Welcome to The Tails Realm Forums!
By Submitting and Accepting the TTR Terms of Service and the Zetaboards Terms of Service, you (the user) are required to follow all of the following rules. Ignorance to the rules is not an excuse; you will still be held responsible to your actions. Upon offense, you will receive the following forms of punishment:
1st Offense - Warning
2nd Offense - One Day Suspension + Warning
3rd Offense - Seven Day Suspension + Warning
4th Offense - Permanent Ban
The warnings are in increments of 25% each. These rules are subject to change and punishments may vary depending on the magnitude of the offence. The staff at TTR does not exist to punish the members, but the aforementioned progression of punishment will generally be followed if violations of the rules are seen.
1. No Swearing ---> Swearing on the board is an ineffective method of getting your point across. Although it is commonly used in ordinary speech, please refrain from using profanity here. There are filters in place, and there is punishment for those who attempt to bypass these filters.
Fanfictions are slightly different when it comes to swearing. We don't want to limit someone's writing style. If your fanfics contain swearing in them, please put a warning either in the topic name or at the beginning of the thread. This is still a PG board, though, so try not to go too far out of that range.
2. No Porn ---> This is a PG rated board, and all pornographic material will result in a one day suspension minimum. If you have a question about a picture or link, contact an Administrator or Moderator first.
3. No Flaming ---> Flaming is considered an active insult against another member on the board without grounds for the insult other than to be hurtful. Active debates on a topic are allowed (and encouraged), but if it degrades into "Mud Slinging," then Administration will close the topic and determine who is at fault. No excuses for flames will be accepted. If you are having a bad day, do not take it out on other members of the board, they do not deserve it.
4. No Spamming ---> Spamming includes both random and insubstantial posts. Random posts are ones that do not have any relevance to the current topic. Insubstantial posts are one or two word posts such as, "Yes," or "I agree," and posts that contain excessive emotes that don't contribute to a topic. Both are very unhelpful when trying to respond to a topic and are deeply discouraged. Please attempt to make a full effort in contributing to the board.
5. No Trolling ---> A troll is one who comes to the board to actively cause as much havoc as possible and has likely broken every other rule. If one is thought to be a troll, it is an instant, permanent ban. There are no exceptions on this matter.
6. No Harassment ---> Harassment is not permitted at all. Harassment on the board that continues into PMs or Instant Messages will be investigated by staff. If you are being harassed, contact an Administrator or Moderator immediately. Harassment constitutes an extended suspension or a permanent ban, depending on the severity of the offence.
7. No Double Posting ---> This is when you make a reply to a post you just made. There is an edit button, please use it.
8. No Topic Misplacement ---> Please place topics in the sub forum that best suits it. Although you will not be punished for this rule (unless you are repeatedly breaking it), it helps with the forum organization. Contact a Moderator or Administrator if you have a question about a topic.
9. No Insulting Tails and Company ---> Although this is a given, it is required to be said. This is a Tails fan board, because that is how it was designed. Although you do not have to be a Tails fan to join this site, please refrain from insulting him or any of the other Sonic characters (including fan characters). If you feel that you cannot follow this, then please do not come here. It is allowed to express opinions about games or plots. Also, certain unofficial areas, such as coupling or fan fiction, are allowed.
10. No Heavy Advertising ---> If you want to advertise your website or forum, you can do so in the Advertise forum. You are also allowed to put a link or a button to your site in your signature. Advertising your site anywhere else is not allowed. Also, do not join the board simply to advertise your own site or forum. TTR is not a fly-by bulletin board.
11. No Huge/Active Content Signatures ---> Active content is not allowed in signatures - this includes content like streaming video and audio. Your forum signature should not exceed an area of 560 x 250 pixels when viewed on a 800 X 600 resolution monitor. If everything you have does not fit in the area shown below, your signature is too large.
If you have active content in your signature, it may be removed without warning. If your signature is too big, you'll be sent a personal message requesting that you edit it to an acceptable size. If the personal message is ignored, the staff will edit the signature instead. Repeated violations may result in your signature being removed without warning. Violation of this rule will not result in a warning unless the violations are repetitive.
12. No posts that deliberately incite drama ---> Think carefully before making a post. If you believe your post is likely to cause drama or upset members, do not post it. If you are unsure if the topic is suitable, contact a staff member before posting. Staff members reserve the right to lock a topic if they believe it to be inappropriate or if it is causing unnecessary drama.
13. No Copyright Infringement ---> All artwork and photos linked on TTR using the IMG tag must be made by the member or they must credit the work and get written permission from the artists. Linking using the URL to artwork on DA or on artists personal sites is preferred and does not require written permission of the artist. Artwork created by SEGA and the Sonic X Screenshots can be posted freely as we have copyright permissions. Fan fictions and Fan Character Profiles posted to TTR must have been created by the member posting it. Any posted artwork, fan character profiles, fan fictions that is found to have had their copyrights infringed will be removed upon discovery or if we receive Request for Removal/DMCA Takedown Notice/WIPO Compliant Copyright Notification. If the creator of artwork, fan characters or fan fictions thinks a member here plagiarized their work, they can contact either AugieD, RoSe-BuSTeR, Matty, or Ingolme.
14. No Posting Personal info if under 13 ---> In compliance with COPPA, members under the age of 13 can not post any of their personal info publicly and via PM, nor can a staff member or a regular member ask for it from them. (Real Name, Location (Country is allowed, State/City is not), Phone Number, School) Any personal info about a young member will be removed upon discovery. Zetaboards also requires that we block access to creating full profiles from those under 13. If a young member sends in a parental consent form, they will have full access to profiles. Those 13 and over are not subject to these rules, however, we still recommend not posting your personal info. The birthdate you enter on registration must be your real birthdate, lying about your age will not be tolerated and may result in an immediate ban from TTR.
