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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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Pacers Digest needs a trade

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  • #46
    Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

    Originally posted by kester99 View Post
    Wait a minute....how MUCH oil?
    Considering I just spent $50 to fill up my car I'll take anything we can get.

    Comment


    • #47
      Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

      I'm surprised no one said, 'We ride together."

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

        PD is into rebuilding and going really young, and I'm just not in a position physically to go through another five to six years with a lot of losses and a lot of down time.
        "They could turn out to be only innocent mathematicians, I suppose," muttered Woevre's section officer, de Decker.

        "'Only.'" Woevre was amused. "Someday you'll explain to me how that's possible. Seeing that, on the face of it, all mathematics leads, doesn't it, sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

        Comment


        • #49
          Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

          I'm at the end of my rookie contract and I feel as if I do not have the chance to prove myself with all these "veteran leaderships" hanging on to their jerseys to get a solid contract at the end of the season. Couldn't even afford to give me an extension cause of my random HULK moments but how could you not get frustrated when people say no to Megan Fox?

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

            I think it comes down to us not having a big man coach personally! If we got a big man coach we would solve all our problems!

            I would sugest practice but then our franchise poster would have a press confence where he constantly says, "we talkin bout PRACTICE" over and over finishing with "how the hell is me practicing going to help the forum" ... Tricky situation!

            But hey, plans change, that's the way i live my life now, lets move on!





            On a slightly more serious note! .... I do agree with this threads deeper meaning, the quality and regualarity of good topics has decreased, but inspite of this, i still think Pacers Digest is one of, if not thee, best sports team forum on the web! So as Larry would say, we dont need to rebuild, just repair and revitalise!

            JMO as always!
            'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.'
            Animal Farm, by George Orwell

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

              Originally posted by kester99 View Post
              Wait a minute....how MUCH oil?
              I'm so loved
              The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                Originally posted by ABADays View Post
                I'm so loved
                Dude, I was all for holding out for 9 or 10 barrels, minimum. Grace was the one willing to go for the fill-up and a clean windshield.


                [~]) ... Cheers! Go Pacers!

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                  Originally posted by Mal View Post
                  PD trades Naptown_Seth for Tony Reali.
                  Me...



                  with air time...



                  and the ability to mute anyone I disagree with...





                  Yeah, that's a trade someone is certain to put a stop to before it could go through, just from a general public safety standpoint.



                  PD trades Shade to Wendy's for a Double Bacon Cheesburger, Large Fries, and a Chocolate Frosty.
                  Why not, he ain't eating 'em.

                  Originally posted by Indy View Post
                  We really need to trade UB because he has a gambling problem that needs to be addressed. He's got so much talent, but his gambling antics are just bringing everyone down.
                  So instead of a trade he just "retires" and takes a season to post over at the IndyIndians fan forum. He can even buy them a new server and a BB software upgrade, then make a triumpant return by faxing "I'm Back" to the Donato's office during a PD party.
                  Last edited by Naptown_Seth; 01-05-2008, 12:08 AM.

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                    Originally posted by LoneGranger33 View Post
                    That's true - my MS Paint skills pale in comparison to his Photoshop prowess.
                    I'm too lazy to do it, but please for the love of god someone do a crap MS Paint scrawly line stick figure drawing of ATC's kids being taken away at the hearing/Maury show ala Elian Gonzalez.

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                      How about just a structural shake-up to the organization? See, you create an area...call it Fantasy GM or Trade Proposals or Are You Out of Your Mind? or something...and all the threads involving trades of Pacer players to other teams would go in that area, and not clutter up the real-world Pacers discussion area?


                      [~]) ... Cheers! Go Pacers!

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                        Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                        Me...



                        with air time...



                        and the ability to mute anyone I disagree with...





                        Yeah, that's a trade someone is certain to put a stop to before it could go through, just from a general public safety standpoint.

                        I'm not sure I'd want Reali (his contract is huge and I really can't see Hicks going over the luxury tax for a non-contending forum like this), but we need to get rid of this Naptown_Seth character somehow. And fast.

                        Every time he posts something, the whole forum just turns into a slog-thread. Everyone else just sits around waiting and not posting anything. Seriously, look at how much better our posts-per-minute record is when he's not around. He might make some good points here and there, but overall he makes the forum worse. I can't believe some of you still can't see it. He can't set up other members, he has a horrible percentage of grammatical errors and he doesn't make other posts better. And when was the last time you remember him hitting "post reply" on a clutch post when we really needed it? I'll save you some time: Never.

