Just wanted to post a refresher of the rules with support of the mod team. We want to keep this board welcoming to everybody and not a place where hostility and negativity is running rampant 24/7. Differing opinions are always welcomed and it's fun to speculate on things, that's what makes RealGM exist in the first place.. but when things start to become personal and mean spirited, it drives away traffic from the forums and makes people not want to discuss things if every debate becomes personal or a back-and-forth between two people for pages and pages. And we have to suspend and ban users that we actually like engaging with.
The mods to this point have been pretty lenient in allowing most discussions to continue on the forum, but we also all agree that the overall quality of the forum is starting to dip a little bit due to the arguments and agendas that seem to keep popping up, and we're going to start being more active and judicious in handing warnings and suspensions (or even bans) if people cannot follow the rules that are forum-wide rules. Again, if you're having a 200 page debate with somebody and somehow aren't going around in circles and are keeping things basketball related, we don't care at all. It's when it devolves into name calling/worse that it becomes an issue.
Here are some of the rule refreshers:
1. Keep arguments or debates to basketball if it's basketball related (which 90% of the time on this forum, it will be). The minute you start insulting someone by calling them an idiot or getting personal in other ways, makes it a personal issue and the other person obviously isn't going to take kindly to being called a bad name. We know the posters that like to do this, so the next time someone with a track record does this, it's going to be an automatic three day. Anybody else that isn't known to engage in name calling/worse will get a recorded warning and then a three day. If someone does happen to get personal for no reason, report the post and don't engage in the debate anymore or make it worse. Just because somebody does it first, it doesn't mean you won't get in trouble as well if you continue to stoop down to that level and continue on with it.
Again, I don't mind someone questioning a wild/out there opinion in a nice/neutral way, but the minute that becomes "You're a stupid idiot and should never post again" ... is taking it to the next level and won't be tolerated. We're not asking everybody to sing "Kumbaya" together, just be civil. This includes any sort of trolling GIF(s), etc.
2. The "ignore list" in your profile is there for a reason. If the sight of somebody's posting bothers you to the point where you HAVE to quote them and call them out 24/7, just ignore that poster. It makes no sense to start harassing someone if their posts aren't addressed to you and you just simply disagree with them that much.
3. Keep politics out of any basketball related thread unless it's a specified political thread, which is going to pop up rarely in the first place. There's a Current Affairs board for a reason. You think Trump sucks? Cool, I'm sure people agree with you, but it's only going to cause personal arguments here. You think Liberals are the worst? Cool, I'm sure people agree with you, but randomly bringing it up in a basketball comparison is only stirring the pot.
4. If you have an issue with a particular mod or think you are being unfairly targeted, do not make it a personal issue in a thread or attempt to backseat mod. PM Howard Mass or a different mod and they can discuss things with you and they will talk to that person. I've had my issues with posters in the past, but all of my gripes are strictly basketball related and I have no personal agenda or ill-will towards anybody, and I can speak for the rest of the mods too that they are the same way. Also, if you have any questions you need to ask that might get lost in a thread, PM any mod and we can usually help you.
5. Any sort of misogyny, racism or homophobia is not going to be tolerated. This is non-negotiable and not some sort of attack against free speech (for anybody that disagrees that those things should be allowed), just be a decent human being and not take things to that level. This should go without saying.
6. Negativity for the sake of negativity, where do I start? While it's something we can't enforce with a punishment (I've certainly been negative about the team, and I'm sure I will again), going into EVERY single thread and playing devil's advocate does get old after a while. Every thread doesn't need someone stirring the pot or someone arguing, and I'm sure there are threads that have that sort of opinion being discussed already. Just be aware of the situation sometimes is all that I ask. If you've already stated your opinion on a matter and released every emotion that you feel, you don't need to continue doing it in every thread for the next year. We get it your opinion.
7. Feel free to create new threads about interesting/new topics, basketball or non-basketball related (non-political). This goes for everybody, even us mods. We're all smart and creative people, so by all means, feel free to create new threads where we can discuss fresh topics whether it's OT or not. Especially during the summer when it's the doldrums and we're just waiting to watch Orlando Magic basketball again.
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These shouldn't be hard to follow for most people. If you take issue with any of these and think you're being personally targeted or what you disagree with, let me know and we can discuss it. Otherwise, it's a reminder for some of us, even myself, that we want to continue making this one of the better places to talk about Magic basketball.
