Violating these rules will lead to action being taken completely at the discretion of the Mods and Admins (please note the plural form). Lighter offenses may just get a warning, but blatant disregard of the rules will lead to an IP ban (possibly permanent). Please keep in mind that these forums are sponsored by the illustrious Comic Carnival; any and all activity reflects on the company as a whole!
Comic Carnival reserves the right to delete and edit any and all posts without warning.
Being banned means you are not allowed to have access to the forums for a little while (the time for the ban is decided by the mods and admins). If you are banned, please do not make new screen names; take your punishment like a man (or woman...depending on the case...)! The B-A-N-H-A-M-M-E-R is not a threat.
1/2. Lurking
While lurking (reading posts, but never posting) is not a bannable offense, try not to do it! We love for new members to talk to us! Why join a forum if you're not here to make some new buddies? Sure, posting here may be intimidating at first, but rest assured after your first post you'll have a 'healthy' new addiction! Have fun, live a little; be a part of the wonderful Comic Carnival Community!
1. Language
Keep it clean. We’re not puritans, but we’re not Merchant Marines either. Profanity simply will not be tolerated. Don’t let the anonymity of the interweb turn you into a jerk. If you wouldn’t say it in a Comic Carnival, don’t say it on our site.
Edit: Because we at the good ol' Comic Carnival understand that some of us (most of us) will 'slip up' here and there, we have word censors in place. Just because they are there, however, doesn't mean you can abuse them!
2. Flaming and Trolling
Nope, don’t do it. We’re all for critiques and spirited debates but name calling and flaming is not allowed. If you don’t like something, back up your opinion. “Comic X sucks!” is not a critique, it’s a flame. “I don’t like Comic X because Artist Y can’t draw feet.” There you go – now you’re a critic! If you don’t have a claim to back up what you agree/disagree with do not post. Pursue the topic like an adult, do not knock every single post down. There is no reason to post in every thread; please avoid “needless” posting because it can be seen as flaming to some people. If you can’t progress the topic – do not post.
Don’t flame your fellow posters either. We’ll never all agree on everything, but we can disagree with civility. Slander will not be tolerated; any slander on the boards is libel, and offenders will be faced with a possible perma-ban!
When an admin tells you that you have been flaming a user, this is the definition used (as well as wikipedia.org definition of flaming):
Wikipedia.org wrote:Flaming is the hostile and insulting interaction between Internet users. An Internet user typically generates a flame response to other posts or users posting on a site, and such a response is usually not constructive, does not clarify a discussion, and does not persuade others. Sometimes, flamers attempt to assert their authority or establish a position of superiority over other users. Other times, a flamer is simply an individual who believes he or she carries the only valid opinion. This leads him or her to personally attack those who disagree. In some cases, flamers wish to upset and offend other members of the forum, in which case they can be called "trolls". Most often however, flames are angry or insulting messages transmitted by people who have strong feelings about a subject.
Baiting is a form of flaming. Don't do it. Baiting is usually done to make the atmosphere of a forum appear unpleasant or to make forum owners, moderators and long-time users look foolish.
Any "cyber-bullying" will be dealt with swiftly and without mercy.
3. Moderators and Admins
Respect the moderators and administrators authority wholeheartedly. Some of our mods may be a little outspoken but they all try to set aside any and all personal biases when it comes to disciplining a poster. If you feel that a mod or admin has been biased in their mod duties, please PM the screen name: Comic Carnival Admins. When a mod or admin reprimands you, respect the post and the decision; and if you do not agree with the decision, please report it immediately. DO NOT, under any circumstances, personally attack an admin or mod (this includes publicly challenging their “rulings”) on the open boards! If you do not agree with a decision, please inform Comic Carnival Admins, and the matter will be looked into. Mods/Admins do not mean to embarrass any poster by “public flogging”. Most Mod vs User arguments could be diffused quickly if the poster didn’t publicly challenge the Mod. Any negative pictures/posts/comments about the way a mod or admin moderates the boards will NOT be tolerated.
4. Images, Signatures and Avatars
You can’t upload images directly to the board. You will have to use an image hosting site and link the images in your post. We suggest www.photobucket.com for all your image needs. They have convenient resizing and editing built right in to their interface.
