PokeBeach.com Forums

Date: 18 November 2008
Last Update: 30 December 2008

The Forum Rules
By Water Pokemon Master / Noobnerd / PMJ

By posting on these forums, you agree to abide by these rules. We will not tolerate any excuses that you did not see the rules or read them, as they are visible in every forum. You may ask for clarification on a rule in the thread stated below.

Failure to read all of the below rules could put you in jeopardy of being banned, since you may break one of them (this entire post should not take you more than six minutes to read, so read it). If you are a child, please review the below rules with your parents before proceeding to post. There are no excuses for not understanding the below rules. If you have a question, you may PM one of the authors of this announcement. We are not evil people who will bite your hand off if you ask a question for clarity.

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General Rules
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Be responsible
You are responsible for your own account. Do not let anyone use your account at any time, as you are responsible for the things posted on your account. Saying "it wasn't me, it was my brother/sister/parent/friend" is not an excuse.
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Leniency to new members
The consequences of breaking the below rules may be heightened if a member is new. If a mod gives you a warning, and you're fairly new, just send Noobnerd a PM, and he'll review the warning. This only happens once.
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Do not mini-mod
If you see a post that violates any of the below rules, you should use the "! report" button below each post in the bottom right hand corner. This will immediately notify all mods that someone is possibly breaking a rule, and they will handle it. If you reply to a post that violates the below rules, telling the person "You should not be doing so-and-so," you will be warned. This is known as "mini-modding" and is not allowed. The best thing to do is use the report feature.
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Requesting for locks
You may also report your own trade thread or My Player thread if you would like them to be locked. However, we will not entertain locks for other threads unless we deem it necessary. Do not report your own thread if you would like them locked just for the sake of it.
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Do not post in or "revive" dead threads
You may not post in a thread older than two weeks old, unless it is a stickied thread, your own trading thread, your own "My Player" thread, your own fanfic or your own shop in Celadon Mart. If you wish to revive any other thread legally, including your own clan or club, approach me a moderator by PM requesting for permission. It's best to approach me (Noobnerd), as I never ignore PMs that aren't stupid. Violators will receive a warning.
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Do not offend others
Do not bash, insult, or cuss in your posts or to other members. If a post is highly offensive, as deemed by any moderator, the offender will be permanently account and IP banned so that there will be no access to this forum. Violators will receive a warning.
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Do not spam
Spamming is one of the most common offenses. Internet forum spam is defined by Wikipedia as "the posting of advertisements, abusive, or unneeded messages on Internet forums." On our forum, abusive messages are called "flaming," and advertising is simply advertising. Our forum regards spam as unneeded messages. An example of spam would be something irrelevant to the topic, or a simple "hi there ur cool I like your deck". Spamming includes posting "Favorite" threads ("What's your favorite _____?") and meaningless topics. No intelligent discussion can come from a SPAM topic. Violators will receive a warning.
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Do not have multiple accounts
Each member is allowed only one login account. Registering with multiple accounts is not allowed. Violators will receive a warning and have the accounts merged; more serious cases (claiming to be two different people, or giving oneself positive references in the trade forum) will be IP banned on the spot. If you have siblings who want to register, you must notify a moderator before the sibling registers.
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Do not bump without valid reason or post more than once in a row
Posting in the same thread consecutively - "double posting" - is not tolerated. When you make a post, if you have something to add, click on the edit button at the bottom of the post and make any amendments there. Violators will receive a warning. If no one has replied to your thread for at least 3 hours, you may post again at no penalty.
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Do not post threads similar to others that already exist
Only one discussion topic about a specific subject may exist at a time. As about that subject must take place in that thread. Those who create alternate threads will receive a warning and be directed to the appropriate discussion thread.
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Do not create useless threads
Do not create threads for things that can be taken care of in other threads; for example, creating a thread asking if you may get your name changed when there already exists a thread for such a thing. Violators will have their thread deleted and will receive a warning.
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Do not advertise
You may not link to any other forum in any thread, at any time, in an attempt at getting people to join. If you have a site you would like others to visit, link to it in your signature. Asking people to visit any site through the PM system is also not allowed. Advertising includes getting people to join your club. Advertising through threads gets you a warning; advertising through PMs gets you temporarily banned.
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Do not post inappropriate content
Many members on this forum are below the age of 13. As such, posting any inappropriate content, in any form, will not be tolerated. This includes obscene images, videos or text. Inappropriateness is determined at the discretion of the moderating team. Penalties for breaking this rule depend on the severity of the offense, from a warning at best to permanent ban at worst.
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Do not post images that may affect people prone to seizures
In order to cater to anyone with problems with flashing colors, the posting of rapidly flashing images is no longer allowed. Violators will receive a warning.
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Rules about changing usernames
From January 1 2009 onwards, no user can have their username changed. Please choose carefully before making an account.
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Use proper spelling and grammar
You should say, "Pikachu are a species of Pokemon that have electrical cheeks," not "pikachus is spciec of Pokémon That has elctric cheecks." Using poor grammar and spelling often labels people as "n00bs," and less people pay attention to them. When many members do this, the same consequence applies to the entire forum. Plus, using correct spelling and grammar helps you practice for school.
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Do not abuse the Spelling/Grammar Reputation System
For more information on the system, please read this thread. For more information on our policy regarding the reputation system, please read this announcement. You are required to read these links.
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Know the forum staff
Knowing who the people in charge of this forum are and who you can approach for help is very important. D master has kindly created this thread that lists the staff members of this forum. Take note that the "Forum Team" page on this forum does not contain all the staff members because of a glitch.
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Read the Newbie Guide
If you are new to our forums, it is HIGHLY suggested and recommended that you read the newbie guide now or if you ever have any questions about these forums. It contains the most common questions people ask on PokeBeach's forums. Be sure to read it in its entirety, because asking any question that has already been asked before will get you a warning. Read it.
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Signature and Avatar Rules
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Do not use avatars that a staff member has
No user may use the same current avatar as that of any staff member. While using the avatar of normal members is allowed, it is common courtesy to get your own and not steal theirs. D master has created a thread listing the forum staff. Click here to view it.
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Avatars can be no larger than 125x125 pixels
The limit will apply if you upload an image from your computer, but will not if you host an image somewhere else and use it as your avatar. Please keep it within the limits. The size limit of 20KB is not a must.
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No signature can be larger than 670x250 pixels
The below image is the exact maximum width and height your signature can be:

[IMG]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/raichu_ohbeone/maxsigsize.jpg[/IMG]

That's 670 pixels wide by 250 pixels high. Text in your signature is limited to 750 characters, and all text must also fit within the 670x250 frame. Excessively large signatures will be removed on sight, and we will not save your data. Violators will also receive a warning. If you need help resizing images, read the newbie guide.
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If you have any questions regarding the rules, please post them in this thread.

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Updates
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10 December 2008: No members is allowed to use an avatar that a staff member has.[/b]
10 December 2008: Members cannot change usernames from 2009 onwards.
10 December 2008: Members are allowed to revive their own fanfics or shops in Celadon Mart legally.
22 December 2008: Added new rule of knowing staff members.
22 December 2008: Added new rule pertaining to abuse of the rep system.
22 December 2008: Removed Courtesy Rules. Relocated rule about good usage of grammar to General Rules.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. Have fun on our forums!

The Forum Rules: Updated Dec 30 - Noobnerd