Posted by Eddie Cunningham on 3/6/2005, 8:30 pm
Board Administrator

1. Criticism is OK, potshots are not. Sometimes the difference is simply a matter of tone. For example, this would be acceptable: "If this book is so successful, then why are sales low and this book has to be relaunched in the first place?". "Then how come it TANKED???" is *not* acceptable. If your post is more concerned about the personal preferences of somebody else rather than about the book itself, don't post. 2. Not a rule, but simply a guideline. Some people take as much pride in their Yahoo! group as others take in the comic book that they write. Please treat said Yahoo! groups with the same respect you would like to see your book given. 3. As Lightning Strike pointed out on the She-Hulk board, simply saying "this book SUCKS!" is not constructive criticism. If you don't like the book, please give specific examples of what you don't care for. And posters will be expected to either a) buy the comic book they are criticizing, b) lie and say that they have bought and paid for such book when they really just Byrne-stole it, or c) not say anything at all about it. If you do say that you just read the book in the comic book store without paying for it, your post will be deleted. Hopefully this will put an end to the Slott-lifting debates that keep recurring on this board. 4. As a corrollary to the last rule, if a poster does not say whether he bought the book or not, nobody should ask him whether he did or not. "Hey, did you actually buy the book this time??" or similar posts will be deleted. This is our version of "Do not ask. Do not tell. Do not pursue." 5. As another corollary, if a detailed summary of a plot (with spoilers warnings) is posted on the board, it is only fair for readers to make judgements based on what they have seen. Millions of Christians decided not to see The Last Temptation of Christ based on what they read in movie reviews and millions of Jews likewise did the same for The Passion of the Christ. Certain posters may not like people jumping to conclusions based on what people have not seen for themselves, but that is their right. 6. Try not to be repetitive with your posts. For example, if Unthinking decided to post "I love She-Hulk because she has green skin!", that's fine. But I would expect that SPECIFIC compliment or criticism once a month. I don't want people debating the same thing we discussed last week. So if Unthinking were to make that post, he shouldn't start a new one on that exact same topic until the next month. 7. This is the big rule about argumentative threads. Let's say two posters argue with each other and are reasonably polite. But they say the same things over and over again and each person keeps going to get the last word. This rule should settle that. Let's say I post: "We're having an argument!" And Terry replies: "No, we're not!" I get four more cracks to rebut. Terry gets four more tries to make his point and then the thread is locked. For example, it should look like this: "We're having an argument!" "No, we're not!" "Yes, we are!" "No, we're not!" "Yes, we are!" "No, we're not!" "Yes, we are!" "No, we're not!" "Yes, we are!" "No, we're not!" [THREAD GETS LOCKED DOWN. NO MORE REPLIES ALLOWED.] If other people jump in, that will start new branches, and I will haveto work it all out later, but keeping this in mind should put an end to "endless threads." 8. Of course, this all depends on people remaining nice and polite to each other, and I am the final judge of the tone of your post. Even if you think your post is civil, I can tell if your eyes are turning green. (Tom, I know your eyes are already green, but you get my point. Come to think of it, that would explain a few things... ) If your post is deleted, that doesn't necessarily mean you are banned. Take time out, calm down and wait. When you post again, do it more calmly. If it seems to me your blood pressure is still rising, you will get a "vacation". And yes---I and my fellow mods will also crack down on people who try to put down people who don't like Dan Slott's book. 9. Disciplinary actions are not to be discussed publicly on this board. If I need to speak to you about something you did, I will contact you privately by e-mail. If you do not post your e-mail address, I will make an administrative post asking you to contact me and or the other moderators. (And clicking my e-mail link will not work unless you remove the NOSPAM manually from the e-mail address.) If I do not receive any e-mails one week after I put up an administrative request, you will be banned and all your posts deleted. Thank you in advance for complying! Eddie Cunningham