Three Strikes And You're Out

[brewers19]

This is the new disciplinary system of the site, effective forthwith.

 

Coinciding with the Brewers' [relative] success this year, there has been a steady influx of new posters arriving at this site. While we are glad to have people eager to come here and discuss baseball, an ever-expanding user base means that there will invariably be a number of disagreeable individuals in the mix. In order to rectify this, we are ramping up our disciplinary process. Fortunately, most of you will not notice any difference; the primary goals of this system are simply to make things more structured, attain better consistency, and to reduce the amount of subjectivity that is involved when moderating.

 

I trust that 'three strikes and you're out' is a concept that most everyone here is familiar with and will have little problem understanding. Essentially, each time that a moderator warns you about behavior that violates the conduct guidelines of the message board, a strike will be charged against you. In order for the warnings to be more direct and conspicuous, they will be imparted via PM to the offender's inbox; regardless of whether one reads or acknowledges the warning, the strike still counts. The individual will be dismissed from the message board upon accumulation of three of these strikes; and trust me, I will be keeping track.

 

It should be noted that administrators reserve the right to bypass these steps; in certain instances, an individual's actions warrant an immediate dismissal, regardless of prior offenses.

 

Warning-worthy behavior includes, but is not limited to:

? Swearing or attempting to skirt the cuss filter; damn, ass, hell, and piss are currently allowable, abuse them and you'll lose them

? Baiting and/or flaming

? Flagrant political, religious, or sexual comments

? Disrespect and/or condescension towards fellow posters

? Crass and unsavory behavior

? Posting vulgar/obscene pictures and links

? Chronic discouraged behavior; excessive use of emoticons, constant one-line posts, etc.

 

Immediate bans will result from:

? Racist/prejudicial comments

? Harassment of other members (particularly via PM)

? Trolling

? Spamming

 

NOTE: Apart from the guideline concerning one-line posts, all rules apply in full to both the message board and the chat room.

 

In addition, it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the rules and guidelines, ignorance does not grant immunity from them.

 

I feel that these rules are reasonable and believe that everyone here is capable of abiding by them. Whether you choose to abide by them is your decision, but you are expected to accept the consequences of your actions. Please keep in mind, this system applies to all members of the message board; there will be no special treatment because of post count or tenure.

 

Lastly, despite the fact that not everyone here is an adult, I do expect everyone to act like one. Keeping Brewerfan.net a civil and courteous community is a top priority; and while some may not like the rules that have been put in place, everyone is still expected to play by them.

 

I've attached the 'Keep Brewerfan Beautiful' post and the Message Board FAQ to serve as a reminder of the guidelines.

 

Please post responsibly.

[brewers19]

Keep Brewerfan Beautiful

Brian the Automator

 

As the popularity of the Milwaukee Brewers has increased, so has the number of users on this site. I enjoy the increased excitement surrounding the teams, and the new points of view that new users provide. However, in my eyes, some aspects of the site have become unmanageable. Also, some of the

things that separate us from some of the other fan forums (like Brewers.com, ESPN.com and JSOnline.com) are in jeopardy.

 

Let me start by saying that I am always open to suggestion, and constructive criticism as to how we run Brewerfan.net are always welcome. Many of the regulars have messaged me privately when they have taken issue with how I handled something. I must say that nothing is ever held against anyone when this has been the case. I make mistakes, and two differing opinions can both have equal merit.

 

Now... some of the things that have been bothering me recently:

 

1) serial one-line posting

 

No one gets points for how many posts they have. It's my observation that there are some people that feel that they need to chime in on every topic, just because it's there. Some of my favorite posters are some that have fewer than 300 posts. Pick your spots, and add something back into the site.

I know that I've been guilty of a one-line post here and there, and there certainly are occasions where less words are just fine to convey a point...

 

but when these things become serial behavior, it detracts from the site.

 

2) Posting threads with subject lines like this!!!!!!

 

In our FAQ we ask that people avoid excessive punctuation. If one person adds two !!'s to their thread, and some adds three !!!'s, it becomes a raise to whose subject line is the loudest. I would hope that when someone posts a thread, it's well thought out and worth of people's attention. Unless it's something like "Brewers win the world series!!!!", it's just a thread. It's best just to avoid yelling in the subject lines completely.

 

3) Something you really need to read

 

The above is an example of an ambiguous subject. This isn't radio or tv, so no one's going to switch channels, so no need for a teaser. Please make the subject lines to the point so people don't ignore it, or waste their time if it's a topic they're not interested in. I'm all for creative headlines, but please try to keep them relevant.

