Soul-Boards Rules and Guidelines.

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Posted on May 8, 2009 19:08

Donovan-X
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Ryoka

Posts: 357
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Soul-Boards Forum Guide

This guide was created to provide an easy to access and up to date source of general information regarding rules and code of conduct for the Soul-Boards community. All members are expected to read this guide and are otherwise unknowingly subjecting themselves to the risk of breaking the rules. We will punish rule breaking whether you have read the guide or not. Besides the rules and expectations of the forums, this guide provides important interpretation of those rules as well as other helpful information and links.

Table of Contents
1. Rules and Guidelines
2. Specific Section Rules
3. Important Definitions/Interpretations
4. About Scamming
5. The Amazing Edit Button
6. Bumping Guide
7. Spelling/Grammar
8. Frequently Asked Questions
9. Helpful Links
10. A Message from the Moderating Staff

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:09

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

Rules and Guidelines

1. No spamming.
2. No flaming.
3. No racism or otherwise prejudice actions. This includes posts, pictures, etc.
4. No harassing other members, moderators, etc.
5. Do not double post or post multiple times in a row.
6. Do not flood the forums by posting tons of times in a row(usually pages long). This includes in the Spam Kingdom. Flooding will get you a much longer ban than multi-posting.
7. No linking to sexually explicit websites or posting sexual explicit material. Do not post pornographic (including hentai) images or use them in your avatar/signature. Nudity, sexual activity, or an inappropriate level of bared skin is not allowed. Any text, transcript, or writing containing explicit sexual activity or sexual in context are prohibited as well.
8. Do not link to warez, cracked software, torrents, or make any illegal transactions that contribute to piracy on the forums.
9. No excessive swearing/cussing.
10. Do not interfere with special events such as tournaments or other competitions. See the definitions section for more details.
11. No account scamming. Believe us, we will catch you. If you have been scammed, immediately PM a moderator with any information/proof that you have. We will try to catch the scammer and may get your account back. However, if you have just lost your password, we cannot help you.
12. Do not impersonate a member, a moderator, or any other member of the staff.
13. Using somebody else's original avatar or signature, even if edited slightly, is not allowed.
14. Do not publicly discuss the moderators or their actions unless given permission to do so. This includes the moderators of Naruto-Arena as well.
15. All technical support questions go in the Soukyoku Hill section. DO NOT PM THE ADMINS ABOUT IT!
16. Advertising or promoting other websites/services as a whole is not allowed.
17. Absolutely no back seat modding. It is just plain annoying and will not be tolerated. We moderators can do our jobs just fine without members acting like they have authority.
18. Do not evade your bans. If you do ban evade you will be permanently banned. If you wish to discuss your ban please feel free to do so with the moderator via private message.
19. Do not share classified information! If you know a secret, keep it to yourself. We don't need information to leak and spread to everyone. This goes for the moderators too!
20. Do not cause unnecessary drama. If you are causing a problem and refuse to stop when asked by the moderators, your posts will be considered spam. (see definition section for more information on drama).
21. No publicly trading accounts (Soul Arena or otherwise).
22. Do not post text in a different language than the section is.
23. Do not quote posts without adding your own information (This is considered spam and will get you warned).
24. Under no circumstance are you allowed to discuss race.

Also do note: Breaking the rules purposely on an alt account can result in an immediate ban without warning, and it can affect your main account too.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:09

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

Specific Section Rule Highlights

These rules are enforced in the specified sections. They may also be located at the top of the specific boards. Please keep that in mind when posting in the following areas.

Soukyoku Hill - Game Glitches and Bugs
Forbidden topics are listed in an announcement at the top of the page. Do not make threads discussing these topics. Any such thread will be immediately deleted. If the thread is reposted, greater action will be taken.

Soukyoku Hill - Game Ideas and Suggestions
Do not suggest balance changes in this section. Take them: here.

Soukyoku Hill - Moderator Staff Feedback
Read the Section Rules and Guidelines before posting here! Situations that occur on the IRC channel are NOT to be posted about here, you should take it up with the channel operators. Also, discussions related to Naruto-Arena and/or Naruto-Boards, it's Staff, and all other dealings that have occurred within them are not allowed. Also note that this section is strictly for complaints/concerns about SPECIFIC moderating actions, it is NOT a place to discuss the staff in general, or to bring up personal issues.

