Site News
Topic: Forum Rules

I could post something long-winded covering virtually every eventuality like the quote below, but I would prefer it if our users could "Disagree Without being Disagreeable".

FORUM RULES:

    Abuse of Honored Guests:
    The guests of these forums enjoy the welcome of Pro9 and are to be treated as you would treat other guests at any other sort of venue consisting of mixed company. Calling our honored guests names, intentionally abusing them personally or otherwise making them feel unwelcome can result in your own welcome being withdrawn and you may be banned.
    Abusive Posting:
    Personal attacks, wishing death on innocents, racism, antisemitism, and trolling are all prohibited and can result in a ban.
        Altering Quotations:
    The quotation feature of these forums are a tool, and not a toy to misrepresent what other users have said. Do not alter the wording or make it appear as though another guest had said something which they did not. This purposeful disrespect and misrepresentation, this fraud, is a form of abuse and will not be allowed. It may result in a ban.
        Antisemitism/racism:
    This creates a hostile environment contrary to the purposes of civil discourse and a welcoming forum environment. It is an instaban offense and will not be tolerated on the Forums.
        Ban Bypass:
    A user who has been banned, is banned. They do not just lose the username, the welcome is gone by any other name as well. A ban bypass is an instaban. Banned users may not post anywhere but on the Moderator Forum and only for specific purposes.
        Banned User Procedure:
    A user who has been banned may create a temporary account to apologize, to appeal the decision or to clarify why he committed the act for consideration by the moderators, and specifically the Forum Moderator who called the ban. Generally speaking, once a Forum Moderator has taken action, He/She has "the ball" and will be handling related matters. The temp account can ONLY be used to post in the mod board and ONLY on topic of their ban.
        Call Out Threads:
    This is a form of abuse and we don't allow intentional abuse of honored guests. Starting a topic for the purposes of picking a fight with another guest is not allowed. These forums are for civil discussions, not brawling around the forums and flaming other guests. This can result in actions such as deleting the topic, locking the topic, and banning.
        Changing Screen Names:
    This is generally disallowed. There are exceptions, for example in cases of confused identity or inadvertent disclosure of personal information during the creation of the account. The reasons for this are the problems inherent with our honored guests needing to remember a list of "AKA" and the abuse that comes with Multiple Screen Names such as puppeteering (posting in agreement with yourself) and playing both sides of a debate to make yourself look good.
        Flooding:
    Flooding is a form of spamming, it's the practice of bumping other topics out of view in favor of changing the board to either increase your own visibility or decrease the visibility of another guest or topic. It can be cross-posting identical topics in different Forums or multiple posts in any one forum with identical or nearly identical content. It may result in actions from topics being deleted to the account responsible banned.
        Hateful posting:
    No lynch mobs. Do not use the forums to spread hate, Antisemitism/racism, suggest that innocents should die or that an innocent deserved to die, or otherwise fill our welcoming forums with hatred and malice. This makes our forums unattractive to our honored guests and will not be tolerated.
        Impersonations:
    Copying a guest's avatar, and/ or closely approximating their screen name for the purposes of being mistaken for them or mocking them as you destroy their reputation falls clearly into the realm of abuse of honored guests, and that amount of malice and aforethought rises to the level of an instaban..
        Instaban:
    This is a no-questions-asked, no-quarter-given ban. It's an offense so blatant, so egregious, and so obvious that any regular member who has been a member for long can spot it coming a mile away. An example is a profanity bypass with the F-bomb. It's a ban where a warning is simply not an option which will be considered.
        Multiple Screen Names:
    Honored guests are allowed to have one account apiece. Multiple accounts are typically abused for puppeteering (posting as another user to bolster your own argument with a straw man ally), or for holding an account in reserve to commit a ban bypass, or for playing "good cop bad cop" style of debating and seemingly "ganging up" on other posters. This is not allowed and such accounts are forfeit.
        Obscenity:
    Posting pictures of obscene gestures, linking to obscene web sites, posting obscene or graphic descriptions of a decidedly adult nature, and violating the standards of decent behavior found in the Pro9 forums falls under obscenity. In short, if the authorities could fine Pro9 for it, then you could be banned for it.
        Picture Policy:
    Image size limits exist to maintain a user-friendly format in consideration of the nearly half of all Great Netizens in rural areas who are limited to the use of dial-up connections for internet access.

    In posts: 500 x 900 pixels and 125 kb file size
    Signature image: 500x150, 25KB file size, advertisers only
    Avatars: 80x80, 19KB file size

    Image file sizes are "total image bytes per post" if more than one image is posted in a post. One image only in sig line.

    Images may be deleted or removed without notice and all rules about profanity filter bypasses, obscenity and the like apply to images.

    Do not post images of graphic violence, obscene gestures, pornography or otherwise abusive content. We've also decided that instead of the 5th grade rule, we're going to employ more of a PG-13 rule.
    About hot linking images: Beware, if you hot link to web space you do not own, and the owner of the web space changes the content of the link, then you will be held as responsible for the content as if you had done so yourself.
        Personal Information:
    Do not post personal telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, street addresses, or mailing addresses of anyone but yourself or by expressed permission of the person whose information you are posting. If the information is posted with the intent to harass or intimidate, flood their mailbox or solicit harassment in any way, then it's an instaban and the information will be removed.
        Profanity Filter Bypass:
    The Pro9 Forum uses a Profanity Filter because there are words which are not allowed on these forums in order to maintain our civil mixed-company welcome to our Honored Guests. Any attempt to bypass these filters and get these words on the forums in violation of the wishes of the Host is breaking house rules. The words aren't supposed to be on the premises. If you're not willing to let the Profanity Filter Check them at the door then that's a violation. The F-bomb is an instaban.
        Retreads:
    This term refers to previously banned users who attempt to slip by a ban by assuming a different screen name and resume posting as if he had gotten welcomed again. This is in violation of the Ban Bypass and is outside of the banned user procedure.
        Signature Line:
    This is also subject to every rule. It is not to be used to taunt other guests, it is not to be used to display contempt.
        Spamming:
    This web site and Pro9 are in the business of selling advertisements, and it simply wouldn't do to give away the store. Our honored guests are to use their accounts for personal, non-commercial interests and discussions. Any other use requires prior approval and permission which may be requested on the Moderator Forum.
        Trolling:
    A troll is a person that never offers anything of value or substance to the boards. The troll has no intention of taking part in discussions, save to try and ruin them for others. Trolls may be banned with impunity.



The above are NOT our rules - these are our rules...

Forum rules: No advertising, no links to businesses/shops/eBay, no swearing, respect our sponsors and each other, no hate!

...Because it's just common sense and common decency, and Pro9'ers are smarter and a lot nicer than the average keyboard warrior. Let's keep it that way!