RULES & REGULATIONS V1.5

Welcome to the Cantina

I'm a new member, what should I do?

First off, welcome to the cyber-home of the StarWarsNewsNet (SWNN) Blog!! We are glad you are here. The first thing you should do is familiarize yourself with the workings of the forums. It is our wish that you help us build our own little community of die-hard fans devoted to everything Star Wars. Explore, converse, make yourselves at home, and - most importantly - have fun!

You must understand that this is a PRIVATE community which we allow to be open to public access. Therefore, it does NOT abide any National Constitution or offer "rights" as you may know them -- for example, you do not have the right to say or do whatever you want. While we wish for everyone here to get along and have fun, our first objective is to maintain the integrity and reputation of not only StarWarsNewsNet (SWNN), "THE CANTINA," ourselves as fans and Bloggers, but also, by extension, the greater Star Wars "family" in whole. Our second objective is to maintain a peaceful and fun immersive Star Wars experience for members in good standing.

Always read the terms of service before you sign up. So you understand the rules. Also it helps to browse website of the forum first, before you sign up. That way it gives you an idea of the forum. And will help you decide if or not that forum is right for you.


Rules and Regulations

Standard message board etiquette applies --

1 - NO profanity (including creatively attempting to circumvent the language filter)

2 - NO posting pornography

3 - NO writing of graphic depictions of sex.

4 - NO spamming

Spam includes the posting of misleading, unrelated or inappropriate links or content, advertising for another website or repeatedly posting one phrase over and over again, often to annoy other users. Note: Spam is defined differently on different websites. A good rule of thumb is that if your topic does not encourage normal discussion, do not post it.

Targeting another member with multiple negative ratings in a row also constitutes spam. You will be contacted by a Moderator or Staff member with possible penalties if we feel you have provided too many negatives to one person.

No spamming with profile posts. Profile posting back to back is not allowed. When you update your profile back to back it clogs up the new profile posts box on the forum page pushing other members posts out of the box. Only one new profile post per half a day/every twelve hours.

Members can also request a review (from a Mod or Staff) at any time if they feel they are being targeted or spammed with negative ratings. Continued spamming with negative ratings can lead to a permanent ban.

Please be nice to other members.

5 - NO trolling

A "troll" is a person who posts with hostile intent, aiming to malign other members and cause havoc on the boards for selfish reasons. A person is said to be "trolling" if he/she starts a thread with the obvious intent of riling up the other members, and to "get a rise out of them".

6 - NO flaming

Insulting any other member or antagonizing another member can be considered "flaming". We are here to discuss ideas and theories, not each other. If you’re attacking an argument, that’s OK. If you’re attacking a person, that’s not.

7 - NO posting redundant threads

Staff and Moderators have the right to merge or delete threads and posts.

8 - No flooding

Flooding is the act of posting in large quantities over short time periods at the expense of the contributions of other members and is expressly forbidden. This can take the form of replying to one thread too many times consecutively, replying to dozens of threads in a single forum in one sitting, or starting too many new threads in a single forum within too short a time span

9 - NO cheating in the Casino Cantina

Cheating (of any kind) in the Casino Cantina is prohibited, as it entirely unfair on those playing the game legitimately.
Punishment: Immediate permanent ban from the Casino Cantina and possible loss of any or all credits (Staff will determine on a case by case basis the amount)

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10 - NO posts that intend to either disturb, sidetrack, or halt the productive flow of conversation.

11 - NO racism, sexism or message board cyberbullying

ZERO TOLERANCE policy for racism, sexism, or any other form of message board "CYBERBULLYING." Members are expected to be courteous and civilized, which means we have a zero tolerance and an immediate banning for the Cantina.

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12 - CRITICISM" vs. "BASHING"


This is a STAR WARS website by the fans for the fans. It is presumed you are a Star Wars fan, and that like all Star Wars fans you have aspects of the series that you really like, and other aspects of it that you might not like. While thoughtful criticism is part of healthy discourse, there is a fine line between criticism and outright bashing. When criticism becomes inflammatory, insulting and disrespectful to other fans, it impinges upon their right to discuss and express their enjoyment of everything Star Wars. This is, of course, unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

This site is intended for the social enjoyment of ALL who enter. We must all be mindful of this, and refrain from creating an environment in which forum members feel uncomfortable in expressing themselves. If you are here simply to bash the Star Wars franchise and its fans, then take it to another website where that kind of behavior is considered acceptable. It has no place here, and will be grounds for permanent banning.