                        It's his spacing. It's horrible. And we gotta move him now while he still has at least some value.
                        Last edited by JayRedd; 01-05-2008, 03:30 PM.
                        Read my Pacers blog:
                        8points9seconds.com

                        Follow my twitter:

                        @8pts9secs

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                          Originally posted by kester99 View Post
                          How about just a structural shake-up to the organization? See, you create an area...call it Fantasy GM or Trade Proposals or Are You Out of Your Mind? or something...and all the threads involving trades of Pacer players to other teams would go in that area, and not clutter up the real-world Pacers discussion area?
                          You mean something like this?

                          http://www.pacersdigest.com/apache2-...splay.php?f=15

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                            Originally posted by JayRedd View Post
                            .... but we need to get rid of this Naptown_Seth character somehow. And fast.

                            Every time he posts something, the whole forum just turns into a slog-thread. Everyone else just sits around waiting and not posting anything. Seriously, look at how much better our posts-per-minute record is when he's not around. He might make some good points here and there, but overall he makes the forum worse. I can't believe some of you still can't see it. He can't set up other members, he has a horrible percentage of grammatical errors and he doesn't make other posts better. And when was the last time you remember him hitting "post reply" on a clutch post when we really needed it? I'll save you some time: Never.

                            It's his spacing. It's horrible. And we gotta move him now while he still has at least some value.
                            I'm so TIRED of this sort of unsubstantiated BS criticism of our posters.
                            Here's a chart for this thread, current to 3pm, 5 Jan, concentrating on posts, length of post, spelling, and finally, my own HaHa index. Does this show we have issues?? Sure we do!

                            But our spelling is right up at the top of the league. We have very few posters going for the all caps or no caps style of posting. Maybe if anything, these stats show that we're settling for the quick, short pith shot...with not enough success either IMO. Keep in mind, this is only one thread. Indy obviously put up way too many posts for what I think his role should be. Be different if he was hitting a higher percentage of them...and newman8r just disappeared, again. I think everyone is looking for more from him.

                            Some things just can't be quantified...who's not trying hard enough? Who's trying too hard? Who didn't get the previous poster's joke? You'll have to form your own opinions there.

                            I'll be posting these under "the Big PD Index thread" soon.

                            PosterPosts> 15 Words> 1 ParaPerfSpell ALLCAPSnocapsHaHa
                            Mal1111.132
                            Indy11111111111111111.221
                            ATC11111.256
                            J Bond1101.200
                            L Helmet111111.187
                            JayRedd1111111111111.456
                            F. Dutchman1101.289
                            rabidp'fan1001.098
                            tdubbo310011.112
                            Squirrelz11011N/A
                            grace11111111111.322
                            nat'stoned1.244
                            Robertmto11.167
                            hoopsforlife1111.188
                            indygeezer111111.193
                            Putnam11111111111.221
                            BoomB'33111.190
                            Elgin56DNP-CD
                            newman8r11.156
                            intridcold111.155
                            BillS1111.188
                            LoneGran'33111111111111.145
                            kester9911111111111.367
                            kegboy11111.222
                            NapT'Seth111111.198
                            Shade1111.167
                            ABADays1111.223
                            RamBo LamarDNP-CD
                            Evan The Dude11.344
                            Kraft11.187
                            Arcadian111.223
                            bellisimo11.211
                            The Hustler111.258
                            Last edited by kester99; 01-05-2008, 06:33 PM.


                            [~]) ... Cheers! Go Pacers!

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                              If I have a thought, I'm gonna post it. You can bet on that.


                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Re: Pacers Digest needs a trade

                                Thank you Mr. (Ms?) Kester99, I can see from your analysis that I need be more insightful. It would also appear that I need work upon my spelling.

                                I shall therefore endeavor to stride toward perfection and thus uplift the dignity of the realm that is THEE Pacers Digest. (Hey if the scum at Ohio State can do it, so can I)

                                As for humor, well there really isn't much to do about that...some readers are just too literal to grasp the nuances of my subtle humor. Sorry.


                                (BTW...I love your etch-a-sketch avitar. If the hair were shorter and grey it would look just like me...well, in my opinion anyway)
                                Last edited by indygeezer; 01-05-2008, 09:50 PM.
                                Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

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