digibutter.nerr

[Lord Krump]

Digibutter Code of Conduct

By joining this forum, you agree to know and follow the rules of this forum. This is the code of conduct by which the forum operates. Please read the rules carefully so that you may understand which actions are punishable by the forum's staff, and to what degree.

Keep in mind that each of the forum's moderators will make decisions based on personal judgement.

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Below is a list of the potential consequences administered to members guilty of offenses that conflict with the Code of Conduct. There are other punishments, however, that may be administered, such as requiring public apologies. These, however, are the most common punishments.

Warning: A warning is given to members, primarily new ones, for lesser offenses. Repeat of an offense after a warning is typically followed by a strike. Warnings are often issued through PM (Private Message).

Strike: The "strike" is the basic penalty for rule-breaking posts and threads. After accumulating enough strikes, one will receive an automatic jailing for a set amount of time. Strikes dealt to posts may not relate to the post content itself, but rather to punish another action that warrants a strike.

Jailing: "Jailing" refers to the punishment that involves a temporary granted status where one cannot post in the normal forums, but in the designated "Digibutter Prison" forum instead. This status is placed upon members who accumulated enough strikes to warrant it, or immediately to members who have committed more serious offenses. The Prison forum is not for simple games or casual discussion - taking part in such activity will only increase the amount of time one is Jailed. A Jailed member will be allowed a limited amount of posts (Five) each day in the Prison forum, where he/she may post an appeal, explaining why he/she believes that his/her jailing was unjust.

Imprisonment through accumulated strikes will automatically release you after a set amount of time, while imprisonment through Prison-Keys ("The Jailers") will not release you until a moderator decides so.

Temporary Ban: Unlike Jailing, a Temporary Ban completely removes a member's ability to post anywhere on the site. This is given in the case of serious offenses. The amount of time that a Temporary Ban lasts is determined by the site administrator.

Permanent Ban: A Permanent Ban is administered to only the most serious offenders. This status is irreversible.

IP Ban: An IP ban will prevent a specific IP address from creating any accounts, as well as permanently banning accounts from that address. This is given out on the rarest and most extreme occasions.

These are the basic penalties for offenses committed by members. Below, several specific offenses and their respective punishments are detailed.

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Advertising

Advertising one's site or forum is strictly prohibited. Advertising is characterized by threads and individual posts that exist for the sole purpose of promoting said site or forum. Advertising via mass Private Messaging is also prohibited. One may advertise one's site in his/her signature, but direct links in the signature area are not tolerated.

Post advertisement via threads in the Off Topic forum are also not tolerated. There is a searchlight feature to draw attention to one's posts. However, abusal of the searchlight feature isn't tolerated, either; punishment can and will be dealt to those who repeatedly advertise and/or spam searchlights multiple times in a row.

Punishment:

If a member is advertising via individual posts in another member's thread, he/she will receive a strike. If a member creates a thread for that sole purpose, the thread will be removed, and he/she will receive a strike. If the member continues to advertise after the strike, he/she will be Jailed for a set amount of time. Mass Private Messaging warrants an immediate Jailed status for a set amount of time. If one continues to advertise after being released from Prison and receiving new strikes, he/she will be placed with a temporary ban.

Cookie System

We have a system that allows a user to give "a cookie" to those who have posted posts of high quality. However, abusing the system is not tolerated; anyone who gives a post a cookie undeservingly will be punished. Posts like these include random phrases, memes, or sayings, or average posts that are not of quality.

Punishment:

Abusing the cookie system will result in a warning at first. If there is continued system abusal, one may recieve a jailing.

Discrimination

Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexuality, culture, nationality, or any other specific characteristics is strictly prohibited. This includes racist/homophobic slurs, and prejudice images, video, and other media. This is a more extreme case of "flame" that warrants serious punishment.

Punishment:

Based upon the severity of the discrimination, the offender may receive punishment ranging from a strike to an immediate Jailing. Individual "hate threads" will be locked instantly. Upon release from Prison, a member is required to make a public apology to the member that he/she offended. If a member continues to express similar hatred, a temporary ban will be administered.

Drama

Drama is categorized by open, continued, and extreme expression of grief/sorrow/depression. It is not allowed at all outside digiblogger, and only slight drama is allowed in digiblogger- heavy drama, as in suicide threats and whatnot, is allowed nowhere. Although light emotional discussion is allowed, to an extent, deep, open threads giving out information about wanting to commit suicide and/or hatred towards others is not allowed. If you must express your deep, personal issues on the site, do so in private messages to people on the site who are close to you, rather than bringing personal issues in front of the whole forum.

Punishment:

"Drama" threads, like detailed above, are not allowed, and will be deleted. If one resorts to flaming or continues to violate the rules after being warned, he/she will recieve a strike.

