- 1. Absolutely NO personal/group attacks/insults of any kind!
This rule is first because it is the most important and largest offense if
broken. Any derogatory, condescending, rude or insulting statements are
strictly forbidden to be posted to the group. No "flaming" or
"trolling" is allowed in the FTA. Period. Keep personal conflicts OFF
BOARD.
- 2. Please refrain from Role Play (RP) of any kind.
This board is entirely Out Of Character (OOC) and non-RP. We do not want to
see any RP-style discussion, RP-related topics or RP-promoting threads. This
means you leave all "clans" at the proverbial door, regardless of who else
is in the FTA that is in your clan or in a rival clan. We want game related info
and discussion only, please.
- 3. Please do not advertise (this includes clans, groups or OT sites).
A major part of the reason for this and other auto-send documents is to avoid
the acceptance of spam-bots which often infiltrate Yahoo groups and other mass
mailing groups, then spam them with useless, space-wasting advertisements. We
find it even more reprehensible that our own members would 'spam-bot' us, so
please do not promote non-game sites or topics. In order to prove you are not a
bot, you must send a message to the FTA owner email address which contains
specific information from this document in order to be accepted for membership
with the FTA. (details later)
Not only is the spam problem why we don't want non-game links posted, but it
also can be a violation of our non-RP policy. If you post a link to an RP group
as the sole purpose of your message, we consider that RP and spam. Yuck. None
of -that-, please!
- 4. Please <SNIP> irrelevant text from replies.
Many members receive a "daily digest" version of the messages
posted to the group and scrolling through endless sig-lines, Yahoo-tags or other
unrelated text can be a real nuisance. Also, some members simply have size
limitations for their email inboxes which could easily be reached in a single days
worth of posts if no one cut off irrelevant text.
Simply place a friendly <snip> (or some variation) if you cut text
from the actual post, and no <snip> is needed if simply deleting Yahoo
tags or other such auto-generated text appended to the original message. Just try
to delete all but the main point you are replying to.
- 5. If you must make an Off Topic point, use [OT] in the subject.
We know that often times members will simply feel they must make a
point which isn't technically a directly game-related message. While this isn't
really encouraged, we do ask that you make it easier for other members to make
the choice about whether or not to read the post by putting a little [OT] or
(OT) in the beginning of the subject line.
Also important to note is that even if you put an [OT] in the subject, you are
not free to break other rules or guidelines of the board. OT is no excuse to go
insult someone and you will be reminded of that if needs be. Let's hope that
never happens.
There is a database entry in the groups Yahoo pages where you can find personal
contact info for members to contact them directly. Feel free to add your info.
There is also a file in the files section of the site now where you can put OT
commentary and info.
- 6. Uninformative and senseless posts are severely frowned upon.
While cutting the original text of a post for brevity with the <SNIP>
option is a good habit, completely eliminating all of it can lead to cases of
mistaken intent, confusion and sometimes offense. Leave enough of the original text
to still make your post read sensibly.
Worse, though, are posts which contain little or nothing of value to the group
like "Thanks! I found it!" Little, one-liner posts are often a complete
waste of time and inbox space. If you are about to send a message to the group
which has only one line of what you actually want to say, please cancel the message.
If you feel it would be bad manners to not reply to something, but have no more
than a single line or even two, perhaps you ought to consider sending a private
message directly to the person.
Please note also that posting guild or shop information only in the subject
line would fall into the category of "senseless". If you're posting a location,
please make it available in the body as well as the subject. Thanks!
- 7. Please send in plain-text format.
Yes, I know your blue, cursive font on that dark purple background looks
really neat, but HTML emails (sometimes called 'stationary' and 'rich-text')
are not only unneeded, but are larger and can be a real irritant to people who
receive massive numbers of emails (like the Mods). Also, many people use a
text-only mail client or system which makes reading your original message a
real drag because we see the dozens of irrelevant HTML tags instead of just
your message text. Not to mention the visual adjustment required to go from
nice, plain ASCII to color-based, multi-font-sized, formatted messages. Yech.
- 8. Please keep signature lines to 3 or less lines.
This one should be fairly obvious. No one else really cares to read the last
novel paragraph which took your breath away or the lyrics to your current
musical favourite. Most the members just want guild info and shop locations and
really don't need big, unrelated sig-lines to bog them down.
Note, though, that putting a link to your own web pages in your sig-line is
perfectly acceptable, so long as your post contains more than just that.
- 9. Please use the Files section for images and then link to them.
The most efficient and least-wasteful way for us to see an image you wish to
share with the group about in-game matters is to upload the jpeg or gif to the
group's files or photos section and make it an announced upload. You will find
all the simple options when you go to that section which lets you send a
message to the group that you uploaded the file.
Using your email client or service to attach the image is a sure way to get some
of the members angry with you, especially those who have size restrictions on their
inbox space. Be aware, also, that 'stationary' emails often use images as
backgrounds. Another reason we want only plain text to be sent to the group.
- 10. The Mods are the sheriffs on the FTA. What they say goes.
Whatever the situation, the Mods have final say in matters of conflict on the
board. They also have the right, nay... RESPONSIBILITY, to speak on behalf of
the group in all matters. If you ever get a personal note from a Mod asking you
to curtail some activity or somehow alter your behaviour within the group,
consider it an addendum to this document.
Usually, when a Mod sends you such a message, it is sent to the other Mods as
well, unless otherwise noted by the sender, so please refrain from attempting
to use the "but mom lets me!" approach. Still, if you feel as though the
Mods have treated you unfairly, you have every right to debate, POLITELY, your
point of view and ask other Mods (Mods include the group Owner, by the way) to take
note of your position either en mass (using the FTA-owner email, which sends the
message to all Mods) or individually. We try to be fair and will not be insulted if
you wish to have a second opinion.
Finally, remember that you are not the only one getting a personal note, in
most cases. Typically such a Mod "intervention" is conducted privately
with each participant relative to the topic and a separate message will be sent to
the other people the Mod feels need to be talked to.
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Absolutely NO personal/group attacks/insults of any kind!