Be respectful and considerate of other forum members' opinions, even if you disagree with them, and we'll all get along just fine.

13 - Uncontrolled arguments

This (regardless of who may have started said argument) will result in a temporary ban, and continual disrespectful arguments may result in a permanent ban. Of course, we all know that disagreements will occur. However, each and every forum member is expected to be respectful in their disagreements.

14 - Promoting your own Star Wars related site here is not allowed

Can I start a thread advertising my website?
Absolutely not. Posting a thread simply to advertise one's website is considered spamming. Your thread will be locked and you may be banned.

Posting self made videos is also a form of self promotion and is not allowed.

15 - Using multiple accounts is strictly forbidden.

16 - Questionable Content

Since we can't have a rule to cover everything, this is the rule to, well, cover everything. These are public boards, so act like you would if you were in a public place. (A nice place!) These issues are left to the discretion of individual staff or moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, misleading, spammy, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, sexist, obscene, racist, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, that otherwise violates any law, or that encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense. Asking for or offering any of the material listed above is also out not permitted.

17 - Post Rating
The purpose of the post rating system is to give a quick and easy way to give feedback on posts.
Misuse or abuse of the post-rating feature is not allowed. Example: the quantity of unnecessary negatives against a thread or a member.
Spammed use of the post-rating feature on multiple posts of a single user is not allowed.
--Ratings farming and abuse of the ratings system may result in a removal of all ratings given to the afflicted users, removal of all accumulated ratings, removal of permissions to give ratings, and/or serve a possible temporary/ permanent forum ban.


18 - Users who are habitually in receipt of staff or moderator attention will find themselves with heightened attention.

Heightened Attention for Problem Users


Users who, through their actions, have been deemed problematic, disturbing, unhealthy, remain disruptive (measured by continuing to amass warnings or simple interaction) will be cited with a lengthy temp ban probation, a two week or one month, respectively, as their aberrant behavior continues. Upon receipt of the two week or one month probation, a user who continues the actions noted above may be placed on permanent ban with no possibility of return. Staff will determine the length of the temp ban based upon the given situation.


The Temp Ban probation is the final degree of latitude that problem users will be granted prior to being permanently banned.

19 - Banned members seeking an appeal

In the event of a permanent ban for persistently failing to meet Cantina regulations and rules, a penitent member may, at the earliest, contact the staff for an appeal twelve months after their ban has been issued. Exceptions apply to former members who have been permanently banned for extreme or extraordinary violations such as psychological manipulation and emotional abuse of other members as defined by the Harassment policy below.

A former member who wishes to return in good faith and through proper channels after the aforementioned time has passed will always have a right to an appeal, but the moderating staff retains the right to judge and act on the member's plea to the best of their ability, power and conscience.

Attitude towards other members and mods/or staff

1) Posts that belittle other members will not be tolerated.
If someone comes here and asks for help, please give them a sensible answer and point them in the right direction. Do not make fun of them solely because they are new. We were all new one day and we all might have needed help likewise.
2) If you cannot be civil when replying, please do not reply. This is a friendly community.
3) We do not appreciate members belittling with derogatory terms.
4) Please do not try to convert anyone to your way of thinking whether it be your internet browser/religion preference/or any other kind of preference or choice. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and should not be made to change theirs because you don't agree with it. If someone does ask for help with anything relating to 'their opinion', then either help them in a friendly way or ignore the thread/post.
5)Members who argue with Staff or the 1030th with extreme nature will not be tolerated. Staff has the right to chose any level of action warranted for the given situation.


Per your agreement to join this forum it is automatically presumed that you have read and understood these rules and regulations as well as the companion Forum News, Rules & Regulations which also spell-out various guidelines for life in "THE CANTINA."

REVIEW PANEL

Appeals: If you feel your warning, temp ban is in error or unfair, contact the mod or another staff member privately. Please allow time for him/her time to respond (example: 2-3 business days). In the matter that you still feel that you don't have resolution, you can ask for a Staff Panel Review. The panel will then review the action. Once the decision is made, the action is final!

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other FAQ's

1. What is a warning anyway?

Basically, you did something we generally don't allow, and got caught. Warnings are generally valid for about a period of time, dependant on the severity of the offense. Any warning's given is marked not only on your account, but also documented for the staff and moderator staff review and have a record. All warnings that we feel is serious enough for a ban, or a general repeat troublemaker does get discussed before anything drastic is done. The basic rule for "Warnings" is no more than two consecutive. After you receive two warnings, a Temp ban can be issued at the Moderator and Staff Members discretion.

