Casey's Guide to not getting Moderated

DO NOT REPLY UNLESS YOU HAVE A QUESTION.

First and foremost, read this. It's the Terms of Use that you guys and gals agreed to abide by when you made your accounts.

http://www.gamespot.com/misc/tos.html

Despite the stickied threads and new forum descriptions, there's still a lot of violations happening every day...too many every day in fact. The rules all look pretty straight forward to me but maybe that's just because I know them backwards and forwards. I just wanted to make a thread that points out some of the most common things that get people moderated here and answer any questions you may have about them. If you have any criticisms regarding the rules, consult your nearest brick wall because that is NOT what this thread is for.

1. This may seem like an odd place to say it but ALWAYS READ THE STICKIED THREADS BEFORE POSTING. I can not emphasize this enough. Stickied threads are like special traffic signs warning you about dangerous conditions.

2. You don't have to post in every thread.

a) If you don't like a topic, don't post in it. Don't say things like "Worst topic of the day", "Wall of text", "Too long. Didn't read", "This thread sucks", or "Another crappy thread courtesy of (insert thread creator's name here.)" Trolls post to get attention. Why give it to them? It only encourages them.

b) In Before The Lock - saying that is the same as saying "Suspend me." You obviously know that the thread doesn't belong yet you're posting in it and keeping it alive? Let's not do that.

c) Somewhat related to point b, and this is a big one, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES POST IN A THREAD OR REPLY TO A POST THAT YOU KNOW IS A TOU VIOLATION...NOT A SINGLE WORD. No "Lol. Where are the mods?" No "Why hasn't this been locked?" No "Dude. You're gonna get banned." No "I'm reporting you." Nothing. Not a word. Report it and ignore it. This includes account suicides (posting porn, going on a profanity filled rampage, etc.), off topic posting, advertisements, trolling threads, etc. Once again, report and ignore. THIS INCLUDES POSTING IN THREADS THAT IGNORE A STICKIED THREAD.

3. There is no excuse whatsoever at any time for flaming. Any and all insults should be removed from your vocabulary while posting on these forums. Don't insult individuals. Don't insult groups. If somebody insults you or says something insulting, report them. Don't insult them back.

4. Quotes. Oh the quotes. Make them stop. As it says in the stickied rule thread and the forum description, do not have more than 5 quotes in your quote chain. Be courteous to your fellow posters and don't make them scroll down through quote after quote in order to find your newest post. Edit your quotes down so that you're only quoting the person you're directly replying to. Also, don't quote more than two screenshots or pictures.

5. Censor bypassing. It's not good enough to replace one, two, or even three letters in a censored word with a creative little symbol. The entire word needs to be edited out. Better yet, don't include profanity at all. This isa video game website. Why do you need to swear?

6. Repetitive topics get locked. Before you post a news item or anything like that, take a look around first. Has there been another thread made about it that's still on the first, second, or third page? If so, you don't need to make a new thread about it. Chances are, if your "news" is older than ten minutes, it's already been posted about many times.

7. This is System Wars, not Fanboy Wars. Talk about the systems and not the people who play them. Don't make threads asking which type of fanboy is the worst. Don't make threads pointing out "fanboy logic."

8. Bump. Don't do that. If you want your thread to continue even though nobody is posting in it, add something meaningful to it or just let it go and be sad for a few minutes. :( You could also try re-posting yourthread at a different time of day.

I'll do my best to answer your questions in a timely fashion. Don't be alarmed if it takes a while, however.

If you've read through this and understand it all, you don't need to let me know. You don't need to thank me. :) It's not for offering suggestions either.This is left open only to ask questions about things you don't understand or that need clarification. Please keep it free of clutter.

whats the difference from distruptive posting and giving an opinionl1mIt

too many things to give an adequate answer. did you have something specific in mind?

About the quote chains.

I totally agree with it. If it were my decision, I wouldn't even allow quoting one image.

But I'm just wondering... Wouldn't it be just a lot easier for GS to figure out something in the code in order to make excessive quote chains impossible? I'm sure it's not that hard to do....
It would sure be easier than scrolling through the quotes of inconsiderate posters, or reporting them, or you having to moderate them no?DireToad

that's something that would be good to bring up in the site enhancements and feedback forum.

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_topics.php?board_id=314159277

Hey Casey there is thread here were people ignored the 5quote stuff.

But I have a question.This means you cant have more than 5 quotes in a post of that you can only have 4 quotes and your post together in a reply?.

Also can you do a SW E3 Behaviour Sticker,As the Day to the E3 come closer more fanboys come and most of them I think are new, so most of them don't know how to post in here or the rules.

