Rules of the Realm (UPDATED AGAIN)

Rules are mostly a formality, we hope we won't have to enforce them but we will to prevent the place from descending into anarchy. They'll be updated as and when needed.

First off a disclaimer:

This channel and by extension this blog are entirely unofficial and not endorsed in any capacity by Gizmodo, the Gawker blog network or any of its employees. Mostly what this means is that for any problems related to the channel you should not attempt to contact Gizmodo, Gawker, or any of its employees. For a start you won't find any help and you'll only cause problems for the rest of us.

Now for the rules.

The usual suspects:

1) No flaming.

Try and keep it civil please, we won't have any qualms removing users who choose to harass others with personal attacks.

2) No trolling.

Don't say anything to deliberately piss people off. This doesn't mean you can't express your opinion though. Stuff like: "I don't like A because of B" is fine but saying "C sucks and anyone that likes it is a/an D" is not.

3) No spamming.

Repeated linking, Picard face palms (or any other image macros) or just generally flooding people with wasteful text will earn you a trip out the door.

4) No spoilers.

Whether it's for games, films, TV or books. Try to avoid slipping out major spoilers. A level of leniency will be allowed for current discussions but try and keep away from big plot points. Spoilers do have an expiration date though, no one is going to have any sympathy if someone spoils FF7 for you.

General:

1) No impersonating others.

This most of all includes Gizmodo editors as well as other users. Even in jest I don't want to see anyone with the name Jesus or JesusDiaz etc. Unless of course it actually happens to be Jesus.

2) Please no harassing Rosa.

Yes Rosa does stop by from time to time. Yes she is pretty cool. But that doesn't mean you should beg her for a star. Be cool, treat her with respect like you would anyone else in the channel. Remember if she tells you to stop then stop. Her banhammer is just as strong here as it is on Gizmodo.

Moderation:

1) Respect the mods.

This is a no brainer. You should be respecting them as you would any other member of the channel in the first place. If a mod asks you to stop something though or tone it down then please comply, they're giving you fair warning. Mods have the symbols: %, @ and ! before their names.

2) Keep us in line.

We know those in power are never perfect and sometimes such power gets abused. If you have a problem with a mod go to another mod with it. But most importantly don't whine. If you have a problem then be prepared to give reasons why and offer evidence to the fact (chat logs etc). Baseless claims will make us less sympathetic to your case, not more.

3) Don't ask to be a mod.

There only needs to be as many mods as is needed to keep an eye on the channel throughout the day. If more is needed then we'll come to you rather than the other way around.

Links:

1) NSFW is fine buuuut...

NSFW links aren't banned but must be clearly marked as such. Anyone posting an untagged link will get a prompt boot as a warning. While these links aren't outlawed they must follow rules 2, 3 and 4. This applies at all hours of the day as we have visitors from numerous time zones who work different hours.

2) ...that doesn't mean you can just link porn...

Keep it relatively tasteful. Funny links that happen to be non work safe are okay but you shouldn't abuse rule 1 to try and link your favourite amateur site.

3) ...or anything offensive...

That means no racist, especially disgusting or anything that could generally be considered as such. It's hard to clarify what exactly would be classed as offensive so use your better judgement here. This list does include the usual disgusting suspects though, no 2 girls 1 cup, no goatse, no tubgirl or any of their ilk.

4) ...or anything illegal.

No links to illegal pornography or pirated materials or anything else against the law. Discussion of piracy is acceptable to an extent though. We're not one of those "ignore the elephant in the corner" establishments but nor will we endorse anyone showing people how to ride the elephant. Talking about it is fine, linking to pirated materials, offering links to said materials or explaining how to go about pirating* is not.

* Note that instructions or help with processes such as jailbreaking do not fall under this. Just because it can be used for piracy doesn't mean it will. The responsibility lies with the user and not the tool.