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2. Why did I get a warning for this, and another poster didn't, even though it's basically the same thing?

Basically, it's up to the staff or moderator, as well as your history as a poster. If you're a model poster who happens to slip up while posting inappropriate language, we may just delete it rather than warn, especially if the censored word isn't especially super vulgar. Alternately, if you've got a long history full of times you have caused issues then we take that into consideration as well.

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3. What I said was a gag between me and my friend! Why did I get warning for it?

It's not always whether or not the person the comment was directed at was insulted, but the fact that since this is a public board, a fellow user can be insulted, even as an innocent bystander.

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4. But "a Mod" has it in for me! He won't be fair to me!

If you feel as if you received an warning unfairly, you can come to any Staff member, or even a different Moderator, and the warning will be looked at. While not a promise that it will be over-ruled, we do understand that sometimes things seem to be a bigger deal at that moment than they are twenty minutes in the future, or that you may have already been disiplined by a different staff member or moderator.

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Harassment Policy

Our goal is to build a strong community that offers a comfortable atmosphere for all of our members. This means seeing that members have the ability to combat antisocial behavior

Harassment consists of misuse and/or abuse of forum mechanics and verbal harassment with the intention of distressing and offending other members.

Harassment is also any behavior that is incessant, inescapable, derogatory and directed specifically at you or your group. Before reporting, a genuine attempt to alleviate the situation should be made by leaving the area or the offending member, or asking them politely to stop. If a sincere attempt has been made to solve the problem and the offending player persists in the behavior, it should be reported.

Behavior that is always considered harassment includes derogatory and/or hateful comments that are sexual, racist, religious, or related to gender or creed.

A judgment of valid harassment can result in penalties placed on the harassing party up to and including immediate account banning, based on the severity of harassment and the member's past account history.

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"SPOILER ALERT" POLICY

This is a Star Wars NEWS website. However, much of what constitutes "news" is, in actuality, rumors. It is difficult to discern in some cases what may be actual information from baseless speculation by some people [read "sources"] who claim to know information. And sometimes we receive information from sources who wish to remain anonymous.

We here at StarWarsNewsNet.com attempt to validate and cross-reference information and rumors as best as possible. However, we are NOT employed by Disney, Lucasfilm Ltd., Bad Robot or any of their subsidiary entities, therefore verifying information isn't always possible.

When it comes to posting SPOILERS, our policy is to respect the wishes of Disney, Lucasfilm Ltd., and Bad Robot by NOT posting sensitive pictures or information that we suspect may have a negative impact on the concerned owner's Intellectual Property. When it comes to posting in the forums, there is a greater difficulty in managing information posted. In this regard every member of this forum will be expected to respect the wishes of the Intellectual Property Owners (Disney/LFL) by thinking carefully about what "information" or "media" -- IE. videos, pictures and sound bytes -- may impact the production. IF you should have something that may be of a sensitive nature it is our desire that you pass it to the Staff FIRST. SHOULD information of a sensitive nature be posted that somehow jeopardizes the secretive nature of the production, or this website in general for allowing it posted, this could result in an immediate and permanent BAN.

As we get closer to the respective release dates of the various productions, there will be uncontrolled leaks of media and information with regard to actors, plot, characters, conflicts, worlds, aliens, heroes, villains etc... Many people will want to come here and discuss the building excitement without the fear of being SPOILED by irresponsible posters whose only desire is to "be first" to reveal the information. OUR policy states that YOU WILL use the "SPOILER" prefix for starting these threads as well as post potential SPOILER information using the appropriate SPOILER tags! You can tag SPOILERS easily by highlighting desired SPOILER text and tagging it with an option in the upper menu, 4th box from the right, next to the film clip icon. OR you can use standard html spoiler tags to offset the post manually. Violators of this policy may find themselves temporarily BANNED. Repeat offenders, per any of our rules, regulations, and policies, may find themselves permanently BANNED!

IF you should post material, text, pictures, videos or sound bytes, that you suspect to be of a spoiler nature then please make sure to use the appropriate "Thread Prefix" when starting your thread.

Lastly, do not try and play the rules lawyer. Continually skirting the line between rule-breaking and not is unacceptable. The spirit of the rules is important as well as the letter.

Everyone is expected to be aware of, and to abide by, ALL rules and policies.

-the Staff of Starwarsnewsnet.com (SWNN)