Panini reporting in with another announcement concerning our forum's rules.

No, I'm not here to announce a new rule - Rather I'm here to help clarify some boundaries and illustrate how we will enforce a couple of our rules from now on. We're hoping this should explain why some things are accepted despite the rules stating otherwise. I'll go over the following rules:


Off-topic posting and thread derailing will not be tolerated.

We consider this a minor offense now. Actually, we'll be pretty lenient on small tangents and the like. This doesn't mean that you're free to go on tangents and discuss off-topic subjects on a whim though. If a moderator makes a post to stay on topic, you will comply. And if we notice you have a habit contributing to thread derailment, you'll also be on thin ice.

Spam and advertising is forbidden.

The only real changes worth mentioning here is that we won't punish you for things like "unsubstantial posts" and reaction images. You're allowed to have a sense of humor so go ahead and post that image I've seen a fajillion times by now.

What we won't allow are the obvious annoyances like

As for advertising - It's mostly the same. Keep it in your signature, and things like videos, music, and other media can be posted in The Studio. It's really not that difficult to post a link in your signature. Just be sure what you're advertising is forum appropriate (meaning no shock sites). We're also okay with raising awareness to fundraisers and charity websites, but if we find that the legitimacy of the site happens to be faulty - Expect us to pay you a visit.

Discussion of Religion is not allowed at all.

Currently, we're prohibiting Nintendo 3DS and PSP Vita comparison threads, but allowing people to post news about both devices. We'll do the same with religion... to some extent.

Basically, what we don't want are comments making judgements on religions. You can express your religion, make direct quotes to certain religious texts, and make a few allusions, but that is where we'll draw the line. Cross that line and you'll be warned. Ignore the warning, and you'll be met with a harsher consequence.

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And that will be all for now. Feel free to ask me any more clarifying questions.

Thanks, that's very clear. I appreciate the time you guys so generously invest in keeping this place a haven of sanity among the bizarre intarwebz.

I'm glad religion isn't as much of a no-no anymore. Are we going to be getting these for the rest of the rules too?

Don't get me wrong - The religion rule is still pretty much the same. Only change is that moderation has actually discussed with each other and come to some whole understanding as to what they believe a "religious discussion" consists of and why we have the rule up in the first place.

As for the other rules, we'll get to them if we feel anything needs to be worked on. The three above definitely needed some clearing up, so we discussed those for some time. For the time being, moderation will handle the other rules the same way as they've done in the past.

lol XD


^That's what you meant by the quote, right?
Again, good explanations Panini.

"Unsubstantial posts?"

If you've never been infracted or warned for that, I suppose it'd make sense for you to not understand what that means. We usually categorize an unsubstantial post as something like

This isn't to say that you'll get off free if your last ten or so posts are all like that. We do appreciate, at least, some effort in your posting. I do believe the character limits were set so that members would at least construct some thoughtful messages in their posts. Unfortunately, members tend to bypass that through various methods.

Still we'll allow super short posts and the like. Just don't make it a habit.

Sounds reasonable to me. No religious debate? Eh... I can live with that. It's nice to see the rules loosened a little at any rate.

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Glad to see stuff being made clearer. Just Wish I had a coppy of the rules in unown pokemon characters. Gotta catch em all ya know.

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