15. No Large Pictures in Posts ---> Pictures larger than 640X480 stretch the forum tables and should be linked using the URL tag instead of the IMG Tag.
Once again, these rules are required to be followed by everyone on this board; no one is exempt from them.
Warnings are not permanent - with good behavior a warning may be dropped. A period of about one month of good behavior will be necessary for a warning to be dropped. One must be active during this time, and should take it upon themselves to contact a staff member once they feel the one month is up. Also, if one is found abusing this system their warnings will not be removed (In other words, if a pattern is noticed with someone lowering their warning level and then breaking the rules again they will lose the privilege for their warnings to be removed).
Anyone with any questions, complaints, comments, or concerns are asked to contact an Administrator or Moderator. Please enjoy The Tails Realm Forum. Thank you.
Securing your Account:
Member Passwords should comply with 3 out of the 4 password guidelines as stated by Zetaboards which are below. The use of Sonic Characters and games in passwords is highly discouraged.
1. Password uses both upper and lowercase letters
2. Password has at least 1 number in it
3. Password has a Punctuaction Symbol in it.
4. Password is at least 8 characters long
Concerning Moderator Status:
Moderator Status is something that can always cause conflict. Many desire it, but not all can have it. This is caused by several things. First off, there's a limit on how many moderators a forum should have. There may be 40 people who would make great mods, but there's no real reason to have 40 mods for, say, a board with 3 forums and 100 members.
Second, and I'm sure everyone is aware of this - people are different. In every leadership position some will fare better than others. It could be something with how they react to danger, it could be how well they handle the general public, or anything of that nature, but the point is that some people make better leaders than others in different scenarios. Most events on a forum stay within the same general scenario, so there are some that are more suited to modding a forum than others.
At TTR we want to have a staff that we can trust to make good decisions. This of course means that we can't give people a moderator position just because they asked for it and they're nice. Positions will be given when the need arises, and the choices will be based on observation from activity on the board. Moderator status will not be given because someone asked, but rather because they've proven they're up to the job and are willing to try. Feel free to tell us you're willing to help if the chance arises, but please don't simply ask for a position as a moderator. All staffing changes will be made by the staff only, and will be announced to members when this takes effect.
Lastly, be aware that moderating is a responsibility. If you become a moderator, you are expected to continue being an active member of the community. It's important for staff members to not only check the board; they must take part in it as well. Mods and Admins that do not login to TTR may be demoted to Advisor status if they do not notify a TTR admin within 90 days of their last login that they are unable to log into TTR for any length of time, they also need to have a good reason when they notify admins they need to take a leave of absence (for example, sick, hospitalized, career, schooling, etcetera). Be aware of what's going on, and be ready to offer your input. Keep in mind, a moderator is not a better person than other member. Every member is treated equally, and moderators are here to ensure that this board remains friendly and comfortable for other people. A forum wouldn't be a forum without other members, and regular members can definately help out by sharing ideas and reporting offensive content to others.
Member Activity/Absence Guidelines:
We here at TTR value our members as being the key part of any forum. While we require you to follow the rules above all the time, we also encourage members and advisors to login and post to the topics that they are interested in, create new topics, and share their thoughts on any upcoming changes to TTR. We do understand however their may be times that a member may want to stop coming to TTR or take an extended leave of absence. If you are planning on taking a leave of absence, please let an admin know with the reason you are going to take the leave of absence via PM. If we don't hear from you after you have not logged in for more than 6 months, your account will be moved to the "Retired Members" group if you are a member, or the "Retired Staff" group if you are an advisor. You will still be able to view the site and send PM's but you won't be able to post, Retired Staff will still be able to post to TTR Government to ensure they can still give their thoughts on any changes to TTR. If you have been put in one of these groups, and want to return to TTR, please send a PM to an admin and we will move you back to the group you were in.
Major Rules/Site Change Policy:
TTR is pleased to be an open forum that listens to it's members and uses their ideas and suggestions to make TTR even better! If you have a suggestion or feedback for TTR, please post in the suggestions forum. Other members will be able to share their thoughts on your feedback and suggestions when you post there. If the idea or suggestion is favored by the members, the staff will vote on the idea and implement it if approved. The staff reserve the right to privately come up with their own changes to TTR, we will however let the members know about changes after approval by staff in Suggestions so members can give their feedback on the changes, the changes will be made if the majority of active members are in agreement with the change.
Forum/Member related issues:
There may be times in which a problem may come up that you may feel that it should not be discussed publicly, you are free to PM a staff member about any problem on TTR and we will be glad to help. If it is related to a post or PM, we have a report button that you can use that will alert the staff about the post. We take all Post and PM reports seriously and will act on the reports ASAP. False reports are not tolerated and you may be issued a warning if you send a false report.
Shoutbox rules:
The shoutbox (located at the bottom of the forum) is in existence so members of the forum can partake in small talk that doesn't necessarily need a thread of its own. Members can pop in, say hello, and just have a friendly conversation with others instead of needing to open up an IM chat room, for instance.
It is not there so people have an excuse to spam. Filling it with the garbage is the same as filling a topic with garbage and is therefore forbidden.
Also, due to the coding it is easy to impersonate other members within the shoutbox. If we find out that a member is impersonating another, swift action will be taken. Impersonation will not be tolerated.
All of these rules will be enforced to all members including the moderators. They must follow these rules as well. We hope you enjoy the forum, and please let any member of the staff know if something concerning the forum is bothering you. We'll be happy to help. |