Seireitei - Clans
*The phrase "good luck" or anything of the like is prohibited from being posted in clan threads.
*The ripping of clans is not allowed. This includes clan that originated from Naruto-Boards, if you are not the leader, or do not have the leader's approval, you are not allowed to create it. Any violation of this rule will result in a ban.
*You may only post one clan thread per clan. If you have a thread already and wish to create a new one, please contact a moderator, preferably one in charge of this section and request your thread to be locked. All clans are only allowed ONE clan thread at a time.
*Clans have the right to have a blacklist, violating blacklists (by posting anyway with the knowledge that your name is on it) can result in a warning, or even a ban on repetitive violations. Please read the Blacklist Guide Topic for more information.

Seireitei - Missions
Do not post threads asking people to use certain characters because you need help with missions. These threads will be deleted and a warning will be given on a repost.

Seireitei - Tournament/Battle/Clan Wars
Do not post in tournament/battle/clan war topics unless you are competing in them. "Good luck" posts are also prohibited in this section.

Shrine of Penitence
1. Do not post non-constructive criticism.
2. Ripping signatures for whatever reason is not allowed.
3. No starting a "Rip Shop"

Anime and Manga Discussion - Other Anime/Other Manga
Merely posting stuff like "I might watch this later", or "This looks good" is considered spam, and you will be warned for it.

Hueco Mundo
If you don't understand the specific language, then don't post in that particular topic, especially saying "I don't understand" or "Speak English."

Off Topic Discussion - Literature
Note that this section is intended to be for professional work that has been published and is readily available in bookstores and libraries, not for your own creations. Anything literary that you have written yourself should be posted in the Writing Class section.

Off Topic Discussion - Music
Posting only about how much you think a particular musician/band/artist sucks is considered spam, and should not be done.

Off Topic - Spam Kingdom
Flooding or discussing moderators in this thread yields a greater punishment.

Moderators have the right to create and enforce rules in their own respective sections. You must obey those rules and listen to any request the moderator makes.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:09

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

Important Definitions/Interpretations

In this section, certain words and phrases used throughout the rules will be defined and/or interpreted. This is so there is no confusion over what is meant by a certain rule and so the rules cannot be argued.

Spam: A message and/or topic that is pointless, off-topic, or otherwise lacks content that adds to the discussion. Topics with misleading titles are also considered spam, regardless of the message content.

Double Posting: Posting twice or more times in a row without other people's posts in between. If you want to add something, you should use the edit button.

Flooding: Intentionally posting many times in a short period of time with no useful purpose and an intent to disrupt the forums to the extent that it can no longer be considered double posting. Generally, four or more posts in a row is considered flooding.

Flaming: Any posts meant to offend or hurt any other member in a manner which is offensive and/or insulting. Even calling someone a n00b is considered light flaming.

Harassment: Constantly nagging someone with offensive or negative messages in an attempt to make them feel unhappy or annoyed.

Warez: Illegally copied software that is often associated with pirating.

Ripping: Taking someone else's original artwork, such as signatures and avatars, and claiming them as your own. Even if you slightly edit the image, it is still considered ripped.

Scamming: Attempting to trick or persuade somebody in handing over the password to their account.

Impersonation: Replicating someone's profile and/or name in order to appear to be that person. This also pertains to falsely claiming to be a Moderator/Admin of any "Naruto-Arena" project to try and trick the population.

Event Interference: Performing actions with the intent of causing disruption in events. There are several ways you can commit event interference. The ways to commit event interference are: Joining an event without the intent of participating, searching to private battle a tournament participant without being in the tournament, and spamming or flooding in event threads.

Back Seat Modding: Warning members and/or "punishing" them as if you are a moderator when you aren't actually a moderator. The real moderators can handle their jobs just fine without fakes running around.

Ban Evading: Accessing the forums while you are banned, which usually makes things worse because it results in a permanent IP ban.

Classified Information: Any information that is meant to be kept secret from normal members.

Drama: Immature behavior that causes a disruption on the forums and usually causes members to fight among themselves. Please, respect each other and DO NOT CAUSE DRAMA!

Trolling: This has multiple meanings; basically, trolling is when you create a topic or post where you intentionally try to get a negative reaction from others, whether it be spam or drama.

Troll Accounts: Accounts/alt accounts that were made for the sole purpose of spamming, trolling, or any other violation of the rules, as an attempt to avoid getting in trouble on their real account. Which doesn't work because these accounts are normally permanently IP-banned.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:10

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

About Scamming

Hi, fellow players. We are alarmed by the growing number of Soul-Arena players who have gotten their accounts stolen by certain members who ask for their passwords. The scammers usually pose as 'members' of the Soul-Arena staff (Admins/Global Mods/Moderators), and promise to promote you as 'moderator' in exchange of your account's password. All such claims are fake!

Please DO NOT believe such requests.

