So, while I know most of you can follow rules without them being stated, I want to make sure to get some things stated explicitly so no one can come back to me and say "But you didn't actually STATE I couldn't do that!"
So let's just jump right into this.
1. Follow the Gaia ToS - This one should go without saying because the ToS applies over all of Gaia, but I figure it won't hurt to re-state. You haven't read them, you say? I suggest you do so, they can be found here. Too legal sounding for you? The watered down version, the rules and guidelines, are here.
2. Listen to the crew - This is another one that should go without saying, but it won't hurt to say it. If the crew tells you to or not to do something, listen. Unless it's something outlandish or a joke or some such. If you disagree with something, feel free to talk to a part of the crew, we'll try to work out any issue you have.
3. Respect your fellow guildies - This is pretty straightforward, treat everyone with respect, and we'll all be happy. If you want to argue a point, do so in a polite manner. No abusing guild members inside the guild or outside the guild. Such abuse constitutes but is not limited to: verbal name calling, bullying, harassment, and intentional embarrassment. This isn't just a guild rule, this is a punishable offense defined in Gaia's ToS (Section 4, part a) and Rules & Guidelines (Interacting with Other Users on Gaia, number 3). We encourage members to report any abuse they see, and if you're on the receiving end of abuse, we suggest also adding the offender to your ignore list to limit the amount of contact they can have with you.
4. Don't page stretch needlessly - And by needless page stretching, I mean spamming the exclamation point, or any other character. Art and images that page stretch are fine, though it'd certainly be appreciated if you put a warning about possible page stretching in the thread title. Page stretching leaves stretch marks, and stretch marks on pages are ugly, and no one likes ugly pages.
5. Advertising - While we allow advertising, you are NOT to advertise in the main. We have a sticky JUST for advertising. Contact a crew member about advertising, and we'll be more than happy to let you have a post in the sticky. Advertising with banners and links in your signature is perfectly fine; who are we to tell you what to do with your own signature? Advertising for art shops and commissions are allowed in the art sub. If you're unsure about something, contact a crew member.
6. Don't spam our main with lots of pointless threads - We have a spam sub for a reason, use it. If your threads are found to be spam, they will be moved by a crew member to that sub anyway, so just save yourself some time and the wrath of a crew member by starting your thread there yourself.
7. Grammar - While we're pretty okay with however you want to type, we do like for you to put in a little effort to be understandable. We understand typos and whatnot, and we're even pretty cool with occasional chatspeak. However, if we we don't have a clue as to what you're saying or you're using excessive chatspeak (excluding in the spam forum), then we reserve the right to delete your post. Plus, good grammar gets you on the good side of many of the crew members, so why not make the attempt, eh? So, summary, type like you have good sense and common grammar knowledge, and we'll likely be just fine.
8. Necroing Threads - This is a new one since I've noticed a problem with this recently. DON'T necro a thread. For those of you that are like "lol wuhtz necroin?" here's a fairly simple definition - reviving/posting in a dead thread. If it's a thread in the main that's off the first page or hasn't had a reply for a few months, don't reply to it, especially not if you're just going to make a spam reply like "lololol for toats sure person above me lololol rofl rofl rofl !!!11!1!!!!!!11!!!" In the subs, we'll be more lenient about the exact time frame for a post to be considered necroing a thread, but again, if it's just going to be a spam reply or if it's a thread that's more than a year old, don't post. I WILL consider that necroing unless you're furthering the discussion/opening your own discussion in the thread. I or another crew member WILL delete the post if we notice it, especially if it's absolutely pointless.
So, read them, follow them, and you're golden.
So let's just jump right into this.
1. Follow the Gaia ToS - This one should go without saying because the ToS applies over all of Gaia, but I figure it won't hurt to re-state. You haven't read them, you say? I suggest you do so, they can be found here. Too legal sounding for you? The watered down version, the rules and guidelines, are here.
2. Listen to the crew - This is another one that should go without saying, but it won't hurt to say it. If the crew tells you to or not to do something, listen. Unless it's something outlandish or a joke or some such. If you disagree with something, feel free to talk to a part of the crew, we'll try to work out any issue you have.
3. Respect your fellow guildies - This is pretty straightforward, treat everyone with respect, and we'll all be happy. If you want to argue a point, do so in a polite manner. No abusing guild members inside the guild or outside the guild. Such abuse constitutes but is not limited to: verbal name calling, bullying, harassment, and intentional embarrassment. This isn't just a guild rule, this is a punishable offense defined in Gaia's ToS (Section 4, part a) and Rules & Guidelines (Interacting with Other Users on Gaia, number 3). We encourage members to report any abuse they see, and if you're on the receiving end of abuse, we suggest also adding the offender to your ignore list to limit the amount of contact they can have with you.
4. Don't page stretch needlessly - And by needless page stretching, I mean spamming the exclamation point, or any other character. Art and images that page stretch are fine, though it'd certainly be appreciated if you put a warning about possible page stretching in the thread title. Page stretching leaves stretch marks, and stretch marks on pages are ugly, and no one likes ugly pages.
5. Advertising - While we allow advertising, you are NOT to advertise in the main. We have a sticky JUST for advertising. Contact a crew member about advertising, and we'll be more than happy to let you have a post in the sticky. Advertising with banners and links in your signature is perfectly fine; who are we to tell you what to do with your own signature? Advertising for art shops and commissions are allowed in the art sub. If you're unsure about something, contact a crew member.
6. Don't spam our main with lots of pointless threads - We have a spam sub for a reason, use it. If your threads are found to be spam, they will be moved by a crew member to that sub anyway, so just save yourself some time and the wrath of a crew member by starting your thread there yourself.
7. Grammar - While we're pretty okay with however you want to type, we do like for you to put in a little effort to be understandable. We understand typos and whatnot, and we're even pretty cool with occasional chatspeak. However, if we we don't have a clue as to what you're saying or you're using excessive chatspeak (excluding in the spam forum), then we reserve the right to delete your post. Plus, good grammar gets you on the good side of many of the crew members, so why not make the attempt, eh? So, summary, type like you have good sense and common grammar knowledge, and we'll likely be just fine.
8. Necroing Threads - This is a new one since I've noticed a problem with this recently. DON'T necro a thread. For those of you that are like "lol wuhtz necroin?" here's a fairly simple definition - reviving/posting in a dead thread. If it's a thread in the main that's off the first page or hasn't had a reply for a few months, don't reply to it, especially not if you're just going to make a spam reply like "lololol for toats sure person above me lololol rofl rofl rofl !!!11!1!!!!!!11!!!" In the subs, we'll be more lenient about the exact time frame for a post to be considered necroing a thread, but again, if it's just going to be a spam reply or if it's a thread that's more than a year old, don't post. I WILL consider that necroing unless you're furthering the discussion/opening your own discussion in the thread. I or another crew member WILL delete the post if we notice it, especially if it's absolutely pointless.
So, read them, follow them, and you're golden.
