character enactments of "cybering" or sexually explicit material; discussion of or in-character enactments of graphic violence or bloodletting The Code of Conduct has a rather nice summary Treat other people you encounter in the forums just as you would treat them in person--politely. Here are some guidelines that help explain the Code of Conduct , and also help you avoid the sorts of things that make a thread go wrong (such as spamming and flame wars) ________________________________________ General Posts * It is alright to disagree with what a person writes, or what they say here, but it is not alright to attack the person * It is ok to offer some critical comments about an author’s work. However please do not write these in a rude or insulting manner * If you aren’t sure what counts as rude, or what counts as a personal attack then perhaps you would do better to steer clear of posting criticism * Don’t hijack a thread to start an off-topic conversation. This is inconsiderate to the original poster, and it is spam. Most important of all, don’t hijack a thread to pursue a vendetta! * Try to post in the right place. READ the descriptions of each category. Off topic posting is against the CoC * Don’t swear, and don’t use cheats to get past the word filter. This is a board for all ages, and we set the standard as a PG 13 rating ________________________________________ Commenting, reviewing and/or critcising someone’s work * Don't just give a strong of negative comments, say what you "liked" as well * If you simply post “I hate everything insert-authors-name writes” or “I hate insert posters name ideas” without following this with examples and reasons then it causes problems. Firstly it is not a good way to get people to accept your opinion as valid. More importantly this kind of post acts as a magnet for flaming * Offer polite suggestions, bearing in mind it is completely optional for an author to act on them. These suggestions aren't necessarily "this is how I would have done it better". They may actually be "this is what I personally enjoy more". As the majority of our posters are not champion players, professional authors or rule writers this second kind of suggestion should be much more common * OFFER your suggestions and opinions; don't ram them down anyone's throat * Always be aware that this is just your opinion and not the "absolute truth" * The whole underlying foundation of what you write is the thought "I want to help this person" NOT the thoughts "I want to insult this person", "I want to look better than this person", "I want to take out my bad mood on this person", "I resent this person for making money at writing when I can't" etc. etc. ________________________________________ Sensitive issues Religion, sex and sexuality, extreme violence (especially sexual violence); race or ethnic group; homeland & death are examples of issues that many people have strong beliefs about. Also these issues can evoke strong emotions in some people; "acceptable" humour varies greatly from age group to age group; place to place and culture to culture; what is offensive varies greatly as well If you are going to bring up these issues please try and make sure that * The issue is really part of the topic and the discussion, and not just an interesting sideline * Talking about the issue is going to add something constructive * What you have to say is ok for people of all ages to read * You have a good understanding of what is ok and acceptable to people from different backgrounds to your own ________________________________________ Copyright * It is fine to post small amounts of data from a book to give a taste of what something or someone is like; or to make your point in a discussion. * It is not fine to make a post that allows someone to get a large amount of detailed information without buying a book. This includes posting the information; offering to send it via email or message; or posting a link to a site where you can get the data * It is not fine to simply "cut and paste" someone else’s work - no matter if this was posted on the net or not. * It is not fine to make a post encouraging someone else to break copyright. As an example asking someone to scan a few pages and email them to you is a breach of copyright, and will be treated the same as any other breach of the Code of Conduct . To sum up the spirit of copyright – it is ok to refer to something and even post snippets of that work, but you should not give enough information for people not to have to buy or read the original work. For a more detailed but really easy to read look at copyright go to 10 Big Myths about copyright explained Please note … this link is used with permission. ________________________________________ Novels A preliminary guideline, which may be updated when all the team has had time to consider the new ruling Following a decision by the Books Department of WotC novel-related threads are now considered inappropriate on this board. However some references to novels is both necessary and inevitable. This should clarify what is allowed. * It will be permitted to make references to novels when it is appropriate to the topic being discussed (e.g. If you are discussing “The Origens of the Moonblades” of course you will be able to mention “Evermeet: Island of the Elves.” As another example when discussing the nature of Cormyr as a campaign setting of course you can refer to the Sembia novels.) * It will also be allowed discussion of the iconic characters who appear both in novels and supplements. *It will not be permissible to post literary criticism of any novels in any thread. * It will not be permissible to post a thread started specifically to discuss a novel. * It would be fine to start a thread about an in-game topic, and ask for info on it from all sources including novels. Make it clear in your title and post what the topic actually is, rather than using the name of the book or series. (As an example:- if your party wanted to visit one of the towns in Icewind Dale it would be fine to ask for information given in the various novels about the buildings, the way the inhabitants talk to strangers etc. What you have to make clear is that the thread is to discuss the towns, not the various books). ________________________________________ Assigning Motives to WotC Staff, Writers and Designers I have a request for you all. When you talk about the actions of the various designers, editors, executives, authors and other assorted WotC staff please don't assign motives as outright statements. You do not know why they do things, you can only guess. Saying "I think that maybe they published this because of x, y or z" or "it looks as if this may have happened because the designers wanted to yis ok. However it is not to say "The editors made these changes because of x"... especially if what you are claiming to be fact is highly uncomplimentary. Yes, stating such an opinion as fact does not necessarily break the CoC, but depending on the nature of the opinion it may not only be against the rules it can even be libel! We know that making such "this is true" statements about employees of WotC often offends, irritates or down right infuriates them ... and we all want to see these people giving their input to the board. Let's not drive anyone else away. Remember when the CoC says you shouldn't harass people on these boards, that includes harassing writers and artists who contribute to the various books. Hey ... they are people too! Ignoring the concept of constructive criticism and being downright insulting or rude about someone’s work is harassment. Directing your comments at the artist or writer rather than at the work is also harassment! ________________________________________ [color=darkred]Using other people’s work and giving credit[/color] These are guidelines about using what other people have posted here on the WotC site. It is great when people are inspired by the ideas of other people, and go on to develop them further. It is not great when people just cut and paste work done by others. Try not to just take ideas, try to work on them and make them your own. If you use other people's work unaltered, then ask their permission. When you make the post give these people full credit. Please if you see examples of this report it to the WizO moderators. Failure to ask for permission and give credit is not just theft and extremely rude, it is a breach of copyright. It will be treated the same as any other violation of the Code of Conduct.