The below is a list of the general rules that the staff enforce on the Ill Fated Fables forums. They should not be confused with a binding list with which to hide behind, but a common sense list to be used as a guideline for members. To that end staff are NOT limited solely to enforcing the rules listed here and can, as a whole, decide to go beyond the rules here, or even disregard them as special circumstances might dictate. This policy list is perfectly open to amendment and policies can be added or detracted, retroactively, as the staff deems fit.
This should be considered a warning, a policy in itself, no lawyering over these policies will be permitted. There is only one truly binding rule at IFF and that is that if the staff, as a whole, disagree with your actions, those actions are wrong.
1. No Flaming.
Flaming, as far as policy is concerned, is in respect to personal attacks in debate. As a rule of thumb this is considered to have got out of hand when the integral points being debated have degenerated to a secondary position to the personal attacks being thrown. Debates DO get heated, and all moderators take this into account, but they should never reach the point where insult takes precedence over the points raised. Personal attacks include attacks based on intelligence, race, sexual orientation, or religious belief.
2. No Pornography or Excessive Violence.
Pornography is considered to be the posting of pictures or artwork depicting nudity (except certain artistic depictions, check with a moderator) or sexual acts. Excessive violence is considered to be pictures or videos which contain real or realistic use of excessive gore and which can be considered to be far outside commonly accepted rules of decency and would be unsuitable for minors.
3. Remain on Topic.
Nearly all topics will drift, and this is something that all the moderators are aware of and take into account. It's what makes debates interesting. BUT the act of outright thread hijacking (deliberate or accidental) is not permitted. Perpetrators will be asked to form a new thread on the subject, persistent perpetrators will be punished.
4. No Spamming.
Spamming includes but is not limited to nonsense posts and posts that are commercial in nature. A little bit of fun here and there is usually good for the forums, but as with the flaming rules if the actual points being debated have become secondary to the nonsense being thrown around they have reached an unacceptable limit. Commercial advertisement is never acceptable or permitted by members.
5. The Affairs of Other Boards to Not Concern Us.
In the interests of preventing cross board "invasions" the discussion of the acts on other boards (concerning the intelligence, beliefs, or personal habits of members of another board) is not permitted. Any independently planned "invasions" of another board by IFF members and especially in the name of IFF are subject to staff review and possible permanent banning.
6. Linking to and Discussion of "Pirate" Sites is not Permitted.
This includes peer to peer sites like "Kazaa", "Napster" and sites cataloguing bittorrent files. In gaming this would relate to "warez" and websites allowing the downloading of games. If in doubt, don't post it.
7. No Hate Speech.
This includes the advocating of genocide or active discrimination of a particular race or religion. We are willing to allow for many unconventional and unpopular opinions to be discussed on our forums but NOT to the point where one could be considered to be hate-mongering. An example of this would be the proposition to nuke the Vatican, or Mecca. If you discuss topics bordering on hate speech you will be expected to have solid and factual reasoning to back up your opinions.
8. Keep Swearing to a Minimum.
IFF has an extraordinarily liberal swear filter in existence to the benefit of open expression, but this is not to be abused. If you've had a bad day don't go around throwing a swear word in to every other sentence as though it were regular punctuation. Common sense should dictate when your swearing as reached an excessive point and common sense will dictate any action or lack of action the staff deems necessary to keep swearing within reasonable levels.
9. Plagiarism will not be Tolerated.
Members posting material they did not write must provide proper sources, and claims of plagiarism will be seriously investigated.
10. In Serious Debates, Standard Debating Practices and Etiquette are in Effect.
To put this simply one should be expected to back up their science or history based opinions with compulsive reasoning and preferably solid fact. The nature of serious debate is understandably subjective, and staff are expected to use their own common sense to guide their judgement on the issue. Consistent statement of opinion in ths regard without solid backup can be considered trolling, and would be deemed unacceptable.
This rule is extended to Versus Debates, also, where opinions in debate are expected to be backed up by valid references under the accepted canon rules.
