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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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The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

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  • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

    Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
    Thanks for everything, Hicks. I would be embarrassed if I knew the total amount hours that I have spent on this forum over the past 9 years, ha. I remember reading the STAR board when I was a teenager back in 03 during the wild offseason that saw Bird come in as President, the re-signing of JO and Reggie, the Miller-Pollard trade, and the firing of Zeke/hiring of Carlisle. Wow, that really was a crazy off season. Anyway, soon after I started reading the STAR board, this site was created and I could quickly tell that all of the great Pacer discussion was moving here. I've been reading/posting ever since. That first season here was so exciting since the team was so good.

    This really is one of the best message boards in all of sports. The Colts boards are awful. I've yet to find a board for "elite" teams like the Celtics, Knicks, or Lakers that can match this one. The Pacers were not a very good team for the majority of the years that this board has existed, yet it has always remained a top notch message board. That's a true testament to what you have created.
    I was hoping Hicks was stepping down here to create a better Colts board. But alas...

    LOL, the Colts boards are horrible.

    And Hicks, I'm glad you're going to stay around and be a regular poster like the rest of us.
    It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

    Comment


    • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

      oh god yes both colts boards are terrible, official board is way over moderated, they have a "peace" club now... Smh.

      Colts freaks are a bunch of "elitest" eerr.. 4channers.


      @Coupe460

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      • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

        Hicks, you should do what Bird is doing. Step down for a year or two, refresh yourself, and then take back over.

        No offense to Shade, just a thought.
        "Just look at the flowers ........ BANG" - Carol "The Walking Dead"

        Comment


        • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

          Originally posted by Hoop View Post
          Hicks, you should do what Bird is doing. Step down for a year or two, refresh yourself
          Also, try smoking John Mellencamp under the table.
          This is the darkest timeline.

          Comment


          • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

            Bump.

            Comment


            • Seriously the colts board SUCKS. I got into trouble for having a President Obama quote (a joke he made at the 2011 correspondents dinner) in my signature (although it had been there since June) in January. I was told it was deemed ok at first but I got into trouble when another user complained and called me "racist". I complained that it was inappropriate to moderate a board by pleasing the morons and screwing the rest of us and got banned. **** you, Colts board.


              Sent from #PacerNation using Tapatalk
              Senior at the University of Louisville.
              Greenfield ---> The Ville

              Comment


              • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                ​A toast, to a great forum, and a great admin in Hicks! To pacersdigest!

                Comment


                • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                  Originally posted by Coupe View Post
                  oh god yes both colts boards are terrible, official board is way over moderated, they have a "peace" club now... Smh.

                  Colts freaks are a bunch of "elitest" eerr.. 4channers.
                  Umm there is more than 2 Colts fan forums out there.

                  Comment


                  • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                    Originally posted by Ramitt View Post
                    Umm there is more than 2 Colts fan forums out there.
                    With some extremely dedicated fans. Folks at Colt power have been around a long time and have a similar vibe to PD.
                    You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

                    Comment


                    • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                      A little late to the goodbye party here, as I too became a bit burnt out, albeit after only about 6 months of hardcore Pacers Digest obsession. I just wanted to add my thank you and good luck in any future endeavors to Hicks. I know it was not an easy job and I certainly didn't make it any easier on occasion, but Hicks was always there to respectfully converse with. I really hope that you continue to post on here even if it is not as frequently, as you are an extremely valuable poster, not just admin, and often the voice of reason. Thanks again for creating a truly great board!
                      Did you know Antonio and Dale aren’t actually brothers?

                      Comment


                      • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                        I just want to expound a little on the "great community" vibe. This board is indeed that. And yes, an IMMENSE amount of that has to do with Hicks and the rest of the guys who run this place (out of their own pocket). But it has just as much to do with all the other regular joes. Sure, things get off the rails sometimes, a little heated here and there. But once everyone cools down a bit it's all copacetic. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with all of us being Pacers fans in the end but I've spend numerous years all over the internet discussing/arguing basketball. Bemoan the "new guys" or talk about how great the old days were when you dialed into PD on your 14.4 through WinSock or whatever, but this remains far and away, the best place on the internet to discuss basketball just as a general game as far as I'm concerned. And that really is because the moderators and admins are just regular fans like everyone else and KNOW it. No grandstanding bannings simply because of unpopular opinions or any of that stuff. I've never, ever, took part in a forum other than this one where you wouldn't know Poster X was a moderator unless you looked over and saw his username was in bold.

