Terms and rules

This board is populated by a wide variety of Humans and some which we wonder about. They could be aliens. But they frighten us so we let them stay. What we can't do is read every thread or police every post. To this end, we that management and administrators are not responsible for stupid things they say. Yes, we are still responsible for the things we say as individuals, but not things said by someone else. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Halforums.com or anyone else. If someone says something that offends you you have the following options: (1) Report the post to the mods, (2) Send an email through the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page or (3) Get really, really mad and threaten to sue, DDoS or physically harm someone. I don't recommend #3 as that makes you kind of a loon.

Disclaimer done? Cool. Now, here's what we do NOT allow.

  1. Child Porn – Anyone posting images, either photographic or drawn, of boys and girls who appear underage in sexual or suggestive situations, OR tell stories or events that advocate child pornography or sexual abuse will be permabanned immediately. This is non-negotiable.
  2. Arguing with Infraction – If a mod assesses an infraction point or points and you do not agree, you have the right to send that mod or the admins a PM or email to discuss. Whining will probably get you nowhere. If you decide to create a thread or take your complaint public be ready to take 10 points and a 24 hour ban.
  3. Circumventing a Ban – If a mod slaps you with a ban, even if you feel it is not justified, it is not okay to post as either an alt or a Guest. There are channels with which to argue your case and it's by sending the Admin an email through the Contact Us link at the bottom. If you choose to circumvent the ban your posts will be deleted and your ban will be moved up one level. So if the ban was for 1 day it will move to 1 week, etc. We've never really perma-banned anyone for anything other than spamming. Don't be the first.
  4. Hate Speech – We are a very open community and have many, many walks of life. We have people from many races, sexual orientations and religions. Knowing this, hate speech will not be tolerated. Racial epithets or slurs against sexual orientation are not going to be tolerated. If these are reported we will take action. At the very least a warning and 1 point infraction will be assessed, although it is up to the discretion of the mod to give more.
  5. NSFW Material – We have a NSFW area for these things. If you think it’s something that is pertinent to the discussion then please put it in spoiler tags with a note that it’s NSFW. As this is one of those open areas which offend some and not others please use discretion if in doubt. If a mod is forced to spoiler it for you then it’ll result in a 1 point warning. This includes such things as graphic nudity, porn, victim pics, etc. Again, if in doubt - PM a mod.
  6. Warez/Drugs/Other Illicit Activities – May be discussed on an academic basis or in passing. No instruction, detailed accounts, or the like will be tolerated. Doing so will get you 5 points and a 24 hour ban. If in doubt, take it to PMs.
  7. Spam - Members who register and immediately start posting spam links will be banned. If an existing user wants to pimp their page or advertise something that’s more than fine. If it gets out of hand we’ll ask you to stop. Only after that will any points be assessed.
  8. Trolling - We have no problems with heated discussion, but require you keep it to the subject at hand. If you're making uncalled for personal attacks or simply posting to get a rise out of another member, you will get very little warnings before there will be repercussions. As a corollary to this, do not randomly attack a poster who has not even contributed to the discussion yet. This is also considered trolling and will be met with the same punishment. Please note that we will take into account who submitted the report as some people take offense too quickly. It will be up to a mod’s discretion whether to assess a point with the warning or to just send a PM.
  9. No alt trolling. Creating an alt can be fun & is allowed. However, creating an alt specifically to troll will result in a 1 point infraction and warning for the primary account and a deletion of the alt account. Also, no registering a new account because you have a bad reputation or multiple points. Creation of an alt to circumvent infractions will automatically bump you up to the next level of infraction.
  10. Cite your sources. Do not paste quotes from other sources without attribution, especially doing this as a way to post offensive statements with the defense that you were only quoting someone else. In this situation, be prepared to deal with the consequences of having your posts taken at face value. No infractions will be given, you'll just look like a prat.
  11. Do not try and play the rules lawyer. Continually skirting the line between rule-breaking and not is unacceptable. The spirit of the rules is important as well as the letter. Basically, don't be a dick. If a warning needs to be given then it will.
  12. Thread Tags. When creating a thread, please remember to choose a tag appropriate to the subject. Generally, using a tag for comedy purposes is acceptable. However, tags that break other rules such as trolling or racist/personal attacks will be deleted and the person putting them in will get a warning at the very least. Tags are NOT anonymous to the mods so be aware we know who put them in.
  13. Spoilers. A \"spoiler\" is a statement or piece of information that gives away information about the story of a book or film. An Ambush Spoiler is a spoiler in a thread which does not use our spoiler tag in a thread that has not been marked as having spoilers. There is a certain statute of limitations on what can and cannot be spoilered. Things which are common knowledge (IE: Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father, Hamlet dies at the end of the play, etc.) can safely be left unspoilered. Basically if it's over a year old it should be safe.
  14. 1337 speak. Please don't do it unless you are making a point or a joke. It's annoying and makes you sound like a total tool. I don't think it's infractionable, but be prepared to be ignored and foed if you talk like a texting 12 year old girl.
  15. Things such as Longcat, Better Nate than Level or anything else used simply to break a conversation or the board itself is verboten. Using these tactics will get the post edited at the least and infraction points at the discretion of the mods. Doing it multiple times will probably bring down the boomstick.

Spoiler Tags. If you are commenting in a thread about a book, movie, etc. and are giving plot points away, think about using Spoiler tags. In these cases it's not strictly necessary. However, if you are posting in a thread that is NOT about the book/movie/whatever and the reader does not have reason to believe the plot will be spoiled, use of Spoiler tags is necessary.

Banning

  1. If you're banned, do not create new accounts to get around it. This will increase the length of the ban and may lead to a permanent banning.
  2. If you're banned, don't argue about it pointlessly.
  3. No posting on behalf of a banned member. Discussion of the member is permitted; being a loudspeaker for them is not.

Mod Discretion – Mods will oversee the community and will make decisions in regards to keeping the community functioning and working well.

Amassing infraction points will result in bans.

5 points = 24 hour ban
10 points = 1 week ban
20 points = 1 month ban
50 points = Permanent Ban.

Points will stay on account for 30 days and then fall off.

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