We expect all members to follow these few simple guidelines:
Don't just post, read others' posts. The great Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." Some people have a tendency to treat internet discussion forums as their own personal showcase. Our forum has members of all ages from all over the world. Instead of filling threads with half-baked opinions and provocations, humble yourself and remember that several hundred people read this forum every day. New members especially can learn a lot just by sitting back and reading existing posts. Don't feel compelled to post your opinion on everything in every thread. Get familiar with the forum before you start firing off what might turn out to be irrelevant questions or comments or minutiae that clutters up the board to the detriment of other users. Those who do so may be asked to rein in their garrulous tendencies and may be suspended or even banned if it continues.
Stay on topic. Replies should be answers to the original question or in the realm of the discussion. Try not to create sub-conversations in a thread as it complicates reading and really doesn't belong in the thread. If you have a discussion topic that was generated from reading a thread, just start a new thread. Also, please feel free to send off-topic personal responses using the private message function instead of broadcasting it to the whole forum.
Avoid "empty" posts.This is also known as "thread-padding." Whether it's to bump up post counts or simply a naive attempt at casual conversation, some people just love to make posts that consist of nothing more than phrases such as "That's too bad!" or "I can't wait!" or "That's awesome!" or "That's so cool!" and so on and so on. This is to be avoided. If you don't have anything to say, don't say it. Along the same lines...
Avoid SMS language (or chat/text-speak)Please, no "LOL" or "ROTFL" or "LMFAO" or "OMG." If you need to interject such a response, spell it out. If that's too much work for you, maybe you don't need to include it at all.
Don't troll. Don't post provocative statements just to get a response. If you need attention that badly, walk down the middle of a busy street. You'll get lots of attention. Also, if you don't like a film (or whatever the topic under discussion is), no one really needs you to comment on that fact and disappear. If you must post your disapproval in a thread, at least back it up with some reasoning and examples.
Be considerate to others. It should go without saying that you should treat others as you would like to be treated. Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life. If you wouldn't say it to someone's face then don't say it on the forum. If necessary, moderators will delete rude, obnoxious, and abusive forum posts.
From time to time, discussions may grow heated. This is to be expected, and reasoned, passionate debates are fine. Try not to take differences of opinion personally. Personal insults and petty rudeness have absolutely no place here though, so don't do it. Offenses will be treated on a case-by-case basis and may result in a warning, temporary suspension of your account, or being banned.
There are no dumb questions. However, many members do find users obnoxious if they haven't made a good faith effort to determine if a similar topic has been previously discussed. If you're unsure if the subject you want to discuss has already been broached, use the SEARCH function.
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Use appropriate capitalization and punctuation. One question mark or one exclamation point (if you must use one at all) will suffice. And just because the rest of the internet thinks it's okay not to use capital letters (or, God forbid, rAnDoM cApItAlIzAtIon) does not mean it's okay here. Knock it off and learn to use the shift key.
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Please note: Newly registered members will have their first five posts moderated before they appear on the forum. These posts must be part of an existing thread and must make a thoughtful, substantive, or unique contribution to the discussion (even if that means just asking a good question). Posts considered by the moderators not to make such a contribution will not be approved and will not count toward the user's first five posts.
Forum Rules (required reading!)
- Matt
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Forum Rules (required reading!)
Hi everyone! This is a friendly reminder that name-calling of another member is grounds for automatic suspension and/or permanent banning. Everyone here has their own perspective and approach, and the proper way to engage with someone you disagree with is not belittling or dehumanizing them with your language choices. If you feel compelled to call a fellow board member a nasty name, consider stepping away from the computer or device and calming down instead of posting something you'll regret
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Forum Rules (required reading!)
You may have noticed that new thread creation is highly limited for users. This is by design, as we encourage everyone to find existing conversations to add to rather than creating new threads. Does your topic fall under one of the genres or decades under conversation here? Perhaps it belongs in a thread dedicated to a filmmaker found here? If it's a recent film without a dedicated thread, you could post your thoughts about it in the relevant "Films of 20XX" thread in this subform. It is thus very unlikely a new thread actually needs to be created, though sometimes new threads are split off by mods as needed.
HOWEVER, if you are certain you have a killer idea for a new thread or are not sure where your discussion could go, please PM a mod. The current most active mods are: domino harvey, Mr Sausage, and swo17 (and feel free to reach out to one of us first if you have any other issues that need mod attention)
HOWEVER, if you are certain you have a killer idea for a new thread or are not sure where your discussion could go, please PM a mod. The current most active mods are: domino harvey, Mr Sausage, and swo17 (and feel free to reach out to one of us first if you have any other issues that need mod attention)
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Forum Rules (required reading!)
By popular demand, any links to Jeffrey Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere, Armond White, or Dr. Svet Atanasov/Pro-Bassoonist/Pro-B of Blu-ray.com are banned unless they are shared in their dedicated threads (see links below). The first two have been unofficial policies for some time, but with the rise of Pro-B’s inflammatory statements on Blu-ray.com, this is now official mod policy. This ban includes links to Dr Svet Atanasov's Blu-ray.com reviews in threads for the respective films/releases, but does not include any non-Pro-B written Blu-ray.com reviews-- please double check before sharing any future Blu-ray.com reviews.
Any errant future links to these “critics” anywhere other than the following quarantined threads will either be moved or deleted at the whims of the moderators.
If you must:
The Armond White Thread - Armond White
The Jeffrey Wells Thread - Jeffrey Wells / Hollywood Elsewhere
Professional Bassoonery - Dr Svet Atanasov / Pro-Bassoonist / Pro-B (and all authored Blu-ray.com reviews and comments)
Any errant future links to these “critics” anywhere other than the following quarantined threads will either be moved or deleted at the whims of the moderators.
If you must:
The Armond White Thread - Armond White
The Jeffrey Wells Thread - Jeffrey Wells / Hollywood Elsewhere
Professional Bassoonery - Dr Svet Atanasov / Pro-Bassoonist / Pro-B (and all authored Blu-ray.com reviews and comments)