Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

LORD HELP OUR PACERS

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

      Originally posted by doctor-h View Post
      After watching last nights game I am convinced more than ever that this season will be brutal. Hibbert is Hibbert, Hill is Hill and sorry I just can't get excited about seeing any significant improvement in either. We have 0 creators on this team so what good does it do to add all the 3 point shooters they claim they have added. Rudez is not going to help this team unless you call hitting an occasional 3 helping the team. He is a waste of time and took a spot that one of the new guys like Onuaku or Thomas could have had. Why not take a chance on a young guy with some upside than an older player with none. Copeland should play more but will he. I don't understand the Whittington deal at all. I think our front office isn't saying it and they can't say it but they have to be tanking. The biggest problem with that is this fan base will not support awful basketball and that arena could be empty again and can this franchise afford that. There is just nothing at all to get excited about with this team as constructed. Sorry just my opinion. Your thoughts?
      I'm starting to think you watched a different game. Are you sure you've watched the pacers? Hill has been pretty good. Our new additions have played fairly well. Hibbert has played better than the second half of last year. Whittington has played fairly well for a rookie. I guess I don't view things the same way you do. I think this season is going to be fun and frustrating. Right now we only lack in defense. Our offense will be decent and we have a defense minded coach. Our defense will eventually fix itself with familiarity. After reading your post, I can tell you're a glass half empty kinda guy. You need not be. We have a long season and our team has a lot of potential. Let it play out and don't get so mad that we lost a preseason game. You make it sound like you only looked at the stats without watching the game.
      Indiana State University Alum. Hardcore Pacers fan. Racecar Driver in need of sponsorship.

      www.jjhughesracing.com

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

        There is room on this board for all opinions. Being a fan is not one color or one thing. You certainly don't have to like an opinion, you certainly can voice your own opinion and rebut the first opinion. But at the end of the day let's not pretend that any one of us is posting something other than our own OPINIONS. There are no truth's here. If you can't handle a certain poster, put them on ignore. If certain opinions bother you and you don't feel that replying alone to rebut the opinion is good enough then skip the threads that those are in.

        Just remember people who have the opposite opinion of you, no matter how you believe, feel just as passionate about their opinions as you do. We are all pacer fans here (well most of us anyway) we all just express it in different ways.



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

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

          Meh. If the team is better than expected and makes the playoffs I have no doubt that we will be a fun, scrappy team to watch. If we're terrible, well, hopefully in the second half of the season we can give a lot of burn to the young guys, maybe trade West to a contender so he can get a much deserved ring and we can get some assets, and draft a nice complementary player to take some of the load off PG next year.

          Either way, I'll be watching. The Pacers will be my favorite sports franchise for the rest of my life, and if reincarnation is really a thing, the next lives as well.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

            Originally posted by doctor-h View Post
            After watching last nights game I am convinced more than ever that this season will be brutal. Hibbert is Hibbert, Hill is Hill and sorry I just can't get excited about seeing any significant improvement in either. We have 0 creators on this team so what good does it do to add all the 3 point shooters they claim they have added. Rudez is not going to help this team unless you call hitting an occasional 3 helping the team. He is a waste of time and took a spot that one of the new guys like Onuaku or Thomas could have had. Why not take a chance on a young guy with some upside than an older player with none. Copeland should play more but will he. I don't understand the Whittington deal at all. I think our front office isn't saying it and they can't say it but they have to be tanking. The biggest problem with that is this fan base will not support awful basketball and that arena could be empty again and can this franchise afford that. There is just nothing at all to get excited about with this team as constructed. Sorry just my opinion. Your thoughts?
            This is clearly an objective analysis built upon new information from the one preseason game the OP watched and has nothing whatsoever to do with his predetermined opinion of the team in general and Hill and Hibbert in particular.

            You can tell because of the effort he put into hiding his biases and distancing himself from previous rants in other threads.
            Time for a new sig.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

              Originally posted by Peck View Post
              There is room on this board for all opinions. Being a fan is not one color or one thing. You certainly don't have to like an opinion, you certainly can voice your own opinion and rebut the first opinion. But at the end of the day let's not pretend that any one of us is posting something other than our own OPINIONS. There are no truth's here. If you can't handle a certain poster, put them on ignore. If certain opinions bother you and you don't feel that replying alone to rebut the opinion is good enough then skip the threads that those are in.

              Just remember people who have the opposite opinion of you, no matter how you believe, feel just as passionate about their opinions as you do. We are all pacer fans here (well most of us anyway) we all just express it in different ways.

              Should be a sticky. Alot of opinions being crapped on and conversely guys getting butt hurt when someone slightly disagrees with them. I remember disagreeing with Naptown Seth on something years ago, IIRC, and we "argued" for several posts. Never ugly, never condescending.

              Side note: Where's Naptown Seth?

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                I think we may sneak into the playoffs and it'd be nice if by that time PG has played a few games or is ready for postseason play

                2014-15
                Indiana Pacers
                "Do you believe in miracles?!!"
                Super Bowl XLI Champions
                2000 Eastern Conference Champions




                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                  I think it's less to do with his opinion, and more to do with the fact that he sounds like a broken record in every thread.
                  Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                    Originally posted by doctor-h View Post
                    The point was why waste a spot on a 30 year old player with no NBA experience who is not going to play because of his defense example Copeland last year and cut a young guy with talent who your coaches could work with to see if he could be a contributor someday. Makes no sense to me. Maybe Rudez can change my mind but I don't think he will. I hope he does and I hope the Pacers do well but I just don't see it. They were about a 500 team the last half of last season with Lance and Paul and I sure don't see anyone as talented as those two on this team.
                    I agree, I don't understand the Rudez signing. I would not have done it, but then I'm not in charge. I trust Bird knows what he is doing, afterall he brought us from missing the playoffs every year to 2 straight ECF's.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                      Originally posted by Peck View Post
                      There is room on this board for all opinions. Being a fan is not one color or one thing. You certainly don't have to like an opinion, you certainly can voice your own opinion and rebut the first opinion. But at the end of the day let's not pretend that any one of us is posting something other than our own OPINIONS. There are no truth's here. If you can't handle a certain poster, put them on ignore. If certain opinions bother you and you don't feel that replying alone to rebut the opinion is good enough then skip the threads that those are in.

