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1] What you CAN NOT post.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is:
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- harassing
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- obscene

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- post images that are too large (max is 500*500px)
- post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or cited properly.
- post in UPPER CASE, which is considered yelling
- post messages which insult the Armenians, Armenian culture, traditions, etc
- post racist or other intentionally insensitive material that insults or attacks another culture (including Turks)

The Ankap thread is excluded from the strict rules because that place is more relaxed and you can vent and engage in light insults and humor. Notice it's not a blank ticket, but just a place to vent. If you go into the Ankap thread, you enter at your own risk of being clowned on.
What you PROBABLY SHOULD NOT post...
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2] Use descriptive subject lines & research your post. This means use the SEARCH.

This reduces the chances of double-posting and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Using the search function will identify existing threads on the topic so we do not have multiple threads on the same topic.

3] Keep the focus.

Each forum has a focus on a certain topic. Questions outside the scope of a certain forum will either be moved to the appropriate forum, closed, or simply be deleted. Please post your topic in the most appropriate forum. Users that keep doing this will be warned, then banned.

4] Behave as you would in a public location.

This forum is no different than a public place. Behave yourself and act like a decent human being (i.e. be respectful). If you're unable to do so, you're not welcome here and will be made to leave.

5] Respect the authority of moderators/admins.

Public discussions of moderator/admin actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest moderator actions in titles, avatars, and signatures. If you don't like something that a moderator did, PM or email the moderator and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in private.

6] Promotion of sites or products is not permitted.

Advertisements are not allowed in this venue. No blatant advertising or solicitations of or for business is prohibited.
This includes, but not limited to, personal resumes and links to products or
services with which the poster is affiliated, whether or not a fee is charged
for the product or service. Spamming, in which a user posts the same message repeatedly, is also prohibited.

7] We retain the right to remove any posts and/or Members for any reason, without prior notice.


- PLEASE READ -

Members are welcome to read posts and though we encourage your active participation in the forum, it is not required. If you do participate by posting, however, we expect that on the whole you contribute something to the forum. This means that the bulk of your posts should not be in "fun" threads (e.g. Ankap, Keep & Kill, This or That, etc.). Further, while occasionally it is appropriate to simply voice your agreement or approval, not all of your posts should be of this variety: "LOL Member213!" "I agree."
If it is evident that a member is simply posting for the sake of posting, they will be removed.


8] These Rules & Guidelines may be amended at any time. (last update September 17, 2009)

If you believe an individual is repeatedly breaking the rules, please report to admin/moderator.
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From Forum to Feifdom

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  • From Forum to Feifdom

    When the forefathers of America chiseled out the Republic, they had intended it to be as limited in government as possible. The theory was if you had very little government, very little rules and laws, that would insure liberty. But then you had the rise of those Statists who point 'well no rules cause lawlessness'. Well of course they do, so do rules. The idea is that rules bring order to chaos and of course in reality all it does is create a reason to break those rules. It's simply the way human psychology works.

    If left to themselves, to the natural order of people, since there is a natural order of superior and inferior minds and strengths and capacities, people sort themselves out. However rules and regulations, the more they are created, the more they create a reason to break them since they limit people in ways which they are not meant to be. Of all the laws written in the books now, having not enforced the previous ones 'lawmakers' make new laws. The idea is that we are doing "what is best for the people" or "public policy", we want this to be good for "all" people. Such ideas, while they may be well intentioned on behalf of those that seek to impose a non-existent utopian ideal that can never be reached since each person is a unique individual and different in tastes, intellect, preferences, only adds to a more state of confusion. One can easily see that the reason there is more crime is because of more and more laws, more and more centralization, more and more limitations on the individual to the point where the individual feels repressed and literaly there is nothing he cannot not do that is not in some way breaking a rule. Eventually all systems move towards disorder, that seek to consolidate or central power or morality or rules into a single framework.

    This forum has been witnessing the apogee of its crisis lately. With the influx of newbies, some bright, and some not so bright, we have had some seismic activities, and of course the lower of our quality. The admin, while in good intention, has created a certain number of guidelines for us to follow, as if we are little children and need to be guided ( that is the reason why politicians are elected and make rules and regulations for you to follow since you are children and need to be looked after ).

