Welcome, one and all, welcome to the Kyhm boards.
First off, for the big-bandwidthed and short-attention spanned:
http://projectboil.pixel10.co.uk/posting/Posting.html
Anyways, these rules are mainly for the Unrelated Stuff board and the Errant Story board, as the other boards here have their own way of doing things, and tend to be a bit nicer and smaller. Please note though, these are not steadfast "rules," they're just general stuff that's considered standard protocol, stuff that's evolved on these boards.
Board Etiquette
In the Errant Story boards, we tend to make one thread per strip. Trust me, unless you stay up the night it updates, there probably will be a thread already up for it.
Also, we generally like to keep the Errant Story board about Errant Story. There's a section for unrelated stuff right
here.
Initiations: Ah, the subject of much debate here. Well, here's the way it actually is, regardless of
some might feel about it and wish it to be (and DNIs, etc.).
If we feel a n00b (and the title is not used insultingly) is acting stupid, or if some are just in a certain mood, occasionally said n00b is treated to an initiation. Initiations are supposed to be funny and amusing ways to humiliate the n00b in question, to test him out, but if genuine anger is aroused, occasionally they turn into pathetic, glorified flames. Nobody really appreciates the latter. A
few are humiliating AND hilarious. Some believe an initiation is something all n00bs should get unless they warrant something special (a sort of a welcoming the new guy), others believe it is a tool only to be used for the correction of stupidity. If initiated, a good idea would probably be to roll with it. It's generally not a sign we hate you; it's more of a welcoming thing. The people who have been on the board a while have earned respect (well, usually), but new people obviously haven't yet done so.
A DNI (or Do Not Initiate) is usually handed out only for exceptionally intelligent/witty behavior (which, knowing this board at times, is relative) or a gift of fanart/pr0n/both, and it entitles the n00b in question to the equivalent of an initiation, minus the humiliation, and plus some respect (depending on the reason for the DNI). Occasionally it will go out for some other reason (like the n00b in question having a friend on the boards), though whether this is justified, I don't know. There are a few other tags used for people (such as nFL or n00b For Life), but they are rare. The initiation is not unique to these forums, but I believe the DNI is. If people ignore you entirely in regards to the initiation, and you reach 100 or so posts (some quibble about the exact number, but it is about the time you have established your position in the boards, and can get rid of any initiations or DNI brands in your sig [though, of course, you're free to keep them]), you will have escaped through the what was once called Clever Git Clause (if you post intelligently enough to avoid initiations, but just barely not enough to get an automatic DNI) or the Lucky Git Clause (just barely avoiding an initiation worthy offense). Mentioning "Ha ha! I escaped initiation through the Clever Git Clause! You can't touch me!" though, will sorta nullify it.
Basically: people might mess with you a little since you're the new guy, just to get a feel for you. Don't mind it.
Adoption: Sort of like on the Something Awful forums...sometimes, someone will volunteer to be your "Forum Mommy," and basically do their best to act as a mentor to their adoptee. If you want one, just ask.
Editing: In some boards, you are allowed to edit your post. Unless it is edited before the thread is replied to, I suggest you add a reason for the editing (e.g. Edit: Spelling or 2nd Edit: Fixed link), just as a polite thing to do, because it
will be noted when and how many times you edit afterward,. You could just add whatever new stuff you need to put in after an edit tag (e.g. Edit: Whatever new stuff I need to add), as well. I tend to add italic tags around the edit tag and whatever is new (not including fixing spelling and/or grammar errors or changing something of what you already posted), but that is just my preference (some will use [size] tags, for instance). Also, edits are usually placed at the end of a message, though I can't see why anyone would mind otherwise (for instance, I doubt anyone minds me mentioning that this is now probably the Nth edit I’ve done, making this the N00b faq v1.8.1).
Entirely removing your posts via editing (i.e. leaving only blank space) after someone has replied to it is generally considered a major annoyance, and somewhat of a no-no.
Necromancy: Posting in a thread "bumps" it, or puts it at the top of the forum thread-list. Bumping a really old thread "revives" and "resurrects" it, thus why we call it "necromancy," or variations thereof. I can see no reason why one would have to revive a thread, and I doubt many others do, either.
Generally, if it's on another page, or more than a month or two old, it probably should left where it is.
Admins: Don’t piss ‘em off. They’re reasonable, and generally have a good reason when you piss ‘em off, seeing as this forum is almost entirely self-moderated.
For your reference, at the time of this post, current admins were: Krylex, GothAlice, and Kyhm.
Moderators:
Krylex wrote:
Ok, mods have been set for the outlying boards.
C_D is now our Roleplaying Moderator. It will be his job to make sure that things go smoothly over there and people coerce with one another in a proper fashion. I feel that one mod is satisfactory for the RP board so there is only one.
