Circumstances have made a complete revision of the rules necessary, as well as a full explanation of recent events. This topic is very long, but not reading this topic will probably result in you feeling like an idiot when either you break the newly revised rules or emulate the stupid behavior that I've detailed below, so grab a tasty beverage and read.

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Recent events over the past month have caused MGSForums to collapse into crumbling disaster filled with hatred, bitching and generally stupid behaviour. This level of moronism is, quite frankly, boring me. To be blunt, what I am about to say concerning these events relates to a lot of you in some way or another, so focus clearly on the screen, shut up, and read. The tolerance level is low, and it is getting lower, and you'll find yourself smacked with a banning stick sooner than you think if you even contemplate messing around.

It would seem that a large proportion of the forums believe that they can tread forth on their own terms of what they can and cannot do, oblivious to the rules that you agree to when you register. People have indeed taken the staff for a ride in the past and only walked away with scratches but no, not now; now you'll be leaving with bullet holes because we're not tolerating your bullshit anymore. Any of you.

You want the facts about bannings and how stupid some members really can be? Fine.

We’ll start with Patriot_vamp. This guy had it in for the staff ever since the announcement topic about the arrival of the new mods. He was not selected and it led him to reply solely the word 'fuck.' How distinguishably upstanding of him. We issued him a warning but then were forced to add two more for his decision to post under a new account, 3-times-a-lady. This account let his imagination run wild; he could be as annoying as possible without any consequences. Luckily we’re at least partially intelligent, and found Patriot_vamp’s and 3-times-a-lady’s IP to be perfect matches.

Now, in most situations, a permanent ban would have been in order, but we decided it would be fair to transfer over the two warnings his alternate account accumulated and go from there. We ultimately decided a two-week temporary ban was in order. This is where the bullshit started. He went on a small tirade, continually bitching about how he’d rather be banned for good than for two weeks. And when we wouldn’t acquiesce, he threw in this gem: “im hacking mgsf. sorry.” Thus, we banned him. The moral of this story is: Don’t be an idiot.

The next situation contributing to the general assery concerns The Hunger. For the record, freedom of speech IS and always should be, and will be your right. As long as you don't shit on the rules, it is your right to speak your mind. That being said, consequences come in all shapes and sizes because we all have our own opinions and judgments. Know that, accept it, and move on with life.

As for the situation itself, the story goes as follows. The Hunger became dissatisfied with the way the staff were acting – he thought that certain members were getting the short end of the stick, and made a signature that reflected his opinion. Unfortunately, some of the staff reacted in an inexcusable manner, and threatened him with warnings and bans for “arguing with the staff.” Here’s where we fucked up. The majority of the staff didn’t see the topic in which this argument took place until it was too late, and none of the MSN conversations between The Hunger and the staff members in question were posted in the Staff Forum.

While those aren’t problems in and of themselves, the context in which they happened became catastrophic. The staff jumped on The Hunger very shortly after he posted his signature for rating without knowing what had transpired previously, and did so erroneously. Refluxe went so far as to call him a “Whining Attention-Seeker” based purely on hearsay. As it turned out, hearsay played a role in both sides of the equation, and only through very frantic MSN conversations and Personal Messages, along with promoting Refluxe to admin to help out with the situation, were we able to sort things out.

The only positive side to this is that we’ve now rewritten our rules (now the Acceptable Use Policy), and we are using this as a definitive example of what not to do. It’s extremely unfortunate that we had to learn the hard way, but hopefully for the better.

I’d also like to make it clear that although forum politics will go on outside of this website, nothing from those sources can be held against (or for) you on the forum. This is no reason to go out and murder someone for flaming you though. It's just that bitching about each other is extremely tiresome and nobody wants to deal with it. Talking to your dog will result a lick on the face. Surely that is more rewarding, so I advise you to do that instead and keep your damn mouth shut.

This episode made it clear that we would have to employ zero-tolerance punishment from here on out. This meant the departure of folks like JackredluM and Jolly Roger. Such members brought nothing positive to the forum, and their annoyingly flippant disregard for the rules made it that much easier to take a swing with the banning stick.

I’d like to close by reiterating something extremely important for everyone - yes, everyone – to understand. We wrote the new AUP to make it more clear as to what the guidelines of the forum actually are. We fleshed out the “unwritten rules” and made sure to emphasize some new ones, freedom of speech and freedom of attack being the most paramount. This will help staff make more consistent decisions, and help everyone enjoy this place a bit more.

Or, in other words, read the damn rules; they’re there for a reason.

Thank you,
Cobb

Nice work on this topic, hopefully this will keep things running smoothly.

BTW, is this the topic you told me about on MSN a week or two ago?

Nice one Cobb and the rest of the Staff. This will definately make a difference. Although this place seems fine, everything seems to be fine right now. ^_^

I do hope that people read this, because even some of the more veteran members, I will not name who, have come off a edgy, and if things boil over for them, then they may get in trouble, and that wouldn't be right for them. So in the end, I am glad you posted this, and I hope everyone reads this.

well done for the guys who took the time out of their busy schedule to revise the rules, thanks guys we know you have the well being of mgsf in your best interest.

well done admins, looks very good :thumb:

To say the truth, this was the first time I ever read the rules. But, well I don't think I have ever broke them anyways :P

Good job, let's hope that these forums will go to more positive direction now.

Goodie, nicely said and that shall definately help in the future. :)

And the topic realy isn't so long :P

I was wondering if it is ok to upload a file using something like yousendit and then posting the link.

I have done this in a topic in Music forum. If this against the rules, I will remove the link immediately.

You're still alowed to advertise forums and such in signatures are you?

Say the word and I'll remove the link.

EDIT: Also, I take it you're not going to be doing the Staff Applications again right?

'MGSF will not accept applications to become a member of the staff.'

We will come to you if we think your good enough.

Wow, looks like everything has been covered, nice one Mr Cobb.

Very nicely done.
I have to agree with them all, Reading some of them I think they were needed.

Didn't say this yet so: Nice work on the Rules...sorry, Acceptable Use Policy (as it's called now) Cobb.

Should this be pinned?

Or has the original Rules topic been updated with these?

Unless it's your music, meaning that you created and recorded it yourself, it is copyrighted information. I'm not going to hunt your link down, so don't worry about removing it unless you want to, but from now on don't post up the links.

Yep, that will stay the same. I'll edit these to make that more clear.

Everything has been updated accordingly for future reference.

I appreciate that you're all reading this thing. It's definitely something that needs to be said.

Bravo staff. Hopefully now MGSF will be an even better place to come and post! :D Some great rules up there. Nice work. :thumb:

The updated signature/avatar guidelines have been added to the AUP, as well.

good job, Cobb, for clearing things up. Hopefully this forum will start to go back to its fun and almost loving nature now ^^

Good to hear the stick of punishment will be used more frequently than it used to be. Keep up the good work, admins and mods, we appreciate it.

Nice to see that everything has been revised and tended to. ;)

Nice work, it all sounds good to me.

agreed. This will certinly prove effictive :thumb:

Yay, maybe some of the noobs and jackasses on this site will take a hint now.

Nice work :thumb:

i gotta admit this is one of the largest posts ive ever botherd to read lol, now i hope everyone follows these rules, and i hope the punishment to those that brake the rules is fair

The punishments are listed as part of the rules. ;)

Predator hopes he has not distrupted the forum in any manner. :)

Well me too... because I just joined! :P