Rules of the forum

[Meister]

Welcome to the nuklearpower.com Message Boards

Yo! Welcome to the message boards for Brian Clevinger's webcomic projects, including How I Killed Your Master, WARBOT in Accounting and of course the legendary and refreshingly lemon-scented 8-Bit Theater.

The rules you're about to read are in place to help keep the forum a fun place to post and to keep it and Brian respectable in the greater online community. Nobody wants Brian to get a reputation for having rude, unpleasant fans, after all, especially the fans themselves. Please remember that the way you behave here reflects not only on you, but also on Brian himself. If you can't behave for your own sake, at least do it for the sake of the person who's given you the comics (for free, no less) and this forum in the first place.

Now when we say you're about to read the rules, we do mean you have to. Preferrably you're doing it before you sign up. This way you can decide whether or not these forums are really for you, and you'll also have a good idea of what kind of behavior is expected of you as a poster. You will be prompted to explicitly accept the rules once you register, so it's a very good idea indeed to read them. If you make it obvious you didn't bother, you shall face dire consequences.

[Meister]

Forum Staff

There are quite a few moderators and administrators around. Nasty little buggers. The head moderator is Brian Clevinger himself, known around here as Kurosen. There are super administrators, normal admins and moderators; every one of those has the same rights and possibilities regarding forum members, and no one's word stands above that of another's (except for Kurosen, who is our High Overlord). You can view who's what exactly in the Forum Leaders (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showgroups.php) section, but for your everyday needs, this is who they are:

Kurosen
Mashirosen
shiney
Meister
FenrisWolf
Satan's Onion
synkr0nized

You can also recognize them by their bold (moderators) or bold and in italics (admins) usernames. They'll be patrolling the boards on a regular basis, and you'll probably get to know them pretty well, since they're just normal posters like you when they're not doing their job. ("They are mortal the same as we!") If you want to tell them about something, please send them a polite mail or private message about it and they'll do their best to get back to you as your message merits -- but bear in mind that they have lives away from the forum (no, really). If you want to bring a specific post to their attention, click the "Report Post" icon in the upper right corner of that post and state your reasons.

Speaking of usernames: you'll notice some people have customized names. Note that only mods and admins have names in bold and italics. Anything else - colours, fonts - is just for fun and most members who have it aren't forum staff.

Moderator-Poster Code of Conduct

1. The moderators will do their best to be respectful and polite towards posters, but by the same token, respect is earned. If you're rude to a mod, don't be surprised if you're treated the same.

2. The moderators will do their best to be fair and patient, and to avoid pettiness; you will do your best to obey the rules and the judgment calls of the moderators without complaining or disrespecting their authority.

3. The moderators will not play favorites, and you will not expect special treatment from any particular mod.

4. Only Kurosen's say is final in any dispute; however, you will not bother him by contesting every little decision the mods make.

Please treat the moderators respectfully and argue maturely if you take issue with their actions. If you feel a moderator isn't neutral about moderating and can't come to an agreement with them, feel free to ask another moderator for input. Please do so only very sparingly, though. Keep in mind that the moderators have been chosen on their merits of maturity and ability to handle things maturely. No one will ever be banned for simply disagreeing.

Backseat moderating

List of people who are allowed to do moderating:

1. Mods and admins
2. no one else

Please don't try to do their job for them. Of course it's totally okay to just help out a new poster who clearly doesn't know the rules! This could include things like: "Hey, we prefer edits to double posting here" or "Could you please use a spell-checker?" What's absolutely not okay is statements like: "wow dude, quit trolling" or "That's against the forum rules! I'll report you, have fun getting banned!" because that's our call to make. Do report posts you think we should have a look at, but be prepared for the event that you might be wrong.

In the same vein, you should refrain from making special rules for your threads. They will be considered invalid and you may well be sternly talked to if we catch you doing it. This doesn't go for threads in the Forum Games or Roleplaying section of course.

[Meister]

In General

A few things you should know about how this board is run.

Page Limits: Threads will usually be closed at around 120 posts, just so any particular thread doesn't get too massive. Generally you can start a new thread about the same topic right away if you feel there's still a need for discussion, but only if the moderator who closed the thread didn't already say otherwise. The forum staff will review continued threads and close them if they feel they're just being remade for the sake of it. Some threads will run longer than 120 posts if it's really obvious there would be a second one anyway.

