The Official Just Zelda Rules


These are the rules and you are supposed to follow them. If something does go wrong and you recieve a warning for something you don't think is legit then you can contact Thewindmaker, DekuKid or Invincible LinkWe will be happy to assist you in any way possible. Also we are a very relaxed community here at Just Zelda but don't break the rules over and over.


Introduction



If you're a new member who's reading the rules for the first time, again, welcome to Just Zelda. I have some good news and some bad news for you. The bad news is that you've got a lot of reading to cover in order to be considered a really good member of this site. The good news is that, thanks to this national constitution-long document, you won't find as many flame wars and disrespecting members as you might on other sites. We, being the staff members of this site, have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this guide, and only after realizing the devastating effects of not having it and trying to be fair in what decisions we make. So we'd really appreciate it if you took the time to look through these guidelines and take them to heart. After all, we're not bloodthirsty totalitarians addicted to punishing members. Trust us, we'd much rather have a group of awesome members who don't cause a lot of trouble. In a way, we're like teachers who favor respectful students over students who constantly fight and break the rules without a care.

That said, let's start the guidelines:



The Warning System



- Every time you break a rule, you're given a warning.

- You can see your own warning level under your avatar in any of your posts.

- Different offenses result in different increases in your warning level. Which offenses result in what increases will be described later.

- You have a maximum of 10 warnings. If your bar is full and you receive another warning, you will receive a permanent ban. Not getting any special attention until after ten warnings is really lenient, so to go so far as to fill a bar that large deserves a permanent ban.

Lowering Your Warning Bar: Your warning level can decrease under one of the following occasions:

1. If you break a rule, then stop breaking rules up to the end of the next month, we will decrease your warning level by 1. That means if you break a rule on October 2nd, your warning will decrease by 1 on December 1st. If we forget, you can PM us, and we'll check your records.

- Exception: If you're not active for the majority of the waiting period, your warning level will not decrease.

2. If we warn you for a rule that isn't included here, don't hesitate to PM us. If we agree, your warning level goes down. However, if in response, one of the staff members says that it will be made a rule, that means it will be made a rule. Don't expect to repeat the action again and not get a warning. That includes public announcements of new additions.

- Note: Don't ask for a decrease in your level just because you've been "extra special good." If you've accumulated a few warnings and manage to deplete your level to zero, we'll notice and be proud of you. After all, we're the ones adjusting your warning level in the first place.



List of Offenses



The following offenses will result in a permanent ban:



1. Pornography - If you have the gall to post porn or the URL of a porn site on a teenager's site for videogames, it shows you have no respect whatsoever for Just Zelda as a legitimate site.

2. Blatant flaming - Posting or PM'ing something to the effect of "F*** you," "You fata**," whether it be to the site or a member, is blatant flaming. This action shows no respect whatsoever to the subject at whom the post is aimed.

- Note: Racism and sexism also count as blatant flaming - towards a race or sex. If you are racist or sexist, it's okay...as long as we can't see that from your posts (See what we did there? Brilliant, aren't we?). Hide it like it's your PIN number.

3. Word-filter evasion - Using punctuation or spaces to spell out words included in the word filter list also shows no respect to Just Zelda.

Members: If you are sent a PM containing any of the above offenses, take the following steps.

1. If this occurs in one of your own topics, close the topic. It ensures that the offender can't quickly edit his/her post and look clean.

2. Make a screenshot of the PM (the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard or F13) and copy it to your image editing program (e.g. Paint, Photoshop, Fireworks, etc.). Save the document and upload it using the photobucket or imageshack website.

3. Make a PM to every staff member and give a report on what the member has done and what the situation was, so that all of the staff members who weren't available at the time of the offense know what happened. Include the image you uploaded.

- Yes, we know we're having you provide two pieces of evidence, but it's just a precaution.


Moderators: If you see or receive a PM about one of the above offenses, take the following actions:

1. If the offense occurs in a topic, close the topic. It ensures that the offender can't quickly edit his/her post and look clean.

2. Ban the member. Remember, these are serious offenses, so the last thing we want is for the situation to escalate.

a. If you have ACP access, go to your ACP, click on "Find/Edit/Suspend User" under "Users and Groups," enter the user's name in the top text box and click "Find Member," then click "Suspend Account" (all the way to the right).

b. If you're a moderator who doesn't have ACP access, click the offending member's warning level bar as if you were going to warn him/her. In the text box next to "Suspend member's account," enter "60." Make sure it's set to days, not hours.

3. Make a screenshot of the post or the PM you receive(the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard or F13) and copy it to your image editing program (e.g. Paint, Photoshop, Fireworks, etc.). Save the document and upload it using the photobucket or imageshack website.

