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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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ABA - Random Rants and Musings

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  • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

    Originally posted by Raskolnikov View Post
    Good for your team's power rankings, you mean? Who cares about those...

    (Other than being a very neat feature, they don't hold any real value, do they?)

    About the playoffs, who plays who? And how are tied records decided?

    Okay, indytoad, let the battle for 2nd place in the blue division begin!
    Well, second place in Blue is like first place in any other division, right? Okay, maybe not...

    As far as points go, you're the closest competiton I have...it could go either way. Got a little bit lucky already - I spaced out yesterday and forgot to set my lineups...good thing the only guy playing was active.

    IndyToad
    Don't worry, be happy

    Comment


    • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

      Just made a trade with the New Castle Trojans that helps him in the short term by filling some holes, while I took a gamble which has a decent chance of paying off for me in the long run, namely the play-offs.

      I traded away Jameer Nelson and Dahntay Jones, both Guards, so he can reeinforce his Guard slot and can get back in the play-offs race, hopefully for him.

      I received Rashard Lewis (Forward) and Kevin Ollie (Guard). Rashard is injured until the end of february/beginning of march. I hope to hang on until that time and maintain the second position in my division. I think my team is deep enough to keep a decent play-off position until Rashard becomes healthy and is cleared to play again. Offcourse, there is the risk of him aggravating his injury or having a setback during his recovery, but I don't think this is the sort of injury that brings as big a risk as for example back injuries.

      Normally Lewis should be up and playing for several weeks before we kick off for the play-offs. I don't expect him to perform up to the level that he did so far this season, but I don't expect him to drop significantly either. Either way it is a gamble I felt I had to make.

      Hope this counters Terre Haute free agent signing of Peja.

      Regards,

      Mourning
      2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

      2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

      2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

      Comment


      • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

        Originally posted by indytoad View Post
        Well, second place in Blue is like first place in any other division, right? Okay, maybe not...

        As far as points go, you're the closest competiton I have...it could go either way. Got a little bit lucky already - I spaced out yesterday and forgot to set my lineups...good thing the only guy playing was active.

        IndyToad
        Don't worry, be happy
        And tied we are.....it 'll definitely be a very close one.
        Word on the street is he doesn't want your money, he only wants to please your ears...
        Bum in Berlin on Myspace

        Comment


        • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

          Yeah, close call there. My matchup with Denton is way too close for my liking aswell, especially as he's been missing two players. I should be further ahead. OTOH Kidd is going to play his first two games and both Okur and Butles have two games remaining aswell.

          I should be able to pull away, but last time I counted on that (when I needed about 9 FP ... Nelson gave me a dud of epic proportions

          Regards,

          Mourning
          2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

          2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

          2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

          Comment


          • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

            Originally posted by Mourning View Post
            Yeah, close call there. My matchup with Denton is way too close for my liking aswell, especially as he's been missing two players. I should be further ahead. OTOH Kidd is going to play his first two games and both Okur and Butles have two games remaining aswell.

            I should be able to pull away, but last time I counted on that (when I needed about 9 FP ... Nelson gave me a dud of epic proportions

            Regards,

            Mourning
            Yeah - what's up with that? You playing down to my level or what?

            Of course in the other league so far (KOW) I'm having a dream week.
            The poster formerly known as Rimfire

            Comment


            • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

              Originally posted by DisplacedKnick View Post
              Yeah - what's up with that? You playing down to my level or what?

              Of course in the other league so far (KOW) I'm having a dream week.
              I think my role and back up players playing a disproportionate amount of my games so far has played a role. Also I don't have that many games in total from my players this week. I'm gratefull both Webber and Kwame are out (thanks ) otherwise the disparity between the number of games would have been much bigger.

              I think my team will probably pull away tonight though, except if most of them even won't make their averages. I have no reason to believe that though.

              Regards,

              Mourning
              2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

              2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

              2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

              Comment


              • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                I'm feeling the wrath of the BURN-HAMMER.

                I just can't catch a break. Even on days when I have more players than Burnzone, half my guys are injured and the other half suck.

                No Chauncey, No Brad Miller, No Fransisco Elson, No Toine, and I just picked up an injured Travis Outlaw (hope it's worth the trouble).

                Shocker of the century: I picked up Quinton Ross (who?) on a hunch, and suddenly he's giving me 30 f-point games. He's just a flavor of the week, but hey, I like any flavor that comes off the wire in a league this deep and delivers that kind of action. Look out Quinton, now that your on my team, you're destined sprain your ankle in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
                “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

                “If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” - Catherine Aird

                Comment


                • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                  Originally posted by Los Angeles View Post
                  I'm feeling the wrath of the BURN-HAMMER.

                  I just can't catch a break. Even on days when I have more players than Burnzone, half my guys are injured and the other half suck.

                  No Chauncey, No Brad Miller, No Fransisco Elson, No Toine, and I just picked up an injured Travis Outlaw (hope it's worth the trouble).

                  Shocker of the century: I picked up Quinton Ross (who?) on a hunch, and suddenly he's giving me 30 f-point games. He's just a flavor of the week, but hey, I like any flavor that comes off the wire in a league this deep and delivers that kind of action. Look out Quinton, now that your on my team, you're destined sprain your ankle in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

                  I had him for most of the season - he was good for 20-25 per game until the Clips benched him. Then I got Matt Carroll - he's been averaging over 25 for me so I'm fine with that.
                  The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                  Comment


                  • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                    I'm fine taking your table scraps.

                    ----

                    On another topic, I know for certain that I'm a one-and-done team if I make the playoffs. Of the Games I've won, 3 of my victories were against opponents who weren't rotating daily. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that every team I've faced that has a winning record has beaten me.

                    Not a good sign.
                    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

                    “If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” - Catherine Aird

                    Comment


                    • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                      Congrats Mourning. My lowest scoring game of the season - not the direction I want to be going.
                      The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                      Comment


                      • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                        One of my lower scores too, but I will take the "W". I gave up Nelson for Rashard, so in the short term I already made peace with my mind for lower scoring expectations.

                        I hope Lewis returns end of february or the beginning of march at the latest. I hope to hit my peak near the play-offs, but injuries, new coaches and their ideas about who and how to play, non-form of players, everything can change.

                        Anyway, you played well with what you had, but had a lot of bad luck with Kwame and Webber. Interesting to see what will happen to Webber with regards the 76'-ers btw.

                        Regards,

                        Mourning
                        2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                        2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                        2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

                        Comment


                        • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                          I'm toast this week if Wade doesn't come back and pick up where he left off.

                          Comment


                          • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                            Looks like my record is finally starting to fall in line about where it should be. I got lucky playing Shade and Mourning early in the season before either started to really come on. Lucky x 2, as of right now, there's only two winning teams left on my schedule. But I won't win anything in the playoffs unless I really shake things up.

                            IndyToad
                            One more time, for the ladies

                            Comment


                            • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                              Man, It's really hard to play against the Hoopstown Hustlers.

                              Half of those players are Pacers. I don't want them to score many points but if they don't that means the Pacers will probably lose.

                              “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

                              “If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” - Catherine Aird

                              Comment


                              • Re: ABA - Random Rants and Musings

                                Why, Tony? Why??????
                                PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

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