                        Comment


                        • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                          Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                          I just want to expound a little on the "great community" vibe. This board is indeed that. And yes, an IMMENSE amount of that has to do with Hicks and the rest of the guys who run this place (out of their own pocket). But it has just as much to do with all the other regular joes. Sure, things get off the rails sometimes, a little heated here and there. But once everyone cools down a bit it's all copacetic. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with all of us being Pacers fans in the end but I've spend numerous years all over the internet discussing/arguing basketball. Bemoan the "new guys" or talk about how great the old days were when you dialed into PD on your 14.4 through WinSock or whatever, but this remains far and away, the best place on the internet to discuss basketball just as a general game as far as I'm concerned. And that really is because the moderators and admins are just regular fans like everyone else and KNOW it. No grandstanding bannings simply because of unpopular opinions or any of that stuff. I've never, ever, took part in a forum other than this one where you wouldn't know Poster X was a moderator unless you looked over and saw his username was in bold.
                          ...and here is yet another reason why this forum is amazing. Hicks founded a forum that brought in posters like Heisenberg who almost always has something excellent to post. Yet Heisenberg is just one of hundreds of quality posters here...who also gets to enjoy so many thoughtful posts.

                          Comment


                          • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                            I would also join in the "hey, the community itself is a big part of the vibe too" angle. I think the moderation was always done in a pretty fair manner with attempts to interact and reduce friction rather than just a ban-fest, while at the same time not putting up with clear trolling and nonsense that went unchecked at Star.

                            The visual look that Hicks put together was always very nice and that helped a ton in gaining my interest, along with the contest capability (photos, avitars, sigs) and retention of old content so those pages of passionate rants weren't deleted into the nether (intentionally at least ). And of course Abel has so much to do with that as well.

                            But it's that idea of "hey, let's get together and express our love of the Pacers by supporting each other and a common community" that makes Digest great. It's the same as the Area 55 vibe and why the 55'ers make such a natural fit in the Digest community. You've got people putting together meets not just in Indy but in other cities as well, people trying to get items for other members or information or whatever, all sorts of stuff. When Cable came into town it was nothing for me to want to get together with him and make him feel welcome because THAT'S WHAT DIGEST PEOPLE DO, and PD people did for me even when I first moved over from Star to a long established community. When I hit Texas last year there was Sycamore Ken finding his way to me and meeting up, for example. And Gnome/Hicks were the ones that got me into the Pacers roadie thing in the first place.


                            I like the idea that Digest carries a Pacers banner of friendly, passionate community. I like that it's not focused simply at the Pacers, but at fellow fans too. When JayRedd and Count55 get 8 Seconds going, Digest members support that and are happy for them. I really like to believe that at the core this is what it's about, carrying that banner of class, community and quality that should be at the core of what being a Pacers fan means. Maybe OKC and a couple of other fanbases have that going too, but I really like to think that when we hit the BiLF on a gamenight or a PD thread instead, it's about that sense of community and friendship that brings us together and makes it more than just another NBA game. It's the sharing of the Pacers season with each other that makes it more than just a sporting event.



                            And I give cheers Hicks, Abel, all the other moderators and so many hundreds of great PD members for making that the reality.

                            Comment


                            • Re: The times, they are a changin'... (important announcement about the future of Pacers Digest)

                              Originally posted by Hicks View Post
                              He’s been gone for years now (and never explained his absence), but from the very beginning I owe a lot to a former poster who went by kerosene. He was the first to reach out to me and offer great advice, and in the early days he was a great moderator for the forum and an equally great advisor to my then-19-year-old self. I doubt he’s reading this, but just in case: Kerosene, thank you.
                              I remember Kerosene.

                              This is one of the aspects of the new cyberworld that is fascinating/frustrating. You can develop a relationship with someone you've never seen nor talked to. Odd.

                              I guess they did that back in the old days with extensive letter writing to unseen pals. Still odd.
                              "Look, it's up to me to put a team around ... Lance right now." —Kevin Pritchard press conference

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