4. Make a topic in the faculty room and give a report on what the member has done and what the situation was, so that all of the staff members who weren't available at the time of the offense know what happened. Include the image you uploaded. If all the staff members received a PM, only one topic is necessary.

- Yes, we know we're having you provide two pieces of evidence, but it's just a precaution.



The following offense will also result in a permanent ban, but the above actions do not apply:



4. Exceeding your warning level bar: You have a maximum of 10 warnings. If your bar is full and you receive another warning, you will receive a permanent ban. Not getting any special attention until after ten warnings is pretty lenient, so to go so far as to fill a bar that large deserves a permanent ban.



The following offense will result in a permanent IP ban:



- Ban Evasion - If you've been banned, it was for a pretty serious reason. Don't think the heat's off just because you've been gone for months, even years. So don't go and make another account.



If you're genuinely sorry for doing one or more of these actions, too bad. Apply the lesson you've learned to your posts on another site. Just keep this in mind:

- These are the absolute last things we want to happen to the forums, and we're not going to allow the risk of it happening again.

- If you don't agree that these actions deserve permanent bans, again, too bad. We staff members think we're just as right as you think you are. The difference? We're the staff. You're not. If you're not happy with us, go to a site with a staff you do like.



The following offenses will result in a warning level increase of 1:



1. Spam - For the purposes of these forums, S.P.A.M. stands for "stupid/pointless/annoying messages." Any of the following types of posts can be considered spam:

a. Posts

i. Brief posts - These are the types of posts that some members make just to answer a question like, "Are you in a relationship?" for an easy post count increase. Elaborate on your answer. Say why you're not in a relationship if your answer is no, and say how you're relationship is if your answer is yes.
- This isn't limited to posts that say "yes" or "no." If you're replying to the topic, "What's your favorite Zelda game?," don't just say Majora's Mask. Explain why it's your favorite. If someone else who posted before you happened to have the same reasons you have, it's okay to write, ", well, actually for the same reasons 'Member' had," then reiterate the reasons. Be sure to reiterate.
- Note: The brevity of the posts described applies to all normal discussion posts, not just posts directly responding to the topic.
- Note: The off-topic portion of the post does not make the post long (e.g. "*this is so that I don't get warned for having a brief post* lol").

ii. "I agree" posts - If you're in a debate topic and someone makes a point you agree with, do not say something to the effect of "I agree" or "I believe that, too." If you agree, either elaborate on that member's point or, if the point is too complete for you to add something new, compliment the member on making a good argument.

- Exception: If a certain topic has become a heated, legitimate debate between you and one other member, and your "opponent" makes a super-awesome point that completely annihilates your argument, it's alright to say, "Yeah, you're right. You've convinced me." The opponent's point is probably so complete that it's impossible to add to it anyway.

iii. "That's spam" posts - Telling a member in a topic that what (s)he posted is an offense is unrelated to the topic, and is therefore spam itself. Don't do it. PM a staff member about the offense instead. "You have been reported" or "You're going to get warned" is also spam.

iv. Off-topic posts - Don't make posts that don't relate to the topic

- Exception: If you have a section of your post that is on-topic as well as a section that is off-topic, it won't result in a warning. Just make sure that at least part of your post contributes to the main discussion.

v. "1337" posts - Contrary to what some may believe, forum-goers aren't extremely fluent in 1337-speak, so typing so that letters are replaced with numbers will confuse people.

vi. Chatroom posts - Some of you might be lazy and want to type here the way you do when talking to a friend on an instant messenger. Don't do it. If members are discussing a serious topic, the last thing they want is a long paragraph of abbreviated words meshing into a bunch of run-on sentences they can't understand. Even if the topic isn't that serious, it's still annoying. Just imagine how much harder to read this guide would be if we decided to write it like we were in a chatroom...

- In general, the most lenient we'll be is to allow you to skip capitalizations and apostraphes ('). That's it.

2. Topics

i. Misplaced topics - If you put a topic in the wrong forum once every several topics you make, we won't hold it against you. Do it often and you'll start getting warnings for each misplaced topics.

ii. Insignificant topics - Don't make topics that are about insignificant details, such as "What color do you think Link's nosehair is?" or "What color is your nosehair?" Our argument for this is that they simply are stupid/pointless/annoying messages. Or, if you want to post a topic about something really good that happened to you today, instead make a topic where anyone can talk about what's happening in their lives. In short, make sure the topic is general enough to be lasting.

iii. Already made topics - When you make a topic, be sure to look through the list and see that it hasn't already been made. Don't forget to check the list of pinned topics.


