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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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These people need to get a life

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  • #1

    These people need to get a life

    I would imagine some of you are going to disagree with me - but please to those who waited in line since 6:00 PM last night - get a life. (sorry, I know that isn't an original phrase)

    http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart




    July 22, 2008


    Many left without Lucas Oil Stadium tour tickets again

    By Bess Davis
    bess.davis@indystar.com

    11:55 AM -- Tour tickets snapped up again

    About 1,000 people crowded the Conseco Fieldhouse box office this morning in an attempt to once again get free tickets for a Lucas Oil Stadium tour.

    The 20,000 tickets, also being distributed online at 10 a.m., were gone in within 20 minutes, leaving many in line grumbling.

    The latest tour was added to the Aug. 16 Lucas Oil Stadium Grand Opening slate late last week after 80,000 tickets for four free tours were gone in a little over an hour.

    Dana Orange, 37 and Tim Luke, 40, both of Indianapolis, turned up at the Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. last night and were the first people in line.

    The Fieldhouse didn’t open to let people in until 6:30 this morning, so Orange and Luke, along with many others, had to wait out the night outside, electrical storm and all.

    “We huddled, but we stayed,” said Orange.

    Orange and Luke didn’t go out last week to get the original tour tickets, but after hearing about the new tour, they decided to try to this batch.

    Orange waited in line to get tickets for herself, Luke and her parents, Lawrence and Marilyn Orange. Orange’s father is recovering from and intestinal surgery.

    “This should be a nice little present for him,” said Orange.

    When 9:55 a.m. hit and the ticket sellers opened their blinds, the sleepy, reclining line snaking through and outside the Fieldhouse stirred and cheered.

    Twenty minutes later, the line booed when Fieldhouse security announced that all 20,000 tickets were gone.

    Hundreds of people, some who had been waiting outside the box office since 8 a.m., were turned away as the sellers shut their blinds and security began to mill around the ticket windows to keep the crowds from getting too worked up.

    Tickets were limited to four per person this week, after last week’s limit of eight meant that tickets went faster with many ending up for sale on eBay.

    Still, with everyone in line getting the maximum of four tickets and the whole pool of tickets being available online, the tickets went too fast for waiting people to finish getting in the doors.

    One woman, Krystal Hubble, 43, of Indianapolis, was near the head of the line when security announced that the tickets were gone.

    “I’m not leaving yet,” declared Hubble as some in the line started to leave.

    Hubble went to the Fieldhouse last Monday to try for tickets to the first tours, but when she showed up at 11:15 a.m., all the tickets were gone.

    She decided to wait at the box office this morning for “another fifteen minutes” before giving up on them opening another tour.

    “We’ll take one ticket,” she yelled toward the shaded ticket windows, and the crowd behind her muttered in agreement. “We don’t need four!”

    At about 10:30, Peggy Gamlin, 58, of Indianapolis, made her way up to the box office to check if the four tickets she had just bought on a corner from a scalper for $25 were authentic.

    The box office couldn’t ensure the authenticity of the tickets, though they looked like those that had been given away just fifteen minutes before.

    “I wouldn’t get to see it unless I paid for a free ticket,” said Gamlin.

    10:24 AM -- Tour fans weather storm

    About 600 people were gathered at the Conseco Fieldhouse box office Downtown Tuesday morning for the chance to get up to four free tickets for the Lucas Oil Stadium tour Aug. 16.

    Dana Orange, 37, Indianapolis was the first in line at 6 p.m. Monday. She stayed through the thunderstorm.

    “We huddled, but we stayed,” Orange said. “We appreciate them doing this the second time around for die-hard fans.”

    -- Bess Davis

    10:16 AM -- Free stadium tour tickets going fast today

    Tickets for what is expected to be the last pre-opening public tour of Lucas Oil Stadium appeared to be going fast this morning.

    About 10:10 a.m. this morning, the Web site of ticketmaster.com appeared to have few if any passes left for any of the four tour times, of 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

    A check of all four time slots for four tickets prompted a message from Ticketmaster saying, "We couldn't find tickets that matched your request."

    The tickets became available online at 10 a.m., as well as at the Conseco Fieldhouse box office.

    Mayor Greg Ballard requested adding the fifth tour, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 16, because of the huge demand. Unlike tickets for the earlier tours, these are limited to four a person.

    The Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority had originally made available 60,000 free tickets for three tours. But those tickets were snapped up in less than a half-hour Aug. 14. The authority quickly added another tour, but those 20,000 tickets were also snatched within an hour.

    And almost as soon as those tickets were gone, some fans began selling them online, much to the dismay of the stadium authority.

    The new tour, like the others, will allow the public to take a self-guided look at areas such as suites and the locker room, as well as walk on the field and purchase refreshments from the new concession stands.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Last edited by Unclebuck; 07-22-2008, 02:32 PM.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: These people need to get a life

    It's just a tour. Like they said on the news last week:

    There are many other "affordable" events going on for the public to see the new stadium this fall.

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    • #3
      Re: These people need to get a life

      Yes, that is ridiculous.


      Comment

      • #4
        Re: These people need to get a life

        Well, they weren't being pulled over for excessively tinted windows and they weren't in a shoot out at Club Rio so I say good for them.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: These people need to get a life

          Originally posted by duke dynamite View Post
          It's just a tour. Like they said on the news last week:

          There are many other "affordable" events going on for the public to see the new stadium this fall.
          My neighbor is supposed to be going to see Warren Cenrtal play some time this season, that can't be too expensive.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: These people need to get a life

            There's no way I pay money for these or wait in line -- I'm with you on that.

            Having said that I think it sucks if there are thousands of people who normally can't afford to see the place who won't because brokers are sitting on piles of tickets.

            And I also want to point out that the Colts should be doing cartwheels that there are so many people that are itching to get in the place.

            It sure wasn't that way when I first moved to town 15+ years ago.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: These people need to get a life

              Why did the city have tickets in the first place, they knew that they would be up for sale. After all the people of Indy are the ones who built that place. Open the doors and tell the people here is what you are paying for. To me it does not show much respect for you people of Indy.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: These people need to get a life

                Originally posted by OTD View Post
                Why did the city have tickets in the first place, they knew that they would be up for sale. After all the people of Indy are the ones who built that place. Open the doors and tell the people here is what you are paying for. To me it does not show much respect for you people of Indy.
                One huge problem. You can only let so many people in there at a time. If you do as you suggest - 200,000 people might show up on the same day, and 150,000 of those people waiting outside - you have to go the ticket route

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: These people need to get a life

                  Originally posted by Erik View Post
                  My neighbor is supposed to be going to see Warren Cenrtal play some time this season, that can't be too expensive.
                  Shouldn't be more than $10, right?

                  Originally posted by OTD View Post
                  Why did the city have tickets in the first place, they knew that they would be up for sale. After all the people of Indy are the ones who built that place. Open the doors and tell the people here is what you are paying for. To me it does not show much respect for you people of Indy.
                  UB is right. You can't just let everyone in at once. It would be madness. You'd have to hire hundreds more security guards for just a few days as well.

                  The reasoning behind the tickets is that it's a structured, orgainzed tour. They were given out for free, but you just have to be lucky. The city also isn't obligated to offer these tours. They don't have to. They are being nice by doing these tours.

                  They still give out tours of Conseco Fieldhouse as long as they are requested. From what I understand is that they don't require large groups. Just call up and schedule a tour. Maybe they will do that at LUC.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: These people need to get a life

                    Ok - I'm not sure the comment in the OP was called for. Obviously it was important to them so why judge their choice. Perhaps this was more appealing to them than watching on-the-ball pressure defense.
                    The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

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