Flames outside the snake pit

[Bondi]

Okay, some people might think that we've gotten a bit lax on the issue of flaming outside of the snake pit, and maybe they're right, and some people have been getting away with it a bit too much. Not a good thing, so maybe we need to start cracking down on this sort of thing. Not that its getting totally out of hand and uncontrollable, but at the same, we should probably nip the problem in the bud right now. So therefore, yes, warnings are going to be issued regularly for people who flame others outside of the snake pit, as that is not very acceptable behavior. Let me clarify: In the snake pit, you can be as much of an obnoxious bitch/bastard as you want to be (provided it doesn't involve personal threats, personal information, etc.), but outside the snake pit you should behave yourself and at least appear to be a nice person. We don't want to have to move threads from off-topic or general discussions into the pit all the time because some people can't control what they say. Granted, once in a while, if the thread involves religious and/or political themes, we might move it there if things get intense because we know that that sort of thing can bring out the worst in people, but even there, if it isn't in the snake pit, you shouldn't be outright flaming them (though by all means, feel free to explain in detail why you strongly disagree with what they say). However, topics relating to movies, food, music, etc.; there's no need for them to have to be moved into the snake pit, and they won't be moved into the snake pit, and if you flame in these kinds of threads, then yes, your post will definitely be deleted and you will receive a warning for doing so. It's one thing to say that you hate something with a passion and explain why you hate it; that's fine and acceptable. But if you feel the need to go off on how anyone on this forum likes what you hate is a fucked up retarded loser, at least have the common courtesy to do so in the snake pit. Just keep things friendly and not hostile or agressive when posting outside the pit is all we ask. Oh yeah, and "this topic sucks" posts are always lame and will be deleted and warnings will probably be issued for that as well.

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Hypnos and George, feel free to add anything if you want (and one of you probably should).

[Hypnos]

Having been involved in the discussions leading up to it, there's probably no surprise that I agree fully with Bondi's announcement above. I will add the following points as well:

1. One of the main principles we are trying to achieve here is to uphold the decision and right of a topic creator. That is, that if they choose to create a topic outside the Snake Pit, there is an inherent message that they don't want flames, rude or snide comments in their thread, otherwise they would have created it in the Pit.

2. There is sometimes a temptation for users to convince themselves that because they've been around a while, they have somehow earned the right to say what they want, where they want. This is simply not true. More senior members should set the example, and will be treated accordingly.

3. We're trialling a "3 strikes" system, so people that repeatedly ignore the rights of other users can expect to be without posting rights for 7, 14, 21, 365000 ( ) days for example.