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#1 zombiegleemax Apr 26, 2004 0:02:05

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. ________________________________________ 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 theft, it is extremely bad manners, and it is in effect an attack on another poster. It will be treated the same as any other violation of the Code of Conduct. ________________________________________ The Word Filter * Why does the site have a word filter? Profanity and vulgarity are against the CoC, and so are words or phrases that are used to express markedly negative ideas and/or prejudice. We know some people will ignore these rules. We also know that it is impossible for WizOs to read every single word in every post, and many violations don’t get reported. Some words have been recognized as too vulgar, too provocative or too hurtful to a group of people to be allowed on this site. The filter means these words simply can’t be posted. * Why does the filter block words that aren’t offensive to me, or to the people I know? This site has patrons from an incredibly wide range of backgrounds – different religions, languages, ethnic groups, cultures and subcultures. The people we talk to at home, at work, at school or wherever represent a very small range of backgrounds when compared to the people who visit the site. This isn’t an insult or saying you have narrow interests, or don’t talk to a lot of people … it’s just accepting something that is true for almost everyone on the planet. The people who decided which words to be included in the word filter have a much better idea of what is acceptable in ALL societies and backgrounds than you or I … it’s their job. _____________________________________________ [b]Barred Topics[/b] Some Topics Are Not Allowed, But They Aren’t Mentioned In The CoC The CoC is meant to be a guideline about what sorts of behavior are acceptable on the boards, not an exhaustive list of all acceptable topics (or of everything that will get a thread closed for being off-topic). You can ask the boards lead, WizO_Paradox, if you would like some clarification on this; likewise, he's the point of contact if you'd like to verify that a WizO was indeed acting on a legitimate policy. Religion and Real World Politics Sorry but long and bitter experience has shown the WotC team that discussing real world religion and/or politics on these forums firstly never actually offers much help in playing the game; secondly always ends in a flame war, and thirdly offends and distresses a significant number of our members.