THIS POST IS (always) UNDER CONSTRUCTION

~ Maybe if I put this part first, it'll sink a little better: Non-mods are welcome to talk about this news post on my first entry, via PM or here.)

http://zerok.newgrounds.com/news/post/
2089 = First entry, in case you suck at navigating.
On a fun note, I've deleted probably 100 comments made for this news post.

~ Only comments by other mods on their policies or opinions will be accepted. Non-mods are welcome to talk about this news post on my first entry, via PM or here.) (Reiteration).

Since you can edit these news posts, I'm going to stick a list of all the phrases that I'm currently sticking a 3-7 day ban on. Chances are other mods are doing it too.

PHRASES/POSTS THAT WILL GET YOU BANNED

-Telling people to delete their system32: This is a little more serious than the bastardism where you tell someone Ctrl+W fixes shit. Though I am of the opinion that if you blindly do what strangers on the internet do tell you to do, then you deserve what you get. However, the types that get fooled by this are likely stupid little kids, and the computer that gets wrecked due to the action is probably not theirs that they purchased themselves. Now you can argue that the owner should be responsible for keeping their machine safe from idiots/kids/computer illiterates, but that's stretching it a bit; you can't possibly know under what conditions the gullible victim accessed the computer. SO, just... don't do it. Stick to more harmless trickeries if you REALLY feel the need to be a cackling internet prankster.

-[Adjective] [Noun] is [Adjective] posts. E.g. "Old thread is old." See: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/83 5091

-Links to myminicity. Or any kind of site that relies on people clicking your link in order for you to boost your stats on that particular site. It just begs for spam and misleading links.

Clone posting: Basically copying someone else's post exactly, in hopes of starting a large chain of these replies. [http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/8 10794]

Rape her (or any variant thereof): 7 days minimum. [http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/5 67730]

Do a barrel roll: 3-day minimum.

lol (and nothing else): auto 3 days.

Links to Rick Roll (either directly or related): 7 day minimum.

You should have grabbed _____ cock : 3 day minimum.

Reposting a given image in a PhotoShop thread, followed by some statement that says: "I made it _____": 3 day minimum. [http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/4 97755]

Nested quotes: 1-3 days. [http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/6 30336].

Creating an unoriginal parody thread: 3 days. [http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/6 43796 and http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/71 9003].

"I/we don't care" (or any variant thereof, including obvious sarcasm; e.g. "I care"): 3 days. TLDR posts are a close cousin to this one and will also get you 3 days.

FAIL pics or statements: 3 days.

"Pics or it didn't happen.": 3 days.

Rationale:

Some people tend to get all riled up when mods make a new thread announcing NEW RULES. They see it as just more things that us crazy "power" drunk asshats randomly decide that the users can't do.

Well as it turns out, a lot of these "new" rules are just the creation of a new bannable post. The only way posts become bannable is when the population of the BBS decides that it's trendy to post these things, whenever possible. They're often kind of funny at first, and a lot of them do indeed die off on their own. However, some do catch on, and it's our job as your BBS mods to prevent them from becoming an epidemic. If we allowed the phrases to run rampant, 50% of all posts would be someone spamming 'em. It's a pretty simple process.

SOME BASIC POLICIES

These are MY policies. They do not completely reflect the attitude of any other mod or the team as whole. Different mods, different attitudes. However I am certain that the team as whole would judge these policies as being within reason.

Deleting and Locking stuff:

When I'm in modding mode, I am attracted to brand new topics, or topics with very little posts. I go into these topics and make the major decisions based on the very first , opening post. Things will get deleted if they violate the ol' golden rule: Before posting a topic, please ask yourself the following question: "Am I making a post which is either funny, informative, or interesting on some level?" If you can answer "yes" to this, then please post. If you cannot, then refrain.