Images should not be larger than 640 x 480 pixels. Photobucket has this as a preset in their resizing menu. Images larger than that will cause some users to have to scroll across their screen to read a thread and we hate that.
Avatars may be animated, but must be no larger than 250 x 250 pixels.
Language rules apply to all Images, Signatures and Avatars. Nothing inappropriate is allowed. Please refrain from having any sensitive images/text; this means absolutely NO politically/religiously themed signatures or avatars. There will be NO exceptions to this rule.
Mods and Admins reserve all rights to delete any and all images (including avatars and signatures) that are offensive (not necessarily something crass...) with out warning. Repeat offenders will lose their 'right' to use avatars and signatures.
5. Cross-Posting
Make sure you are talking about the right topics in the right threads. Sometimes a conversation may veer from one topic towards another. That is understood and acceptable.
However, don’t start a thread about Comics in the Creative Forum. Don’t post about a Game in the TV and Movies Forum. This will both confuse and anger your Mods and Admins. We’ll move Threads to the appropriate forum if we deem it necessary. Chronic Cross-Posters will be dealt with.
If you and another poster hijack a thread to argue, please be kind enough to consider the feelings of the other posters (especially the person who created the thread). If you wish to argue about a topic that doesn't relate to the topic of a specific thread, please take it to Private Messages or create your own thread for the 'argument'.
6. Spoilers
Try not to ruin the end, reveal, or twist of anything! Keep all New Comic Discussion in the New Comic Discussion Forum for any book's first week of release. We'll move the threads to General Comics Discussion after 7 days.
Of course we all want to discuss the big changes and mind-blowing moments in our favorite books, television shows and movies (it's why this Board exists), so mark any thread you start that's going to waltz into Spoiler Territory with *SPOILER WARNING* in the thread title.
[Spoiler: [spoil]If you have read the rules, please send a PM to an admin and they will allow you to pick a (one) self made forum title. Agreeing to have a self created forum title means you have read and fully understand the rules and will abide by them. The title is a privilege and will be taken away if said poster does not follow the rules. Title should adhere to the rules (nothing offensive).[/spoil]
If a poster marks their thread as *SPOILER FREE* it must remain so always. Start your own thread if you can’t wait to talk about it.
7. Etiquette
Bold, italic, underlined and CAPS may and should be used for emphasis only. Do not overuse these things as it is annoying as all get out. Especially all caps. If every post you make is in all caps, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE YELLING AT EVERYONE. No one likes to be yelled at, as you will soon learn if you type in all caps. The Mods will bring down the cute cuddly puppies on this with a loud KERSMACK-O!
8. Suggestions and Requests
Please make these things in the appropriate forum. The comment and suggestion board IS NOT for comments about a particular store. If you have a specific store complaint (for example, a complaint would be like: "The guy that works at that one store punched my mother in the face and stole my shoes"), please send an E-mail to: ComicCarnivalForums@gmail.com; or contact a store manager.
DO NOT ask to be made a Mod or Admin. Admin will never happen, we have plenty and you know what they say about too many cooks. Mods will be chosen and assigned as needed. Though most Mods will be Comic Carnival Employees (Blue Shirts), we may promote users who have contributed in a constructive way to a particular forum that they show depth of knowledge and an even temperament.
9. Reporting
If you feel a user is violating the rules and regulations of our board and causing disharmony in our community please report the activity to a Mod or Admin. Just don’t get nitpicky. We will deal with legitimate complaints, but if we notice that one person is constantly reporting other users for no good reason…well, y’know – KERSMACK-O!
10. Taboo Topics
Please refrain from talking about topics not relating to pop culture (for example: politics, religion, etc). Any topics that are deemed offensive or inappropriate will be deleted without warning. Also try to refrain from listing any of Comic Carnivals competitors by name; this does not mean you cannot talk about other places, but please do not give any exact details. Word filters will be put in place, but your posts will otherwise remain untouched.
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Please private message any and all complaints to the screen name: "Comic Carnival Admins". Or, if you would rather send an email, send it to: "comiccarnivalforums@gmail.com".
Above all, have fun and geek-out! That’s why we’re here.
