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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.

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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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It's amazing how ignorant our city is

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  • Originally posted by BRushWithDeath View Post
    I'm not reading through this thread and forgive me if this has already been mentioned but I'm much more concerned about the collective intelligence of my fair city if we're basing it on Facebook comments than anything said within them.
    Get tired of people discrediting comments. They are a good way to get the pulse of a community.

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
    There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.

    Comment


    • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

      I can't imagine the few idiots who bring up thuggery into the discussion of why they don't go, ever mattered.

      I doubt they ever went to any games in the past, so they don't need to be catered to. Plenty of people have come out, like the playoffs. They just don't come out nearly enough.

      Comment


      • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

        Originally posted by DangerGranger3pointranger View Post
        This was one post on their facebook page

        Doron Pinchas "I can't believe the STUPIDITY of most of these Indiana locals.... About 3 years ago, I spent 3 days in Indianapolis and went to a Pacers game. I walked all over downtown Indianapolis before the game and did not see ANY bums or crime or anything "ghetto"- downtown Indy is CLEAN and family friendly... and I spent $14 for my ticket which is a bargain. People do NOT have to eat the stadium food... after all the point of going to a game is to watch PACERS BASKETBALL not eat the food... if I lived in Indianapolis I would be at the fieldhouse EVERY game, but if the locals won't support them, I'd be glad to have the Pacers move here to NYC"

        Amen!!
        They aren't going anywhere and I'm pretty sure NYC has more than enough teams. A good statement by that person, nonetheless.

        I feel the same way. If I lived in Indy, I'd be at BLF for every home game I can attend.

        Comment


        • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

          Originally posted by DangerGranger3pointranger View Post
          This was one post on their facebook page Doron Pinchas "I can't believe the STUPIDITY of most of these Indiana locals.... About 3 years ago, I spent 3 days in Indianapolis and went to a Pacers game. I walked all over downtown Indianapolis before the game and did not see ANY bums or crime or anything "ghetto"- downtown Indy is CLEAN and family friendly... and I spent $14 for my ticket which is a bargain. People do NOT have to eat the stadium food... after all the point of going to a game is to watch PACERS BASKETBALL not eat the food... if I lived in Indianapolis I would be at the fieldhouse EVERY game, but if the locals won't support them, I'd be glad to have the Pacers move here to NYC" Amen!!
          QFT. Reading comments just makes me sad, I would love if the Bulls were tickets as cheap as Pacers. I live ten minutes from United center and I would go to every game (with the exception of -25 degree weather, jeez too cold) if tickets were that cheap. And Chicago is way worse when it comes homeless and random crime. On campus last year, someone got kidnapped in the middle of the afternoon. The hell?

          Comment


          • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

            Let's put it this way, my first trip to BLF (then Conseco) was a decade or so ago, and I lived in Boston. My dad (RIP) was turning 80 and I thought it would be great to take him to a game. Being from Boston, I was used to paying $40 to park downtown and paying marked-up ticket prices for really good seats on the secondary market (such as stubhub). Plus my dad walked with a cane- how would I ever park close enough?

            So I bought tickets and they were dirt cheap, by NBA standards, to sit in the lower level at about the free throw line. Plus I called the Pacers public relations and they told me where the drop off spot was, a disabled entrance and exactly how to get there. I arrived and there was somebody there to even look after my Dad while I parked the car a half block away for... 5 bucks! I remember thinking.... 5 bucks an hour?... 5 bucks a half hour?.... wait.... Just 5 bucks TOTAL???

            I parked, found my Dad, still in the company of a a helpful guest relations person, who then told me the location of the elevators, wished my Dad a Happy 80th birthday, and made sure we were happy to be there.

            I don't think any arena in any city hosting any sport would have done half what Pacer Sports and Entertainment did then. I had just made a phone call asking for a little advice.

            Maybe my experience was out of the ordinary, but it left an impression. I live 1,100 miles away, Mom and Dad have passed, and I don't visit Indiana much. But if I do and it's basketball season, I will make every effort to go. And if I lived there? Wow.
            The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

            Comment


            • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

              That's what you get when you ask facebookers what they think about anything outside of facebook and instagram.
              I'm a Beast

              Comment


              • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                Was there really a day where downtown Indy didn't have a lot of panhandlers? I always remember seeing them.
                I certainly do remember them not being down there...specifically around the mall. It was not like this 10 years ago.

                Comment


                • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                  Originally posted by Slick Pinkham View Post
                  Let's put it this way, my first trip to BLF (then Conseco) was a decade or so ago, and I lived in Boston. My dad (RIP) was turning 80 and I thought it would be great to take him to a game. Being from Boston, I was used to paying $40 to park downtown and paying marked-up ticket prices for really good seats on the secondary market (such as stubhub). Plus my dad walked with a cane- how would I ever park close enough?

                  So I bought tickets and they were dirt cheap, by NBA standards, to sit in the lower level at about the free throw line. Plus I called the Pacers public relations and they told me where the drop off spot was, a disabled entrance and exactly how to get there. I arrived and there was somebody there to even look after my Dad while I parked the car a half block away for... 5 bucks! I remember thinking.... 5 bucks an hour?... 5 bucks a half hour?.... wait.... Just 5 bucks TOTAL???

                  I parked, found my Dad, still in the company of a a helpful guest relations person, who then told me the location of the elevators, wished my Dad a Happy 80th birthday, and made sure we were happy to be there.

                  I don't think any arena in any city hosting any sport would have done half what Pacer Sports and Entertainment did then. I had just made a phone call asking for a little advice.

                  Maybe my experience was out of the ordinary, but it left an impression. I live 1,100 miles away, Mom and Dad have passed, and I don't visit Indiana much. But if I do and it's basketball season, I will make every effort to go. And if I lived there? Wow.