 

4) Talking down to people

 

Heated debate is unavoidable at times. However, there are plenty of examples of people on the site who handle it gracefully. Internet big-man syndrome is something that really bothers me. I would like to think that I'm totally approachable in real life and here at Brewerfan. I'm sure that there are some people who might say that isn't the case, but I really do try my best to be completely transparent.

 

5) AOL speak

 

If you have carpal tunnel, try a program like AutoHotkey that will translate your AOL speak on the fly. Otherwise, it smacks of 12 year old girl. I don't mind it so much in the chat room, but take some pride in your posts. I know that I take more seriously someone who takes their language seriously, and I'm sure many others do to. U got it?

 

6) Ignoring the cuss rules or underignoring them

 

Words that are banned are bleeped out. Words that aren't banned aren't bleeped out. If you're using colorful language, please respect the rules of the site and preview your post to make sure it all flies. Conversely. there's no need to use "a$$", as ass is not a word that we've placed on the list. We may be prudish, but we're not THAT prudish.

 

And as I wrote this message, I saw at least two examples of the above. Let's keep Brewerfan beautiful, eh? I'm posting this in the major league forum, because even though it's requested when you sign up, it's apparent that people aren't reading the FAQ, located in the Issues forum.

[brewers19]

Rules of Conduct

hawing

 

BREWERFAN.NET Fan Forum Rules of Conduct

Like the constitution, only not as cool, the Brewerfan.net Fan Forum Rules of Conduct is a living document, where we add and adjust content as needed.

Contents

• What's in the forum?
• What kind of discussion is allowed?
• What kind of discussion is not allowed?
• What kind of language is not allowed?
• What am I allowed to have in my signature?
• What images am I allowed to include in posts or put in an avatar?
• How will I know if I've "crossed the line"?
• Is this Nazi Germany?

What's in the forum?

Our subforums include:

• Major Leagues[/i]: for discussion of MLB issues (Brewers and non).
• Minor Leagues[/i]: Coverage at all MiLB levels of the Brewers organization.
• In-Game Threads[/i]: for posts relating directly to individual games.
• Trade Rumors/Proposals[/i]: a place to share your dream transactions, or read what others have heard.
• Off-Topic[/i]: for topics unrelated or barely related to baseball.
• Trading Post[/i]: trade or sell tickets, promotions, memorabilia, or non-baseball stuff.
• June Draft[/i]: MLB Draft coverage, with more resources than you can shake a bat at.
• Statistical Analysis[/i]: paradise for the stat-head, useful background for the stats newbie.
• Brewerfan.net Softball-Milwaukee & Brewerfan.net Softball-Madison[/i]: Follow our two site softball teams, in Milwaukee and Madison.
• Brewerfan.net Issues and Events[/i]: Discussions about the site itself, and information on bf.net social events. This subforum includes a Usability FAQ (to answer questions about how our host, ezboard, works) and is also the home of this rules document.

A chat room is available as well, with a 25-user limit.

What kind of discussion is allowed?

Discussion about baseball, and especially about the Milwaukee Brewers, is encouraged.

In all subforums, our goal is to maintain a civil and mature posting environment, where the discussion is thoughtful, substantive, and respectful.

What kind of discussion is not allowed?

• Please keep politics, religion, and sex out of the forum. Fairly or not, these topics have regularly resulted in threads going out of control. Discussion of contentious topics such as racial and ethnic issues should be avoided as well.

  A special forum for politics and religion is available at Brewerfan Political Scene.

• Condescending talk toward other posters (including but not limited to name-calling, baiting and flaming) is not allowed. Other Brewers-related message boards are more tolerant of "talking smack" to other users, and we suggest you go there if that's what you're about.
• Keep basic play-by-play action out of the In-Game Threads. It's fine to describe the details of a particular play for posters who lack video, but in an age of online real-time game updates, play-by-play one-liners (e.g. "Kapellusch with a single") are unnecessary.
• Try not to be repetitive. It doesn't take long for an initially interesting topic to turn into a dead-horse beating session. Site staff will lock threads that they believe duplicate an existing discussion.
• Go light on 'one-liner' posts. We don't rule out all brief comments, especially in the chat room and in-game threads; but a constant stream of snarky one-liners detracts from the forum's quality and will not win you many fans. Pick your spots for posting, and add something back into the site, instead of just chiming in on every thread because it's there.
• If you're trying to sell something, please use the Trading Post forum. If it's obvious that you're a spammer, multicasting your advertisement on multiple ezBoards, you will be immediately banned.
• Do not post entire articles or re-post subscriber-only material from sites like Baseball America or ESPN Insider.

