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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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  • Originally posted by Natston View Post
    I don’t know why you guys keep insisting that BnG is using a fake name. I mean not to say with certainty that it isn’t. But from what I know about him, he wouldn’t post what JTF has posted (style or content wise).

    And he certainly would not deny being a Christian...
    And those are things somebody with a fake name would do.
    @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

    Comment


    • ^he also made a big deal about being a non-drinker, which probably makes him either christian or muslim, and i have a feeling he's not the latter, lol...

      Comment


      • Can Puerto Ricans be refugees since they're U.S. citizens? Seems not.
        I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

        -Emiliano Zapata

        Comment


        • Clearly they are not immigrants.
          I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

          -Emiliano Zapata

          Comment


          • Originally posted by Natston View Post
            I don’t know why you guys keep insisting that BnG is using a fake name. I mean not to say with certainty that it isn’t. But from what I know about him, he wouldn’t post what JTF has posted (style or content wise).

            And he certainly would not deny being a Christian...
            Thank you for your sanity and sensibility.

            Comment


            • Stupid College Kid Protesting Trump On Highway Gets Hit By Car – Sues School For Not Protecting Her (VIDEO)

              The video of the moron getting creamed is hilarious. The #Resistance (mostly spoiled college kids who let their extremist professors think for them) are a shoe-in for the 2018 Darwin Awards.

              Ah, but let's not forget, they're not only stupid, they're also really bad people. I mean, really bad . . . WATCH: College Student Arguing For Abortion Explains Why It's Cool To Kill A 2-Year-Old

              "Okay, can the two-year-old talk to me?" he asked, twice. "In some instance, I'm fairly certain that is. But generally speaking, the child still has the inability to communicate. And until we determine that as such, at what point does sentience become an issue, we can't really debate whether or not that is the situation or not."
              His "reasoning," which we often see from the morally-challenged left, brings back horrid memories of Hitler and the eugenics movement of the early 20th century. Dehumanize the target anyway possible, and then use that dehumanization to morally justify mass termination.

              "You're not human, so I can terminate you without any guilt."

              Hitlerian, indeed.
              Last edited by Just The Facts; 01-05-2018, 05:19 PM.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post

                JUST THE FACTS.....All Access Pass to the White House, was permitted to talk to whoever he wanted to. Even if some of the book was hyperbole and exaggeration, this bungling administration gave it all to him. Proof they never expected to win, proof that they were not prepared, and that explains how terrible they have looked operationally as an administration.
                The Author of the Explosive New Trump Book Says He Can't Be Sure if Parts of it Are True - Business Insider

                Michael Wolff, the author of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," included a note at the start that casts significant doubt on the reliability of the specifics contained in the rest of its pages.

                Several of his sources, he says, were definitely lying to him, while some offered accounts that flatly contradicted those of others.

                But some were nonetheless included in the vivid account of the West Wing's workings, in a process Wolff describes as "allowing the reader to judge" whether the sources' claims are true.

                In other cases, the media columnist said, he did use his journalistic judgment and research to arrive at what he describes "a version of events I believe to be true."
                Translation: "I'm lying, but I don't want to sued."

                As for the bold part . . .

                Originally posted by Just The Facts View Post
                And, let's face it, most of his target audience aren't going to care whether or not it's true. They want to hear what makes them happy, not what's true, and that's what he's given them.
                Nailed it.

                Comment


                • The last few days have been hilarious. Trump is losing the plot before our eyes.
                  https://twitter.com/DrogsNavan

                  Change is neither good or bad, it simply is.

                  Comment


                  • Is anybody still keeping count of what version of This Is The End Of Drumpf we're on? I gave up once it hit triple figures and it started to feel like I was bullying the mentally challenged.

                    I'm in a lighthearted mood, so how about a couple of hilariously-relevant memes?

                    One of my favorites:



                    I saw James Woods tweet this, and it was so good I almost cried tears of joy. It absolutely nails the situation:



                    We have the right trying to make America great again, and largely succeeding, and we have the left splayed out across the floor, kicking, punching, and screaming, trying desperately to annoy and disrupt the right, like a bratty child.

