*UPDATED* New Forum Rules. Everyone Please Read.
We have come to a decision. Since Apex posted his warning on March 11th in the Political Forum, we noticed that things were a bit calmer for awhile. But it has started back up again. There is a constant feeling of walking on eggshells for fear that someone will blast you with a cutting comment. Instead of staying calm and on the topic, a good majority of threads are sliding off into personal attacks that have no business in the forum. We have had enough. Here's what is going to happen. Personal attacks are defined as any of the following:
1) Name calling, such as dumbass or idiot, just because someone has an opinion that is different than yours. You can think an idea is stupid and say, "I think that idea is stupid because..." and then go on and explain WHY. But, if you resort to saying, "You are so stupid for thinking that", there will be consequences.
2) Hurling insults about the person, person's family, life, etc. There is absolutely no need to drag that stuff into the forums, let alone disagreements.
3) Regarding the problems in the Political Forum: Doing nothing but blaming things on conservatives and/or liberals does nothing to further the topic being discussed, and in fact often leads to the kinds of problems we're now having to resolve. If that's all you have to say on a topic, consider staying silent.
4) Any other attacks on a person or their opinion simply because they disagree with you. These are up to GAM. Don't do 1 & 2 and you should be ok.
5) As well as the personal attacks, we have had enough of the flame baiting. Do not try and PROVOKE a reaction from others with comments that are close to the edge of the rules. In return, do not respond to the flame baiting. If you participate in either side of this, expect the consequences.
If someone breaks these rules, here are the reprecussions:
1) For the 1st offense, you will be given an automatic 24 hour timeout.
2) For the 2nd offense, you will be given a 3-day timeout.
3) The 3rd offense, you will be given a 1 week timeout.
4) If you continue to break these rules after the repeated warnings and timeouts, you will be given a permanent ban and will not be welcome back on the forums.
We truly do not want to have to ban anyone, but it has come to the point that something more has got to be done. The forums have become an unpleasant place for many people to hang out on and we can't have it that way anymore. This is not directed at any specific person(s). It is intended for EVERYONE. We want everyone to feel free to come and enjoy their time here so please, have fun!
*UPDATE June 4, 2006*
GotApex Forums appreciates thoughtful, *participatory* discussion of various topics. Keeping in mind that this is not a news site, 'link only' posts and threads with no original content will not be allowed. Posting an interesting or relavent new article is OK if you use it to begin a discussion. However, please do not post a link only - we all know where Yahoo news can be found. Thank you.
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Originally Posted by brainsmile
whoever is behind these breads is just killin' me with this stuff. 
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