Site Rules; New Members, Read This!

Welcome to Nightmare Forums. Here it is the staff's mission to make sure that you, the member, have a friendly, pleasant place to post, chat, and the like. To make sure the site is kept up to this standard, there are a set of rules that must be followed. The purpose of this thread is to state these rules so that you may be informed as to what you can and cannot do and to keep the quality of the site in check. The rules will be organized by General Site Rules, Chat Rules, and Forum Rules. General rules apply to the entire site and will not be posted in Chat or Forum Rules sections.

With the addition of warning bars, each rule will now have the amount of stages your warning bar will drop when that rule is broken. [Ban] means it will result in an instant ban, except in the case of chat rules, in which [Banned from chat] means exactly what it sounds like. [Added 6/15/2012]

Unless permabanned, your warning bar will go back up to full in one month. If you already have some lowered, it will stay that way for a month starting today. [Added 8/7/2012]
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DISCLAIMER: NOT READING THESE RULES IN THEIR ENTIRETY AND THEN VIOLATING ONE OR MORE OF THEM WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS AN EXCUSE FOR DOING SO. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP UP WITH ANY SORT OF UPDATES TO THE RULES. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW DOES NOT GRANT YOU THE RIGHT TO BREAK IT.


1. GENERAL RULES
1.1- Spamming [1]
1.2- Flaming [2]
1.3- Trolling [3]
1.4- Dual-Accounting [Varies]
1.5- Harassment [Ban]
1.6- Exploiting Site Glitches [Ban]
1.7- Posting in a Foreign Language [1]
1.8- Harmfully Impersonating Other Members [2]
1.9- Mini-Modding [2]
1.10- Advertising (Updated 1/21/2012) [Ban]
1.11- Posting/Discussing Pornographic Material (Updated 1/21/2012) [3/2]

2. CHAT RULES
2.1- Directly Posting Images/Videos [1]
2.2- Overusing Emotes [Kick, Ban from Chat, 1]
2.3- Overusing Markup [Kick, Ban from Chat, 1]
2.4- Harmfully Arguing with Another Member [Warn, Kick, Ban from Chat, 2]

3. FORUM RULES
3.1- Posting on the Wrong Section [1]
3.2- Bumping "Dead" Threads [1]
3.3- Posting a Topic That Already Exists [1]
3.4- Double Posting [1]

4. COPYRIGHT

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1. GENERAL RULES

1.1: Spamming

SPAM, or Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages, are exactly what they sound like. The following can be considered SPAM:

1. Repeatedly posting something
2. Making a post that adds nothing to the topic
3. Making a thread that has nothing to do with the section
4. Posting in such a thread
5. Any other type of replying to spam

1.2: Flaming

Flaming is personally attacking a user for something they posted or other various purposes. If you see this, please do not respond with other hurtful comments. Simply report it to the staff privately.

1.3: Trolling

Trolling is the use of offensive comments in order to draw attention or start an argument. These are generally considered more offensive and aggressive than flaming, and may also apply to larger groups of people (i.e. racism). The staff also holds the right to judge whether or not a post was meant to troll others. Just like if you see flaming, please do not respond to it, as this will give the troll satisfaction. Just report it to the staff.

1.4: Dual-Accounting

Dual-Accounting is holding two or more accounts on the site simultaneously. The staff can very easily check to see if you have more than one account. This rule also includes using multiple accounts to bypass bans. If more than one account is found, the secondary (and other accounts if necessary) will be deleted.

1.5: Harassment

We will not tolerate other members being harassed. If a member asks you to not contact them, please respect their request. Making harassing comments of a sexual nature meant to make someone else feel uncomfortable or offended will also not be tolerated. Threats also fall under this rule.

1.6: Exploiting Site Glitches

If you find some sort of glitch in the site, please report it to the staff immediately. If you are found exploiting it for your own gain, or telling other members about it, you will be subject to consequences.