                      Just remember people who have the opposite opinion of you, no matter how you believe, feel just as passionate about their opinions as you do. We are all pacer fans here (well most of us anyway) we all just express it in different ways.



                      I might be more sympathetic to this idea in the current thread if the backlash wasn't directed at somebody who repeatedly gets on a Pacers-centered forum, gripes about every single player who is given playing time, gripes about the front office, gripes about the head coach, specifically asks what readers think of their opinion, and then complains they are being victimized because they aren't conforming.

                      There are plenty of posters who have negative opinions about the current state of the team, and they do so without baiting. But if you are posting borderline hateful (to the team, not other posters) messages on a fan forum and then asking for an appraisal of your opinion from fellow fans, I would think you would be prepared for negative feedback.
                      Time for a new sig.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                        Someone call Duke Tomatoe or whatever its spelled!
                        "Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

                        "And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                          Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                          You made this thread after we lost a game by 5 points....in the preseason? You're probably one of those people who weeps when McDonald's forgets to take the pickles off your Big Mac.
                          No I made this thread after the terrible off season we had. The bad finish to last season. The score of that game last night was meaningless. I saw George Hill have his moments. He has had his moments numerous times can he become consistent. West played well he usually does. Hibbert was just Hibbert. He is capable but has disappeared for long periods every year in the league. I don't think that will be any different. If he wasn't happy on a winning team he probably won't be on a team that struggles. I liked the Miles signing when we had PG and Lance and I still think he can help us. I hated the signing of Rudez. Our track record with Euro players has been bad and I think this will confirm it. Don't know much about Whittington and maybe he can become a decent player but he will not this year. I think Copeland has gotten a raw deal here so far. I thought last night he was looking as impressive as anyone we had. But will Frank trust him? Lavoy Allen has player very well in the preseason where was he but he probably will not play due to Frank's commitment to Scola. I think defense, rebounding and crunch time scoring will kill this team. Lets see, rub it in my face if I am wrong. I'm sure you would like that.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                            Originally posted by doctor-h View Post
                            No I made this thread after the terrible off season we had. The bad finish to last season. The score of that game last night was meaningless. I saw George Hill have his moments. He has had his moments numerous times can he become consistent. West played well he usually does. Hibbert was just Hibbert. He is capable but has disappeared for long periods every year in the league. I don't think that will be any different. If he wasn't happy on a winning team he probably won't be on a team that struggles. I liked the Miles signing when we had PG and Lance and I still think he can help us. I hated the signing of Rudez. Our track record with Euro players has been bad and I think this will confirm it. Don't know much about Whittington and maybe he can become a decent player but he will not this year. I think Copeland has gotten a raw deal here so far. I thought last night he was looking as impressive as anyone we had. But will Frank trust him? Lavoy Allen has player very well in the preseason where was he but he probably will not play due to Frank's commitment to Scola. I think defense, rebounding and crunch time scoring will kill this team. Lets see, rub it in my face if I am wrong. I'm sure you would like that.
                            I guess my thought is whether there is any different sentiment expressed by you in this new thread than in the "does anyone care" thread from a couple of weeks ago or from any of the posts in the optimistic threads telling people how you feel?

                            It's kind of like this - when you keep making new threads to keep saying the same thing over and over again, it stops being a matter of sharing an opinion and starts feeling more like trying to shove that opinion down people's throats. Thinking the Pacers aren't going to be very good this year isn't even a minority view. Thinking they'd be lucky not to lose 83 games out of an 82 game season ... well, that's probably on the tail end of the bell curve. But everyone knows you feel that way. Making a new post every couple of weeks to remind us is probably not necessary. Heck you could probably post "how do people think I feel about the team" and get a pretty accurate response - meaning you aren't being ignored, if that's important.
                            BillS

                            A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                            Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                              Originally posted by BillS View Post
                              I guess my thought is whether there is any different sentiment expressed by you in this new thread than in the "does anyone care" thread from a couple of weeks ago or from any of the posts in the optimistic threads telling people how you feel?

                              It's kind of like this - when you keep making new threads to keep saying the same thing over and over again, it stops being a matter of sharing an opinion and starts feeling more like trying to shove that opinion down people's throats. Thinking the Pacers aren't going to be very good this year isn't even a minority view. Thinking they'd be lucky not to lose 83 games out of an 82 game season ... well, that's probably on the tail end of the bell curve. But everyone knows you feel that way. Making a new post every couple of weeks to remind us is probably not necessary. Heck you could probably post "how do people think I feel about the team" and get a pretty accurate response - meaning you aren't being ignored, if that's important.
                              And that is different than hearing Frank should play Copeland, Hill is going to really step up this year, Lance stole all of Roy's rebounds, and West is a beast. It would really be nice for people who feel the way I do, step up on this board and be heard. My guess they are tired of being ridiculed for there opinions. My hope would be that their voice would be heard and Pacer management would see that there are an awful lot of disgruntled Pacer fans out there.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: LORD HELP OUR PACERS

                                Yeah. The Pacers aren't doing anything because of some people on Pacers Digest, regardless of if the opinion is positive or negative. That's self important crazy talk.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X