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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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Political News and Policies

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  • Re: Political News and Policies

    He looked directly into the eclipse.

    http://people.com/politics/president...e-white-house/

    Comment


    • Re: Political News and Policies

      Originally posted by shags View Post
      He looked directly into the eclipse.

      http://people.com/politics/president...e-white-house/
      Of course, the guy is a f**** child



      @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

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      • Re: Political News and Policies

        Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
        Of course, the guy is a f**** child



        To be fair....I think that the casual viewer that didn't really know too much about the Eclipse likely did the same thing. I even did the same thing when there was a partially eclipsed sun. But it's not like I stared at it for hours or anything....I barely stared up at the Partially eclipsed sun for more than a 2 seconds.

        I not saying that he set a good example or anything or anything that isn't considered stupid....I'm guess I'm just saying that he didn't do anything that any other casual observers likely did themselves that didn't really cause any real harm ( he looks up for just a second or two ). Unless looking up for a second or two causes a real problem ( Which some expert is going to have to confirm for me )......then I don't see the big deal is.

        Just an observation....but one of the problems that I have with those on the internet that point out stuff like this about the POTUS ( I'm not suggesting that vnzla81 is one of those people...just the internet bloggers ) is that this is really low hanging fruit to make fun of the President about. Sure, it's funny....but when the media ( whether it be legit or the random fringe ) continually points out stuff like this....it becomes hard for the Joe Q American Non-Trump Supporter to discern between what's important to really pay attention to and what not to really pay attention to. The fine line between what is important to criticize the POTUS on ( there is a lot ) is blurred when compared to the stupid things that he does ( which there is a lot of ). On top of that....this adds to the notion from the Right Wing Media outlets that the opponents of the POTUS will criticize him on anything....whether it be legit or not ( with this being a good example ). This is the equivalent of Faux News and Right Wing media outlets complaining about Obama wearing a tan/beige pants and suit...or him ordering a sandwich with Grey Poupon instead of good old American yellow mustard. Stuff like this is funny...but not really worth talking about in the end. For me, I think there is a lot of valid concerns and criticisms that can be brought up about the POTUS that could be considered substantive ( such as pretty much following the Obama doctrine in Afghanistan when he criticized it himself years ago ).

        Just my 2 cents.
        Last edited by CableKC; 08-22-2017, 02:33 AM.
        Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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        • Re: Political News and Policies

          Originally posted by CableKC View Post
          To be fair....I think that the casual viewer that didn't really know too much about the Eclipse likely did the same thing. I even did the same thing when there was a partially eclipsed sun. But it's not like I stared at it for hours or anything....I barely stared up at the Partially eclipsed sun for more than a 2 seconds.

          I not saying that he set a good example or anything or anything that isn't considered stupid....I'm guess I'm just saying that he didn't do anything that any other casual observers likely did themselves that didn't really cause any real harm ( he looks up for just a second or two ). Unless looking up for a second or two causes a real problem ( Which some expert is going to have to confirm for me )......then I don't see the big deal is.

          Just an observation....but one of the problems that I have with those on the internet that point out stuff like this about the POTUS ( I'm not suggesting that vnzla81 is one of those people...just the internet bloggers ) is that this is really low hanging fruit to make fun of the President about. Sure, it's funny....but when the media ( whether it be legit or the random fringe ) continually points out stuff like this....it becomes hard for the Joe Q American Non-Trump Supporter to discern between what's important to really pay attention to and what not to really pay attention to. The fine line between what is important to criticize the POTUS on ( there is a lot ) is blurred when compared to the stupid things that he does ( which there is a lot of ). On top of that....this adds to the notion from the Right Wing Media outlets that the opponents of the POTUS will criticize him on anything....whether it be legit or not ( with this being a good example ). This is the equivalent of Faux News and Right Wing media outlets complaining about Obama wearing a tan/beige pants and suit...or him ordering a sandwich with Grey Poupon instead of good old American yellow mustard. Stuff like this is funny...but not really worth talking about in the end. For me, I think there is a lot of valid concerns and criticisms that can be brought up about the POTUS that could be considered substantive ( such as pretty much following the Obama doctrine in Afghanistan when he criticized it himself years ago ).

          Just my 2 cents.
          Unfortunately, that's the state of the media (both sides) right now. The internet has created so many more news sources these days that you essentially get to choose your news source and the facts you believe, legitimate or not. As a result, media companies have to resort to more and more clickbait BS in order to get people to their sites. And it works. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.

          So, we get trivial crap like "OMG Trump looked at the eclipse without glasses!!!" and "OMG Obama saluted with a coffee in one of his hands?!?!". Best thing to do is not feed the monster.
          Last edited by Aw Heck; 08-22-2017, 08:54 AM.

