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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Rules of the Jedi Council Forums

Discussion in 'Rules & Announcements' started by rhonderoo, Jul 17, 2007.

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  1. rhonderoo

    rhonderoo Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 7, 2002
    TheForce.net Rules for the Jedi Council Forums
    Rules of the Forums

    Before registering your account, please note that any usernames deemed inappropriate with respect to the following guidelines can and will result in an automatic ban and a mandatory username change.​

    Spoilers
    1. A spoiler is any piece of information relating to a future Star Wars publication or production that has not been officially released by Lucasfilm, Ltd. or one of its affiliates.
    2. The posting of spoiler materials outside of designated spoiler areas is absolutely prohibited. This policy may vary slightly from forum to forum. Spoilers cannot be included in a post, profile, avatar or signature. Check each individual forum's rules for further details.
    3. In general, when dealing with spoilers, err on the side of courtesy. If you would like to talk about a movie, book, etc. without tags then make a thread for it and clearly mark it as having spoilers. The rest of the time please use tags (see below) even if it's older published material. Blatantly obvious material, e.g. "Rosebud," the Titanic, doesn't require spoiler tags.
    4. To mark material as spoiler: either use [spoiler]spoiler text here[/spoiler] or [hl=black]spoiler text here[/hl].
    Graphics, Images and NSFW
    1. No "Not Safe For Work" ("NSFW") material. NSFW is defined as anything that most people would not want seen by their bosses or would otherwise violate either a MPAA PG-rated film or a workplace employee handbook. This includes, but is not limited to, goatse, tubgirl, victim pics, etc.
    2. Do not post links to content that is considered NSFW. This place is geared toward "family-friendly," meaning that there are children that post here as well as adults.
    Drugs and Alcohol

    Promoting alcohol/tobacco use for minors is disallowed. Any posts deemed inappropriate regarding alcohol or drugs will be moderated appropriately. Posting while under the influence is also discouraged, as it can lead to inappropriate posting, which will be moderated appropriately as well.​