Now I don't filter crap out based on if it is interesting to me. I filter it based on whether or not it is interesting to ANYONE. Now you might make the argument that technically, out of everyone everywhere, you'll find a person who is interested in [insert topic here]. But, I base it on how topical the subject is. How much actual discussion will occur in the next hour. If I can reasonably predict that the next 6 posts will be a mix of one-line attempts at wit, irrelevant spam and flames, then BAM it's gone. This topic here is full of examples.

I will usually lock if a topic is larger, and the reason for halting discussion needs to be explained. Sometimes I wont be entirely clear in my lock message, as I assume it's fairly obvious. Of course you can PM me if you need clarification. Why not just delete these threads? Well sometimes they actually have a bit of substance in 'em. Two or three nice posts that don't deserve to be deleted, or something like that.

Threads I will lock/delete 99% of the time:

-iSketch threads: With this new topic http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/86 4127 the need for them or bumping old ones is nil. Not that there was ever a need for making them after the first 100 or so were made, but now it's all packaged nicely.

-Threads about '08 users or any other user "group." This one's something that I started doing recently. I don't think I'll publicize it, except for here. Mostly because no one really cares. No one will miss these threads; all that goes on in them is pissing, whining, not caring, and a few posts pissing and whining about the pissing and whining. SO. I'm just deleting them on sight, regardless of how big they get (I do look through 'em to make sure there isn't any massive piles of comedic gold getting destroyed in the process; none so far). Dunno if any other mods are deleting these, but I don't think it's something that needs a lot of discussion.

- This-or-that topics. Otherwise known as a "forced choice" topic. The OP (Original Poster) asks a question and gives you some options. It's essentially a poll, and there's no discussion to be easily had, and if someone tries to start up a discussion, they have to rely on someone else catching on to it and furthering it. And then these two have to maintain the discussion amid 25 "this!" or "that!" posts. Too sloppy, too spammy.

- Topics about: Runescape or eBaumsWorld. It's some sort of unwritten rule that to be part of the NG community that you have hate these sites. This is partly due to the bandwagoning of ranting and bitching about them. So now, unless the topic has some serious discussion and rationale for being about the listed sites, they'll just be removed without hesitation because they are simply flamebait.

- Topics about an image that you found online.

- Stat topics. These are just not allowed. You might even get slapped with a ban. Stats include everything from sign up date and post count to sticker orders and # of favourite flash. If you want to discuss stats, do it here: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/33 159

- Relationship topics. Anything to do with your romantic life, your inability to attract a mate, your issues with your significant other... unless it is rivetingly original and has some solid credibility, post it HERE: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/18 0360.

- Topics about religion. It seems every cynical nerd feels they have to strongly voice the same ol' shit over and over and over and over and over. Trolls love to overplay devil's advocate, and the people who are at peace with their religion or lack thereof grind their teeth. Unless your topic about religion is somehow a revelation (which it wont be), just... don't post it.

- Topics that ask for or display lists. If you've seen me around on the BBS, you've probably seen me lock many a topic with the message: "Lists do not make for good topics" or something like that. Well, it's true. They don't. If you want to list things, do it on your userpage. Simple.

- Favourite _____ topics. mightypotato there reminded me of this one ages ago and I've just sort of neglected to "officially" list here. Oops. Threads that ask you state your favourite [_____] are generally disallowed since they're a close cousin to list and this-or-that topics. It should be noted that few of the posters will be encouraged to spruce up their posts if you tag on an "and why?" to your request. Also, some of the most popular 'favourites' can be edited to be displayed in your profile (such as bands, books, movies).

- Image galleries, including user images.

- Console topics. Why? Because they breed console wars, almost EVERY, SINGLE, TIME. It gets embarassing just watching them. Full details: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/75 2103

- Role playing threads. You know, the one's where it's like: HEY WE'RE ALL AT PARTY WHO BROUGHT THE DIP. Sometimes these have pictures that you are encouraged to edit. These can be fun, but they also can be horribly spammy. I often tend to just kill 'em while they're young, but depending on the originality, I have been known to let them survive for a day or two before finally "ending the party." I believe that the boards need a good silly thread every now and again... the reason for locking/deleting most of them is so they don't get out of hand.