- Note:Defining and classifying spam is tricky, so there will probably be instances of spam in the future that aren't specifically described in the rules right now. If you do exploit a loophole, #2 of "Lowering your Warning Bar" will apply, and you won't be warned the first time.


2. Bumping - To be discussed and added in the future.

3. Double-Posting - If you posted a message and you want to add something, don't post another message right after your own post. That's what we and most other sites call double-posting. There's a more complicated warning system for this than for other offenses:

2 posts in a row = 1 warning
3 posts = 1 warning
4 posts = 2 warnings

- After three, each post in a row equates to an additional warning. Double and triple-posting isn't that bad, but if you're posting four or more times in a row, chances are you're doing it just to disrespect the staff.



The following offense will result in a warning level increase of 2:



- Inappropriate Content: The following is considered inappropriate for all posts, topics, and public content:

- Discussion of where to obtain ROMs, or a link to a ROM website. (this is InvisionFree's rule, not ours)

- Graphic depictions (blood, guts, sex organs, and the like)

- Vulgarity (morally crude comments concerning any topic)

- what else is considered inappropriate to be discussed



The following offense will result in a warning level increase of 3:

- Double Account: If you already have an account here, don't make another. First of all, it's harder to apply warnings properly with two accounts. Secondly, we just want to see you as having one identity, as you do in real life. If you make a second account, the extra account will be deleted.

- Note: If you make offenses with a second account before we catch you, we will increase the warning level of the original account according to those offenses (as well as deleting the second account, of course). Plus the three for making a double account in the first place.



The following offense will result in a warning level increase of 3 and a four-day temporary ban:



- Mild flaming - Mild flames aren't direct insults at a member, but can still be damaging, and as such are considered more serious than most other offenses. Generally, they're insults directed at actions the member takes rather than the member (him/her)self.

- Examples:
- "That was dumb of you to do lol."
- (in a debate) "That's a stupid argument."
- (in a debate) "Come back when you have an argument that doesn't suck."
- "Can you put that in English?"

- Note: If you feel the need to write "No offense, but" before your comment, it's probably a mild flame. "No offense, but" doesn't justify the comment, whether or not you feel it does.



The Chain/Combo System



Turns out that, just like in many puzzle games, you can chain and combo your warnings, just in case you decide to be disrespectful and ignore our warnings. Yes, we may seem like we're making this overly complicated to destroy you, but this system makes it clear who the members who don't care about the rules are. Or that's what it should do, once we test drive it.

- If, after receiving a warning for an offense, you make the same offense within a week or so of receiving the warning, the warning level increase you receive is doubled.

- Example: You warning level increases by 1 for double-posting. After five days, you post 4 times in a row. Since both offenses count as double-posting, the warning you receive for posting 4 times in a row is an increase of 4, instead of the 2 you would normally get.

- As you can see, if you chain more than one of the same type of offense together, you get a warning level combo. Thus, the name, "Chain/Combo System."



Reacting to an Offense



We've already stated how you should react to bannable offenses. Here's the procedure to taking care of all other offenses you see:


Members:

1. Look for a staff member who's online.

2. a. If there is one online, PM him/her and describe the offense made. Include the member who made the offense, as well as the topic and forum in which the offense was made.

b. If there isn't any moderator online, just pick a moderator to PM him/her. If you feel it's urgent enough, you can PM more than one moderator.

- Do not tell the member that (s)he has broken a rule. It's spam, and even if it's through PM, it can be viewed as snotty. Don't even tell him/her that (s)he has been warned.


Moderators:

1. Warn the member.

2. Edit the offending member's post to let the public know what's wrong with the post. Do not reply to the offensive post. Replying only allows members to think it's okay to talk about the offense, and it isn't.

3. In the Faculty room, report the warning you gave in the warning logs topic. This allows the other staff members to check that you were justified in your decision to dish out a warning. It also prevents multiple moderators for warning a member for the same post.



Signature, Avatar, and Custom Member Title Offenses


These offenses will be handled a little differently in some cases, so we're going to have a separate section for these:


1. Bannable Offenses: All bannable offenses found here are to be treated using the same method as the original procedure to handling a bannable offense.

For the following Sig/Av/CMT Offenses: If one of the staff members finds that you have a sig/av/cmt that makes one of the following offenses, you'll receive 1 warning and get a PM describing the offense you made. If you fix your s/a/c quickly, your warning level will decrease. However, if you post three times without fixing your sig, the warning stays. Afterwards, every two times you post without fixing your s/a/c results in another warning.

2. Too large a signature: The limit is a width of 550 pixels and a height of 300 pixels, regardless of whether the sig is made up of text, an image, or a combination of the two.

3. Inappropriate content

4. Mild flaming

These are the rules. Abide by them.