    When I came to these forums, I was pretty much the only one with a few other posters, the admin was like wise there from the start, although didn't post much. What happened was a synthesis between those of us that were there from the start, and we developed a sense of cohesion and flow. We made many different types of posts, from sardonic insults, to quality discussions, to laffing out loud humor.

    Then came pests like "fittypercent" or "speakenglishordie". Now one can point to the rules and say "well these are to ensure that people like that dont get out of line". But a rule won't stop an individual. Throughout our foruming it was us, those of us that were maintaining the quality of this place and the feeling of 'community' that eventually drove out these pests that no one liked. The more they began to see what we unleashed on them, they ran away. Then came members who brought quality and charm and they easily blended because they saw this has a welcoming place and naturally this place welcomed those that brought their quality and charm.

    Then came the "flamer forum" which confined us in our insults to the flamer forum where now there was no chance of driving out mediocre minds. Some of us objected, some didn't. Now came these "guidelines".

    1] What you CAN NOT post?
    You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is knowingly abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you.
    This rule can be bended in so many ways. Now this gives a reason for posters to abuse this rule and appeal to the moderator or admin in the name of "its abusive I dont like it, waahhh wahhhh". This creates a problem for those of us who use this as humor. Now we have to be serious model posters at all times.


    2] Use descriptive subject lines & research your post.
    This reduces the chances of double-posting and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read.
    It used to be if the posts or threads that were ill researched and stupid, the author would here from those that were more well informed. It simply existed in a natural order of how most things exist. Eventually if mediocre minds make mediocre threads, they will be teased or corrected, or what have you. Until they learn proper foruming they wont make threads, they will instead see the consequence of what happens to newbies that make ill researched threads.


    3] Keep the focus.
    Each forum has a focus on a certain topic. Questions outside the scope of a certain forum will either be moved to the appropriate forum, closed, or simply be deleted. Please post your topic in the most appropriate forum. Users that keep doing this will be warned, then banned.
    This used to be the norm. If you scroll back far enough to all my old threads, most of the threads were consistent. It wasn't until "chatroom style foruming' that this began to shift, and coincidentally it was around the time of the flamer forum, when people who were guilty of going off topic couldn't be made fun of or feel the wrath of what happens when you do stupid things.


    4] Behave as you would in a public location.
    This forum is no different than a public place. Behave yourself and act like a decent human being. If you're unable to do so, you're not welcome here and will be made to leave.
    What if I behave like a rowdy sardonic animal in a public location? I simply go steal candies from a baby, I then go and try to run over as many pigeons in front of the KFC, as I can. I then go and pee in a corner where they can all see me. Eventually, I will be heckled for my behavior. This is yet another draconian rule of telling people how to behave.


    5] Respect the authority of moderators/admins
    Public discussions of moderator/admin actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest moderator actions in titles, avatars, and signatures. If you don't like something that a moderator did, PM or email the moderator and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in private.
    No. I want to see where it says that you are the dictator here? Your job was always to provide a forum that doesnt lag, and keep the server running. Create a new layout for the forum, move threads to the proper forum, and read your suggestions threads in that section. Keep your powers where they belong. You aren't the one posting, it's us. Until you experience what it means to post, I don't see why I should live in fear of you, just because you have the power of the banning axe. Historically you have always had our respect and we thank you for your efforts at creating a nice forum, nice layout and format, and we applauded you for that.


    [quote]6] Promotion of sites or products is not permitted.[quote]

    This is simply silly. I and others have always posted links to articles or references we have in our discussions.


    7] No physical threats to any other forum members
    This is silly again since I have told all the forum members at one time, "Shut up or I'll squish your head". Are you gonna ban for that?


    8] We retain the right to remove any posts and/or Members for any reason, without prior notice.
    Yep that is the icing on the cake of what 'Draconian' means.


    9] These Rules & Guidelines may be amended at any time.

    10] If you believe an individual is repeatedly braking the rules, please report to admin/moderator.

    Repeat offenders will be banned from the forum.
    This is similar to those in Stalinist Russia, if you heard someone wasn't communist enough you had to report them to the NKVD/KGB, or how in the era of blacklisting it was bad to be a communist and if someone who was a suspected communist you had a report them, or if someone was a Jew in Nazi Germany, or if someone is a "terrorist" now you have to report them. When will more people listen to the Beatles song, Let It Be.