Flame

Flame is categorized as any post that is made with the intent of harming or expressing open hatred towards another member, whether it is through humiliation, harassment, trolling, or spam. The moderators are not concerned with minor examples of flame (If you feel that you are flamed, you should be able to attempt to solve the problem yourself without just telling the mods to solve the problem for you); however, "Flame Wars" often arise because of flame, and this is not acceptable under any circumstance, as they derail threads and can damage the site as a whole.

Punishment:

Threads existing for the sole purpose of flaming members is not acceptable; they will be locked and the thread creator will be striked. If there is persistent flame via Private Messaging, and the person being flamed notifies the staff after the offender was asked to stop even though the offender still continues, that offender will be jailed. In the case of "Flame Wars", a warning will be given if it seems that one may soon develop within a thread. If the flame war continues after said warning, the thread(s) involving the flame will be locked, and any member who continues to flame after the locking will be striked.

Flamebait

Flamebait is the term used to describe attempts to provoke flaming, or flame wars. This can come in the form of general provoking, personal attacks/insults, extremely bad grammar, or "popularity contests" (Ie. "Which member is better?")

Punishment:

Flamebait is considered just as bad as flaming, if not worse. Strikes or imprisonment can result from flamebait.

Flooding

Flooding is a type of spam categorized as the posting of a mass amount of similar topics in a particular forum. Flooding can be divided into two categories: single member flooding, and group flooding. Group flooding, also known as "bandwagon flooding", is when multiple members make a particular thread into a "fad", posting several similar topics of their own in forums outside the Off-Topic forum. Slight "bandwagoning" is acceptable in the Off-Topic forum, but not in General Discussion, or in any other forum. Single member flooding is not tolerable anywhere, including Off-Topic.

Punishment:

In the case of single member flooding, each individual topic will be locked, and the offender will be immediately Jailed. In the case of "bandwagons", any bandwagoning outside of Off-Topic will be punished - every topic after the second topic that is similar to the original will be locked and earn a strike, whereas the second similar topic poster will receive a warning.

Hacking Threats

Hacking Threats are serious matters. Discussing the matter is acceptable, but issuing a hacking threat, even jokingly, is strictly disallowed.

Punishment:

Threatening to hack the site can result in extensive prison time, to a temporary ban, or even a permenant ban.

Harassment

As with flame, harassment will not be tolerated. Continued harassment towards a member, through PMs or posts, is not tolerated. Member impersonation, through creating an alternate account, email address, or as a role-playing character is also a serious offense. If one continuously complains to the moderators or admin about wanting certain suggested changes and/or additions to happen soon or at the time being, in the form of multiple threads and/or multiple private messages, that can be considered harassment, as well.

Punishment:

If you harass members via post, those posts will be striked, and those threads will be deleted. If you harass via PM, you will be jailed. Impersonation will also result in being jailed.

Illegal Activity

Any discussion regarding illegal activity is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, posting links to sites that exist to incite violence, and long, in-depth discussion of ROMs/Piracy sources, or posting direct links to those sources.

Punishment:

Open discussion of illegal activity will result in anywhere from a warning and thread deletion to a temporary ban. The administrator will decide on this punishment.

Inappropriate Content

One must keep in mind that, being a Mario/Nintendo/Gaming-related website, people of various ages view the site. Posting images, links, or text including content that may not be suitable for people under the age of 18 is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to pornographic and excessively violent material, and censor bypassing. Mature, less-extreme material that does not fall directly into these categories must be marked with an [M] in any thread title, demonstrating that it contains somewhat mature content.

The [M] tag is an indication that the thread creator is acknowledging the "Mature" content, and most likely be deleted with only a warning if it "Crosses the line". However, posts that go too far, even when marked, will result in punishment. Things that are acceptible but require [M] tags include characters in bikinis and other light clothing, and images that hint at sexual/mature content. Sexual discussion also requires [M] tags. Nudity and extreme violence, however, is not accepted.

Discussion of viewing and/or purchasing pornography is also prohibited; however, discussion of pornography as a "serious issue" or something worthy of debate is not prohibited.

Censor bypassing is also not tolerated. "Screamer" videos- videos designed generally to draw you in for a period that unexpectedly change to a frightening image with a "screaming" sound effect- shouldn't be posted around the main site. Keep these videos to you and your buddies in private messages.

Punishment:

If a member posts excessively violent material or bypasses the censor, he/she may receive a punishment ranging from a strike to an immediate jailing. Threads involving such content will be removed. The posting of pornographic material, depending on how extreme the content is, may warrant punishment anywhere from an immediate jailing to a temporary ban. If a member continues to post inappropriate content, he/she may receive a permanent ban. Any post that bypasses the censors will be striked. If one does not use an [M] tag when he/she is supposed to, one will recieve a warning. Refusal to abide by a moderator's request will result in a strike.

Inappropriate Item Usage

Items are one of the site's features created for one purpose: fun. They are not to be used for flame/hate purposes, as it ruins the point behind them. If you are going to use items, use them because you want to have fun- and if a member informs you that the member does not want to take part in item warfare, you are to leave that member alone, as the member has the right not to participate.