1.7: Posting in a Foreign Language

Nightmare Forums is a board that uses English and English only. Please do not make posts in a different language. Using l33t speak and the like is also forbidden.

1.8: Harmfully Impersonating Other Members

Pretending to be another member in order to harm them in some way is not welcome here. Impersonating staff with the purpose of misleading others will face heavy consequence.

1.9: Mini-Modding

Mini-Modding is behaving as though you have the authority of a staff member. We ask that you do not try to correct other's behavior and let the staff take care of that. If you feel someone is in violation of the rules, please do not state that they are doing so, but rather, let the staff know. We will keep your reports private.

1.10: Advertising (Updated 1/21/2012)

You are not allowed to make threads or posts promoting a site, product, or otherwise. Open discussion on products is fine, but coming off as though you are trying to sell it will be in violation of this rule. Posting links to other sites (mainly as an opening post in a thread) for the purpose of advertising will result in the link being removed. You may, however, post such links in signatures.

1.11: Posting/Discussing Pornographic Material (Updated 1/21/12)

The majority of this site is minors, so please do not post any pornographic material of ANY KIND. Not obeying this rule will result in major consequences. Discussing pornography is also forbidden.

2. CHAT RULES

2.1: Directly Posting Images/Videos

Posting images and the like directly onto chat causes it to lag up, so we ask that you refrain from doing it. Posting links to images and videos are fine as long as they follow site rules, as are spoiler tags. The one exception to this rule is during Trivia Night, since it's a fun routine event and not being able to directly post the trivia images could cause unfairness in the game.

2.2: Overusing Emotes

While the emotes in chat are there for you to use, we ask that you please not overuse them. Quite frankly, it comes off as annoying to the majority of members.

2.3: Overusing Markup

Markup is the codes that can be used to manipulate certain things, such as giving something a certain color, scrolling, italics, and the like. Overusing it can be distracting and make it harder to read, and, like overusing emotes, can be annoying.

2.4: Arguing with Another Member

This really applies to other Flaming/Trolling rules, but I'm going to address it here because it can easily happen in chat. Please don't get into any arguments with other members. It throws off the chat and usually accomplishes nothing. If you have beef with someone, you can either discuss your problems out civilly or avoid them completely.

3. FORUM RULES

3.1: Posting on the Wrong Section

While everyone can make mistakes when it comes to posting something in the right section, repeatedly doing so will put you in violation of this rule. We ask that you carefully consider what section your topic belongs in in order to keep the forums nice and organized.

3.2: Bumping "Dead" Threads

When looking through a thread, it is a good idea to check the timestamp on the last post in it that shows what date it was made on. If discussion hasn't taken place in the thread for months, please don't post on it. Repeatedly doing this will result in consequences.

3.3: Posting a Topic That Already Exists

Self-explanatory. If you want to make a topic, check to make sure there isn't already a reasonably recent thread with that same topic. However, if the thread is so old that posting in it would put you in violation of bumping, feel free to make your own topic.

3.4: Double posting

Please, please, PLEASE do not double post without a valid reason.(and if you do, make sure you tell us you acknowledge the double post) Not only is it annoying, but it makes an extra post in which clogs up the user forum space, which in turn, can look unprofessional. Instead, try to take the 2 thoughts you have, and put them into 1 post. (If you already posted, use the Edit Button which all members have power to use on their on posts.)

4. COPYRIGHT (ADDED 2/19/2012)

This document may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, on any website or other media publicly without advance written permission by its owner (buckthefuffalo of nightmare.forumotions.net). Use of it on any website or as part of a public display is strictly prohibited and a violation of copyright.

This document is copyright © buckthefuffalo of nightmare.forumotions.net 2011-2012.

Any persons who disobey the above conditions shall be punished to the full extent of the law.

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DISCLAIMER #2: THE STAFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DEEM WHETHER A POST WAS IN VIOLATION OF SITE RULES.

Rules have been updated to include warning bar information. Read up to learn more!