The Newcomer's Guide to Flaming, Posting and Other Forum Goodness
updated 03/10/2007
This short guide is both an elaboration on the board guidelines as well as some practical advice from us, the V9 staff, on how the forum works and how to get the most out of your time here. Basically, it's a FAQ for newbies to the site, as well as a place for newcomers to ask questions which we can then integrate into this first post.
Some of the basics:
Posting:
* Try to avoid one-liner posts e.g. 'lol,' 'I agree,' or a bunch of smileys
* Post something that has discussion value, or justify your opinion instead of just stating it
* Watch out for double posts i.e. one post after another
* We're not the Grammar Police, but try to pay attention to spelling and grammar in your posts: it makes it easier to read and for other members to help you
* Anything deemed spam by the mods or admins will be removed, so be mindful of what you post
* Your first few posts will be invisible until a mod approves them: don't worry, they haven't disappeared
Member groups
The benefits of being in different groups include being allowed to post polls, modify threads and more. You also get increased personal message space and bigger attachment sizes, plus more interest for the AtkShop.
A quick breakdown of member groups:
BANNED - You repeatedly violated a board rule of some sort. Thanks for playing.
Validating - Members waiting for their accounts to be activated. They can still browse the forum but cannot post.
Junior - Complete newcomers with less than 20 posts.
Regular - Been eating your bran flakes? You will be promoted to this group once you hit 20 posts.
Senior - The established forumites group. You will be promoted (and allowed AtkShop access) once you hit 100 posts.
Elite - For the forum veterans. Staff will decide when you're ready to be moved into this group.
BM Mods - Moderators for the BlogMad sub-forums.
V9 Mods - General forum moderators.
Administration - The almighty admins of V9. Behave or fear The Banstick.
Staff:
Many new members ask how they can become staff i.e. a moderator or an admin. This is based on the following criteria:
* Contribution to the forum
* Helpfulness towards members
* Useful and engaging posting
* Time spent on the board
The promotion of members to staff positions is also not something that can be requested: when a member is eligible to become a mod or admin they are decided upon by current staff members and will be notified accordingly. DO NOT post threads asking about how to become staff! Sucking up is also considered highly annoying and will not get you any further along the food chain.
Also, we're more than happy to answer any questions you may have as a new member to Vault 9. If you have a genuine concern or question, feel free to drop any of the staff members a PM.
General behaviour
* Flaming is not tolerated and will be dealt with accordingly. First warning will be verbal, second warning will be an increase in the user's warning level.
* We don't take kindly to bashing of our members, whether they're newcomers or not. As a junior member you can expect a certain period where you find your feet on the board, and you may not carry the weight of the more senior members just yet. Everyone is treated fairly though, and in time you will advance in rank and hopefully become a permanent member (and friend) of everyone here.
* If you feel you're being treated unfairly at all you're more than welcome to take the issue up with the offending member or a staff member, but try not to whine and complain every time you feel someone crosses you. This is the Internet: it's not a democracy, nor is it a preschool.
* You are not 'l337,' or any better than any other member. You are also not your postcount.
* The decisions of mods and admins are final. We follow the rules and so should you.
* Try not to end your nickname with a string of random numbers. It makes it difficult to remember and identify, and also makes you look like a spambot.
Banning members
The process for banning a member is as follows:
1. First warning
2. Second warning
3. Third warning and 3 day suspension
4. BANSTICK!
Spambots are different though, their accounts get deleted straight away.
Added extras
The arcade and AtkShop are added bonuses for our loyal members. Please note that there is a 1 post per day limit on the arcade: this is to encourage posting activity and discourage freeloading. For more information on this click here.
For now this is just a basic start to some of the general practices you should follow as a new member of Vault 9. We'll be updating the list as we go along, so feel free to post any queries you may have in this thread and we'll do our best to integrate them.
No question is a stupid one, so post away and we'll do our best to assist.
If this is your first time on the board, head on over to the New here? thread and introduce yourself, and the Get to know your Fellow Members thread to let us know a bit more about you
Enjoy your stay!
The Vault9 Team