As part of the ongoing effort to keep Brewerfan beautiful, moderators and staff would like to inform members of modifications made to the Rules of Conduct.
The most significant change is that we're going to limit "impulsive posts expressing knee-jerk frustration in the form of vents, rants and complaints." In other words, there'll no longer be a Vent Thread in the Major League forum, and posts in other threads that do little other than blow off steam are likely candidates to be hidden.
It's not that we're against posting negative opinions. Discussing the negative is at least as important (and sometimes
more important) than discussing the positive. However, members can certainly address the negative without crossing the line into blatant obnoxiousness.
Other modifications to the Rules of Conduct include--but aren't limited to--the following:
New items
- "Official" thread titles reserved for mods and staff.
- Guidelines for posting "inside" information and for responding to "insiders."
- Trading Post rule about distribution of copies of copyrighted material now also included in the "main" Rules of Conduct.
- Sources should be cited with links.
- Except under very limited circumstances in Off Topic, Rickrolling will be deemed as trolling.
- Policy on long/nested quotes now referenced in the rules.
- Parameters for pimping blogs and websites now included.
Revised items
- Clarifications regarding repetition and consecutive posts.
- "Ditto" and "I agree" posts are candidates to be hidden.
- Members more strongly encouraged to pay attention to spelling and grammar.
- Excessive punctuation rule now applies to both thread titles and post content.
- Clarified language on properly writing thread titles.
- Members more strongly encouraged to watch paragraph length.
- Clarifies that rules regarding politics and religion also apply to signatures and avatars.
As always, make sure that you're familiar with the board's language policy. It's your responsibility to preview posts to make sure the language you use doesn't get caught in the cuss filter. Also, intentionally misspelling or using abbreviations to avoid the filter violates the rules. As language violations are strikes, it would be a good idea to review this section.
And as a reminder, note that three forums have additional rules (Major Leagues, In-Game Threads, and Trading Post).
They're stickied in their respective forums. The In-Game Thread rules
have been revised this year. You'll want to take a moment to read them. Additionally, several forums have FAQs to help you get around.
It's been suggested by some that the moderators are all too eager to wield their authority. I can speak for those who moderate when I assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. We'd be very happy to simply read the material posted on the forums and talk some baseball.
However, we do feel strongly about maintaining the integrity of the board. As hawing stated last year, "Our approach to forum conduct has helped build a community that is highly regarded among Brewers employees, families of players, and (by now) thousands of members who love the Brewers and follow them closely."
Thanks for your time and attention... and, of course, Go Brewers!
1992casey
Brewerfan Usability Director
