General Etiquette Reminder

[Sapphire]

Hello all,

I've been a member of several forums which grew to be very large. I have left almost all those forums because, while they started out as really nice message boards with tight-knit groups of well behaved individuals having intelligent discussion, after a while an influx of less-than-well-behaved people started to join and cause tensions, which led to conflicts, flame wars and ultimately destroyed the board totally. Fortunately, Bwint hasn't suffered much of this, and I put that down to generally good netiquette and manners. All the same, I'm going to post the following few guidelines which, if you follow them, will hopefully work towards avoiding conflict.

Also, bear in mind that the rules are added to/elaborated upon/changed every so often, so it's a good idea to check them every once in awhile.


1.) READ the thread. There is nothing more annoying on a forum than someone posting a question or statement that contradicts or ignores the posts before it on the same thread. If you're unsure about something, CHECK to see if anyone has explained it in the thread, read the topic and stick to it. Think before you post: "Am I on topic?", "Is what I'm about to add to this discussion interesting and worthwhile?"

2.) Don't post for the sake of it. Post counts don't count on this forum. Don't add to a thread if you have nothing of worth to say. One word or one line posts like "Yeah I agree" or "I don't care" do not go down well. When people check the forum, they naturally check the threads with an orange cross beside them, which indicates a new message. They take the time and effort to do this to see what interesting input has been added to a thread they may be following. It is very irritating when that message is pointless.

3.) If you find you are continuously disagreeing with someone, STOP POSTING and change to private message. If the topic was about something general that you just happen to have a difference of opinion on, then feel free to state it, but if it starts to escalate into a conflict then take it outside. If you don't, not only will the conflict take over the thread, but it will make the board unpleasant and put others off posting. In some cases, like in the rant section, threads are posted in the nature of becoming debates. That's ok, so long as you respect the opinions of your fellow posters and don't contradict them just for the sake of it, with no information to back you up. Bigotry gets you in no ones good books.

And lastly, 4.) HEED the warnings of the mods. We're not here to be bullies or to make people feel intimidated. I guarantee you that if you check out forums on other large websites you will find that the moderators there are much stricter than we are. I've been on boards where they seem to have a draconian rule. We do not want that sort of atmosphere in the Intergalactic Highway. This is a place for you to have fun and chat among yourself about your favourite show and other things in the appropriate categories. However, to ensure this place stays a nice forum, we have to make sure people follow the rules and guidelines we set out. If you ignore these, and you ignore the repeated warnings of the mods (and we always give people a few chances) then you will be banned. It's as simple as that.

For general information on netiquette, click here: http://www.state.vt.us/srs/fcwc/netiquette.html