LIVEGOAL FORUM RULES

LiveGoal Sports Forum was created to provide an enabling environment for sports fans to discuss trending sports topics, share friendly banter and support their favorite sports team. To ensure that stability, peace, and tranquility are maintained at all times, we have taken our time to clearly outline the rules governing this forum for all members to familiarize themselves with.
This is a voluntary job and the staff will always aspire to create and maintain the highest standards of interaction of any message board community of this nature. In order to do so, considerable time and effort have been expended to clearly outline and define them for the benefit of our members who seek a mature civil forum.

Compliance with these rules and guidelines is NOT optional, it is a site requirement. Ignorance of the rules will not be considered a viable excuse for violations. As a member of LiveGoal Forum, your first responsibility is to familiarize yourselves with the rules and abide by them. Violations are subject to various penalties to be determined by our moderators.
The moderators cannot be everywhere at once nor can they read every post. It is the responsibility of every forum member to assist Moderators by flagging a post that contravenes forum rules. We will try to moderate posts as fair as humanly possible. No Moderator is out to get anyone.

Play by the rules and the will be no need for you to get into trouble. DO NOT attempt to take matters into your own hands. FLAG/REPORT THE POST and the offending poster/post will be dealt with. Should you decide to take matters into your own hands, WE WILL MET OUT THE SAME PUNISHMENT TO YOU if you are found in contravention of forum rules regardless of whether you started it or not. WE WILL END IT.


The central point of this post is to remind Forum members of the rules. From henceforth, we shall have a ZERO tolerance policy for Insults, Abusive language, baiting of any kind, and other forum rules that have led us to this current abyss.

FORUM RULES!!!

1. Each member may own a single registered account.

Duplicate accounts will result in a suspension and banning of the IP address of all related accounts. Any attempt to circumvent any moderating action by registering a secondary account may result in a permanent banishment of all related accounts.

2. Use discretion in selecting an appropriate username.

Do not attempt to register inappropriate usernames, including, but not limited to, racial slurs, profanity, and vulgarity (explicit or implicit).

3. Please be respectful of your fellow members.

While we encourage open discussions, every Forumer agrees to not post inappropriate material or topics. This includes but is not limited to the following: - content that is knowingly false,

- defamatory,

- deceptive,

- inaccurate,

- tribalistic,

- racist,

- insulting,

- abusive,

- inflammatory,

- vulgar,

- hateful,

- obscene,

- profane,

- sexually graphic,

- or physically threatening.

- Baiting of a forum member is not allowed.

- It also includes posting anything invasive of another member's personal privacy outside of their posted content on CE, or in violation of any law including any stalking or otherwise harassing any member.

4. Do not attempt to circumvent the profanity filters.

Type in your word and let the filters do their job of substituting asterisks for letters. Then check your post to see if all profanity was filtered. Veiled or "subtle" attempts at using profanity are unacceptable. We allow the use of either all asterisks/symbols or none at all. For example "****" and "*&*%$" are acceptable, while “s**t” or “sh*t" are not. Do not attempt to use vernacular to abuse someone. It will be treated as an abuse regardless of the language it is written in.

5. Intellectual Property Violation.

Discussion of illegal activities such as software and music piracy and other intellectual property violations are not allowed.

Posting Guidelines:

* Before starting a thread, look at least 2 pages in the forum to see if a thread already exists on the topic. If it does exist, please reply in that thread. Just because you have something to say doesn't mean a new thread has to be created for it. There's a good chance that the very topic you're thinking of is already being discussed.


* Proper credits and URL links must be provided for articles or reports that are not originally yours or your work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please put EVERY article or work lifted from another site in quotes. Violators or threads that are in violation will either be locked or deleted without explanation.


* Please do not create multiple threads at one time.


* Please refrain from posting meaningless threads, which would include "one-word" or very short knee-jerk posts. It's a waste of people's time, page space, and the board's resources. Do not post just a link without posting a descriptor letting forum members know what the link is about.


