The Basic Rules

Rottweiler · The Basic Rules

Over time, your post count will increase and other members will respect you more. However, in order to increase your post count effectively, there are a few rules you need to follow.

It's pretty much just common sense stuff.

But first, the bad news. Get four warnings, and you're banned.

The only exception is spamming. If all four of your warnings are for spamming, you won't get banned, but you'll permanently be labeled a Spammer.

One-Warning Offenses

We'll usually be lenient to start with. Usually, you'll just get a reminder, which doesn't add to your warning count. But if you've already had one reminder, warnings start piling up. So it's best not to share your account.

Spamming. Spamming is any ineffective use of a post. In other words, it's just posting for the sake of posting. If you don't have anything useful or interesting to say, don't say anything at all. The only place where spamming is allowed is the Meh forum.
Poor citizenship. If you disagree with someone, there are good ways and bad ways of handling it. A good way is to discuss the matter civilly. A bad way is to call them names. A good way is to not take offense when you lose. A bad way is to storm off when you've been beaten. A good way is to talk it out one-on-one or take turns debating. A bad way is to get three or four friends and dogpile the person you don't like.
Graphic/offensive pictures/avatars. The first time you post a picture that isn't suitable for school or work, it'll get deleted and you'll get a reminder. After that, you'll get one warning each time you post one, and it'll still be removed. Try to not to post them in the first place.

Two-Warning Offenses

Commanding the Moderators and Admin. The Moderators and Admin are above you. It is they who decide who's right and wrong, not you. You say "ban this guy", they say "no", you say "now", you get two warnings. Do it again, you get banned.
Posting links to offensive sites. Really, don't do it. If you post a link with the intention of ticking someone else off, you'll get slapped with two warnings.
Flaming. Don't just post to insult someone. If you want people to recognize as a regular human being instead of some psychopath who gets his jollies from others' pain, then try to give a balanced point of view. You'll know flaming when you see it. It's all insult and no construction.
Trolling. This is also called flamebaiting. Do not post with the intention of inciting others to flame you. If the Mods or Admin feel this has been done, the topic will be locked, and you'll get hit with two warnings.

Three-Warning Offenses

Impersonation. If you create an account that looks like someone else's for the purpose of causing that person to lose favor in the eyes of the forum, you're not just wasting your time. When we catch you, we're sticking you with three warnings. So, if you happen to have a warning for spamming, well, those are the breaks. See ya.

Automatic Bans

Hacking. Forcing your way into someone else's account isn't just wrong. It's a good way to get the boot.
Cyber sex. If you don't know what it is, don't worry about it. If you do know what it is, it should be common sense not to do this on the forum.
Illegal activity. If you're using this forum as a meeting place for any kind of conspired crime, you'll get banned.
Ban Evasion. Don't create extra accounts just to get around bans. If you make a secondary account, don't be the same person as the one on your regular account. If we ban you, and you make another account, be somebody else! Don't make the same mistakes over and again. If you do this continually, we may have to ban your IP address...

And now the good news!

On the first of every month, if you've been a good little member, we'll take away a warning. However, you have to actually have been contributing. If you get banned for a month, you'll still have the same number of warnings you left with. Also, it has to be good contribution. You can't just interject a little nonsense here and there and expect us to yank a warning. Put some effort into it. Show us you've realized your mistake. And then we'll start pulling warnings off.

There are seven levels of Inventivity membership.

Level 1 Member (asterisks) - you're probably here
Level 2 Member (hearts) - 10+ posts
Level 3 Member (diamonds) - 25+ posts
Level 4 Member (clubs) - 63+ posts
Level 5 Member (spades) - 157+ posts
Master Member (stars) - 391+ posts
V.I.P. - 977+ posts

And now back to some other bad news.

There is a limit of 25 total warnings. This counts even those warnings that have been removed. If, for any reason, you hit 25 warnings, you're banned from the forum. At 22 warnings, you have permanent first-warning status. At 23 warnings, you have permanent second-warning status. And at 24 warnings, you have permanent third-warning status. Frankly, if you've accumulated this many warnings, you're probably only being good long enough to not get banned. It's a wonder it worked this long, but it can't last forever. 25 warnings, once again, is goodbye.

If you manage to accumulate 15 warnings for spamming alone, you gain permanent Spammer status no matter how many warnings you have.

But, wait! There's more good news!

The Moderators don't have the final say. The Administration does. That means that if you honestly believe you were wrongly stuck with a warning, you can try to get it repealed. Repealed warnings do not count toward your total warnings. In essence, it's like never being warned. This is your only recourse against rampant Moderators. Do not abuse it!

So, yeah, common sense stuff. It's really easy to not break these rules. So please don't, and we'll all get along fine.

Rottweiler

Here's an update (Oct. 30, 2007):

Multiple accounts are no longer against the rules. You don't even need my permission. However, using them to evade bans is. Read that part of the rules above (Automatic Bans: Ban Evasion) to find out more.