What kind of language is not allowed?

Language is critical in any online forum, and Brewerfan.net aims to be more genteel than other sites.

Most major cuss-words are filtered out, with the character string @#%$.

Also filtered out are some words which are not strictly 'cuss' words, but are widely recognized as derogatory.

• Preview your posts before sending, and if the preview screen shows that a word you used is filtered out, edit your post. (Would you use that language around your neighbor's 10-year-old?)
• Using creative spellings or abbreviations to avoid the cuss filter is also not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, replacing letters in cuss words with characters or spaces.

Please note that our language policy also applies to the chat room.

Other language notes:

• Pay some attention to spelling and grammar. We're not your English teacher and we aren't grading you, but we do want to be able to tell what you're saying.
• Please refrain from excessive punctuation in your thread titles, such as '???' or '!!!'; and don't use all capital letters in your posts or thread titles. Both give the appearance that you are YELLING.
• When starting a thread, make your subject clear. An ambiguous thread title like "Check this out!" is more likely to be overlooked by fellow posters.
• Try to avoid long paragraphs. Starting a new paragraph every five lines or so (hit enter twice to start anew) makes your post easier to read.
• Use emoticons http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif sparingly, so they don't lose their meaning.
• Try to refrain from using AOL-type speak. It smacks of pre-teen. Your posts are more likely to be taken seriously if you spell 'you' with more than a 'u.' Also, our membership includes a wide range of age groups, and frankly, not everyone will know what you're saying if your posts read like a text message.
• Many posters use blue text to indicate sarcasm in a post. While this is not an official bf.net rule, we include it here as a heads-up and potentially useful suggestion.
• There is one exception to the 'cuss filter' rule: Ezboard disallows the word 'a-p-p-l-e-t', but don't worry about circumventing the filter to spell 'A-p-p-l-e-t-o-n.'

What am I allowed to have in my signature?

Ideally, signatures should not be longer than your posts, nor should they distract from the content of your post. A good rule of thumb is that if your signature is longer than 3 lines (including paragraph breaks), it may be distracting.

It also is easier to tell where your post ends and your signature begins if your signature is written in italics or bold, separated by a dashed line or a horizontal rule

---

.

Please do not include images in your signature; and note that site language rules also apply to signatures. Feel free to advertise your personal site or blog in your signature, but try to keep it tasteful.

For instructions on adding or editing a signature, visit the Usability FAQ.

What images am I allowed to include in posts or put in an avatar?

Ezboard allows you to include images in a post, and/or to set up an avatar (a small image that appears by your screen name in posts). For instructions on adding images or setting up an avatar, visit the Usability FAQ.

Please keep images tasteful. If an image is not suitable for work or family viewing, post the link with a warning instead of the image itself.

If your image is large, post a link instead of the image itself, or reduce the size before you post it, so that readers don't have to scroll sideways to see it or other posts on the page.

How will I know if I've "crossed the line"?

Moderators or site staff will contact you if you have done something that is considered a violation of site rules. We prefer to contact you privately whenever possible - either by a personal message in your ezInbox, or an instant message in the chat room.

Serious violations count as "strikes" against violators, and after three strikes, a member will be banned from participating in the forum. You will be notified if a violation is considered a strike against you.

Site staff reserve the right to immediately ban posters when circumstances warrant.

Conduct that results in an immediate ban includes, but is not limited to:

• Racist or prejudicial comments
• Harassment of other posters (especially via personal message)
• Trolling
• Spamming

To receive a personal message, your ezInbox must be enabled. Go to My Control Center, Account Preferences, and make sure "Enable ezInbox" is checked.

The site staff have no way to privately nag users to turn on their inboxes, so if your inbox is not enabled, we may have to post a warning in public, or ban you temporarily, to get your attention.

Is this Nazi Germany?

The Brewerfan.net audience includes players, players' relatives, members of the media and employees of the Brewers' front office. These groups choose to use our forum in part because of the atmosphere we provide.

Too many message boards go up in smoke due to lack of controls and clear-cut requirements of their users. Please help us avoid this.

Disagreements and arguments are a natural part of discussion. It's okay to express a dissenting opinion, but remember that it is possible to respectfully disagree. Help us keep Brewerfan beautiful.