Punishment:

Members who abuse the item feature will recieve anywhere from a strike to a temporary jailing based upon the severity of their actions. First offenses will recieve a warning.

Multiple Accounts

Multiple accounts are not allowed. There is only to be one account per member, and the site staff can check the IP address of new accounts to see if any account is an "alt" account. If the account is that of a family member, after deliberation the site staff may choose to clear that member.

Punishment:

All secondary accounts will be deleted. Depending on the member's record, if a member makes a third account after receiving a warning for his/her second account, he/she will be Jailed, or IP banned.

Necroposting

Posting in a thread that has not been active for longer than a week is considered "necroposting." A thread with little activity should be allowed to die.

Punishment:

If it is a first offense, a warning will be administered, and the thread that was revived will be locked. Continued rule-breaking in this fashion, however, will result in a strike.

Personal Information

Personal information is not to be discussed on this site, such as full names, addresses, e-mail addresses or telephone numbers. Sending or asking for personal information through private messages is also not allowed.

Punishment:

Threads detailing personal information will be deleted, and paticipants in those threads will be striked. Private messaging personal information is a more serious offense, and if a member who does not want personal information given and/or taken recieves a private message from an offender and notifies us of who that offender is, that offender will recieve a jailing.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is characterized by the use and/or distribution of a member's art, writing, or any other form of original content without prior consent.

Punishment:

If the true creator of the original work(s) notifies site staff about plagiarism in action, the offender will be jailed, and then required to issue a public apology. If a member plagiarizes from someone who is not a member of the site, and the moderation staff becomes aware of it, that member will be striked, and that member will be required to issue a public apology.

Raids

Raids/Forum Wars are considered any attempt by members of this community to attack another forum by spamming, flaming, or hacking it. This is, obviously, a shame to our community, and provides incentive for future flame or forum wars from other communities.

Punishment:

Any member that openly pushes members of this community to attack and/or destroy another forum will be punished by receiving a temporary ban. Any member that follows the instructions of the inciter will receive a strike and/or Jailing, depending on the level of participation.

Spam

Spam is characterized by short posts lacking depth or substance. Posts that consist of intentional poor grammar and incoherence and/or do not relate to the topic of the thread are considered spam, as well as short posts outside of the Off-Topic forums that may or may not relate to the topic, consisting of 1-3 words only. The posting of random images, either in a thread created by the offender or in another thread, is considered spam. Posting a large amount of emoticons without much substance in one's post is also considered spam. If one posts very large images that may cause some computers problems, one must put a warning in the thread title. Intentional page stretching for annoyance purposes, however, can be categorized as spam. Thread de-railing is spam. Unintentional grammar that is extremely poor is also spam. Posting in a topic for the sole purpose of saying that the subject is "old" is forbidden.

"Quote pyramids", or "quote posts"- quoting without adding anything else to it, or very little content- are also considered spam. Posting topics in the wrong forums is also against the rules- for instance, although it is alright to be in-character as the character your username or avatar suggest you are, in-depth role-playing topics should be kept to the role-playing forums. Also, if a thread breaks the rules, do not post "inb4lok" or "NECROPOST!!!". Instead, report the post; the moderation team will handle the problem.

Punishment:

If one posts spam in another member's thread, that post will earn them a strike. If one posts his/her own spam thread, that thread will be removed, and he/she will receive a strike. If one continues to spam in large amounts after a strike, he/she will be Jailed. After the Jailing, if one continues to spam, even after three strikes, he/she will not be Jailed; instead, he/she will receive a temporary ban. Page-stretching will result in a warning, and if continued, a strike. With quote pyramids, a mod will issue a warning in the topic. Any continuation after the warning will result in a strike per post. If one claims that he/she is going to leave, and he/she goes on a spam "rampage", he/she will recieve a permanent ban. Any participants can and will be striked.

Spoilers

Posting any important plot and/or character information about a new game before or after one month of a game's release date (Not counting the Japanese release date. If the game has a Japanese release date first, it will be determined by the first release outside of Japan.), without clear spoiler notification or usage of spoiler tags, is not allowed. This also includes information revealed through role-playing. If a game is about character collection, or has hidden characters, posting images of said characters on the forum or in one's signature is not allowed.

Punishment:

Failure to abide by spoiler rules, either by posting or using spoiler information in a sig or as a role-playing character, will warrant a warning. If one continues to break the rules in post format, he/she will be striked. If one continues to break the rules in sig and/or role-playing format, he/she will be jailed.

This is that over-the-top rule list I wrote, with some help from the mods.

I bet we're ALL glad we got rid of this complicated piece of shit, huh?

[Rusty Shackleford]

ELI DIES

[bobzearth42]

i love it how breaking a lot of these rules now won't even get you a warning

[Strong Bad]

lol

[MeowMixer]

Serious business.

[Dino Piranha]

Burned that quite a while back, ah the memories.