Author Topic: Forum Rules (PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING)  (Read 29756 times)

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Offline bosk1

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Forum Rules (PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING)
« on: April 27, 2009, 01:12:24 AM »
Punishment/Enforcement:
Posts and threads with content that breaks the rules are subject to closing or deletion. If a moderator does not provide a reason for deletion and you wish to know, PM him/her/it/they.

Users who violate the rules will be warned at most three times before action is taken against them. The actions taken are largely at the moderators' discretion and will be scaled with the severity of the infraction. If you have a question about a rule or the punishment you received for breaking a rule, PM or e-mail a moderator. Please don't start threads about individual cases of moderation.

This is, first and foremost, an online community for Dream Theater fans.  As such, respect for the band, the forum community, and your fellow posters are our paramount concern.  While we are not an "official" forum, and do not strive to obtain "official" status, we wear the Dream Theater name, and as such should conduct ourselves in a way that does not make the band ashamed this place exists.

The Rules:
1. Posting of media containing or links to pornography and explicit nudity is not allowed. This includes site names, broken URLS, and "hints" to the site names. This includes images used for personal avatars and signatures as well as images posted to the Forum that include website watermarks. When posting material that you think may be borderline, you are REQUIRED to put NSFW (Not Safe For Work). If you do post NSFW material without so marking it, you run the risk of being temp or perm banned depending on the severity of the infraction! NSFW threads will be carefully monitored, and may be modified or deleted if deemed to contain inappropriate material, even if not technically "pornography and explicit nudity."  The decision about whether content is inappropriate lies solely within the discretion of the forum staff.

2a. Sharing, requests for sharing, offers to share, or discussion of illegally obtaining pirated material is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, warez, direct links, asking for links/files, and hinting at resources for finding the material.

2b. With regard to "leaked" material, you are not allowed to discuss the leaking or sharing of an album by any artist, or that an album has leaked.  In addition to the above, with regard to Dream Theater and side-projects by the members of Dream Theater, you may not discuss the leaked material whatsoever.  For other bands, you can in most cases discuss the content of the leaked material as long as you do not reference the leak, where you obtained the material, or sharing the leaked material.

3. Respect your fellow posters.

Personal attacks, or repeated artless attempts at flaming and/or flamebaiting will not be tolerated. Violators will get a maximum of three warnings before serious measures are taken into consideration (temp and perm bans, mainly).
Posting chain-type letters will result in 2 day ban

4. Please keep threads in their correct forums and start only one thread about any given subject. USE THE SEARCH FEATURE!

5. Keep your language reasonable. Repeated and inappropriate usage of explicit language is forbidden. Violators will be warned before any serious action is taken. No racially offensive posts. No posts that are derogatory toward gender or sexual preference. No posts that use slang terms for any race, sexual preference, or religious background. Includes signatures.

6. PROFANITY IN USERNAMES IS PROHIBITED.  If you have a username in violation of this rule, your name will be changed to the text in your e-mail address before "@" and you will be PM'd regarding changing your name.

7. Offensive language/profanity in thread titles is prohibited.

8. By posting on this site, you acknowledge that your IP address and other personal information that you registered with become public information, and may be used by the Administrators of the site for any legal situations that arise from your use of the site.  All such information, including posts and account information, are property of the forums.

9. Keep your signature to a reasonable height and width. An image should be no taller than 120px or wider than 720px, and text-only sigs should be no more than 9 lines at the default font size (7pt). If an image is used, a single line of text is also allowed (at the default size). People who do not follow these rules will be asked to shrink their sigs. Avatars should be no larger than 100 pixels wide and 100 pixels high.

10. Posts whose only goal is to increase post count will not be tolerated. Spamming and off-topic posts are examples.  Keep threads on topic.  Such posts do nothing but waste data transfer and storage and will be deleted. If you want to contest the deletion of a post, PM a mod or admin.  Similarly, do not create multiple accounts--one account per user.

11. The promotion, the discussion of how to obtain, or the discussion of how to take or use illicit drugs is not allowed.

12. Insults or senseless bashing of the current or former band members of Dream Theater and/or their music will not be tolerated.  Honest, open critique is always allowed, provided it is constructive and does not cross the line and become bashing, belittling, etc.

13.  Regarding political and religious topics:  Spiritual overtones and political issues as they pertain to song lyrics may be discussed openly.  We also recognize that, because of the variety of political and/or religious affiliations on this forum, topics may at times take a political or religious direction that was not originally intended.  Generally speaking, keep all other political or religious discussion in the "Political and Religious" forum.  While political and religious discussion can get heated, political/religious topics are subject to the same rules as other topics.

14.  Regarding linking to social media and other websites:  (a) Please exercise discretion and good judgment.  Whenever possible, link to verified sources and avoid unverified gossip, or profiles of users who claim to have inside information and are not verified to actually have such information.  Links to reliable, primary sources should be used where possible.  (b)  Please avoid posting links to TikTok or other platforms that appear to lack sufficient privacy protections and security protocols.  (c)  Doxxing and similar behavior is forbidden.  Links to material that can be used to personally identify someone without their consent are forbidden.

15.  Because no rule set can completely address every possible situation that may arise, the mods and admins reserve the right to take whatever action they deem necessary to promote the principles of respect for the band, the forum community, and your fellow posters.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2024, 08:45:19 AM by bosk1 »
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Forum Rules (PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING)
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2009, 08:26:24 PM »
Rules updated 4/27/09.
"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Offline Nick

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Re: Forum Rules (PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING)
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2009, 06:00:48 PM »
Rules updated 9/27/09.

This update is the inclusion of rule 2b.
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