Simple OOT Rules. Updated 9/23/07. With cliff notes. Read or banhammer

[NT!]

Welcome to OOT.

This forum is moderated in a harsh and subjective manner by a cruel bastard who doesn’t like you. Posters who violate the rules are likely to have their threads locked or deleted and find their accounts suspended or banned. If this is not your cup of tea, try these other 2+2 forums:

El Diablo's General Discussion
BBV4Life
The Lounge: Discussion & Review

SHORT VERSION:
<ul type="square">[*]Don’t ask stupid questions that nobody cares about.[*]Don’t ask for advice about things you are too dumb or lazy to handle yourself.[*]Don’t post links with no added content. Don’t start list threads.[*]Don’t post in the wrong forum.[*]If it’s a trend in BBV, it’ll probably get you banned here.[*]No torrents, no hardcore porn, no filesharing, no racism, no blogs.[*]When in doubt, STFU and don’t start a new thread. [*]Yes, mods are allowed to ban you for that.[/list]

If you have any common sense or posting acumen that should be enough to keep you safe. Since you probably don’t, read on:

FULL VERSION


What to post:
OOT is for non-poker related discussion that does not fit into any of the other off-topic sub-forums. While the definition of acceptable subject matter is broad, we still require posters to put thought and effort into their posts. Start threads that will be of interest to a wide audience, not just you or a few of your friends. If you have a question to ask, make sure that the answer is not readily available somewhere else (like Google), that the question has the potential to generate interesting discussion, and that it is not better suited to another forum.

Not being able to find the answer on Google is not reason enough to start a thread. Thinking that a question is interesting to YOU is not reason enough to start a thread. Do not attempt to use OOT as your own personal search engine for hard-to-answer questions, you WILL get punished.

In a similar vein, protesting a lock, deletion or banning with, “But it was getting replies!” is not a valid excuse. Bad threads, or threads that turn bad, may be removed or locked at any time. Number of replies is not the standard by which threads here are judged.

Cufflinks: A Guide to OOT Posting. Read this for excellent advice on thread-starting.

If you are not sure about whether to start a thread or not, read the forums for a while until you figure things out.

Guidelines for replies are not as strict. There are no length requirements. Posters are welcome to be funny, serious, or both. However, derailing good threads by being stupid, making ridiculous arguments, ignoring valid counterarguments, shouting down other posters or generally taking a quantity-over-quality approach is a good way to get banned.

What NOT to post
Here are the three most common types of unacceptable threads that are started in OOT.

1. Googletarding. As mentioned above, this involves asking questions that meet any of these criteria:<ul type="square">[*]Answers are easily available via search engines or other sources. [*]Question has little or no appeal to a broader audience.[*]Thread has no potential for interesting discussion or content. [*]Thread has recently been posted in OOT. [*]OP puts no effort into the post or does not include needed info in the thread. (i.e. polls with little or no added content, ‘settle an argument for me,’ etc.)[/list]
2. Linktarding. Threads that are merely links to stories, games, internet memes or other content, or threads that just involve cutting and pasting articles from another source. We can all go read Fark or Digg on our own, thanks. These threads belong in Laughs or Links

3. Posting in the wrong forum. There are a wide array of off-topic forums on the Two Plus Two website. Topics that fit into one of these forums are not permitted in OOT. Here is a list of the off-topic forums available on this website.

<ul type="square">[*] Travel Forum. This includes info on travel pricing, booking, where to go out in a certain city, destination ideas, trip reports, etc.[*]Sporting Events. Anything sports related. [*]Brick and Mortar. Anything about common gambling destinations, casinos, etc.[*]About the Forums. Any issues relating to forum rules, moderation, locks, bans, etc. Do not post about these in OOT, you will get banned. [*]Politics. Any political discussion goes here. [*]Computer Technical Help is for anything related to a computer problem. [*]The Zoo (internet gambling) – info on dual monitor setups or other computer issues is sometimes posted here, too. [/list]
This is only a partial list, encompassing the most common wrong-forum posts. Please take the time to look at all the forums on the sidebar, there are also forums for student life, business, investing, golf, puzzles and games, and many others.


In addition, the following posting habits are either expressly prohibited or strongly discouraged:
<ul type="square">[*]lol -aments[*]rickrolls[*]unfunny ‘FYP’s [*]begging for custom titles[*]hey guys, anyone here from cincinatti?[*]ninjabumping, or bumping threads for no reason[*]help me with my homework, OOT![*]posts asking for legal or medical advice. get a lawyer or go to a doctor.[*]posting oversized images or lines of text, causing the window to stretch horizontally[*]threads that are just a list of things you like, don’t like, etc. these turn into long threads where everyone posts without responding to one another.[*]threads about common human interactions or girl issues that you would know how to handle if you weren’t such a socially inept moron.[/list]

Restrictions that apply to all of the 2+2 Forums and are strictly enforced:
<ul type="square">[*]Do not post or request links to hardcore pornography. Images containing nudity may not be posted inline. They should be remotely linked and labeled NSFW (not safe for work). Threads with non-nude, potentially NSFW content should also be labeled as such in the title of the thread. Posting pornographic or otherwise seriously gross / NSFW content in an OOT thread, whether on purpose or due to your own carelessness, stupidity or remote linking, will cause your account to be permanently banned. There are absolutely no exceptions to this policy.[*]Do not circumvent the profanity filter. This includes posting images that contain censored words, intentionally misspelling censored words, or conglomerating censored words to bypass the censor. [*]Do not post about, link to, or request information related to bit torrents, peer-to-peer networks, or other methods of online piracy / theft of intellectual property.[*]Anyone taking part in a ‘trainwreck’ will be banned, without exception. A trainwreck occurs when someone uses publicly available or poorly guarded photos or information for malicious or objectionable purposes. Guard your personal information carefully. If mods have to intervene on your behalf you may be banned as well.[/list]

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