Rand and Ptlis are now are Debate Club moderators. I chose these two because they nominated themselves and I feel will be impartial. There are two mods, though, so that we have checks and balances in the debate situation. If one becomes involved in a debate, he is no longer responsible for moderating that portion. If one makes a controversial move, there is another to counter or concur with the action.
All three of them now do have the responsibility to check their boards often enough to keep up with whatever is going on. If they are unable or unwilling, then they should contact me and I will appoint a replacement. If abuse is found then the abuse will be investigated and disciplinary action will be taken.
As for the Unrelated board, I feel that a dedicated mod is unnecessary at this moment. I check the boards at least once daily and read nearly every post made. The mods in that board seem to have caused more problems than they have solved, so unless I become unable to keep the peace as an admin, there will be no dedicated mod.
Debate Club: Another board, in the community group. Basically, act intelligent, reasonable, and so on. Messing around in the debate club is frowned upon, and while humor is appreciated, we hold things to a much higher level and are not very forgiving of those not doing the same.
Other StuffPedants: They will correct you, by quoting you, with corrections (which will be bolded). It's funny.
Actions: Sometimes, a boardie will want to express that they are doing something. There are several ways to do this. One, enclose whatever action you take in asteriskes. *shows you (or Wolf, depending on if the subject is understood or not) example number one* Two, do the same, but include your own name. *Abunai shows you example number two* Three, use an IRC style /me. /me shows you example number three, which should probably be on its own line, like it would be in IRC, but whatever. You can replace the /me with your own name, too. /Abunai shows you example number four. Some would even omit the me/name entirely. Yay. I prefer the first two, myself.
BBCode. Like a board-only html. You can also SOME html, if you want (<br> tags and such are disabled for obvious reasons). <marquee></marquee> is a good example of what you
can do (and it isn't functioning right now because I clicked the little button at the bottom that appears when you're writing your post that says "Disable HTML in this post," right next to the "Disable BBCode," "Disable Smilies," etc. buttons). Alternately, I could use < and >, which would appear as < and >, respectively, without actually activating any html code.
For all you lurkers out there who haven't registered, and are reading this before you do: there's the name. Basically, the board is small enough that numbers after your name aren't required. Nor, for that matter, are underscores in place of spaces.
A lot of this board etiquette stuff can only be learned through experience, sadly. Lurking can help, but only so much. Just look at my early days (there's a handy dandy search feature if you'll notice) and you'll probably note quite a difference. Before, I was a n00bish, arrogant, stupid, postwhoring ass. Now, I'm just an arrogant ass.
You can make mistakes. You can screw up. Fix 'em, and move on. Worked for a number of people, including myself, and it's good life advice, too.
Also, a somewhat appropriate
link.
If you need help, feel free to PM me. If I'm on, I'll lend a hand.
Quote:
It doesn't give you a free ride, but I'm going to bet that you'll be better treated if you post here first, even if it's just a short "I have made the requisite post here. Go me." It's just sort of a hunch.
Now if only I could get this made a sticky.
For fun:
In 2002, Actor_au wrote:
Don't ever start a thread unless you got something really good to say that has no good place anywhere else.
If you have a legitimate question that has not been delt with before (look for them just go back a few days at most, the topics of available threads should help you) then ask, but try not to be L4me.
When initiated don't act like you are being picked on, everyone gets it at some stage.
You don't fight back at an initiation.
DNI means Do Not Initiate, if your lucky you get this.
Don't steal any Avatars, EVER.
Your first post should not be called 'FIRST POST!!!!1'
Don't post a title like 'You all suck my dick' only to have your first line be 'Just kidding!'.
Never ever ever ever ever call a Moggle a Pokemon ever.(My first post oops)
Don't suck up to Poe, we all like his work, thats why we read the comic, its preaching to the choir.
Don't beg Poe to bring back Bimbo & Ralph, we miss them but Poe is concentrating on this storyline because its his comic damnit.
Don't attack the other people, thehy are much better at flaming than you.
Troll is a bad tag, not a Goal.
Lurk for a little while goddamnit.
Edit your old posts, don't add new ones to the thread, its easier.
Don't try to jack your posts up by responding to everything unless you have something important to add.
'Fap fap fap fap fap fap fap' is allowed as a post, but not too much and only after some referance to Hentai or a nude Jordan strip.
Don't beg Poe for more Jordan pr0n, I think he knows its popular.
If your gonna start anywhere try the offtopic area. Its less easy to offend people that way.
No acting like a tool in Roleplaying(ie Killing everyone with a Nuke, stealing weapons talking for others etc)
No stealing weapons or other utilities in Roleplying(touch my Hawk Diana and I'll kill you all)
Chris likes B33r, give him B33r, lots of b33r.
Chris also likes Lesbians, with B33r, as does a large amount of the guys here.
Have fun, don't take yourself too seriously and you should survive.
Any more rulz that I don't know about? I am still kinda new here.
Don't start a thread as an annoying list, it looks tacky.... oh damn!