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Before you begin posting, please read this thread, as these rules will help you get the most out of your experience here and make our forum a better place for everyone. If you break them, you will receive warnings and possibly be banned. We don't want to do this, so please think before you post.
1. This is our house.
This is our house and you are our guests. We will do everything in our power to treat everyone with respect and accommodate everyone's wishes, but this is a private site, so when you're here, you abide by our rules. We're not obligated to observe anyone's notions of free speech or fairness, but we will try to. Feel free to open a dialogue with staff or moderators or give suggestions in the Website Feedback Forum.
2. Follow forum etiquette.
Use common sense and treat others like you would want to be treated. This doesn't mean you can't argue or even flame someone. However, flames are largely discouraged and we expect people to have a good reason to resort to harsh language. Gratuitous swearing, insults, or trolling will get you banned. If you must flame, be smart or creative about it, and make sure the flame was deserved. In general, you'll never go wrong by being nice, polite, and mature.
There is a general etiquette that is followed on the forums that you can only learn through reading and posting, but here are a few important examples:
- Jokes at the expense of someone's race, gender, or sexual orientation are not acceptable
- DO NOT POST IN ALL CAPS. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE SCREAMING
- Post your topics in the appropriate forum. If you can't find a topic you created, it might have been closed.
- Don't spoil the results of games, sporting events, movies, books, etc in the title of the thread, and don't spoil in posts unless the thread is clearly a discussion that warrants it.
- Don't be a drama queen or martyr. Our forums aren't colonial America or Tiananmen Square. "This is going to get me banned, but..." results in an automatic ban.
- Use the Search Function before making a new thread to make sure there isn't already a topic.
- Memes, even TL-generated ones, are annoying. There are plenty of places to go if you want to see pictures of people failing or a caption attached to a cat. Our forums are not one of those places.
- Don't post NSFW content. TL isn't the place for it.
3. Think before you post.
Consider carefully the context of the conversation and the user you are responding to before posting. It's very important to be informed about a discussion before posting your thoughts. Do not post just for the sake of posting. We will warn for excessive "+1" posts. Also, don't be a backseat moderator. Our moderators handle the moderation so you don't have to. If you see a post that requires moderation, you can report it using the report function at the top right of the post. Only users who have been registered for 12 months can report posts.
4. Contribute.
Everyone that is on TL is capable of contributing to the site in one way or another. Some people contribute by being helpful when someone posts a question. Some people contribute by writing interesting or humorous posts that stimulate discussion. Others provide resources or news. There's no single way to go about contributing, but all of these things help make our forums better. Many longtime contributors will have stars or special icons by their name. It's not a license to do anything they want, but in general good contributors will get favorable treatment.
When you create a new thread, make sure to include content worth discussing in it. A link or YouTube video is not enough. An opening post should set the tone for discussion by being thoughtful and well constructed. We will not hesitate to close threads that don't have enough content.
5. Don't spam.
Do not spam.
Do not spam.
Do not spam.
Do not spam.
Do not spam.
Do not spam.
Do not spam.
Don't use our forums as your personal marketing resource. Don't post referral links or blatant traffic grabs. It's fine to post a thread that links to your personal blog or an article you wrote or published on another site if the content is relevant to the discussion, but treat our forums as your home, not as a tool to drive traffic. Additionally, don't treat our forum as a substitute for Google or a way to be lazy in your studies. Of course, there are opportunities to get help, whether it's the Tech Support Forum or the Health and Fitness Initiative.
6. Respect forum veterans.
All other things being equal, we will give preferential treatment to site members who have been with us longer. This doesn't mean they get to do whatever they want, but they do get the benefit of the doubt. The same goes for "known" professional players or personalities. If we know you and you've been around and contributed, you are much less likely to have your posts or account moderated.
In practice, this policy means a user who has thousands of posts can get away with breaking a few minor rules with just a warning while a new user might be banned. Is this unfair? Probably. But that's how it works here, longevity and contribution are rewarded.
7. English is the official language.
Please use English only, and make an attempt to spell check and type coherently.
Ceci est un site anglophone.
V沠s堶ennlig 堢enytt engelsk p堤isse sidene.
Engels is de offici묥 taal van deze site, gaarne geen andere taal gebruiken dan Engels.
영어 전용 사이트입니다. 영어를 사용 해주세요.
このサイトは英語を共通語とするので、サイトへの書き込みは原則として英語でお願いします。
Diese Seite ist offiziell in Englisch gehalten.
英语是官方语言,请用英语。
Ingles es el lenguaje oficial de este sitio.
Use English, please.
8. Respect your ID.
Don't register 10 accounts or make your ID a novelty account that only posts a one-liner joke over and over. Your ID is your name, it's how our users will know you and recognize you. For this reason we generally discourage users from changing their IDs. In limited circumstances we do allow a name change, but make sure you have a good reason.
9. Read these rules.
Yes, we realize that if you weren't reading the rules to begin with you probably won't be reading this, and if you're reading this, you're already reading them. So, err, keep reading.
10. Have fun!
Our site has fun people. Enjoy it. Make others happy. Be happy. Avoid being negative. Heed the admonition of Oscar Wilde: some people bring happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.