                    I just wish leftists would grow up, and allow America to become united for her own good.
                    Last edited by Just The Facts; 01-06-2018, 05:34 PM.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Just The Facts View Post
                      We have the right trying to make America great again, and largely succeeding, and we have the left splayed out across the floor, kicking, punching, and screaming, trying desperately to annoy and disrupt the right, like a bratty child.

                      I just wish leftists would grow up, and allow America to become united for her own good.
                      Even as someone that was entrenched in the #NeverTrump camp during the campaign; the second that Trump become President, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and the chance to prove that he would unite a thoroughly divided country ( that he helped to divide with reckless abandon ). I really hoped that "Campaign Trump" would fadeaway in favor of "President Trump". As expected ( to the rest of the World's chagrin and not to much surprise of most people ), the guy that we see in the WH now is the same guy that we had seen and heard during the Campaign and for the last 20 years in public life. He has sparingly reached out to the other side of the aisle ( he only did so when he became frustrated working with the GOP on some agenda items ) and has done everything in his power to further push away anyone through his words and actions that don't consider themselves part of the hardcore MAGA base.

                      As a Democrat and Progressive, am I allowed to voice and protest my opinion if I disagree with the policy that this President and GOP led House and Senate is pushing?

                      or

                      As a Leftist ( that you think should grow up and accept the outcome of the Election ), am I supposed to take these policies and accept them in silence without trying to do anything to influence public policy just so that the country can unite for its own good?

                      The answer IMHO is pretty straight forward and simple.

                      In a democracy; those that don't agree with the policies of the ruling party ( which policy and politics has created over the last year ) should be free to voice their opinion ( even if it leads to disrupting the "System" ). You know, essentially what the Right/Conservatives/GOP and those that opposed the Obama Administration had done the previous 8 years. In other words, we ( as US citizens ) have the right to voice dissent and opinion when we don't agree with it.

                      His approach to governing and responding to the public is to pander to his hardcore base. This has led to further divisions, distrust, conflict and strife among the 54% of the voters that did not vote for him. One could argue that this is what all Presidents do. The problem is that he does this with a framed approach that speaks ONLY to the one segment of the population that he actually cares about, his specific voting base that won't waver in their support to him ( aka his hardcore MAGA followers ).

                      To be clear, I am saying that his approach to communicating to the public is centered around pandering to his hardcore base and not the entire population as a whole. If you are perfectly willing to accept what this POTUS does without question and abandon ( for the sake of uniting this country ), that is fine. But don't expect that those that hold a different opinion and disagrees with the policies of this WH and GOP Led House and Senate should do the same.

                      IMHO, it is not my role ( as a Citizen of this country ) to just accept what he is, what the GOP does and unite for the good of the country regardless of what he does or say. It is his role and job as POTUS to unite this divided country by showing it through his policies, his actions and ( most importantly ) his 2 syllable words. This POTUS has done very little to show this. That is his frickin job to govern and represent the entire country, not just his base that fully support him. This POTUS works for ALL OF US, we don't work for him and therefore aren't just supposed to "fall in line" to unite this country regardless of how we feel.
                      Last edited by CableKC; 01-07-2018, 11:36 PM.
                      Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by D-BONE View Post
                        Clearly they are not immigrants.
                        They are US Citizens. Aren't they free to re-locate to any US State that they wish to without restrictions?

