READ BEFORE POSTING: The Rules Thread

[Houk]

(Update: As an addendum to the rules thread, I just want to say that we don't have anywhere near enough staff to check every thread in every forum to make sure everyone's playing nice. So we rely on you, our fine users, to use the report and PM buttons to let us know when you think something needs looking at, whether it directly involves you or not. It can never hurt to contact me, it can only help. And sometimes it's the only way I'll know there's a problem. Only YOU can help prevent forum fires!)

This is something we've been needing for a while, so please refer to this for any and all forum-wide rules. I'll be putting things down as they come up, so don't consider this a final list by any means. The consequences of not following the rules may be anything from a private warning, to a public warning, to deleted posts, to temporary banning, to permanent banning (absolute last resort).

These rules are in order of when they came up, not importance. So read them all thoroughly. (It should be easy, since we're only starting with one.) They're also not rules I decided on my own, but a reflection of comments or concerns from board users that I think/hope will lead to a more fun and harmonious posting experience for everyone involved.

1. NO ARGUING ABOUT VGCHARTZ - vgchartz is always a hot topic among game fans, but at this point its reputation is pretty well known. Either you trust them or you don't. If someone decides to quote numbers from them, please don't start an argument about it. And if you decide to quote from them, please recognize that tons of people don't trust their numbers, so you won't be adding much, if anything, to the discussion. Nobody will get in trouble for quoting numbers from them, but pointless arguing back and forth about the site itself will probably result in deleted posts.

[Houk]

2. I just want to put this in writing since I haven't done so up to now. Insulting individual members of NISA staff is grounds for punishment, up to and including account banning, as to be determined by admins, based on the user's history and specific remarks.

3. If a banned user is found to have circumvented their ban, either by changing Internet settings to allow posting under their original handle, by posting under another user's account, or by creating a new account, that user's original ID may suffer a total deletion. This means their username is gone, as well as the entirety of their post history. If you are banned and you wish to discuss it (in a calm, civil manner) you can contact us at support (at) nisamerica (dot) com.

[Houk]

4. I'm just going to go ahead and make this a very general, hopefully clear rule. Follow the golden rule and don't be a jerk to other users. This includes, but is not limited to, personal insults or being verbally abusive, excessive hostility, veiled threats (even if you're "not serious" or "just joking").

I don't care if they annoy you or you don't like their opinions or how they look or they just don't understand what you're trying to say. If you think they're trolling, report them and ignore them. Otherwise, just ignore them.

[Houk]

MizuMikomi has decided he's unwilling to follow the rules laid out for this forum, so he will no longer be a part of the community.

Contrary to what some of you may think, I want this place to be as welcoming and open to everyone, posters and lurkers alike, as possible. These rules and the enforcement of them are intended to foster that inclusiveness. If you think the rules laid out here are unfair or discourage open, respectful discussion, feel free to use the PM system and let me (or other staff, though many aren't quite as active) know. If you want to message me because you're mad your friend got banned and want to yell at me, well, you can do that too but it probably won't be as productive.