[QUOTE="l1mIt"]whats the difference from distruptive posting and giving an opinionCaseyWegner

too many things to give an adequate answer. did you have something specific in mind?

if give my opinion on how ugly a game looks, too see if other people agree with me... other people who are fans of that game get offended. in SW everyones a fan of some console, if i say Wii has bad graphics, then some nintendo fan will get upset and him and I, will continue to dissagree... which turns into distruptive posting. just giving an good or bad opinion in SW turns into a negative thing

[QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

[QUOTE="l1mIt"]whats the difference from distruptive posting and giving an opinionl1mIt

too many things to give an adequate answer. did you have something specific in mind?

if give my opinion on how ugly a game looks, too see if other people agree with me... other people who are fans of that game get offended. in SW everyones a fan of some console, if i say Wii has bad graphics, then some nintendo fan will get upset and him and I, will continue to dissagree... which turns into distruptive posting. just giving an good or bad opinion in SW turns into a negative thing

that's what seperates system wars from the game specific and system specific forums. you can indeed post negative opinions about games/systems.

Hey Casey there is thread here were people ignored the 5quote stuff.

But I have a question.This means you cant have more than 5 quotes in a post of that you can only have 4 quotes and your post together in a reply?.

Also can you do a SW E3 Behaviour Sticker,As the Day to the E3 come closer more fanboys come and most of them I think are new, so most of them don't know how to post in here or the rules.

Hater3000

you can have 5 quotes + your own post.

I have a question. My friend that posts here on Gamespot, was suspended for 7 days for saying "I hate you" in a joking way. I don't understand what's so bad about that.FatBoyNotSlim

A few days ago, this kid said my opinon was stupid, so, I said. "NO U R TEH STOOPID :twisted:" In a very jokingly manner, and I ended up getting in trouble for it.What's so offensive about it?myster_samz

Specific moderation examples are for ask the mods (and only to be brought up by the user who was moderated). I believe Casey wants this thread only for questions about the rules in general.

I'm sure he will correct me if I am wrong.

Why is it hard for the Mods to seperate Jokes with no negative conontations from flaming?

im being serious here, i know i can be stupid at times because hell i get bored and this frees some time, but some of the things i get modded for really are just jokes

R-Dot-Yung

sometimes jokes aren't easy to spot in forums. also, joke or not, they can still bother people.

[QUOTE="FatBoyNotSlim"]I have a question. My friend that posts here on Gamespot, was suspended for 7 days for saying "I hate you" in a joking way. I don't understand what's so bad about that.cakeorrdeath

A few days ago, this kid said my opinon was stupid, so, I said. "NO U R TEH STOOPID :twisted:" In a very jokingly manner, and I ended up getting in trouble for it.What's so offensive about it?myster_samz

Specific moderation examples are for ask the mods (and only to be brought up by the user who was moderated). I believe Casey wants this thread only for questions about the rules in general.

I'm sure he will correct me if I am wrong.

yep. the questions should only be about the guide.

[QUOTE="CaseyWegner"][QUOTE="R-Dot-Yung"]

Why is it hard for the Mods to seperate Jokes with no negative conontations from flaming?

im being serious here, i know i can be stupid at times because hell i get bored and this frees some time, but some of the things i get modded for really are just jokes

R-Dot-Yung

sometimes jokes aren't easy to spot in forums. also, joke or not, they can still bother people.

what if we always put an emoticon like :) at the end of it

it could help but i'd still be careful.

5. Censor bypassing. It's not good enough to replace one, two, or even three letters in a censored word with a creative little symbol. The entire word needs to be edited out. Better yet, don't include profanity at all. This isa video game website. Why do you need to swear?

CaseyWegner

Because sometimes you're ****ing angry. And that's ok right? To censor the actual f-word and leave the ing part. Otherwise I must inform you that you're being **********. And that's meant to spell ridiculous, which is why I think censoring the entire word is just dumb. People don't know what the **** you're saying. Apart from when it's obvious, like right there.

b) In Before The Lock - saying that is the same as saying "Suspend me." You obviously know that the thread doesn't belong yet you're posting in it and keeping it alive? Let's not do that.

5. Censor bypassing. It's not good enough to replace one, two, or even three letters in a censored word with a creative little symbol. The entire word needs to be edited out. Better yet, don't include profanity at all. This isa video game website. Why do you need to swear?CaseyWegner

Good to know, and thanks for posting. Two things though, just to be on the safe side:

b - Good to know and thanks for clearing that up.

5- That doesn't that include words like s-t-y-l-e does it?

