Forum Guidelines

[Bear]

The following Guidelines and Expectations are required reading for all members. They outline a set of rules and expectations which must be followed on the Amtgard.ca Forums. No set of guidelines can possibly be 100% complete however, and the Amtgard.ca staff reserves the right to modify or delete any post for any reason. Conversely, every rule has exceptions, and breaking a Forum guideline does not guarantee Administrator action. Chances are if your post has disappeared, you will have a PM in your mailbox because you've inadvertently violated one of the following:

1) Treat each other with respect. This can't be over-stressed. Intelligent criticism from an informed position is encouraged, but cut-downs and sarcasm are not. Preview your post before you submit it. Is it possible the other person will be insulted or will misunderstand your points? If so, edit it. If you're too irritated to think straight, come back and post later when you're feeling more diplomatic. Remember, our foremost goal as a community is to help each other improve, not to set up "pecking orders" or show off our superior intelligence/understanding/martial prowess. A little bit of humility in your posts goes a long way towards getting folks to listen to what you have to say: remember, many of the folks reading your posts have been playing for a darn long time and know their stuff.

2) Post with substance or not at all. This site is paid for and maintained entirely by volunteers, and no Amtgard-related funds are used in any way. Every post you make, we pay for out of our own pockets, and out of our own time. Make our investment in the community worthwhile by only posting when you have something of substance to contribute. "Shoutin' out to my peeps." doesn't cut it. "Goldenvale sucks." also doesn't cut it. Use the clearest language you can and be sure to check and re-check your spelling.

2a) "Substance" includes proper spelling, punctuation and grammar. Obviously we all make occasional mistakes, and allowances will be made for non-English speaking members and members with disabilities who make a reasonable effort to post well. However, unreadable or very poorly-written posts will not be accepted from anyone. Also, do not write entire posts in color, bold, capital letters or italics. These tools should only be used for emphasis, NOT entire posts.

3) Stay on topic. An off-topic post that starts with "sorry to go off-topic" doesn't cut it. It's a distraction to those who are trying to discuss a particular concept or idea. If you have something off-topic that you MUST say, start a new thread elsewhere. Be sure that your new thread follows the Member Guidelines and Expectations.

4) Be ethical. We occasionally use polls to get information about the community, and to gauge where the majority of us stand on an idea. These polls are not contests, they are a chance for all of us to find out the opinions of our entire community. On this same note, any software has vulnerabilities, including this forum. Manipulating the results of polls, or manipulating this forum in any way is not only grounds for immediate lifetime banning, it's also really pathetic behavior.

[Elm]

Howdy everyone, along with Bear above I am the other Forum Admin.  In the time that I've been on these boards I've had to deal with less issues than I can count on one hand, so you definitely needn't worry about any undue censorship or moderation here.  The above rules are fairly simple and easy to follow, the main one that I'd like to stress the most is to be respectful - we're all working toward a common goal here, to have fun playing Amtgard, so let's make sure that remains our focus.

Thanks!