11. Harassment is not Permitted.
If someone does not want your company outside of the forums (or inside, via PMs) you have no right to force yourself on them. Members are under no obligation to respond to your IMs or PMs. If you have a bad history with another person from real life or another forum don't bring it to IFF. Members found to be outright harassing another can find themselves under staff review, and possible permanent banning.
Complaints should be directed via PM to a moderator.
This should be considered a warning, a policy in itself, no lawyering over these policies will be permitted. There is only one truly binding rule at IFF and that is that if the staff, as a whole, disagree with your actions, those actions are wrong.
1. No Flaming.
Flaming, as far as policy is concerned, is in respect to personal attacks in debate. As a rule of thumb this is considered to have got out of hand when the integral points being debated have degenerated to a secondary position to the personal attacks being thrown. Debates DO get heated, and all moderators take this into account, but they should never reach the point where insult takes precedence over the points raised. Personal attacks include attacks based on intelligence, race, sexual orientation, or religious belief.
2. No Pornography or Excessive Violence.
Pornography is considered to be the posting of pictures or artwork depicting nudity (except certain artistic depictions, check with a moderator) or sexual acts. Excessive violence is considered to be pictures or videos which contain real or realistic use of excessive gore and which can be considered to be far outside commonly accepted rules of decency and would be unsuitable for minors.
3. Remain on Topic.
Nearly all topics will drift, and this is something that all the moderators are aware of and take into account. It's what makes debates interesting. BUT the act of outright thread hijacking (deliberate or accidental) is not permitted. Perpetrators will be asked to form a new thread on the subject, persistent perpetrators will be punished.
4. No Spamming.
Spamming includes but is not limited to nonsense posts and posts that are commercial in nature. A little bit of fun here and there is usually good for the forums, but as with the flaming rules if the actual points being debated have become secondary to the nonsense being thrown around they have reached an unacceptable limit. Commercial advertisement is never acceptable or permitted by members.
5. The Affairs of Other Boards to Not Concern Us.
In the interests of preventing cross board "invasions" the discussion of the acts on other boards (concerning the intelligence, beliefs, or personal habits of members of another board) is not permitted. Any independently planned "invasions" of another board by IFF members and especially in the name of IFF are subject to staff review and possible permanent banning.
6. Linking to and Discussion of "Pirate" Sites is not Permitted.
This includes peer to peer sites like "Kazaa", "Napster" and sites cataloguing bittorrent files. In gaming this would relate to "warez" and websites allowing the downloading of games. If in doubt, don't post it.
7. No Hate Speech.
This includes the advocating of genocide or active discrimination of a particular race or religion. We are willing to allow for many unconventional and unpopular opinions to be discussed on our forums but NOT to the point where one could be considered to be hate-mongering. An example of this would be the proposition to nuke the Vatican, or Mecca. If you discuss topics bordering on hate speech you will be expected to have solid and factual reasoning to back up your opinions.
8. Keep Swearing to a Minimum.
IFF has an extraordinarily liberal swear filter in existence to the benefit of open expression, but this is not to be abused. If you've had a bad day don't go around throwing a swear word in to every other sentence as though it were regular punctuation. Common sense should dictate when your swearing as reached an excessive point and common sense will dictate any action or lack of action the staff deems necessary to keep swearing within reasonable levels.
9. Plagiarism will not be Tolerated.
Members posting material they did not write must provide proper sources, and claims of plagiarism will be seriously investigated.
10. In Serious Debates, Standard Debating Practices and Etiquette are in Effect.
To put this simply one should be expected to back up their science or history based opinions with compulsive reasoning and preferably solid fact. The nature of serious debate is understandably subjective, and staff are expected to use their own common sense to guide their judgement on the issue. Consistent statement of opinion in ths regard without solid backup can be considered trolling, and would be deemed unacceptable.
This rule is extended to Versus Debates, also, where opinions in debate are expected to be backed up by valid references under the accepted canon rules.
11. Harassment is not Permitted.
If someone does not want your company outside of the forums (or inside, via PMs) you have no right to force yourself on them. Members are under no obligation to respond to your IMs or PMs. If you have a bad history with another person from real life or another forum don't bring it to IFF. Members found to be outright harassing another can find themselves under staff review, and possible permanent banning.
Complaints should be directed via PM to a moderator.
