Read the rules?

[Randy]

Do you read the rules of a forum first thing? Or do you tend to just sign up and not care what the rules page happens to say?

Have you ever broken a rule on a forum that you didn't even know existed? What rules have you broken?

 

[Jazzy]

Do you read the rules of a forum first thing? Or do you tend to just sign up and not care what the rules page happens to say?

Yes, I read the rules before even signing up.

Have you ever broken a rule on a forum that you didn't even know existed? What rules have you broken?

There was nothing in the rules prohibiting signature advertising. So, I went ahead and added my signature. As soon as I did, I got a PM from the Admin telling me to remove it immediately. He also gave me two warning points. Three warning points gets you a ban. I tried to explain to him that since the rules didn't mention anything about signature advertising, I didn't feel the two warning points were fair. He did not reply. Next time I went to login, my account was deleted.

 

[~KAGE-008]

There was nothing in the rules prohibiting signature advertising. So, I went ahead and added my signature. As soon as I did, I got a PM from the Admin telling me to remove it immediately. He also gave me two warning points. Three warning points gets you a ban. I tried to explain to him that since the rules didn't mention anything about signature advertising, I didn't feel the two warning points were fair. He did not reply. Next time I went to login, my account was deleted.

Some forums have limitations when it comes to signatures. I was a member of a forum in which signatures were an exclusive feature for staff. So a few people tried to 'bypass' the restriction by adding a false 'signature' after their post, minutes later their accounts were permanently banned.

 

[Bluezone777]

Most forums tend to have the same rules but always leave room to simply remove people they deem undesirable regardless if they actually break any rules at all. If someone wants you gone, they will do it.

I wasn't much of a fan of writing them unless they were something that couldn't just be picked up by being on a typical forum in fact I made a point of not writing any with the second board I ran as I felt I didn't need to write a guidebook on how to behave when in the company of other human beings. When you give the right for someone to behave in any way they choose with the condition that anyone else can do the same to you usually ensures no one does anything that they wouldn't want done to them. You'd think a forum without written rules would be chaos but actually I found it was far more peaceful then boards that had written rules.

 

[beowulf]

used to on a forum where sigs were a way of expressing yourself.........as long as it was sfw and didnt advertise anything or was too big...........there was a couple of guys who were good with photoshop that used to make clever sigs for people

im also on plenty of forums where sigs are outlawed simply to save on bandwidth/server

once joined somewhere and did my usual adding a sig.............got a polite message asking to remove it as they were not allowed.........i pointed out there was nothing in the rules about it,....in fact there wasnt even any rules!!!........he agreed but it still wasnt allowed.............im a mod there now and we have some rules

 

[Corleone]

Well of course I read the rules Just like I read the entire TOS As previously mentioned, the rules are generally universal. However, since I am a retired moderator, I have read the rules here at Off Topix.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Well of course I read the rules Just like I read the entire TOS As previously mentioned, the rules are generally universal. However, since I am a retired moderator, I have read the rules here at Off Topix.

They're probably the same as back then too. I've only made a couple tiny adjustments over the years.

 

[Teg]

The first thing I do when I join a new community is read the rules. The last thing I want is an annoying PM telling me I broke some rule when I first joined. I read the rules to avoid problems.

 

[Icetex's iconIcetex]

Meme:
Nobody got time for that
Seriously tho
I do and do not something and take chances

 

[TechWiz18]

Well this is probably shame on me but no I don't actually read the rules before I join a forum or even after for that matter. Generally speaking unless their are forum specific guidelines to follow I don't bother reading them until I am questioning something.

I tend to be pretty well behaved on forums so the rules don't tend to worry me too much.

 

[MrDawn]

Do you read the rules of a forum first thing? Or do you tend to just sign up and not care what the rules page happens to say?

Have you ever broken a rule on a forum that you didn't even know existed? What rules have you broken?

Yeah, I do read the rules before joining. I didn't used to. But if you do go on a forum and make an offense, they just tell you not to do something and than give you a link to their rules and guidelines.

 

[#assassin]

Yeah, I read the rules. But they're usually just the same old generic rules that every forum has.

 

[Shido-kun]

I hate it if there are rules about using fanart.


I tend to join,then read the rules.

 

[Smiley]

Do you read the rules of a forum first thing? Or do you tend to just sign up and not care what the rules page happens to say?

I always read them before creating an account.

Have you ever broken a rule on a forum that you didn't even know existed? What rules have you broken?

Yes, it was a rule regarding using spoiler tags in signatures. There was absolutely nothing about it anywhere in the forum rules. The only rule regarding signatures pertained their size limit and what kind of images are not allowed in them (nude, Nazi, etc.), but there was absolutely nothing in there about spoiler tags.

So, being in a good mood and feeling like making a little joke, mainly for my own amusement, I placed a short text and a single smiley inside a spoiler, making sure to follow all the available signature rules to the letter. I was unpleasantly surprised when one of the moderators sent me a private message, telling me that spoilers aren't allowed in signatures, and asking me to remove it.

Okay, sure, no problem. I removed my entire signature and left it blank. I also rightfully pointed out that there was absolutely nothing about it in the forum rules, but that didn't mean absolutely anything to the moderator in question, because, apparently, I could've used the spoiler to hide an excessively large image in there to bypass the size limit rule.

Uuumm... what? :huh2: I could've also tell him to go fu*k himself, but I didn't, just like I didn't hide anything excessively large in there. I guess it was easier for him to go rule Nazi on me by invoking an invisible rule than to take a moment to open the spoiler and check what's inside.

 

[MrDawn]

No. I don't always read the rules. I assume they're all of the same.