5- That doesn't that include words like s-t-y-l-e does it?

Bansheesdie

no.

[QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

5. Censor bypassing. It's not good enough to replace one, two, or even three letters in a censored word with a creative little symbol. The entire word needs to be edited out. Better yet, don't include profanity at all. This isa video game website. Why do you need to swear?

InsaneBasura

Because sometimes you're ****ing angry. And that's ok right? To censor the actual f-word and leave the ing part. Otherwise I must inform you that you're being **********. And that's meant to spell ridiculous, which is why I think censoring the entire word is just dumb. People don't know what the **** you're saying. Apart from when it's obvious, like right there.

just the root word needs to be edited out. the suffix can remain.

Excessive quote chains particularly ones containing images make scrolling tedious. Shortening quote chains is something that needs to be addressed... so why not include some sort of guide for this (which doesn't ruin the quote coding.)

Do you think there should be a little more room for reasonable-ness and not just insta-modding? I say so because i find quite often that good users end up getting suspended or moderated or even banned for having too many moderations, when rampant trolls continue on as they haven't broken any direct rules by flaming somebody.

For example "haha i'm reporting you!" is something you get moderated for. Its considered trolling. That's cool. But what about "dont bother posting in troll threads guys; i've already reported this, so just leave it alone and it wont be bumped."

Me simply referencing the thread as being reported got me moderated. Because the rule is so concrete, i said something about reporting someone, so that means i get moderated.

Would users and moderators alike be much better off if there were room to simply judge a post on whether or not its harming anyone? Rather than whether, technically speaking, it violates a rule, by a stretch?

Is calling someone a "blind fanboy" flaming? I've always wondered this, because that term gets thrown around here a lot.

And, what ever happened to the "Hype Stickies"?

[QUOTE="DireToad"]About the quote chains.

I totally agree with it. If it were my decision, I wouldn't even allow quoting one image.

But I'm just wondering... Wouldn't it be just a lot easier for GS to figure out something in the code in order to make excessive quote chains impossible? I'm sure it's not that hard to do....
It would sure be easier than scrolling through the quotes of inconsiderate posters, or reporting them, or you having to moderate them no?CaseyWegner

that's something that would be good to bring up in the site enhancements and feedback forum.

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_topics.php?board_id=314159277

Is calling someone a "blind fanboy" flaming? I've always wondered this, because that term gets thrown around here a lot.

And, what ever happened to the "Hype Stickies"?

Bluestorm-Kalas

"blind fanboy" would get somebody moderated.

hype stickies are only for big exclusive games (with ngs being the exception).

Okay to make my question more general: Is saying 'I hate you' in a joking way considered flaming?FatBoyNotSlim

maybe put a :P after it.

I don't know if this is the place to bring this up, but I think there should be a rule against quoting really long posts, even if they only contain text. It's very irritating to have to scroll through the same 5-paragraph post more than one time. I think that if the post is longer than a few paragraphs then we should have to quote only the portion of the post to which we wish to respond.SmashBrosLegend

that would be a good thing to do.

can you get moderated for posting on a topic on the 2nd or 3rd page..of the forum?redandblack23

What page the thread is on is not relevant. It all depends if you add something worthwhile to the discussion or are just posting to move the thread up the boards

Is moderation that much of a problem? Just wondering in general terms?

I understand 99% of my moderations, and try to avoid it happening again.

If I called someone a troll, and backed up my statement, would I get moderated?TrueReligion_

yep. if they're a troll, you should be reporting and ignoring them.

[QUOTE="Bluestorm-Kalas"]

Is calling someone a "blind fanboy" flaming? I've always wondered this, because that term gets thrown around here a lot.

And, what ever happened to the "Hype Stickies"?

CaseyWegner

"blind fanboy" would get somebody moderated.

hype stickies are only for big exclusive games (with ngs being the exception).

I have never understood why calling people names like blind fandoys not allowed...But calling people Sheep, cow or anything else is allowed

I also think their needs to be a little more fairness in what is considered flaming. Flaming, in my eyes at least, is me reading an opinion, disagreeing, and responding by calling that person a complete moron, rather than explaining why i disagree and respecting their opinion.

When somebody makes a post which is just absurd nonsense obviously designed to annoy people; why am i moderated for telling that person to quit being a troll?

If i respond to somebody and tell them that they're incorrect, only to have them respond with "You must care enough to reply!" - why do i get moderated for telling them to stop behaving childishly? Is that an insult, or is that a reasonable request?

Unless you're outright insultng another person - you're an idiot, shut the hell up you moron etc - i dont think moderations for "flaming" are necessary when it is clear that no offense is intended.