Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives ::

Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives
Message board

FAQ

Memberlist

Board Rules

Profile

Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives Forum Index

"Why Do You Have This Many Fucking Rules?"

In order to keep this board from becoming a complete cesspool, the board admin Esoteric wrote these down. If you want the short version of the rules, here it is: DON'T BE A DUMBFUCK. If you want to know the specific ways in which you should not be a dumbfuck, read on.

Back to top

I. The Stuff That Should Be Obvious

A. By signing up for this board, you are stating that you are mature enough to handle what might show up on this board. This board is aimed primarily at older teenagers and adults, so you’re likely to see any amount of weird shit on this board. This board is not intended for anyone under the age of 13 or anyone that is easily offended.

B. The decisions of message board moderators are final and not up for debate. A moderator’s decision can only be overturned by the moderator that made it, an admin, or in a pinch, a consensus of mods. If you feel that a moderator has REALLY stepped out of line, feel free to talk to the moderator or an admin. Spamming the message board with “Boris sucks” or “Fuck Esoteric” will hurt you way more than it will help you.

C. The moderators are generally all fun-loving people who do not take their power too seriously, and so they may overlook an offense or two (especially if you’re a valuable contributor to discussion). But don’t press your luck. Hassling a moderator is a good way to get yourself banned.

D. If a user gets out of hand in any way, for any reason, the admins reserve the right to revoke their posting privileges or impose some other punishment.

E. If you are being a dumbfuck, then the moderators and admins can pretty much do whatever they like to you. So if you have a hankering for dumbfuckery, don't be suprised if you suddenly see your title changed to something embarrassing, or the titles of all your threads changed to "BAN ME."

F. You do not always get warned before action is taken. These rules are now in writing, and you are expected to know what they are and follow them. Most of the rules are just common sense anyway, so why not save us all a headache and take a minute to learn them?

Back to top

II. Language/Flames

A. Profanity is allowed. Keep in mind, though, that using far more profanity than is needed is likely to get you mocked mercilessly.

B. On a related note, flame wars are also permitted if they are interesting or entertaining. Keep in mind, though, that a moderator can shut down any and all flame wars at his or her own discretion, especially if it’s degraded to no more than stupid name-calling.

C. Also related to profanity, hate speech (racism, et al) that is not an obvious joke is frowned upon. It may be permitted to an extent, but a mod can also take action if it gets out of hand. This is a Heavy Metal board, not the Bigots Circle Jerk board.

D. We welcome the free exchange of speech and opinions, and encourage discussions and debate. However, outright political propaganda will NOT be tolerated. (Also, see the rule above.)

Back to top

III. Images

A. There are image and smilie restraints on this board to prevent image flooding. Even so, please do not use buttloads of images. You’ll only piss off the powers that be.

B. Posting images of porn/gross shit for no good reason will a) piss off the moderators, b) get your post deleted, c) get you banned if you keep it up. This board is meant for older users, but it’s not a fucking porn zone. Plus, anyone that wants to be cute and post old, tired grossout pics like Goatse or Tubgirl will be shown the door post haste.

C. Do not use images in your signature at all. Large, obtrusive ones are extremely annoying for the other posters, and clutter the pages. Very small icons or banners used to be acceptable, but even too many of those get annoying, and to avoid bitching at where to draw the line it's just simpler to forbid them altogether. Be warned that the board administrators (Morrigan, HellBlazer and Esoteric) can edit or delete your signature if they feel the need.

D. Signatures should not be longer than 4-5 lines of text.

Back to top

IV. ZERO TOLERANCE Policies (aka "Harassment and Really Stupid Shit")

A. Harassment of other users or moderators is not allowed. “Harassment” is NOT simply flaming or taking another user to task; it is following another user around with the sole purpose of causing more abuse (or anything else of that nature). Harassing other users can (and usually will) ultimately result in a ban from the board. Feel free to report instances of harassment, but if the mods find out you're crying wolf, YOU may be the one that gets banned!

B. “Really Stupid Shit” constitutes stuff that you can get in trouble with the law for; i.e. posting illegal material (NO WAREZ, et al), hacking, slander, death threats, and other such things. This will result in an AUTOMATIC BAN from the board, and the proper authorities will be notified if necessary. So just don’t do it.

C. Anyone caught instigating or participating in ANY activity that endangers the board, its moderators, or its users will be banned, and further action may be taken depending on circumstances. This covers activities such as attacking another board and claiming to be from here, inviting users from another board to attack or otherwise pollute this board, impersonating another board member on a different site, and other such things.

Back to top

V. Posting Etiquette

A. Do not flood the board. If you flood the board, you will be banned on sight.

B. Please don’t post more than one topic about the exact same thing (though exceptions can be made if the original thread is so long and stupid that a good reply would be lost). It will get deleted. Your response to an issue is seldom so clever that it warrants its own topic.

C. On the other side of the coin, do not drag up ancient topics. If a topic is several months old, then start a new one. Dredging up an old topic will get it locked or deleted, and you may get banned if you make a big habit of it.

D. Do not post stupid, one-word replies or clusters of inane topics to inflate your post count. This is a waste of bandwidth and is the forum equivalent of diarrhea. If you do this to inflate your post count, we will reset your post count, or better yet, delete your account and let you start all over from nothing.

E. Spamming is not tolerated anywhere else than in the appropriate Promotional Forum. If you have news that is metal-related or of pertinent interest to metal fans, then you can post it AS LONG AS YOU DON'T COVER THE BOARD WITH YOUR POSTS. If you have more than one thing to spam about, do it in one thread. Naturally, news and stuff is more readily accepted from people who are active contributors to the board. If we get the impression your account is mostly to advertise your product and spam the board, then get ready to kiss it goodbye.

F. Avoid posting anything about the TOPICS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE TO DEATH. Included, but not limited to: anything about Metallica, "Best/favourite [genre X] bands/albums/vocalists/guitarists/solos/riffs/etc (in short, anything that results in pointless lists that don't bring up any interesting discussion), suggesting things that have been suggested a million times before (SEARCH the S&C forum first), Priest vs Maiden. Depending on circumstances, these kinds of topics will get locked or deleted as soon as a mod sees it.

Back to top

VI. Being A Little Bitch (Or, Stuff That Doesn’t Really Fit Anywhere Else)

A. We try to facilitate an environment here that is free of little bitches (or, at the very least, has few little bitches). If your posts are almost uniformly unproductive/vulgar/useless, then we may take it upon ourselves to humiliate you, or trim the fat (i.e. you) from the board. And as a related tangent, gimmick accounts, no matter how amusing, are not a substitute for productive discussion and will be struck down unless they are either productive or damned hilarious.

B. Nobody likes a whiner or a drama queen (who love to pop up in the Reviews and Suggestions/Complaints boards). Especially not the moderators, who have to put up with all the whining on this board and then some. We tolerate dissension on this board as much as is reasonable, but keep in mind that everybody has a breakpoint!

C. It takes less than five seconds to review what boards there are and what they are used for. It takes less than one second to double check what board you are on. So do it! Make a habit of posting on the wrong forum and risk the wrath of the mods. Also, as a side note, just because a thread has the word "metal" in it doesn't mean it's fit for Metal Discussion (e.g. "Who's more metal, George Bush or Jacques Chirac?")...

D. Drumming up support for your cause (be it getting some band on the archives, or whatever) will usually do nothing more than irritate the people you’re trying to convince. These things are not a matter of popular opinion.

Back to top

All times are GMT - 5 Hours