Terms of Use and Guidelines and Ban Policy

[dsmbear]

By registering with Michael's Musings, you agree to the following guidelines and policies.

Be polite.

I don't want any drama here at the forum, just a nice and relaxing place to visit. Some of us have enough drama in real life and come to the forum to escape for a while, have fun and chill out. Members do not come to the forum to get involved in drama or bickering. Rudeness will not be tolerated. No arguments, no bickering and no profanity. Healthy debate is encouraged in the debate section.

Hate speech.
Racial, anti-religious, or sacrilegious, homophopic or any other type of "hate" material does not belong here at the forum and will earn you a ban.

Images
Images must be 600x600 pixels in size or below. Anything bigger will have it's img tags removed and a warning/infraction issued.

Hot linking.
Please upload any image to your own host before posting links. Any hot linked images will be removed and the poster warned.

HINT: To avoid this problem, simply get an account with an online photo hosting site like Photobucket or Imageshack:

Photobucket: http://photobucket.com/
Imageshack: http://imageshack.us/


Pay site V's Pirate Debate
There are enough forums throughout the community where the discussion regarding pay sites and their legality can be discussed. Here at the forum I wish to keep out of arguments and debates regarding this matter.
Any discussion regarding pay sites will/can be deleted or locked at my discretion.

Warez
"Warez" refers primarily to copyrighted works traded in violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to illegal releases by organized groups, as opposed to peer-to-peer file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar interest using a dark net. It usually does not refer to commercial for-profit software counterfeiting. This term was initially coined by members of the various computer underground circles, but has since become commonplace among Internet users and the mass media. DON'T DO IT! DON'T DISCUSS IT!

Spamming
Spamming is frowned upon in most communities. You may advertise your own site in the Affiliate Updates forum or by using a small image or text in your signature. Blatant spamming will be removed and "non sims" spamming will be cause for a ban.

Duplicate Accounts & Nuisance Members
Anyone found to have a duplicate or fake account who uses it to lie to or try to fool our members and staff will be banned permanently. We have additional forum software that allows us to cross reference any IP and trace any IP, giving us their exact location co-ordinates. It is very easy for us to find out if your account is a fake or duplicate.
Nuisance members will also be banned if they are found to be causing trouble for any of our members or staff.

Family Friendly
I am a family friendly site and have children among our members, as a result I ask that you keep adult debate, swearing/profanity and adult images away from the forum. Sims nudity must also be appropriately covered.

I also ask that since children do use this form, that members refrain from mentioning the existence of adult sim sites, or even give hits that such sites exist.

The above rules are the main rules.

Users are encouraged to use the Report Post function within threads, should they feel that any comments posted on the forums have violated any of the guidelines stipulated here. The Report Post icon is a black triangle with an exclamation mark, one you have reported a post it will be sent to our staff forum for a member of staff to deal with.

Forum rules are final. Michael's Musings reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread with or without reason or notice. Polite inquiries will be listened to via PM. Any form of harassment will not be tolerated.


BAN POLICY

We realize that sometimes, only you can fix what is wrong in your life. Anyone who has ignored multiple warnings about the wording of angry or insulting posts by our Moderators will be given some time to think it over.

1) First "strike" = a PM and a three-day time-out

2) Second "strike" = a PM and a one-week vacation

3) Third "strike" = a PM, E-mail to the offender, and permanent ban from our Forums.

4) Exceptions: Very serious offenses (like posting porn, or a "newbie" who comes in just to insult my members and makes no attempt at discussion) will be banned immediately without discussion.


A single, locked, post will be made in the Main Forum to announce any such "vacations" from the Forum to prevent speculation and grumblings. And, your avatar will be changed to denote the fact that you are on vacation. We would appreciate receiving questions about such events in Private Messages