Here is a sample Private Message:

Quote:

you seem your very good at this game would you want to be moderator, i need your pass to put it, and im gametesters right hand man and i look if some1 spam or something against rules so do you want. it takes only 20 min

Please remember that your account is your responsibility. It is basic Internet common-sense not to give out your password to complete strangers. We, the Soul-Arena staff, will never ask for your password. No one in the Soul-Arena staff should ever ask you for your password.

Remember also that your password and account are your responsibility, and if anyone asks you for it to either join their clan or unlock characters, etc. don't give it out to them. If you do so, the Soul-Arena Staff has no accountability if your account is stolen and is NOT required to return it, as it is just a burden that distracts us from doing more important things.

However, If in the case that your account has indeed been stolen, you may feel free to contact the Soul-Arena staff with valid proof that the account was yours with as much information as possible, and we may possibly return your account, if we have enough spare time to do so. But there are no guarantees.

In short:
1) Moderators and rest of the staff will never ask for your password.
2) There are no cheats or hacks to lvl up.
3) Your account can and will get stolen if you give your password out.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:10

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

The Amazing Edit Button!

Double posting is against the rules. That is when you post multiple times within a short time period without anyone else posting. The way to fix this is to use The Amazing Edit Button!

The amazing edit button is a blue button located in the top right hand corner of all your posts.

By clicking that button, you can edit and/or add stuff to your post without double posting. To show that you edited your post, you can add the new content after the word "Edit:".

Once you are finished editing your post, click the blue "Edit Reply" button at the bottom.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:10

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

Bumping Guide

This section explains how you can bump a topic without breaking the double-posting rule. It is really simple and you should be fine as long as you follow the guidelines. Bumping is primarily used in clan topics.

A bump may only be used at least 24 hours after the last post on the thread, not 24 hours after your own last post. If you bump before 24 hours it is spam (most people will not time you to the second so wait a minimum of 23 hours). Also, having post after post between you and another person of just the word "bump" is not bumping the topic, but indeed spamming it. The first offense of mis-bumping will result in your post being deleted, any further offense will result in disciplinary actions. Please keep this in mind when you want to bump a topic.

In Short:
1) Bumps are only to be used 24 hours after the last post on the topic.
2) Mis-use of bumps the first time, your post will be deleted. Anymore after that, and it's warnings and/or bans.
3) Do not start a discussion with someone having "bump" in every post.
4) This applies to all of the boards. Not just in the clan section.

An example of the proper way to bump a thread:

If you have any questions you'd like answered on how to properly bump a thread, please contact a moderator.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:10

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

Spelling/Grammar

Here is a post by Pilaf regarding spelling and grammar. Please heed his advice.

On the topic of grammar:

Please take the time to, at the very least, capitalize the first letter of your sentences. It makes identifying each individual sentence much easier. Proper nouns are not a must, as I forget to capitalize them as well, so it's not like I can yell at you for that. However, capitalizing them would still help, though it is by no means necessary.

Please PUNCTUATE. It becomes rather difficult to read if you string together multiple ideas without any sort of break. It takes under a second to type in a period, a comma, or even a semicolon ( ; ) if you're daring.

Abbreviations: Take the extra second, PLEASE, to type the extra two characters. It's nearly effortless to do this, and clears up a good amount of confusion. This includes R, Hu, Wut, Y, U, etc... While abbreviations such as b/c and w/o and IDK etc. are fine, one to two letters is really not asking much.

Spelling: At least make a conscious effort to spell correctly. If you don't know how to spell a word, or if your finger slips, that's fine; but don't rush so much that you start yo splap the ketyboad like this. This is not a race; your post will still get read, and the time you took to spell everything correctly (spellcheck helps too) will make it much easier on everyone else.

1337: 1337 is not cool. It's stupid and difficult to read. Don't try to complicate things by typing in 1337.

Caps Lock: It is not wise to type in ALL CAPS LOCK LIKE THIS! It is annoying and people will think that you are yelling at them. Be wise and look at what you're typing every once in a while, to make sure you didn't accidentally turn caps lock on.
--------------------
If you just follow those guidelines, not only will everything you type be a lot clearer, but you will also seem more intelligent. (Note: You want to seem intelligent. People will like you more that way.)

A few words on posting:

- Please try to keep your post on topic, or at least within the confines of whatever tangent the thread might be on. While it may SEEM right to come into a thread about how Uruhara is the best in-game character and say "Has anyone seen Bankai Uruhara? He's so cool!"... It's not. You're posting something that has very little relevance to the topic at hand, and will not add to the conversation. It ends up having the opposite effect, at best being a post everyone needs to skip, and at worst completely derailing the thread. Even worse is to post something totally off topic, like "Who likes Linkin Park?"-- Worse yet is to ask someone to check out your website or join your clan.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:11

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the forum ranks and how many posts do I need for each rank?

