Posting in the Forums

Elaralith · Post by **Elaralith** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 10:50 pm

Greetings!
I would just like to clearly outline some general rules one should follow while posting on the boards. Following these rules allows for fruitful discussions, and will prevent your threads from being locked-something noone wants. Many people I have noticed seem not to understand basic board hygiene, I hope this helps.
1. Post only messages that are relevant to the discussion at hand!
Posting messages that are off-topic only wastes the time of other readers in trying to get to what is really important! And it gets people annoyed.
2. This is not a chatroom;do not post messages that are of the explicit content of "ya". If you need to say such things use the private messaging tool.
3. Try to use proper grammar and spelling at all times so that other people can easily understand what you are trying to say! ( the occassional typo happens-not a big deal)
4. Be polite. If you have a differing opinion explain it in a mature fashion, and refrain from using obscene language.
5. Post your topics in the proper boards;make sure they fall into the correct category.
Please feel free to add anything to this list that I have missed.
-Elaralith

Brendan Mason · Post by **Brendan Mason** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 11:12 pm

6.Do not use excessive punctuation, ie, do not over use things such as: !!!???!!!, too often.

7.Do not advertise other games too often.

Crocket · Post by **Crocket** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 11:13 pm

@Brendan
Actually those two are not in the rules on the home page, but they are still good ideals.

Brendan Mason · Post by **Brendan Mason** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 11:19 pm

I know that, I think those things are just common courtesy.

Roke · Post by **Roke** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 12:40 am

Oh and... It is okay for you to not submit a post after you finish typing it or if you are in the middle of typing it if you realize that what you were typing has no value to the conversations. In fact, I do this about once out of every 2 or 3 posts.

Thanks.

Elaralith · Post by **Elaralith** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 12:41 am

@Brendan Proper grammar=no excessive punctuation. Good clarification though.
@Crocket This is the whole point of the thread! To clarify everything talked about on the homepage and bring up others that are general board hygiene. Don't discourage people from presenting good ideas.

Ellaron · Post by **Ellaron** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 3:52 am

I think the importance of No.4 cannot be overstressed. It is not just a matter of being mature and not being obscene, it is also a matter of not being unduly short (rudely impatient) with someone. When you have written your post and are going over it to check spelling, grammar and relevance, cast an eye over it to see if it can be misinterpreted or if it's too harsh.

Aragon · Post by **Aragon** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 7:52 am

8. Before starting a topic, use first the "search" function for older topics with the same theme and post there. Also read first the FAQs and intro sides of the HP.

Elaralith · Post by **Elaralith** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 12:50 am

Aragon, I agree and disagree with that. Of course one should search around to see if what one has brought up has already been discussed. But even if one finds that the topic one wants to bring up has already been discussed, I think it is still okay to bring things up again if they have not been touched for a long time. In that way, new input can come up. If everyone didn't touch anything that had already been talked about however slightly, not very much new ideas would come up.

9. Do not be afraid to present your opinion to the public.
10. Do not discourage others from presenting their ideas/opinions etc. in any way whatsoever.

Aragon · Post by **Aragon** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:17 am

Elaralith wrote:But even if one finds that the topic one wants to bring up has already been discussed, I think it is still okay to bring things up again if they have not been touched for a long time.

Aragon wrote:... for older topics with the same theme and post there.

Please read my statement carefully.
I haven't said, that you aren't allowed to bring up old topics.
I have only stated, that it is better to write in the old topic instead of opening a new one with the same theme, so that the old arguements can be watched and the new one you bring, too.
So you see in one topic all the arguments pro and contra one idea or suggestion.

Elaralith · Post by **Elaralith** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:16 am

Please read my post carefully as well. I did not say that one should not look up to see if there are older topics on the subject. I did say that one should start new threads even though there might be older threads on the basic same subject because usually everytime something is brought up there is a "new twist" to it that can give a lot of insight to the matter.

John Laffing · Post by **John Laffing** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:37 am

11. Do not try to use fancy words that you don't know the meaning of.

Elaralith · Post by **Elaralith** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:36 am

@John What is that supposed to mean? hmmm?
I don't think that is a valid rule. Noone can know if the other person "knows" what the words they use mean. Not such a good rule because it is too ambiguous.

Roke · Post by **Roke** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:44 am

I think he was referring to Paul Laffing...

Aragon · Post by **Aragon** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 9:08 am

Elaralith wrote:say that one should start new threads even though there might be older threads on the basic same subject

This is exact the matter, why I have said the rule and what I want to prevent. Maybe you haven't understand the reason, why I said this?

People will bring up the same arguments in the new topic, they have written in the old one, cause they think, you haven't read the old discussion.

And also new ones, who don't know the old topic will start with the same arguments as said before, cause they haven't read the other topics. So it gets nerving to answer the same thoughts pro and contra a theme over and over in different topics. The result is, that you will get less good opinions, cause people have lost their will to write things again and again.

And it is also harder for the programmers to find all arguments belonging to one theme, if they have to look for many different topics with nearly the same theme as to have the same theme in only one topic, having all arguements at one place in one look.

Serpardum · Post by **Serpardum** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 9:15 am

If you find an old topic on a question you want to ask, in my opionion it is better to ask your new/improved question to the end of this old topic bringing it up to the front.

Why? Okay, you researched this old ancient topic and read all the pro's and con's, but no one else did. So when you post saying, "Well, here is a question" then people are going to respond it has already been covered. Then you'll say "But this is different..." and since peopel dont' want to search for the old topic to see how it's different they'll just ignore it.

Better to add to the old thread, then people who have qauestions can just click on teh page numbers nad refresh themselves.

paul laffing · Post by **paul laffing** » Sat Mar 01, 2003 5:36 pm

Ellaron wrote:cast an eye over it to see if it can be misinterpreted.

Can't any post be misinterpreted?

I think he was referring to Paul Laffing...

I find that inpolite and offensive. There goes the forth rule.