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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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Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

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  • #1

    Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

    If you live in the Indianapolis area or would like to make the drive into our fine city, you are most welcome to our....

    4th Annual Pacer Forum Party

    Saturday July 10 at 6:00

    Castleton Pizza King

    The Briggsy's Pizza King is located at 82nd street & Center Run Drive, just east of the Castleton Square Mall.

    The restaurant is in a free standing building in the middle of a parking lot.

    If you were standing at the entrance you would be looking east & would see Hooters.

    To the south is the Red Lobster

    To the north is Burlington Coat Factory

    There is a rather large billboard directly over the top of the building. It is rather easy to find, but if you feel you need more info please feel free to call. The Briggsy's Pizza King phone number is 577-4040.

    We will be in an area set up for larger groups. About half the dinning area is booths or tables for 2 or 4 people. Our section has a very short wall around it.

    You could always ask where the Pacer's Party is but I think for the most part it will be pretty clear where we are.

    If you have any question let me know.

    If you are not on one of the list below, feel free to add your name. Even if you lurk more than post, you are welcome to come.

    Not everyone here list a city where they live, if you know someone that lives near by....feel free to pester them until the agree to attend.

    NOT REALLY!


    You can ask them though.

    Here is the general info with our updated list.

    Each summer we have a little get together to meet & greet the friends that we have made here on line over the years.

    The date, time & location are listed above.

    There are a couple rules that we have.

    1. Everyone that reads this forum is invited.

    2. If you have mentioned you will be there & can't make it, no biggie. If you show up out of the blue, then you will be a surprised guest & thats always fun.

    3. I only listed a start time as a general rule of thumb. If you want to arrive a few minutes early & try to outlast Peck, Uncle Buck & myself, good luck.

    If you want to arrive late & just stay for an ice cold Dr. Pepper, that's fine too.

    We never have had a set "agenda" or anything like that. We usually start off talking Pacer basketball & that leads to general NBA & forum discussions.

    The Pizza King serves a pretty good pizza as well as the usual selections you might find in a family dinner.

    There is beer & wine available but you will need to be 21 to enjoy. The atmosphere & discussion is always "family friendly", so if you would like to bring along younger Pacer fans, that would be great too.

    I like to make sure I get the word out early & offen because we have some friends that might be coming in from out of town & I want to make sure they have ample notice.

    As you might recall. I will not have a set "guest" list but I will have a couple list that I will refer to from time to time.

    The first is the I am really gonna try to make it list.

    The second will be the I want to, but I won't know until the last minute list.

    I'll post another "Pacer Digest Pacer Forum Party" thread each weekend until the big day. You can add, subtract or change from one list to another as offen as you like.

    I've gone list mad I tell ya, list mad!!!!

    I've contacted the following but my calls have not been returned.

    indytoad
    tseramid
    pb777
    Steve
    PacerCrazy
    Hoop
    Southside_Pacer
    Pacersrule04
    rabidpacersfan

    I am really gonna try to make it

    Jose Slaughter
    Peck
    Fire the Coach
    Diamond Dave
    Zesty
    Burnzone
    ABA Days
    Hicks
    Uncle Buck
    Magic Rat
    Suaveness
    RWB
    Mrs. RWB
    Roaming Gnome
    Tim
    Kegboy
    Big Mac
    Shade
    obnoxiousmodesty
    TheSauceMaster
    Shade


    I want to, but I won't know until the last minute
    Indy Geezer
    GEL
    Ragnar
    Stryder
    naturallystoned
    Jay@Section222
    Pacersrule04
    Hoop

    Sorry but I can't make it
    Bball
    Diego
    MSA2CF
    Doug
    Displaced Knick
    Arkman
    [edit=136=1088214479][/edit]
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

    You should sticky this.
    Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

      Any hopes of getting Arkman40 to this?

      It just won't be the same without him.


      Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

        Any hopes of getting Arkman40 to this?

        It just won't be the same without him.

        I hope he can make it also, really hope he can make it.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

          I'm sorry to report that Arkman might not make it.

          I havn't heard for certain but it is not looking good.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

            I've gotten the impression from a couple people that if I am 100% likely to go, they might go too.

            Since I do plan to show this year, I thought I'd make it clear to those couple of people that yes, I should be there, and expect to see you there too.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

              Bloody Hell, put me on the "will try to make it" list. Why not.
              Take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't coming back. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                Bloody Hell, put me on the "will try to make it" list. Why not.
                1 down.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                  put me on the "I am really gonna try to make it" List please
                  Broadcasting Classic Rock Hits 24/7 SauceMaster Radio!!!!

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                    As always, I'm disappointed about not being able to attend and jealous of those who can.

                    Enjoy!

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                      I still can't make it.
                      You're caught up in the Internet / you think it's such a great asset / but you're wrong, wrong, wrong
                      All that fiber optic gear / still cannot take away the fear / like an island song

                      - Jimmy Buffett

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                        I am 99 percent that I'm coming. Hope it will be as enjoyable as my first. I'm a little older but not a whole lot wiser
                        House Name: Pacers

                        House Sigil:


                        House Words: "We Kneel To No King"

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                          I still can't make it.
                          Who cares? All I want to know is Can RoboDoug make it? :P
                          He got so sloshed last time I think he's banned from Pizza King.
                          You're caught up in the Internet / you think it's such a great asset / but you're wrong, wrong, wrong
                          All that fiber optic gear / still cannot take away the fear / like an island song

                          - Jimmy Buffett

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                            Not going to be able to make this one. Too much other stuff I need to take time off for in the general time frame for me to make a trip back to Indy that weekend.

                            :

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Forum Party Update 6-19 - New info

                              Not going to be able to make this one. Too much other stuff I need to take time off for in the general time frame for me to make a trip back to Indy that weekend.

                              :
                              : : :

                              Damn man, just damn....


                              Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                              Comment

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