Tags: Here's a list of all tags you can use to enhance your posts. (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/misc.php?do=bbcode)

Status: Everone is equal here, and no one has any kind of privileges because of their post count, length of membership, friendship with anyone including moderators or status. (Except for the privileges we mods and admins need to do our job, of course. We have those. :))

Rulebreaking: We've got an infraction system in place here. If you break a rule, you'll receive a number of infraction points. You'll be informed via PM and a public warning post in the thread you screwed up in. Infraction points serve as a warning shot to you and a way to keep track of warning shots for us. They'll become inactive eventually so your spam posts from five years ago don't screw things up for you when you accidentally double-post here and now, but we do notice if someone's racking up infractions consistently, active or inactive. Too many infractions over a certain period of time, and you'll get banned temporarily - the ban period is up to the respective moderator and also depends on what exactly you did. Anything from a day to six months or longer is possible. If you really keep at it, you will be permanently banned. Keep in mind that every moderator has the right to skip steps at their discretion, so you may find yourself permanently banned instantly with no warning shot of any kind after a particularly impressive display of rulebreaking.

Rule of thumb for infraction points: 1 point is usually something minor (double posting), 2-4 means you did something more severe (consistent spam, flaming), 5 and more means you just figuratively dropped your pants in the middle of the mall, crapped in your hands and threw it at passersby.

Trying to circumvent a rule will not end well for you. We trust you're mature enough to discern and follow the spirit of the rules. We do reserve the right to ban anyone for any reason, but we promise not to abuse this right.

Mod Error: If you feel you've been treated unfairly, contact us - once and politely - and we'll see what can be done. The best way is to use our PM system or make a thread in Forum Related Stuff, and most of us also have contact infos in our profiles. Keep in mind that whining or harassing the forum staff isn't very likely to improve your position. Please also don't bother us about every little thing - there are times when all the moderators have talked about a punishment already, and when this has happened you will be informed and it is expected that you do not bother us further.

[Meister]

Caution

These are guidelines for behavior around here, for your benefit and everybody else's. If we find you not abiding by these you'll generally be reminded of the rules or warned.


Think before you post: Do you have something to contribute to the conversation, or are you just padding your post count? If you're in a heated debate thread and are starting to take things personally or get overheated, walk away from the computer until you've calmed down -- the thread will still be there when you come back, and your opinions will be respected a lot more if you stop yourself from using arguments like "your mom!".

Respect: Be courteous to and respectful of your fellow posters. We're acting on the assumption that you're capable of behaving like a decent person -- please don't prove us wrong.

Spamming: Spam is everything that doesn't contribute to a thread's topic, any post that has very little actual content, any nonsensical post or the likes thereof. If the tone of a topic is goofy, you obviously will have more leeway. If it's a topic that's stayed on topic and doesn't have many weird influences, best to stick to the straight and narrow. It takes common sense and a tiny bit of thought. Not too hard really.

Annoying links: Like spam but extra super disallowed. Those stupid screamer videos or links to Rick Astley that make your browser window starts jumping around your screen so you can't switch the damn thing off or whatever of that kind of thing. Basically if you're posting something explicitly designed to annoy the shit out of people as much as possible don't be too surprised when it works.

Multiple posting: Also known as double posting. This looks a little like this:

SomeUser: blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah
(posted at 5:15:05 PM)
SomeUser: oh, and blahblahblahblahblahblah too
(posted at 5:15:07 PM)

See? So what you do, if you have something to say right after your first post, is you go back and edit it into the first post using the "edit" button to the bottom right of your message. If you accidentally double-post something (not likely to happen with this type of messageboard, but you never know), don't worry, we understand that stuff acts funny sometimes. Just go back and delete the extra post, which you can also do by clicking the "edit" button. If you feel like you need to bump an old thread with some new relevant information and you have the last post in it, please follow this procedure also.

Thread Bumping: Don't post in a thread just to boost it on the list. Sometimes it takes people a while to notice a new thread. Sometimes a thread just dies for whatever reason. And poop happens -- sometimes people just aren't interested in talking about a subject. Please be patient waiting for replies to your thread, too. It may take a few hours or even days.

Gravedigging: If the last post in a thread is over a month old, and off the first page of the thread list, just start a new thread for the subject. If you want to refer to something specific from an old thread then just link/quote the old thread when you start a new one.

We'll try and go through and close any threads past that sell-by date but that's no excuse to be thread necromancing if we get a bit lazy about it.

Grammar and spelling Please use somewhat normal and correct grammar and spelling. We don't demand perfect Oxford English from anyone, but typing in all caps, using chatspeak or leaving out interpunction make a post hard to read, plus having to read abominations like "plhttp://img443.imageshack.us/img443/271/15187943nu1.png" or "nehttp://img262.imageshack.us/img262/8979/60066033bf3.png" makes modly blood boil. Obviously we're not going to be harsh on you if English is your second language or you're just not good at it, but please make the effort.

Spoilers: If you post spoilers about a film, book, movie or video game, mark it with either the [spoiler] or [ss] tags which will blank them out so nobody can read them by accident. Clicking on the blanked-out section will make them readable. Example: OMG I AM TOTALLY TELLIN U THE END OF THE MOVIE OMG

If you want to make a thread especially for one single film/book/game that contains spoilers, put a warning into the thread title (again, example: "The Empire Strikes Back thread (Spoilers!)"). It must always be clear what film/book/game is being spoiled.