- Obscure picture threads. A strange title, or half of a quote, complete with a topic body that completes the strange title or half-quote... and a picture. Or sometimes not even a picture. Either way, these are "silly threads." See above.

- Threads requesting: signatures, profile pictures, banner headings. There are crews in the C&C forum that are designed to facilitate artists and requesters alike. Search "makers" in the searchbar to find some.

- Threads asking you to rate something. For sigs and profile pictures and host of other things, there are crews for it. Search "raters" for some. If it's something more obscure, put it in your userpage. Asking people to rate something (typically it is on some sort of predetermined scale) is just another poll thread. Asking for people's opinions on an issue, however, is not.

-Story threads. See mass discussion/controversy here: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/74 9603

- Forum game threads. These kind of threads have a very hard time operating on a forum the size and speed of General. Typically, these threads depend on some chronological order. In other words, Poster A comments on the OP's post, Poster B comments on Poster A, and so forth. In no time at all you get 5 people responding to the first post, 3 to the second, and the OP reposts in vain, telling everyone that they're not following the rules. However, if you come up with an idea that avoids the spam issue, you can try it out. Tooting my own horn for an example, here's a forum game that managed to work out: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/35 2244

- Video threads. Oh hooo, the big one. Here's the deal. If you link a video, I'm locking it. UNLESS, something catches my eye about your post that accompanies the link. If the post is too short to make a paragraph or two, then chances are I'm not even going to consider it. If you've laid out, in a civil and well-thought out manner, the reasons why you feel this video should get a topic, then I'll have a look. However, there are stipulations. Lets go over some:

~~~ First, YouTube has a comment section. So, if your topic does nothing but extend the comment section of YouTube to NG, forget it. What NG users have to say about a video will not massively differ from what YouTube users have to say.

~~~ You're linking from a site that doesn't have a comment section? One: Are you SURE? Yes? Did you see if the video's on YouTube? Or another site that does have a comment section? You did check? Really? No you didn't, you lazy fuck, don't lie. Okay, let's hypothetically say that your link is the one unique link to this video in all the internet. If I can reasonably predict that the comments generated upon watching a video will not provide any insight to anything, then forget it.

~~~ Now if you MADE the video, it's a whole different story. If yout put something together for a project or out of interest, by all means show us. You're part of our community, and a video of you is a rare chance to get a good look at you. Now, if your clip is an 8 second video of you pointing the camera at you while you make funny noises and a shitfaced friend giggles in the background... well, that's just shit. The video must be interesting.

~~~ If your video supplements a discussion, then it may be allowed. Do not attempt to generate a discussion AROUND THE VIDEO. That's NOT the point. Example: If you're really interested about how butterflies hatch or something and you happen to have a video if it, you might be able to get away with it. The thing about this stipulation is that the folks who will abide by this rule are the folks who typically don't need to have it explained to them. It's not hard to tell when someone wants to make a video thread and sort of tries to spruce it up with some halfassed discussion. Here's a tip: if you're not sure how go about supplementing a discussion with a video, make the first post video-free. Allow for some discussion. If none happens, then maybe your discussion was crappy. If it flourishes, THEN post the video link. Then it's not a video thread! Yay!

~~~ Finally, if a video is concerning something that's popular in the media (mainstream here, not your strange underground band's release of their 56th album), and you happen to be the lucky sucker who gets wind of it first, go ahead and post it. Like, if Osama bin Laden was videotaped hangliding away from a US Tank, and it was real, and on CNN, and there was a big deal about it... yes, go ahead. But you're probably not the first. Use the searchbar first; it works now.

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Other mods, feel free to add to the "bannable posts" list. Just comment ( I have it set for needs-approval). If you have questions about the content of this news post, you can address them via PM, on my 1st news post, or in the thread about THIS news post (http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/7 88696)

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Helpful links:

http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/69 7885 (NGBBS Houserules).
(The link http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/53 5663 in the houserules thread is now obsolete due to the more recent decision to move all story threads to userpages).

THIS POST IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.