                        From what I have read, they can move to any state. As long as they establish residence in that State ( much like any other US Citizen ), they are allowed to vote in that State as a resident of that State.
                        Last edited by CableKC; 01-07-2018, 05:10 PM.
                        Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                        Comment


                        • My reaction when I saw democrats practically begging a retired talk show host to be their savior:



                          Word is, if Oprah turns them down, Geraldo is plan B.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                            Even as someone that was entrenched in the #NeverTrump camp during the campaign; the second that Trump become President, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and the chance to prove that he would unite a thoroughly divided country ( that he helped to divide with reckless abandon ). I really hoped that "Campaign Trump" would fadeaway in favor of "President Trump". As expected ( to the rest of the World's chagrin and not to much surprise of most people ), the guy that we see in the WH now is the same guy that we had seen and heard during the Campaign and for the last 20 years in public life. He has sparingly reached out to the other side of the aisle ( he only did so when he became frustrated working with the GOP on some agenda items ) and has done everything in his power to further push away anyone through his words and actions that don't consider themselves part of the hardcore MAGA base.

                            As a Democrat and Progressive, am I allowed to voice and protest my opinion if I disagree with the policy that this President and GOP led House and Senate is pushing?

                            or

                            As a Leftist ( that you think should grow up and accept the outcome of the Election ), am I supposed to take these policies and accept them in silence without trying to do anything to influence public policy just so that the country can unite for its own good?

                            The answer IMHO is pretty straight forward and simple.

                            In a democracy; those that don't agree with the policies of the ruling party ( which policy and politics has created over the last year ) should be free to voice their opinion ( even if it leads to disrupting the "System" ). You know, essentially what the Right/Conservatives/GOP and those that opposed the Obama Administration had done the previous 8 years. In other words, we ( as US citizens ) have the right to voice dissent and opinion when we don't agree with it.

                            His approach to governing and responding to the public is to pander to his hardcore base. This has led to further divisions, distrust, conflict and strife among the 54% of the voters that did not vote for him. One could argue that this is what all Presidents do. The problem is that he does this with a framed approach that speaks ONLY to the one segment of the population that he actually cares about, his specific voting base that won't waver in their support to him ( aka his hardcore MAGA followers ).

                            To be clear, I am saying that his approach to communicating to the public is centered around pandering to his hardcore base and not the entire population as a whole. If you are perfectly willing to accept what this POTUS does without question and abandon ( for the sake of uniting this country ), that is fine. But don't expect that those that hold a different opinion and disagrees with the policies of this WH and GOP Led House and Senate should do the same.

                            IMHO, it is not my role ( as a Citizen of this country ) to just accept what he is, what the GOP does and unite for the good of the country regardless of what he does or say. It is his role and job as POTUS to unite this divided country by showing it through his policies, his actions and ( most importantly ) his 2 syllable words. This POTUS has done very little to show this. That is his frickin job to govern and represent the entire country, not just his base that fully support him. This POTUS works for ALL OF US, we don't work for him and therefore aren't just supposed to "fall in line" to unite this country regardless of how we feel.
                            MAGA's clearly a dog whistle to backdoor fascism in this country. When you look at what Trump is doing by opening calling for investigations from the Justice Department into political rivals. When you look at him demanding people in the private sector be fired for openly speaking against him. These are fascist tactics.

                            You gotta love Trump's response to the book that questions his intelligence and mental capacity to lead the country. He claimed he is a genius! Thats Trump's only consistent policy, anything that is negative is immediately denounced and then claim the exact opposite of the claim.
                            You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post

                              MAGA's clearly a dog whistle to backdoor fascism in this country. When you look at what Trump is doing by opening calling for investigations from the Justice Department into political rivals. When you look at him demanding people in the private sector be fired for openly speaking against him. These are fascist tactics.

                              You gotta love Trump's response to the book that questions his intelligence and mental capacity to lead the country. He claimed he is a genius! Thats Trump's only consistent policy, anything that is negative is immediately denounced and then claim the exact opposite of the claim.
                              This is standard operating procedured right out of his Bosses playbook. Putin does the same exact thing to his rivals while demonizing the press or anyone that writes negative press about him.
                              Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by Just The Facts View Post
                                My reaction when I saw democrats practically begging a retired talk show host to be their savior:



                                Word is, if Oprah turns them down, Geraldo is plan B.
                                I doubt that she really runs for the Presidency. It's all talk IMHO. She's much more effective being someone on the sidelines that rallies the Black Community to actually come out to vote.
                                Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                                Comment

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