                  That was a great story. I think that people who live around Indy really do take the Fieldhouse for granted. We have a facility that looks like it opened yesterday, despite being 14 years old. It seems like every out-of-towner like yourself gushes over the place. When someone moves away from Indiana, I think they realize just how lucky we are to have a place like the Fieldhouse in our backyard.

                  Comment


                  • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                    http://www.wthr.com/story/21109320/p...r-pacers-games

                    By Rich Nye - bio | email



                    INDIANAPOLIS -
                    In a season where the Pacers have sold out just four games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Monday is one of the toughest nights to draw a crowd for the Indiana Pacers. Plenty of seats are available all over the arena as the Pacers host the Brooklyn Nets tonight at 7:00 p.m. That's despite a matchup of two winning teams battling for playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers (31-20) lead the Central Division and have won 15 of their last 16 home games.

                    "It is a little frustrating at times to see a lot of empty seats," said Pacers coach Frank Vogel at shoot around Monday morning, "because we've got a really good team, a fun team, a likeable team. But I understand weeknights. I have young children, so it's tougher for families in particular to come to games. But certainly we want to get to the point where it doesn't matter if it's a weeknight, weekend, big opponent, not big opponent – we see packed houses every night."

                    The Pacers rank 5th worst in NBA attendance, 26th out of the 30 teams, with an average attendance of 14,662.

                    WTHR asked on Facebook why more people are not coming to Pacers games. The question received hundreds of responses. Many people still appear to have a bad perception of the team based on incidents several seasons ago involving players that are no longer with the team. The Pacers organization has worked hard to put a winning team on the court fans can be proud of off the court as well. But a significant portion of people seem unwilling or slow to forgive.

                    Diane Stothard posted: "I know the current team has really cleaned up their act, but I just can't get past the idea of supporting a bunch of over-paid criminals."

                    Michael Wyrick added: "Social stigma from the "thug years" a few years back. Takes time to prove to people the atmosphere and attitude has changed. Success isn't all that sells tickets. It takes class too!"

                    Bradford Moulton responded: "Because of all the years we hired a bunch of Thugs!"

                    Comments like those were frequent. Many others complained about tickets prices and the affordability of a night out.

                    Larry Silver posted: "I watch it on TV. That way I don't have to pay the ticket service fees to the city!"

                    Tracy Puckett Newman added: "Ticket cost and the price of food or snacks makes it very unfriendly for families...not an affordable evening."

                    But a quick internet search found tickets on Stub Hub going for $5.00 or less in the balcony for tonight's game. The Colts sold out every home game at much higher prices, though far fewer games per season.

                    Pacers center Roy Hibbert has been proactive in trying to win fan support. This is the third season for Area 55. Fifty-five fans chosen by Hibbert through auditions are provided Pacers season tickets. George Hill and Paul George sponsor a similar section at the Fieldhouse.

                    "We want to give back and give away free tickets and have a welcoming family atmosphere," said Hibbert. "Whether it takes two years, five years, ten years to get it packed again, we're patient and we're just going to keep winning."

                    Pacers attendance is the topic of the JAM Session tonight on Eyewitness News at 5:30 p.m.

                    The Pacers are also home Wednesday against Charlotte at 7:00 p.m. You guessed it. Plenty of good seats available.
                    comments still look the same .....

                    Comment


                    • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                      If WTHR wants to pump attendance for PS&E, then they need to stop referencing Stubhub. Talk about all the great deals that the Pacers offer.
                      Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                      Comment


                      • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                        Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                        I certainly do remember them not being down there...specifically around the mall. It was not like this 10 years ago.
                        I'll take your word for it. I was still relatively young ten years ago and I have spent far more time downtown in recent years than I did then.

                        The panhandlers usually don't bother me too much. Most of the time they back off when you tell them no. Only a few times have I been genuinely annoyed. A few weeks ago I randomly ran into someone I knew at the corner of a downtown intersection. We were talking and catching up when this guy invaded our space and asked if we had cigarettes. We don't smoke, but the fool wouldn't believe us and just kept pestering and pestering. We were unable to continue our conversation there and had to walk away because this clown wouldn't go away and was making us feel uncomfortable. Very irritating.
                        Last edited by Sollozzo; 02-12-2013, 10:45 AM.

                        Comment


                        • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                          Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                          If WTHR wants to pump attendance for PS&E, then they need to stop referencing Stubhub. Talk about all the great deals that the Pacers offer.
                          I don't know. Getting them in there in the first place is better than them not showing up. You have to build interest initially. They will still probably buy food and beverages.
                          "We've got to be very clear about this. We don't want our players hanging around with murderers," said Larry Bird, Pacers president.

                          Comment


                          • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                            Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                            If WTHR wants to pump attendance for PS&E, then they need to stop referencing Stubhub. Talk about all the great deals that the Pacers offer.
                            You do know most teams have big deals with stubhub? At least in MLB that is how it works. They get money out of stubub it's no different than ticketmaster really. They may receive a slightly smaller chunk but they still benefit just like when they sell though Ticketmaster at the box office or on Pacers.com.

                            EDIT: The NBA could be different I'm not sure but i would have to guess the Pacers get money from people buying on stubhub since they are official Pacer tickets and you can download them and what not.
                            Last edited by pacer4ever; 02-11-2013, 06:50 PM.

                            Comment


                            • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                              Understood. A chunk of $5 is a rounding error for the type of money we're talking about.

                              I get the benefits of stubhub, I just don't care about them. The best thing for the Pacers is for people to buy the deals they offer.
                              Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                              Comment


                              • Re: It's amazing how ignorant our city is

                                Originally posted by Anthem View Post
                                The fundamental difference between the NFL and the NBA: an NFL uniform covers more skin.
                                BINGO!

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