Board Rules - 9 May 2005; Amended 1st October 2009

Section 1

1 - no flaming (this includes racial slurs, stereotypes, condescending remarks i.e. You can go to hell, etc.)

2 - no trolling (constant flaming of another board member in any way)

Section 2

1 - use of the following words: ass, damn, hell
a.) provided they are not used against any member here in a deragatory manner, there is no issue

2 - use of any of the words in section 2.1 or any other questionable words where the intent is clearly to anger is not allowed under any circumstances
a.) included words: bitch, fuck, shit, slut

Section 3

1 - no creation of entirely random/pointless topics that offer no meaningful discussion; these include topics that 'brag' about reaching a certain post count
a.) quick announcements such as an extended absence are fine
b.) exceptions may be made in regards to games (ask a staff member first for approval)

Section 4

1. - Sharing and requesting copies of both the original LBT film and its direct-to-video sequels is strictly prohibited on the Gang of Five.

a.) The following files may still be shared:

1.) TV episodes (low quality only)
2.) Songs/music (low quality only)
3.) Screenshots
4.) Music Videos

Section 5
If the staff of five admins unanimously agrees that actions or attitudes of a member are harmful to the Gang of Five in spite of being no outright violation of the sections 1 to 4 and if the respective member persists to continue the said attitudes in spite of being informed about them being perceived as harmful to the peace on the board the staff reserves the right to impose those sanctions on the member which are felt to be necessary to put an end to the harmful attitudes.


Consequences:

Anything under Section 1 can result in either a suspension or a permanent ban, depending on the seriousness of the offense. No warnings are given for anything that falls under Section 1--you've lost your privledge to be here.

Anything under Section 2 can result in a warning or a suspension, depending on the seriousness of the offense and the particular word in question, and the context in which it was used.

Anything under Section 3 will result in the topic being deleted and possibly a warning only if the member reposts the message after it was removed. The staff will decide what constitutes a "pointless or dead-beat" topic.

Anything under Section 4 will result in one warning, and if the warning is not heeded, the member will be banned for life....no exceptions.

Warning system:

First offense - warning level raised one bar; PM sent to member by an admin (50%).
Second offense - warning level raised another bar; member is banned for life if 3 of 5 admins agree to it (100%). Discussions will follow should this majority not be reached and further action will be taken.

A PM will be sent to the offending member after the first (and only) official warning. Consider it as a second chance to change some behaviors. We will tell you what you did wrong, why it was wrong, and even how you can fix it. The rest is up to you, the member to decide if you choose to listen, just don't expect us to allow the behavior to continue.


Finally, I hate nothing more than having to carry out any of this, however recent incidents have forced a much more stricter rules system at this board be created and enforced. Follow the rules, have a fun time, and you should have nothing to worry about.

---------------------------------

Message Deletion by Board Admins

1. Every admin may by himself make the decision to move a thread to a private section.
2. A majority of three admins votes to have a thread moved back to public view or have it deleted beyond recovery.
3. Porno threads such as those recently deleted are to be excepted from the above rule so they can be deleted permanently and without delay by a single admin.

This post has been edited by Malte279 on Oct 1 2009, 04:16 PM

Those Sound fair, and I Will enforce them to the letter. I really don't want to, but if conditions warrant, I will do so.
Nick

Rules have been amended. Please review Section 4 and its consequences.

These rules are very well structured. You definitely put thought into them

A board is only as good as its rules and staff. ^^

^ And its members

How did you amend the top line with out having it say:

This post has been edited by LettuceBacon&Tomato on Oct 21 2008, 11:47 PM

He's an admin. They have secret powers.

Its part of his magic admin powers.

Nitpicker.

I have a question regarding this rule. If someone were to make some randomness war topic in the party room, like this:

"I say one random thing like "bannanna" then the other person says another random thing, then the the other person does, and it goes on and on."

Would that be considered a topic that "brags" about gong to a certain post count?

I wouldn't really approve of a game like that. There's no point to it.

How does that game brag about a certain post count, Rat_Lady7? It never mentions quantity of posts, it just mentions random words.

However, if you do want to play a game like that, "Word Association", posted by Adam, works very similar to the game you described. Join in!

You do need to think a bit with word association. You can't just post anything.

Everyone take notice that the board rules have been Amended. The newly added section 5 reads:

The idea is to provide the staff with the means to protect the Gang of Five from the kind of actions which prove harmful to the GOF but are not covered by any of the existing rules which refer to such specific cases as abusive language and the like.

It's like the tenth amendment, but not really!

More like the elastic clause of Article one of the constitution... can be easily abused.

If people don't abuse the GOF, then we don't have to abuse rule #5. I'd say that's fair enough. Basically if we think something it detremental to the GOF we will act on it appropriately, and now its written that we will do so.

I'm sure that "detrimental" could cover a LOT of stuff... maybe a list would help.

I think the point of the rule is that there is no specific list, that way it can be used whenever it is deemed to be necessary.

I think we can trust the admins to not abuse this rule. There've been, what, two bans in the history of the GOF? They won't suddenly start banning people for no good reason; they've proved this in the past.