    Piracy, Bootlegging and Plagiarism
    1. Linking to, mentioning or requesting underground sites, pirate sites, etc. to get copyrighted materials is prohibited. Discussion of widely-known, established filesharing services (such as uTorrent) or websites (Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents) is also not acceptable. Discussion of legal ways for "fair use" of currently owned, copyrighted material is allowed in the proper forum however.
    2. No warez. Do not use these forums to swap/sell/buy illegal software (or other illegal materials) or even to arrange swapping. Please note that no LucasArts software is considered "abandonware" and is considered bootlegging and/or piracy if you acquire it illegally. "Abandonware" itself is a legally dubious status in general, and consequently may be subject to removal.
    3. Plagiarism, especially in Fan Fiction, is not allowed. This includes (but isn't limited to) writing, drawing, costuming and prop design. For a clear idea of what we're talking about, please refer to Indiana University's School of Education.
    4. Posting, using, linking to or discussing hacked and/or privileged JC information (including but not limited to Mod Squad threads/information) will likely result in a long-term ban.
    Posting Rules and Regulations
    1. No hate speech. Hate speech is defined as any post that attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as gender identity, ethnic origin, religious affiliation or lack thereof, race, disability, genetic attribute, or sexual orientation.
    2. No swearing in threads, and all profanity must be completely starred out (i.e. "****", not "****"). The general rule of thumb is: "if you have any doubt, star it out." Generally, as long as you use common-sense you shouldn't ever run into a problem with swearing. Please see this thread for further details: Official Profanity and Disallowed Words List
    3. No spamming threads. If you have nothing to contribute with your post, please find another thread.
    4. No excessive thread bumping or necroposting. Thread bumping is defined as posting in a dead or rarely used thread in order to bring it back to the top of the list. Some bumping is normal as new information for discussion may have arisen, but if there's nothing new to contribute it will be considered spamming.
    5. No soliciting. Any posts that can be viewed as advertising bots will be handled appropriately.
    6. No posting on behalf of someone who's banned. The point of being banned is that the user is no longer a part of this online forum community and is no longer allowed to interact here. Please note: Contacting the JC staff for information on the ban is perfectly fine, either for the banned user or someone on their behalf but on the other hand, the staff member in question is under no obligation to provide any information to anyone except the banned user.
    7. No making threads that give glory to banned people. It's not a violation to mention them in passing but no threads that focus on them. (e.g. "Ah, YodaOfTheSith, I miss him so!" "or Hey, it's YodaOfTheSith's birthday!").
    8. Baiting or intentionally stirring up other users isn't allowed. Debates are fine, but argue with the point, not the person. Threads with no purpose other than flaming, subtle or otherwise, will be closed. It's important to remember, however, that a person disagreeing with your opinion is *not* trolling. Try to keep it civil even if you're sure the other person is wrong.
    9. No troll/flame sock posting. Gimmick or humor sock posting is okay, but evil sock posting (ban circumvention, flaming someone "anonymously," parodying another user, etc.) is not allowed. Please note, this also includes creating socks to flame yourself as well as others. Any inappropriate sock usage can lead to a ban on both the sock and the main user account.
    10. No threads devoted to competitor websites and forums. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and check with the administration before starting your thread.
    11. Do not attempt to correct a poster as if you were a Moderator. Being helpful is fine and community is encouraged, but if you have a problem with a post, contact a Moderator via PM rather than attempting to "fix" the situation yourself.
    12. The rules for signatures are as follows: Linking is allowed, as long as the link doesn't lead to a site that requires age verification (such as alcohol-related ones) or to TOS-unfriendly content (e.g. inappropriate images, types of fan fic that wouldn't be allowed in the Fan Fic forums.). Manual signatures are allowed. Signatures must also follow the general rules and guidelines as posts do.
    13. Please do not direct-link to any photos that aren't a) hosted on your own storage or b) from a major site (HuffPo, CNN.com) or c) from another site that's said it's okay (e.g. a dedicated picture site). Bandwidth leeching can happen, so please respect the smaller sites by linking via the url feature rather than the img feature. Direct linking URL's are always fine, so long as they conform with the other rules of the Jedi Council. (NOTE: Online comic sites [e.g. Dilbert, Penny Arcade, etc.] prefer links to the whole comic page, rather than just the comic itself.) And, as always, please remember that you are responsible for your own image linkings if the pics get switched on you. The JC Administration reserves the right to remove image links upon request from the owner of a linked site.
    14. You are not allowed to post another user's visual or auditory information (e.g. image, voice, etc.) or any other personal information (e.g. real name, adress, social media profiles, etc.) on the JC without that user's express consent.
    15. Private conversations are just that: private. They may not be reposted without the express permission of the sender. Private conversations may be reposted by members of the Administration in private forums without permission for official purposes.
    16. Private conversations are held to the same standards as normal posts, and are not exempt from the rules. While we do not perform random checks of private conversations, moderators have the ability to check private conversations when there is a report. Any rule violations in private conversations that result in complaints may led to administrative action against the sender. Also, the contents of your profile should follow the rules of the Jedi Council forums.
    17. Account sharing is only allowed under special circumstances and must have prior approval from an administrator. Any violation that occurs on a shared account will be shared by all parties using the account.
    18. User death threads are prohibited unless approved by the Administration. If you believe that a user here has died, you must contact a member of the Administration and get approval. Once you have approval, you may start your thread. Any threads started without approval will be locked immediately.
    Bans and Moderator Interaction
    1. Bans can come in, essentially, three levels.
      • Short Term Bans, which means you did something to earn you a vacation from the forum, but nothing so bad you need an indefinite ban. These run anywhere from a day to a matter of months and shorter bans tend to turn into longer bans for repeat offenders. Posting with a sock during a ban will increase the ban duration.
      • Indefinite Bans, which means you've broken the rules enough that you're banned until we think it's time for you to come back. Constantly asking about when you can come back will not help your case, though the occasional check-in every three months isn't out of line. Posting with a sock will turn it into a permanent ban.
      • Permanent Ban, which means that you're gone for good. Sock posting to revisit will be considered spam and may result in the JC administration contacting your ISP and reporting it as such.
      Also, some games on the Jedi Council Forums will result in a day-long ban as a part of playing (and not winning) the game. These will always be noted in the rules and you may always post as a sock during the duration of a game-related ban for your main username.
    2. If you have been permanently banned from this forum on any previous or current user name, you are not allowed to come back.
    3. If you're banned and if you're not sure why, post in the Unban Request forum or start a private conversation a Moderator and the staff will make every effort to explain it to you. The preferred method of contact is through the Unban Request forum. PMs should only be used if there are problems with receiving responses to your Unban Requests. Unban requests must also follow the general rules and guidelines as any other posts do.
    4. You can appeal any ban if you think it's unjust by writing the moderator who unbanned you by either using the Unban Request forum or by starting a private conversation using a sock. If you believe that the moderator who banned you has abused his or her power in any way, you may contact the Head Admin of the Jedi Council Forums to lodge a complaint about the moderator via the private conversation feature. Once a decision has been made, please do not continue to argue the decision as it may lead to an increased ban duration. Further information about our official Moderator Complaint Resolution Process may be found here. It is preferred that all users contact moderators through the Unban Request forum unless there are technical reasons that require otherwise.
    5. If you're banned, you are not allowed to make or use any other accounts for posting or private messaging other users. All bans are by the person, not just by the account. Circumventing a temporary ban *will* extend the ban or make it indefinite. However, it is always permissible to contact a member of the administration with a sock if you are banned. Once a Moderator informs you that no further discussion will be allowed on the subject of your banning however, further communication may be construed as spamming and subject to further disciplinary action.
    6. Don't make the Moderators' jobs harder than they have to be. If you disagree with something they did as Moderators, then disagree and let them know, but do it politely. In the same vein, purposely skirting rules just to see if you "can get away with it" may lead to disciplinary action as well.
    7. The names of those who are banned, the reason for the ban, and duration of the ban will not be discussed with anyone except the person who was banned.
    8. The Administration is the final arbiter of all rules.
    Moderator Expectations