* Please do not use ALL CAPS in your thread titles or posts. It's viewed as "screaming".


* Don't jump all over "newbies" (new posters) just because they're new to posting here.


* If a word is censored on this board, it will be replaced with asterisks (*). Do not try to be creative in going around the censors by making sure people read vulgarity or can get to a site that is being linked to but has been banned here.


* A signature is something you can attach to your posts. Please do not make it too long. All signatures should not exceed 4 lines normal size, 8 lines small size, and up to 90 chars per line. Font sizes above 2 are not allowed.


* Please keep in mind that this is an all-ages forum, and is read and used by sports fans of both sexes as well.


* If you would like to inquire about a particular mod or admin action, we welcome any questions in the Problems and Suggestions forum. Please be civil, explain your point, and detail your opinion on it. You may question any mod or admin you like as long as you are not rude about it.


* The moderators do not have the ability to read emails or private messages (PM) sent via these Forums. If you receive a message via the forums that you find inappropriate or offensive, place the sender on your ignore list. Then contact a moderator with details of the message contents and the sender.


DO NOT take it upon yourself to open a thread in retaliation for an off-forum altercation. The moderating team will take what we deem to be appropriate action and if required, can verify details of alleged abuse by referring to the forums database or by checking the content of messages previously sent via these forums.


* The advertising of products or services that are for profit or that detract from general forum life, is not permitted.


* If someone is violating the rules or guidelines, please use the "PM" medium to contact a moderator. By not using this simple function to contact an admin/moderator and taking it upon yourself to jump down the throat of that poster, you actually add to the problem. Please let an administrator handle it.


While these rules cover most common situations, they cannot anticipate everything. Consequently, we reserve the right to take any actions we deem appropriate to ensure these forums are not disrupted or abused in any way.


Any threads/posts of these types will be deleted and you can lose your account privileges for single or repeated violations.


Channel your complaints about moderators/administrators to other moderators/administrators using the PM medium.

MODERATION

To ensure that LiveGoal discussion forums provide a safe and friendly user environment, the forum moderators have the ability to relocate and remove posts and threads from the discussion forums.

Post Deletion

Posts that breach any of the rules outlined above are subject to deletion.

Thread Deletion and/or Merge

Typically, threads are deleted if they fall into any of the following categories: - Pointless - the thread contributes no value to the forum; - Crosspost - the thread was posted to more than one forum; - Flame baiting - the aim of the thread is to flame or start a fight; - Duplicate - there is already a thread on the same or a very similar topic. Such threads could also be merged; - Off-topic - such threads will either be relocated to the appropriate forum or deleted altogether; - SPAM - the thread was advertising or thinly disguised market research. Threads that do not fall exactly into one of the above categories, but which are deemed inappropriate due to their content or nature will also be deleted.

Thread Lock/Closure

Threads will be locked under any of the following circumstances: - Off-topic - the thread is going off-topic, but mostly contains useful information; - Flame war - the thread is turning into a flame war; - Purpose fulfilled - the purpose of the thread has been fulfilled - the author's question was answered, the topic has become irrelevant, etc. Threads that do not fall exactly into one of the above categories, but are deemed to have reached the end of their useful life, may also be closed. In cases where the reason for closure is not immediately obvious, a moderator will normally post a final message explaining the closure.

Warnings and Bans

LiveGoal Discussion Forums incorporate a warnings system. Members who break the forum's rules will be issued with a formal warning by the moderation team if the offense is severe enough and this will be recorded in the "Warning panel" underneath your user profile.
If you have received a warning from the forums team you can click on the warnings panel to find out why.
Members who receive two formal warnings will be suspended or banned for a period deemed appropriate by the moderation team.
Members who persistently breach forum rules thereafter may be banned either temporarily or permanently from Livegoal Discussion Forums.
A list of members under suspension or who have been suspended/banned will be put up on the Problems and Suggestion forum.

Moderation Explanations

Please do not start a new thread asking why your last thread was moved, deleted, or closed. If you want to know why, contact a moderator, but please do not ask the community.