Rules and Regulations

Rules and Regulations:

Okay new and old people of The Lounge, here are the new Rules and Regulations:

Respect The Mods and Admin

Spamming:

What is Spam?

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-Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages.
-Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.

- Spam messages are composed of less than 5 words. Examples may be "I agree," "Yes," "Woohoo," "Good Idea," "Good Work," "Hello (name)!" etc. You can reply with these phrases, but include why you agree or disagree so your post won't be a waste.

We should not be spamming in the forum, we should be contributing. Spamming will lead to a warning or a ban if done exceptionally. Spamming is the most vital rule because if we spam, we make the forum very unsightly and dismal for people/guests which may lead to them not registering which will also mean fewer people in the forum. If you do not follow this law, you are going to be punished accordingly.

Threads/Replies that are full of nonsensical topics will lead to:

1. Thread/Reply/Post deleted by the Mod/Admin.
2. Author will be warned.
3. Ban if done exceptionally.

If you plan to spam or write nonsensical topics, please go here: Open Section
You may post nonsensical topics there BUT please keep it to a reasonable level or the above punishments will be met.

-Lame-one-liners:

What are lame-one-liners?

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Lame-one-liners are replying with just a LOL or ^_^. This is also considered as spamming especially if quoting a whole message and just saying LOL.

Lame-one-liners cannot be avoided of course but if you have already read this rule, you must not do it. We assume that you have already read this rule from other forums or just read it here and discovered it. If we see this rule broken, it will lead to a warning. The Admin/Mods can ban you if they see this rule excessively broken.

-Off-topic posts:

What are off-topic posts?

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Not related to the matter under discussion

Off-topic posts will lead to a warning, well, if done excessively. The 1st offense will lead to a deleted post. 2nd offense or more will lead to a warning. The Admin/Mods can ban you if they see this rule excessively broken.

-Search Tool

What is a Search Tool?

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The Search tool allows users to look for keywords and other data in course content and Online Help.

ALWAYS use the Search Tool. If you have threads that you are planning to post, think twice, use the Search Tool, maybe the topic that you are looking for is there.

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- Threads that are strikingly similar or has the exact topic as other threads (especially in sticky threads) will be locked .

Where is the Search Tool located?

Scroll Up and Find the word “Search”

-Post in the right Forums

You MUST always post in the right forums.
If you break this rule, the topic that you posted will be deleted IMMEDIATELY . The Admin can ban you if they see this rule excessively broken.

-Post-Pumping

What is Post-Pumping?

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- If a post is suspected to have no other purpose than to increase the post count of the poster, then any admin/mod may, at their discretion to delete the post. Well, it doesn't really decrease you post count if an admin or mod deletes it but if you continuously violate this rule then be prepared to receive appropriate punishment (e.g Ban/Warning).

- The number of your posts does not measure your 'rank' here, don't act like you're superior than other members just because you have high post count. Remember that we are all equal.
- Do not double post intentionally either. If you want to add things to what you have posted, Just edit your previous post.

Consideration

We must respect all the members in this forum.

-Flaming

What is Flaming?

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Flaming is the hostile and insulting interaction between Internet users. Flaming usually occurs in the social context of a discussion board, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or even through e-mail.

If you have been caught flaming, you will receive IMMEDIATE warning. If caught numerous times, it will result in a ban.
If you are a victim of Flaming, please use the report function or PM us Mods/Admin.

A thing that you must NEVER do:

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– Trolling will be met with instant and probably permanent ban. This has a working definition of "attempting to be as annoying as possible while still technically obeying the rules," and it's not the way to go about getting attention. Attempting to derail threads, posting off-topic bullshit, or flame-baiting are all strictly verboten. There also tends to be a thin line between being abusive and immature and being argumentative. Crossing it persistently will lead to a ban. This kind of behavior leads to Flame Wars.

-Flaming is a NO NO!

Others

Advertising

- Advertising or soliciting other members to buy, or sell any products or services is allowed as long as they are limited to your signatures. If you want to make an advertisement thread, PM a mod first. Chain letters and junk mail are prohibited and will be locked/deleted without any consent of the poster.


Images

- Only post pictures when absolutely necessary, and when they are directly relevant to the topic discussion. If the image you are posting is large in size (either pixel size, file size, or both), then please post a link to the picture instead of posting the picture itself. Remember that not everybody has broadband connection, and may have to wait some time for images to load.

-No objectionable or indecent materials, please. Especially NSFW or not safe for work images.

- Signatures may contain images but make sure they're not too large and will not affect the layout of the forums.

[b]Others Part 2

- Show some sensitivity.

-Everything that applies to posts applies to avatars and sigs.

- Think before you post. Saving yourself trouble and ourselves time. If you find yourself questioning the nature of what you’re going to post, then it’s probably not safe to post it.

- Don't deliberately post ANYTHING that destroys the forum and/or its layout.

- Respect everyone. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regardless of age, gender and race.

- Have Thick Skin. Don't be offended if someone disagrees with you. If you think their attitude has problems, PM a mod.


- USE THE SEARCH TOOL. Again, I cannot stress this enough, USE IT!

-Please make good use of the edit button. This prevents unwanted double posting.

- Read the sticky thread at the top of each forum, they are there for a reason, and generally contain information relevant to the forum that they are in.

- Tell us What You Think. When creating a new post, state your own opinion. We frequently get posts that do nothing but ask, "What do you think of ?" We would much prefer that you state your own opinion as well as asking for ours; it's more equitable, and gives us a starting point for the discussion. If you don't have enough information to form an opinion, by all means find some before posting.

- Don't quote the entire message that you're responding to. It's extremely annoying to see another person’s 20 line post quoted in entirety with only the comment, "I agree," or something similar added by the quoter at the end. When using the quote button to reply to posts, delete the text that is not relevant to the comments that you are going to make. You can edit the text in the "Original Post to Quote" box.

- Read the forum descriptions for you to know where to post a topic. If you can't find a place in any of the forums to post your thread, then post in "Open Section". An admin or mod will decide where it should be put.

- If you find it easier to express yourself Nihonggo de, en Français, auf Deutsch, en Espanol, in Italiano, or any other language, you can do so, just insert the English translation in [] or ().

NEW RULE: Updated Occasionally

Fame System

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Fame system is for fame...duh

You can raise someone's fame by pressing the "+" sign on someone’s='s post.

"-" can be used to defame someone.

Do not ABUSE the Fame/Reputation system:

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The fame system should not be abused in any way.
The fame system is used to recognized someone who is helpful/disrespectful to the community
Any abuse of this fame system will result in a warning or ban

No Sticky Caps

TyPiNg LyK dIs= Ban or Warning

Do not Steal.

If you see Avas/Sigs that are sold, don't you ever right click and save the image. If we caught you doing this (via seeing your sigs and avas) we will ban you immediately.

Please send me/us a private message if you have any questions.

How do you get a warning?

Read this thread over here: Warning System

-The Lounge Team