Post by PR's Old Account (DO NOT PM) on Nov 14, 2008 16:21:53 GMT -5
Plagiarism
I have noticed A LOT of sites seem to enjoy stealing my rulebook and posting it on their sites (either verbatim, or slightly modified, though still identifiable). If you are going to plagiarize my writing, please attribute it to me. At the bottom of your rules page(or whatever you steal from me, in whole or in part), add the following notation:
"Text here, taken in whole or in part, from ManNHL.
mannhl.proboards.com"
Failure to add the above could result in a moody PR, and possibly one who reports the plagiarism to your forum host. These rules took me time to write, and I do not appreciate them showing up on other sites without accreditation. THANK YOU.
Prejudice
Absolutely no Racism, or other prejudicial slurs are allowed on the board. This includes calling people "fags" or calling other inanimate objects "gay". This is the one most often broken.
Spam
For the purposes of this site, we consider spam absolutely, 100% ANY posting of unwanted, uninvited sites, particularly other sim leagues. I have created a Cesspool where you can post absolutely anything you want. BUT, to be an officially recognized, ManNHL Affiliate Site, you must be ManNHL-Approved. To attain this status, you MUST PM the PR (and PR ONLY!)to become an affiliate. From this point (Dec. 1) forward, ANY unauthorized sites posted outside of the Cesspool will be removed and a strike will be issued. Although you do not need authorization to post in the Cesspool. As such, these sites are NOT supported by ManNHL, and will probably not be taken seriously by members. I strongly encourage good sites to get linked up in our affiliate program.
Dec. 9 update: If you are an affiliate, you have permission to post your site in any other thread WITHIN REASON. Do not spam the fuck out of it. But you can post that you need members or what not in general chatter and stuff. ONLY AFFILIATES. Not Cesspoolers.
Identity Theft
Pretending to be someone else, especially a "member of authority" (admin, mod, PR, etc) in the C-Box is a ban-able offense. We ask that if you do want to mock someone (such as PR) you make a somewhat obvious indication its not the real PR, or people will be confused (i.e. not adding my always-present nhlscap link to my name, etc). Replacing the link with something else is NOT enough!
And, if you are going to do this, you better be funny or interesting, or we may just ban you for being a twit. We do have a sense of humour, but not if it starts affecting the smooth-running nature of the site.
Again, please note that if you are funny, like PR, you can steal identities to be hilarious. But its otherwise NOT permitted. So...yeah. Be hilarious and we'll let it slide. Be malicious, and we will hunt you down with a giant can of WARNING.
Arguments
If you disagree with something or get into an argument, we ask that as soon as it turns into name-calling, you take it to Trash Talk, and have it out there. We do NOT want our threads full of bickering, so keep it confined to the Trash Talk thread. No one does this, but we ask it anyways.
Also, if someone says you are/have gone too far in an argument, STOP. After that, it becomes harassment, and WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Strikes will be issues for continued harassment. Sending threats or insults that are offensive to people's inbox also falls under this and are also taken very seriously. If this happens to you, don't be afraid to report it to Leafs or PR.
Profanity
ManNHL allows profanity. Proboards does not. So...use your own discretion....if Proboards bans you, there is nothing we can do. But they won't .
Dumbasses
Okay, guys, let's be grown-ups here. If someone is a dumbass, try to be patient with them, cause when it comes right down to it, we're all dumbasses at something and it really helps if people are patient with dumbasses. If you encounter a dumbass, as I said, just try to help them as best you can, rather than calling them names. That'll just keep everything around here a bit more friendly.
And if you ARE a dumbass, just remember that if people call you names, don't take it personally, and try to laugh it off or ignore it and do your best. People like being jerks, and people will always BE jerks (myself [PR] included )
Double-Posting
Please refrain from double-posting. The only time this is okay is when you are making a 100% different point, about a 100% different idea and not adding to your previous one. Instead of posting another message, which consumes valuable real estate, just modify your previous post!
Activity Consistency
If you haven't been on the site in over 4 days and haven't mentioned that you'd be leaving for a while in our vacation thread, you may have your franchise given to a new member. We feel that in the course of 4 days you could have neglected to reply to pms, and not given us any belief that you'd return afterward. So stay active.
Sigs
Because some of us poor bastards have limited bandwidth/month, we're adding a 2-sig MAX limit to the site. And keep their size reasonable. They take up valuable real estate! If you fail to do this, a staff member will take away a random one. Or all of them.
Family Members/Shared Computer
If a family member or friend shares your computer and intends to join the league, you must inform PR or Leafs before hand. The matching IP addresses, can cause problems, as can similar email addresses. We remind everyone that using this system to try to stack one team is not advisable, as all trades are reviewed by staff - if any bad trade goes through, it's staff's fault.
The Cody Penney Amendment
I didn't think this would have to be a rule, but apparently it does. - YOU ABSOLUTELY, 100% MAY NOT stalk members of this site, and harass them on Facebook, Skype, Hotmail, or any other for of communication outside of this website without express permission from that person first. If I get one legit complaint about this, you will be immediately banned. No strikes, no fucking around. No second chances. Just full, permanent ban.
If you happen to keep doing something despite the ban, I will not hesitate to escalate the issue to Proboards, Facebook, or even law enforcement. I am not fucking around with this one.
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The Good, Old "Three Strike" Policy
Okay, so now you know what NOT to do. Here's what happens if you do it:
We've have a 3 strikes guideline. It goes as follows:
A League warning = 1 strike
Continuation or New Warning = 2 strikes
A Further Continuation or Third Act = 3 strikes (FULL BAN)
- please take note of the FULL BAN thing - we have been VERY lenient on it in the past, because we HATE banning people, but 3 strikes is VERY reasonable. So it WILL be implemented from now on.
Your warning level will rise on your account and you won't be able to lower it. The admin who issues it will then write a note in your profile on why you've received the warning. Warning levels are based on percentages, so you'll have 33 percent on the first warning. Your warnings will only go down IF you have gone a month or more without ANY offenses. And you CAN receive a number of warnings for continuing an offense after someone has asked you to stop. AND THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A STAFF MEMBER.
Suspensions
If a staff member feels the need to remove you from the site immediately, you may receive a 1-day suspension. This will probably come with a strike/warning as well. Either way, it WILL be temporary, so just take the penalty and calm down.