Here's the link to the forum tags again, including the spoiler tags. (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/misc.php?do=bbcode)

Signatures: We ask that you keep your sig down to a length of seven lines' worth of normally-sized text. If you have more than one quote you want to sig you can always use ordinary old quotation marks instead of the [QUOTE] tag and if you really have that much to say then just cut down the font size a bit.

Personal Problems: Nobody here is too inclined to spurn anybody looking for help, just please bear in mind that the online community of a sprite-based webcomic is not the ideal place to come for counseling and support. Online friends are great but they can't always be there for you the way people in your real life can, so if you're having a serious issue, please try and find someone in a position to help you deal with it seriously.

And if you're just looking to be dramatic for the pure emo thrill of it, then take it to Livejournal or somewhere.

"Dead" Jokes: Declaring jokes dead is officially dead. If it absolutely has to be done then a moderator will do it. The last thing this forum needs is a bunch of self-appointed killjoys sitting around deciding how long everybody else is allowed to find something funny.

And remember -- don't take anything on this board too seriously or personally. Online words are only as real as you allow them to be.

[Meister]

Warning

These are serious offenses around here, and if you get caught doing any of the following, don't be surprised if you get banned for a few days.

Flaming: Do not be aggressive towards or insult other forum members, whether actively ("John, you're a dick") or passively ("anyone who likes Pokemon must be retarded").

Hate Speech: Similarly, racist or homophobic statements, or any statements disparaging a specific group, will not be tolerated.

Trolling: Do not make statements only to get angry responses. Do also not reply to such statements, just report the post and leave it alone.

NSFW: This is an all-ages forum, which means nothing pornographic or exceptionally gross / disgusting. This applies to images, links, quoted text, or in-thread conversational content. Remember kids: NSFW=NSFNPF

Red Alert

This is what'll get you permanently banned right away, no questions asked.

Ad-Spam: If you sign up only to promote any kind of business (be it Free XBox, Free Viagra or Free Carpet Cleaner), your ass is banned, your link or contact information will be removed and you will almost certainly be publicly ridiculed.

Promotions: If you sign up only to promote any free services... well, reactions will vary. If you've read this forum for a while, and you think, hey these people could be interested in my website, and that would just happen to be your first post here, don't be afraid to post it. If you're uncertain, send a private message to a moderator or admin first. However, if you're just spreading something across as many message boards as humanly possible without regard for rules or members, your ass is banned, your link or contact information will be removed and so on.

Really, if you sign up for any other reason than interest in the 8-Bit Theater community, you know what happens to your ass, link and self.

Ban-Dodging: If you get temporarily banned and decide to simply sign up again using a different name, both your accounts will be permanently banned. Likewise if you re-register after a permanent ban - you can return if you're bearing a new and improved disposition, but to be honest we're not holding our breath on that. Generally, when we find out someone's been permanently banned before under another name, off they go.

Other Things You Should Not Do

Experience has shown that the following things are nothing but trouble and you should refrain from doing/mentioning them.

- Anything illegal, obviously. Especially links to ROM sites or comic book scans are something that keeps popping up. Copyright on the internet is a major grey area these days but these are things that are blindingly obvious. In the same vein, if you've downloaded a game or a movie, no one here cares to know you did - just avoid mentioning it entirely.
- Hacking related stuff. Another grey area but let's put it like this: this isn't a computer safety forum, and if you have to ask us how to crack a system chances are you have no legitimate business doing it. If you do have legitimate business getting into systems you're not supposed to, you have better sources than this forum.
- Religious topics. Don't feel obliged to avoid mentioning religions entirely but don't even get close to any type of "religion a is better/worse than religion b" or "religion/lack of religion sucks" type of argument.

[FenrisWolf]

Subforums:

Sometimes a subforum needs special rules. If that's the case you'll find a post stating said rules in a designated sticky thread at the top of each forum, as well as linked here for your convenience. Generally speaking you won't have to worry about these rules unless you're in the subforum to which they apply.

But if you are in the subforum to which they apply you had better fuckin' worry about 'em.

Forum Info

Forum Related Stuff (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=15891) and Tell the Admin (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=34883) Subforum Rules

Nuklear Powered

8-Bit Theater Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=15898)
WARBOT Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=34910)

Social

News and current events Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=36370)
TV, Movies, & Animation Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=15892)
Playing Games Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=15894)
Computers & Technology Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=22264)
Books and Comics Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=15893)
Music Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=27550)

Games & Roleplaying

Forum Games Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=18649)
Forum for Talking About Forum Games Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=18965)
Roleplaying Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=375)
Roleplaying Sign-ups/Discussion Subforum Rules (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?t=7085)

[Fifthfiend]

And that's it! Enjoy your stay here at the NPF.