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Rick, are there any actual gudelines on what you can or cannot send via PM? I know a lot of the guidelines on what can be brought up on the forums is because certain issues/topics tend to get out of hand when discussed publicly in a forum; religion and politics come foremost to mind.

While those I would think would be fine to send via a PM, are there any actual 'rules' forbidding *shudders* personal attacks, or similar sorts of things?

Or would this be covered under the general policy #11,

No Personal attacks will be tolerated of any kind

which seems like it might not apply to only topics or posts?

I don't expect it to be a problem, but I can imagine somebody PMing something really mean, and when they get kicked off, saying "but I didn't break any rules".


Also, on a side note, the link to the forum topics policy changed since the time you originally posted the sticky topic with the link to the rules; might want to edit the post and change that; I had to go through the site index to find the policy URL, here:
Previous URL:
http://www.heavymetalpro.com/policy.html (gets "page cannot be displayed"-GRR!)
New URL:
http://www.heavymetalpro.com/posting_policy.htm

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That which does not kill me, had better run quickly.

And what brought this up?

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Doc
"An artist is never appreciated until he's dead."

I was typing out a rather lengthy PM to Mohammed (great guy, BTW) and it ocurred to me, that about half the things I ws mentioning were against forum rules, but would actually be OK in a PM, due to the limited audience.

So I was wondering if rules were really necessary or not, but thought I'd bring it up anyhoo.

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That which does not kill me, had better run quickly.

Well there is really no way for the Mods to look at what is in a PM. Maybe Rick can, but we can't.

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General Brett "Hitman" Coote S.L.M.H., P.H. w/9 Clusters, S.S.B.
S.L.A.F. (Retired)
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First, thanks for posting about the bad link. For now, I just copied the policy to a new file, and published it, so the rules are available at both locations.

Next, as Hitman said, there isn't any way (or at least any easy way) for me or others to view your private messages. (Maybe that's why they're called private.)

As to whether the rules apply or not, I would tend to be a bit looser with them, as long as both parties agree. For example, if you and I want to discuss religion at length, then we could certainly do it using PM, as it's not public and others aren't involved. OTOH if I PM you about religion, maybe pestering you about converting to /my/ religion, then that would not be at all appropriate. So I tend to say that you can PM whatever you want, provided the person receiving the message is accepting of it.

Problem is, with no way to easily check, it would be hard to enforce. I could send you an abusive PM, you could complain to a mod, but you'd have no way of proving it. And I could deny it.

So let's see what this sounds like (maybe I should add some PM rules):

1) Even when PMing, try to obey the normal forum rules, as they will help prevent problems.

2) Topics and posts can wander away from established public standards, /provided/ that both parties agree.

3) PM is not ever to be used as spam or a way to annoy or attack others.

4) Any such attacks, or continued unwanted PMing, should be reported to me. While it will be a pain, I can search through the SQL database and read any post or PM I want, it will just take me some time to do (meaning I'll be mad when I'm done so may tend to overact to false alarms or inappropriate posts).

What are your thoughts? Should I add such clarifications regarding PMs to the forum rules? Am I missing something? Other opinions?

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Rick
~~~~~
[email]rick@heavymetalpro.com[/email] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/ ... rolina.gif[/img]

* There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. *

Not that I ever expect it to happen but if I ever get a PM that is severly out of line (like a MAJOR threat of violence) I would cut and paste the offending mesage to a PM or E-Mail so you could examine the contents that way.But considering how thick skinned I am and my current standing here I realy do not expect to EVER have to do it.

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Having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have-Rush Limbaugh
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Still crazy after all these years.
Force of nature : :
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What? We run out of chairs?

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Straightjackets tend to give you one gigantic wedgy when you sit.

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Je vous aurais bien aide, mais je ne vous aime pas.

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"If you're not careful, you'll get us all whacked. Ha ha! Body in a woodchipper." - Phil Ken Sebben

What is inside the silo? Can it fly? A needle in a haystack... To crack the sky!

If someone were to get a PM that is truly offensive there is a way for a mod/admin (or anyone else for that matter) to view it...

The person that received the PM would just need to change their password and inform the mod/admin what it is...they could then log on as that user and view the PM.

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[b]When life gives you lemons, throw them back and ask for cookies.[/b]
[url]http://210darryl.wordpress.com/[/url]
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Excellent point, chi. That would sure beat searching the database! I could even do it without permission, checking any private messages, but I'd have to reset the password to do that. And as I'm not much into spying...

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Rick
~~~~~
[email]rick@heavymetalpro.com[/email] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/ ... rolina.gif[/img]

* There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. *

Judging by the PMs I get on forums most would bore people to sleep anyway.

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[b]When life gives you lemons, throw them back and ask for cookies.[/b]
[url]http://210darryl.wordpress.com/[/url]
[img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-ireland.gif[/img]

Isn't that the truth. I just browsed through the database a bit, and fell asleep for about 10 minutes.

As I PM'd you, I much prefer borrowing the spammee's password to read the message for myself.

Bottom line: there are ways available to prove or disprove such an accusation, and hopefully that will be enough to prevent someone doing such a think. I notice that the IP address of the person posting the PM is also recorded, so there's nowhere to hide!

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Rick
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[email]rick@heavymetalpro.com[/email] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/ ... rolina.gif[/img]

* There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. *

Thanks!

I haven't gotten a message I would consider out of line, nor have I written one, but I noticed there were no PM rules at all, and was wondering if they were needed (or enforceable, but I wasn't going to ask that... the bluff is as valid a tool as any, after all) and wanted to bring up the idea for consideration.

So, while it's hypothetical for now, it may come up in the future where it would have been nice to already have had rules up.

You know what they say about an ounce of prevention...

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That which does not kill me, had better run quickly.

SRO!!!!

We've have a hit!!!!!!

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Sir Henry

A Dragon in the disguise of a rabbit, is still a Dragon...

[img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img]

Hey Rick, may I please use these PM rules on my site's forums? Giving credit to you, of course.

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"The [Free Worlds] League is an acquired taste, but one indicative of a refined gaming palate. It requires subtlety and imagination to play as a Leaguer. It's no shame on them that they are so few in number; rather, shame on us."
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Sure. Brings to light the fact that I never published these, but probably should.

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Rick
~~~~~
[email]rick@heavymetalpro.com[/email] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/ ... rolina.gif[/img]

* There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. *

Forum Policy has been updated to include private message rules.

_________________
Rick
~~~~~
[email]rick@heavymetalpro.com[/email] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/flag-us.gif[/img] [img]http://www.heavymetalpro.com/countries/ ... rolina.gif[/img]

* There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. *