    Here is what you can and should expect from the staff members of the Jedi Council Forums:
    1. Moderators are expected to be held to a higher-standard than regular users. Whereas a regular user might get a warning (or not) for a particular post, the same post from a staff member might get a private message from an Administrator.
    2. Moderators should be familiar with the forum(s) they moderate. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding a particular forum, any of the moderators there should be your primary point of contact.
    3. Moderators are expected to respond in a timely fashion to Unban Requests. If after 24-hours of submitting one, you do not receive a response, please contact an Administrator who will investigate for you. Moderators are permitted to unban users without having first received an unban request; however, it is our general policy to wait for the banned user to file a request, particularly if the ban is longer than 24 hours.
      Please note as well that there will be times when the banning moderator is not online to process an unban right when the time expires. If the banning moderator has not processed the unban within 12 hours after the expiration of your ban period, please contact an Administrator who will investigate for you.
    4. Moderators are generally expected to not reveal who the owner of a sock is without the permission of the sock, unless it's the sock of a known serial troll. Moderators are permitted to say that a user is a sock without revealing who it is.
    5. Moderators are chosen by the Mod Squad as a whole. Generally if open positions are announced, it is by the Forum Moderators. If you would like to nominate someone to become a Moderator for a particular Forum, wait until such an opening is announced (or note when someone is retiring) and send a private message to a remaining Forum Moderator regarding your suggestion. Do not post a thread about it, either in that forum or JC Communications.
    6. If a moderator’s performance is deemed lacking or there is a complaint lodged against a moderator (see policy here), the Administrators will investigate the pertinent issues together. Should such an investigation result in the needed demotion or banning of the moderator, the three administrators must be in agreement. The action of demoting or banning a moderator should be performed by the Head Administrator but, in the event of an urgent situation, one of the other administrators, or a Fan Force administrator, may perform the demotion or banning.
    Last Word

    Finally, use common sense. This is a long list of rules, but they're here for a reason. The nutshell version of the above is "Be nice, don't curse, don't pirate and don't post NSFW material." Not everything that may occur is covered by the rules above, and the staff of the JC will use their own common sense in enforcing both the rules and situations not covered above, but in general -- as long as you follow the rules you should be just fine.​

    Revised on Jan 31st, 2015: JoinTheSchwarz, LAJ_FETT, Ramza
     
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