Forum Rules

[NT2C]

A better set of rules will be posted at a later date but for now, all the rules of the old ZS forums are in effect here.  That means we don't post politics, discuss illegal activities, don't preach religion at each other, and recognize that the only race which matters here is "human" and we're all part of it, no matter how we might self-identify or who we choose to have adult relations with.  Respect for each other has always been a defining characteristic of the old ZS forums and that is expected to continue here.  If you can't abide by that you won't last long on here before you get booted.


tl;dr: Thou shalt not be an asshole

[Raptor]

General Rules

This forum is a community, and all communities have rules to keep them running smoothly. With that in mind we've compiled this small list of rules.

1.) No discussion of illegal activities as a viable option.
We do not condone murder or theft or explosives so we do not appreciate them being promoted on our boards. Other illicit activities are also verboten, but these are the ones most often brought up.

2.) Proofread before posting.
If it's important enough for you to post it, you probably want us to understand it. This means using proper spelling, good grammar, punctuation, and capitals if it helps with clarity. Typos happen, but full paragraphs of misspelled words with no punctuation are difficult to read and won't be taken seriously (if anyone bothers to read them).

3.) No trolling or flaming.
This is obvious, but still needs to be said. We encourage discussion and disagreement; we encourage calling someone on their bullshit. We don't encourage assholes. Please be constructive with your criticism if at all possible.

4.) Stay topical.
This just keeps everything easier to read. Yes, things do veer from the first post on a regular basis, but if you think you've wandered too far aground feel free to start a new topic. It's fun and easy to do. Also, make sure your new topic goes in the appropriate forum. Lastly, make sure your thread title explains what your thread discussion contains.

5.) No spamming.
Please don't repeatedly mention any site, forum, or product that you have an interest in. One post in the appropriate forum is acceptable; four in various ones is not. We like to know about your cool new site, we just don't want to be bludgeoned with it. Spammers are subject to immediate banning.

6.) No hate.
UFOZS does not support or tolerate any form of xenophobic philosophy, including but not limited to racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, or one based on someone's culture/personal beliefs.

7.) No debating of politics or religion.
To help discourage any of the above rules from being broken, we make a point to avoid these types of debates. It makes it a lot easier for us to all get along and helps us stay focused on our root topics--survival and zombies. There are lots of other great forums out there dedicated to debating politics and religion if you wish to do so.

8.) No pornography/Violent Videos.
Anything that could be tagged as Not Safe For Work shouldn't be posted. This includes pictures you've taken of your girlfriend, avatars, or anything you just want to put up here. Blatant crotch shots, semi- or full-nudes, and anything overtly sexual would fall into this category. There are other, better places for you to go to get your rocks off. No videos of actual real people committing suicide, or being murdered, or being raped, or having their hands chopped off, or being disemboweled, or being executed, etc. Use some discretion, and ask a mod before you post if you have any doubts.

9.) Quoting and linking to off-site articles:

When quoting or calling attention to a news article on another site please only quote one or two short paragraphs, not the entire article. A link to the article on the other site should also be included. The reason this is preferred is that quoting the entire article, or neglecting to include a link, can result in copyright violation accusations. This is especially true with news articles. The sites publishing such articles depend on the ad revenue they get when people visit the site to read an article. Republishing the whole article here robs them of that revenue and is not allowed under the "fair use" provisions of copyright law.

10.)Posting YouTube and other videos

Effective immediately and going forward, any YouTube or other videos that are posted with an image showing as the link, that image must meet all site rules. It may not depict anything that is prohibited by site rules. This includes illegal acts and political material. You can still post just the link and a non-political title, but you cannot post the video image using the forum's built-in YouTube function.

As an example:
If this youtube video's header picture contained proscribed content and can't be displayed as such with the YouTube function you must preface the link with an * or similar character so that it does not get auto-displayed.  For example:

*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl_n_fjOpd0

[NT2C]

There is a spam filtering system in place on the site that automatically checks new registrations against a spammer database, checks IP addresses to see if you're using one commonly used by spammers (most VPNs are and thus fail this check), and checks posts made by new members to see if there is typical spammer activity (such as posts with both an image and a link) and also checks your session ID.  Some of these checks are removed or relaxed after you are no longer a "newbie" member, but not all.

No, we will not tell you when you've passed that point but you'll see the change above your avatar.

No, we cannot turn off these restrictions and checks just for you.  They are sitewide and are applied to every account.  We can't turn them off for an individual account.

No, we don't do this just to be assholes on some kind of power trip.  We do it because on ZS the mod staff spent a large portion of their time on the site manually dealing with spamholes (I'm going to trademark that word) and this system frees them up for the much more important work of enjoying the system and interacting with the members in a positive way that reinforces our sense of community.

[MacWa77ace]

There is a spam filtering system in place on the site that automatically checks new registrations against a spammer database, checks IP addresses to see if you're using one commonly used by spammers (most VPNs are and thus fail this check), and checks posts made by new members to see if there is typical spammer activity (such as posts with both an image and a link) and also checks your session ID.  Some of these checks are removed or relaxed after you are no longer a "newbie" member, but not all.

No, we will not tell you when you've passed that point but you'll see the change above your avatar.

No, we cannot turn off these restrictions and checks just for you.  They are sitewide and are applied to every account.  We can't turn them off for an individual account.

No, we don't do this just to be assholes on some kind of power trip.  We do it because on ZS the mod staff spent a large portion of their time on the site manually dealing with spamholes (I'm going to trademark that word) and this system frees them up for the much more important work of enjoying the system and interacting with the members in a positive way that reinforces our sense of community.