this is a public forum, therefore not everything that you might want to be said can be said...
you can't go and post a lot of profanity.
(mods replace profane words with stars or just delete posts)
You can't just slag off random products with no justifivation, because then if manufacturers see it then the forum owner can be sued for deformation of charector/liable damage/and bringing company nems into bad repute.
(this is mostly cleared up by conversation, but in some cases posts have been deleted)
you can't just give bad advice, and if you do it'll just be edited.
(consider recomending formatting a PC because there is spyware on it... it's just bad advice, and it make this place look lame, and it puts off people who could be useful from joining.) -and puts off people from joining here to ask more advanced questions.
You can't just slag off members and expect to get away with it.
(you can't cause arguments and taint the atmosphere in here, it doesn't work like that, and purpotraitors, (no matter how loved they might be by other members) are banned, it's happened before and it will happen again...)
You can...
find better ways of posting, you don't really need to swear.
you can... give fair and accurate -and even negative reviews of a product, or constructivly discuss bad customer service, you can give wrnings to other people about customer service...
a good example is before christmas ebuyer were being very slow with orders. because they were moving premesis... this isn't a good reason to slag off the company, and recomend no-one uses them again... it's also not an invitation to start an argument about a comany... it's a fact of life... and no matter what your views of a comany... other people might like them and their service. if you don't like free speach then stop pretending to campaign for it. (ok?)
You can... give good advice, or even leave a thread without giving any advice. you can give both good advice and bad advice, for instance, in some cases formatting really will be the best thing to do. but if you're going to give that, instead of saying just format, try saying, "as a last reort you could always format and re-install -if you don't figure out a way to fix it"
you can... either be nice to eachj other, or just ignore the people you don't like...
I don't like some people here, I don't like what they write, or the way they speak to the other members around here, so I steer clear of them, simply because I know that I'd be unnecessarily harsh on them...
To be blunt...
if you do sometrhing bad, something bad will happen to you... if you don't understand that try reading some buddhist literature on Karma... and failing that you can always watch My Name is Earl for an easy definition of what Karma is, -with nice examples...
You can say things about the forums and it's members, but don't expect everyone to agree with you.
Having a big post count or having been a members for a long time does not entitle you to anything special.other than a tag saying Guru... which means very little...
giving good advice, will make you fare somewhat better in an argument, because, a) members will respect you more. b) mods will cut you more slack because you are usefull to the community.
posting random shite all the time will only a) make most members feel you're a useless waste of bandwidth and b) just annoy the mods who have to constantly clear up your posts. c) make your account less missed if it is banned.
there is no reason to fear posting whatever you like, so long as what you want to post doesn't break the rules or start fights.
we (the mods) are a clever bunch, we know what flame bait looks like, we know what good and bad advice looks like.. and we know where the ban buttons are if you get out of hand...
for me (at least) banning a member will always be a last resort, and it'll always come after some discussion.
so in short... if you do say something that "gets my back up" it can be deleted, and you can be banned...
that's the point of having moderators - to moderate the contents of the forum...
whilst this post hasn't changed anything, I hope it's made the reasons why the mods take certain steps and actions a bit more transparant and obvious.
a good example is that nothing said, (so far) in this thread will be deleted, be cause nothing bad has been said...
but if the thread gets filled with abuse and other people bad mouthing each other (like so many threads seem to be.. then the whole thread will go, good and bad comments alike!
lastly... Seti is not the only mod, don't continually single him out as the mod that does everything. most decisions and made as a group of staff. and a lot of actions regarding the editing of posts only comes afer someone has reported those posts.
