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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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New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

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  • New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

    I am interested in getting feedback from those that have been to BLF and seen the new scoreboard - all $16 million worth (thanks Herb). I know the whole video display hasn't been opened up yet, but the HD graphics part of it on all sides can be seen as well as the two boards at either end of the Fieldhouse. While the display as it stands is pretty amazing, I have a couple of thoughts on it as I saw it at last Tuesday's game with Atlanta. I sat in my usual spot in the upper level and had a great view of the full length of the display from there. How is the view from the lower level? Can you see it as easily from there or do you have lean back a bit from time to time to see what video display is on at the moment. I walked around to take a look at the end panels which are tilted a bit to give those at the North and South ends of the Fieldhouse a better view. One thing I noticed and I wanted to see what others thought, is that those panels are not as tall as the side panels which are 21 feet high. Since the end panels aren't but 15-17 feet high, the top portion was filled in with what appears to be a cardboard Kroger sign, which looked a bit tacky considering the HD polished look of everything else that makes up the scoreboard. Too bad it isn't 100% HD on all sides of the sign, since it is fairly amazing beyond that. The area above the Kroger sign is also open to the wiring and cables that hold the whole thing is place which, I suppose, is not a big deal. I also noticed that a smaller font was necessary for longer player names such as Stephenson, so those displays aren't the same size as the shorter names and a little harder to read. I suppose those with 20/20 vision wouldn't have a problem with that, but it is too bad all the names don't appear the same - font-wise. Also the sound is great, a big improvement over the MSA speakers, but does it have to be that loud? I've heard others say the same thing, before I saw/heard it myself. One other item, which is probably easily corrected, is that I thought the scores from other games that roll by continually throughout the evening at both ends of the Fieldhouse, do so rather quickly. By the time I glanced to check a score of a particular game, it had rolled by to a second or third set of scores. I would prefer it moved a bit slower, but that's just me. Guess I'm just being a bit picky, but I wanted to get others' thoughts. Overall, it is going to be a fantastic experience for the fans this year, not to mention the Pacer team out on the floor. Hope I don't find myself, like those in Dallas, viewing the HD scoreboard more than watching the game taking place with human lifeforms right there on the BLF floor. If that happens too much, I might just as well watch on HDTV at home. Well that's it. Have you been to a game yet? If so, what are your thoughts on the scoreboard that is, without question, the best in the NBA?

  • #2
    Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

    Originally posted by AustinWind View Post
    If so, what are your thoughts on the scoreboard that is, without question, the best in the NBA?
    Tell that to Houston.
    "I had to take her down like Chris Brown."

    -Lance Stephenson

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    • #3
      Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

      Originally posted by BRushWithDeath View Post
      Tell that to Houston.
      Yep, technically speaking Houston's board is bigger.

      Granted, BLF is still a much better facility than the Toyota Center, but video board wise Houston one upped Indy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

        haven't seen a picture of the one at the fieldhouse or Houston...
        If you havin' depth problems, I feel bad for you son; I got 99 problems but a bench ain't one! - Hicks
        [/center]
        @thatguyjoe84

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        • #5
          Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

          I think they haven't revealed everything about it, so I am not passing judgement as yet.

          However, I have to say that the font selection and size stink, both on the stat blocks on the bottom of the scoreboard and (especially) on the screens on the high wall at the ends of the Fieldhouse. I have to squint to make out the numbers, similar to what we used to have do on the stat blocks that flashed on the upper part of the old scoreboard before they changed the typeface last season and made it much more readable.

          I just feel like most of the extra space is taken up by extra advertising and the presentation of critical information is actually worse than it used to be.
          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


          • #6
            Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

            Maybe you need glasses? I found every thing easy to read.
            You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

              Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
              Maybe you need glasses? I found every thing easy to read.
              Where do you sit? I thought the big side panels were easy to read - in fact, I read them most of the time - but the ends and high panels are not.
              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


              • #8
                Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                The pure display is sharp and clear. They kept promoting the fact that the "full screen" will debut at the Opener, which I assume means full screen video at times. For the game on SAT they kept side banners up the whole night.