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          • Re: Political News and Policies

            Originally posted by Aw Heck View Post
            Unfortunately, that's the state of the media (both sides) right now. The internet has created so many more news sources these days that you essentially get to choose your news source and the facts you believe, legitimate or not. As a result, media companies have to resort to more and more clickbait BS in order to get people to their sites. And it works. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.

            So, we get trivial crap like "OMG Trump looked at the eclipse without glasses!!!" and "OMG Obama saluted with a coffee in one of his hands?!?!". Best thing to do is not feed the monster.

            Agree but a big difference here is that the left wing media does stuff to ridicule somebody that is easy to ridicule while the right wing media did things to "prove" Obama was the antichrist or a hidden muslim that is bringing sharia law to the US.


            I get to talk to Trumpfters every day and they still believe Obama was the antichrist and a muslim those kind of "news" have done in my opinion more damage than whatever the left is doing by ridiculing a clown.


            And yes I agree with some of the stuff cable is talking about, sometimes they take it too far for my liking as well.
            @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

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            • Re: Political News and Policies

              Adult conversation about Politics! I love it!
              Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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              • Re: Political News and Policies


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                • Re: Political News and Policies

                  What is the goal again in Afghanistan? Why are we still there? Haven't we blown enough holes in the desert and mountains?


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                  You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

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                  • Re: Political News and Policies

                    Tonight's Trump press conference actually cleared the bar for most batshit crazy speech he's given yet.

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                    • Re: Political News and Policies

                      this rally is just incredibly shameful. I'm embarrassed. I can't wait until the Boomers die off.

                      Comment


                      • Re: Political News and Policies

                        LOL



                        @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                        Comment


                        • Re: Political News and Policies

                          Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                          this rally is just incredibly shameful. I'm embarrassed. I can't wait until the Boomers die off.
                          After his speech to those American soldiers the day before, you have to wonder how long it would take for the POTUS to switch gears from a speech that can speak to all of the citizens of this country ( aka the prepared speech that someone wrote for him ) to one that just plays to his base ( aka when he's allowed to be The Donald ).

                          The answer was quick and easy....less than 24 hours.

                          I love that 4 out of every 5 speeches that he does is geared completely towards his base while ignoring the rest of the people that didn't vote for him. It's always "they say this and they say that" in a tone that mocks and demeans the opinion of anyone that disagrees with what he says or tweets. I will venture to say that his default setting in these speeches is always to "divide" the American public ( such as whenever he has these campaign rally speeches in front of very friendly crowds ) and only to "Unite" the American public when he's forced to ( such as 3 days after the events in Charlotteville ).

                          If you've never heard any of these speeches before and heard it for the first time.....you think that these people that he's making fun of, these people that he is disagreeing with, these people that he's talking down to ( you know the 45 to 65 percent of the US Citizens that does not approve of him ) are sworn enemies of the State.
                          Last edited by CableKC; 08-23-2017, 05:43 PM.
                          Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                          Comment


                          • Re: Political News and Policies

                            the dude said the news networks were cutting off his live speech. as I watched him give his speech live on those news networks.

                            I think we have a really ineffectual media that too often gladhands and trades for access, they're the ones that made this moron being POTUS possible, but I think this "fake news" stuff is going to the the singular most long term and most consequential ramification of Trump. he's normalized legitimate reporting that he doesn't like into being "fake" and people eat the **** up.

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                            • Re: Political News and Policies

                              His base loves all the crazy **** he is doing
                              @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                              Comment


                              • Re: Political News and Policies

                                Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                                the dude said the news networks were cutting off his live speech. as I watched him give his speech live on those news networks.

                                I think we have a really ineffectual media that too often gladhands and trades for access, they're the ones that made this moron being POTUS possible, but I think this "fake news" stuff is going to the the singular most long term and most consequential ramification of Trump. he's normalized legitimate reporting that he doesn't like into being "fake" and people eat the **** up.
                                The left called out Fox News as being fake and Fox did nothing about it except get caught being fake.... but then the right figured out the left leaning news were doing the same thing and they got called out on it too, and did nothing but kept it up.
                                Meanwhile, people can't seem to separate opinion based news shows versus news reporting shows so conflate the two.
                                This in a world of social media, memes, and bloggers, all playing loose with facts themselves and a gullible public willing to believe whatever fits their preconceived biases.

                                So I don't blame Trump or Clinton or anyone else for cries of "Fake News". I blame the media itself... and I also blame emerging technologies for not being more proactive in stomping it (fake news/memes) out themselves.
                                But really it gets down to people... And the public overall and on the whole just seem to be too ignorant to differentiate what is really fake and what is not. Too many closed minds. Not enough BALANCED skepticism. So they pick their comfort zone and simply refuse to believe anything that is not ringing in their own echo chamber. Yet believe EVERYTHING in their own echo chamber. So right now, "Fake news" is the easy rallying cry when some people don't want to believe something.
                                It's not everyone, but it's more people than is healthy for a society that is afflicted with this.
                                Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                                ------

                                "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                                -John Wooden

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