An organized rank list can be found here.

How do you become a mod?

The simple answer to this question is that you don't. The moderating staff is decent enough for the time being. Therefore, we don't need any more. However, if you act in a respectable manner and obey the rules on a regular basis, you never know what might happen The current team is based upon people who were well known in Soul-Arena because of their respect of the rules and their ability to uphold the rules in a proper manner.

Who are the current moderators?

The current updated list of moderators can be found: here.

Why isn't my new avatar showing up?

It usually takes a while for recently uploaded images to show up. If refreshing the browser isn't doing anything, just be patient. It may take a while, but the new avatar always shows up without fail.

Why isn't my post count increasing?

The post count indicator takes a while to update so you should just be patient. Although, there are sections where post count is completely turned off so any posts made in those sections will not count towards your post count at all.

In what sections is post count turned off?

Post count is currently turned off in the following areas. However, it may change so check the bottom of the board in question to see if post count is off or not.

Seireitei > Introductions
Seireitei > Clans > Soul-Arena Clans
Otaku Corner > Battle Grounds
Hueco Mundo
Off Topic Discussion > Off-topic

Is there a search function for the forums?

Unfortunately there is no such feature at this time. It has been asked for a lot so it may be added in the future.

This person is breaking the rules in my thread. What do I do?

The best thing to do would be to PM a moderator, preferably one for that section, and inform him/her of the situation. Don't forget to tell the moderator the name of the person, what they are doing, and the thread they are doing it in.

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:11

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

#10

Helpful Links

This section provides a variety of links that are very helpful in many situations.

Image Resizers
PicRecize
Resizr

Image Hosting
ImageShack
ImageWind
TinyPic
Photobucket

Graphics
UBAnimator
UserBarMaker

GameHelp*
Game Manual
Frequently Asked Questions
Shinigami Ladder
Shinigami Assignments
Latest Balance Changes
Character Classifications

Forum Guide/Help
Off-Topic Rules & Guidelines
Change the looks of Soul-Boards! [The S-B Skin Add-on]

Other Links
Soul-Arena
Naruto-Arena
Naruto-Boards
Naruto-Kun

Posted on May 8, 2009 19:11

Donovan-X
Rank: member

Forum Rank:
Ryoka

Posts: 357
Joined on:
January 7, 2009

#11

A Message from the Moderating Staff

We, the moderators of Soul-Arena and Soul-Boards.com, are here to serve the community of members and players. By deleting posts, locking threads, and banning users, we are only trying to keep the boards clean and appropriate so that the utmost enjoyment is possible for users of all ages. Members should not be afraid to private message us with reports of rule breaking, general questions, or problems of your own. We will not ban you unless the private message is breaking rules. However, this does not mean you will always get the response you want. Depending on the content of the PM, we may not respond at all or merely redirect you to another place to ask the question. You have to understand that we are very busy and have lives outside of Soul-Arena and Soul-Boards on top of that. During our short time since becoming moderators, we have experienced spam, flaming, flooding, etc. Instead of getting fed up with it all and banning anything we see, because we would never do that, we decided to be productive and create this guide so that everything is in one place and easy to find. Please, if you haven't already done so, read every part of the guide so that you may have a complete understanding of all the rules.

Special mention to past moderators:
The following people were once moderators of this site, and for some reason or another are no longer a part of the staff. We would like to thank those members for their past efforts, and wish them the best for whatever they choose to do after this.

123olonade
Blackjago
Blackjack25
Blake
Dark_soldier
Dawsoe20
dks_darkos
Donovan-X
Ecchi-Bunneh
Erebus
Exia
Finus324
Galaxy-
Garkittan
GohaPao
Grand_Kaiser
Hax
Hhrp
Ignimaru
jaqoob
Kai07
Kamatari
Kiba510
Kingz
L08
Leychance
Lt_Gonzales
Maothen
megaTORN
Mystpot
Pinoy-knight
Pacman9269
Relinquisher
Slavik-Sensei
Soifon
Sunago
Syndfull
Vempyre
vg14

Special Thanks to:
Betrayer: Coming up with the original Forum Guide.
megaTORN, Donovan-X, L08: Updating the Forum Guide.
Leychance: Producing the Scammer Section of the Forum Guide.
Moderating Staff: Upholding the Forum Guide Rules.
Pilaf: Producing the Grammar Section of the Forum Guide.
Raizen-1: Creating the images for The Amazing Edit Button & Bumping.
Soul-Arena Administrators: Making the game available to all.

Thanks for reading,
~Soul-Boards Moderating Staff

Soul-Boards Rules and Guidelines.

Soul-Boards Rules and Guidelines.

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