                One thing about content layout is that it can be changed on a whim. I suspect that info is being sent wireless to the displays because they were massively behind on stats for a good portion of the game, then suddenly had them all jump to the correct totals. So that tells you they are still working out the kinks as expected.

                Give it a few months and they'll get a better sense of which presentations work and will improve the graphic design.


                In pure functionality it's great, although not exactly easy to utilize from row 7. That goes without saying though.

                Nice to see the new concourse TVs and the redone lighting/display of the concourse "bulb style" scoreboards, looks like white LED bulbs, bright and crisp.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                  I think what you saw during the Fever game and what you see during the Pacers season will be dramatically different. They were holding back on using it how they really plan on using it until they start of the Pacers season, so I wouldn't pass judgement yet.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                    Originally posted by BillS View Post
                    I think they haven't revealed everything about it, so I am not passing judgement as yet.

                    However, I have to say that the font selection and size stink, both on the stat blocks on the bottom of the scoreboard and (especially) on the screens on the high wall at the ends of the Fieldhouse. I have to squint to make out the numbers, similar to what we used to have do on the stat blocks that flashed on the upper part of the old scoreboard before they changed the typeface last season and made it much more readable.

                    I just feel like most of the extra space is taken up by extra advertising and the presentation of critical information is actually worse than it used to be.
                    I don't like the new ones on the end walls, they are harder to see than they use to be.

                    It least they don't have to have the trained monkeys changing the scores anymore.
                    "Just look at the flowers ........ BANG" - Carol "The Walking Dead"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                      Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                      Maybe you need glasses? I found every thing easy to read.
                      Well for us gents past the century mark you are correct. I had a hard time reading the stats in section 12 row 21.
                      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


                      • #12
                        Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                        Originally posted by aero View Post
                        haven't seen a picture of the one at the fieldhouse or Houston...
                        Here's one I snapped from my iPhone on Saturday @ BLF:

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                          In that picture the typeface is at almost the same size as the typeface I am using to read the forum. I read the forum fine. I can barely read the Grizz side and can't read the Pacers side at all.

                          It isn't size, it is readability and contrast.
                          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


                          • #14
                            Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                            Originally posted by BillS View Post
                            In that picture the typeface is at almost the same size as the typeface I am using to read the forum. I read the forum fine. I can barely read the Grizz side and can't read the Pacers side at all.

                            It isn't size, it is readability and contrast.
                            It's not just you. I can't read the Pacers side at all and I'm not exactly old.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: New BLF scoreboard - What do you think?

                              It is nice and big, will be a very nice piece of technology in the Fieldhouse. Function wise I have very minor gripes like the stat area below the viewing screens are way too small for names longer than a few letters. This is especially true on the end cap boards.

                              I think my largest issue is aesthetics. It's pretty ugly! I think the back lit letters at the top of it are horribly spaced. It looks as if "Bankers Life Fieldhouse" is all one word. The end caps look tremendously tacky with that plastic/cardboard banner with the Kroger logo above the screens. That would have been the area to add a little "touch" to the scoreboard like some black rod iron surrounding a nice analog clock. Kind of like the top of the Baltimore Orioles outfield scoreboard pictured below:




                              My biggest complaint with the new additions is the new end boards that replaced the old dot matix and manual out of town scoreboards. I'm with BillS and a few others thinking that the font and font size make it very hard to see anything on these boards. Having names up there are nice, but I'd quickly sacrifice having the names squished up there for blocks and steals stats. Maybe rotate what we are use to seeing with a "Hustle Board" and "Team Stats" board since the individual player stats are on the center scoreboard.
                              ...Still "flying casual"
                              @roaminggnome74

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