PDN Fanatics

We aim to be a "keep it simple" kind of forum, as far as rules go. For the most part, admins and mods will just stay out of the way, and if somebody is being completely horrible, they get the boot (that's simple, right?).

So, here are the general rules. If more specific ones are needed for a particular section, there will be a rules announcement in that section.

1)
Be courteous. That doesn't mean you have to tell someone that their recent picture is good if you think it sucks rocks. That means you don't say "holy crap that stinks!", but rather "You know, that color combination doesn't work for me at all, and I think you should try some antialiasing on the fribnorb and lowering the opacity on the wizznert layer". Be constructive...we want to end up with better artists, not people who are afraid to show what they've learned. This is my only steadfast, unchangeable, hard-fast rule...except for if we set up a section reserved for trolls and spammers...

2)
Sig and Avatar sizes should be reasonable. As of 8/17/2007, that means that an avatar shouldn't be more than 160x160px, and a sig shouldn't be more than 500x150. They also shouldn't be designed to induce seizures (half-joking...that's a legitimate issue for some people), so please avoid flashing images...more gradual animation is fine. Exceptions to these rules may be granted in deference to forum member appreciation of a particular sig or avatar, but don't count on it.

3)
Ben's note on IM-speak:


Drakaan's note on "IM-speak":


4)
No Adult Material, this is a family friendly site, this means:

NO Swearing
(By "No Swearing" I mean no use of "Hard" swearwords, and use of soft swearwords and abbreviations should be kept to a minimum, sometimes a "heck" or "darn" is called for, but most of the time they are not. Use your own judgment, We'll handle this one on a case by case basis)

NO Posting Adult Images and

NO Linking to Adult Sites

5)
Don't abuse the Hide, Spoiler, and YouTube tags.

Generally the hide type tags should only be used when you have bandwidth or space intensive things in your post. (e.g. A lot of thumbnails in a gallery or a very large image or a youtube video)

The youtube tag was meant to be used for posting video tutorials in the tutorials section. That being said, we do not mind if you want to use it in the General Discussion forum either, provided the videos posted do not contain adult content (See guidelines above), and you provide a warning in the topic title that the thread contains videos (So those who have limited bandwidth can avoid them).

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...and with that, I'm open to hearing what you think are really important rules.

No Adult Material, this is a family friendly site, this means:

NO Swearing
NO Posting Adult Images and
NO Linking to Adult Sites

In what way would you define swearing? Not using ANY "foul" words (even lesser foul ones , such as "hell" and "crap"),
not using abbreviations containing swearwords (wtf, stfu, lmfao),
or just not using full swearwords (yeah, like i'm gonna name some ) ?

Really, "swearing" is a very broad term...

Edit - In case someone missed it, this was a joke, scroll down to read next posts.

By "No Swearing" I mean the following:

You are not permitted to use any swear or slang words, especially those pertaining to vulgar topics. Also, proper spelling, punctuation, and word use (May I/Can I, etc) is a must. We have a large team of college English majors reviewing each post to insure this forum maintains a high level of grammatical correctness. Additionally, discussions about any non-cultured topics are forbidden. Non-cultured topics are defined as follows:

Any vulgar topic, defined as anything that would offend an ultra-conservative religious leader.

Any popular music written after 1955, and some written earlier.

Any movie that contains guns, violence, vulgar themes, combat or any thing that is forbidden in this post.

Any work of fiction that is not considered by authorities to be a classic.

Any television show, with the exception of a select few PBS shows (a list of approved shows will be forthcoming).

Any website that contains any positive mention of any forbidden topic outlined above.

Hope that clears things up for you.

...

Kidding!! By "No Swearing" I mean no use of "Hard" swearwords, and use of soft swearwords and abbreviations is to be kept to a minimum, sometimes a "heck" or "darn" is called for, but most of the time they are not. I was planing on handling this rule on a case by case basis, but I will re-word it so it is less vague.

Thanks, this is way better...

But on nudity, if i were to recreate an awesome Dragonball Z scene (with ripped clothes) or a Chuck Norris potrait incl. hairy chest, would this be frowned upon?

Also, are culturistic/religious references (as long as not posted in a flaming matter) forbidden?

Just trying to clear things up for everyone.

I was intentionally vague on this one, as every one's definition of what is acceptable is bound to be different. As a general rule, if it would need a "Mature Content filter" on dA, it is out, everything else will be handled on a case by case basis.
Remember,

I have not seen people abusing this freedom, so I have not felt the need to make more specific rules. In future, it may be necessary to define and enforce the rules more strictly, but it is not necessary now.

This is a whole topic unto itself, and best not defined by one person. However a short answer is: References to religion and culture are not forbidden as long as they do not violate any other rule. If anyone thinks more on this is needed, Drakaan or I will start a separate topic for discussion.

I'm glad your asking questions, and I encourage anyone to post if they have ANY problems/questions/concerns with anything in the rules or forum.

Okay, just one more tip: Make this an announcement instead of a sticky.

New Rule:

Don't abuse the Hide, Spoiler, and YouTube tags.

Generally the hide type tags should only be used when you have bandwidth or space intensive things in your post. (e.g. A lot of thumbnails in a gallery or a very large image or a youtube video)

The youtube tag was meant to be used for posting video tutorials in the tutorials section. That being said, we do not mind if you want to use it in the General Discussion forum either, provided the videos posted do not contain adult content (See guidelines above), and you provide a warning in the topic title that the thread contains videos (So those who have limited bandwidth can avoid them).

Drakaan's note on "IM-speak":
[/quote]

Now that I have worked out what "IM-speak" is, I'd have to agree. Personally, I do not want to have to think for an hour what the abbreviations stand for - swearing or otherwise. Add to that the over-use of smilies!

The reference to 6th-grade English education disturbs me quite a bit as not everyone on this forum is from an English speaking background. The reference may be hurtful to some people as there are many highly skilled & talented people who have very little or no formal education, or have a literacy/numeracy difficulty or English is their second language.

Communicating ideas, sharing skills and/or knowledge & encouragement are what I thought this forum was about. If correct spelling & grammar (not to mention writing complete sentences) are required, then very few people would be posting.