    In any event, expect seeing less and less of me here. Don't know about the rest of you.
    Last edited by Anonymouse; 12-06-2003, 12:57 AM.
    Achkerov kute.

  • #2
    Re: From Forum to Feifdom

    Originally posted by Anonymouse No. I want to see where it says that you are the dictator here? Your job was always to provide a forum that doesnt lag, and keep the server running. Create a new layout for the forum, move threads to the proper forum, and read your suggestions threads in that section. Keep your powers where they belong. You aren't the one posting, it's us. Until you experience what it means to post, I don't see why I should live in fear of you, just because you have the power of the banning axe. Historically you have always had our respect and we thank you for your efforts at creating a nice forum, nice layout and format, and we applauded you for that.

    In any event, expect seeing less and less of me here. Don't know about the rest of you.
    Although I agree with pretty much everything that Anon said, I decided that these two paragraphs were the more important ones. I don't want to repeat what has already been said.

    Admin, I hope that you will take the time to read through this whole thread, if you care so much about the well-being of the forum. I have said this before and I will say it again: the rules that you are imposing are impossible and you are sounding more and more like a dictator.

    If we can't excercise the freedom of speech here, then why bother and stay? The reason that I enjoyed this forum so much before and kept returning was because I could speak my mind without the fear of being hushed or threatened to be banned.

    Yes, I know that you meant well when you created these rules, and I appreciate that very much. And yes, the forum did turn into a rowdy, filthy place for a few weeks due to inexperienced posters. However, as Anon implied, these posters would either get used to the atmosphere (that we desire) or simply leave.

    The world is not a friendly place...no one looks after you except for yourself. So why should this forum all of a sudden turn into this la la land? This is one place for Armenians all over the world to unite and speak their minds, and if they can't take a little friendly criticism, then they will perish. What I'm trying to say is, don't hold anyone's hand. No one is trying to make this place cruel, but simply free.

    The more I am exposed to censorship, the less I have the desire to return.

    Comment


    • #3
      It's funny how we all think the same thing's at the same time. These past few days i've been trying to decide if I should just delete this damn username and stop posting here lol. I don't know how this place got so addicting but I guess I liked the opinions of people, the humor (especially the dark humor), and the freedom to say whatever we want. But recently I have been getting tired of this forum, just being honest. I don't think I would post less, if I start to really get tired of this one forum then i'm probably gonna ban myself forever. And lately i've been getting tired of it. I guess we'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

      Comment


      • #4
        Oh you bet it does.
        Achkerov kute.

        Comment


        • #5
          ttt
          Achkerov kute.

          Comment


          • #6
            Anon, may I comment on something? Your analogy to the government like environment here is completely invalid. Because as you have pointed out here, this is not public forum, nor it’s a democracy (and this is by the way what you are leaning towards without realizing it, suggesting freedom of speech and less abuse of authoritative regulation). This is a private ownership, none of us are paying for the registration of this site, thus we have no right to impose our views on the administration. In addition without a bit of a slap on the butt, the behavior that I last noticed in this forum was obscene, dominated by utter trash and it would have continued unless someone stepped forward, if not the future of this forum would not fall short of that other chatroom-like Armenian teen forum and that is a harsh lump to swallow.

            I also must add, that eventhough most of you complain about the policy being too strict and being afraid to post risqué material here, we all have done it in the past and in the present including myself (I’ve done my share bashing with Anon by the way), however it could be just me, but I don’t believe that anyone has received any warnings. Admin is simply placing us on our toes to give us a bit of a scare and encouraging us to fix our act. I think it’s pretty obvious that he is not the kind to enforce dictatorship rules, otherwise pretty much half of this forum would have been erased, also many people would have been banned by now. None of that happened yet, and in terms of free bashing, the previous posts were full of trashy insults by the new forumers and that is not what I would call entertaining. Plus he depends on us as much as we depend on him, so it's a mutual dependency and partnership so to speak. So stop wining and instead enjoy the ability to express yourself freely and yet not lose the distinguished level of what this forum used to be and is, as far as I am concerned!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by anileve Anon, may I comment on something? Your analogy to the government like environment here is completely invalid. Because as you have pointed out here, this is not public forum, nor it’s a democracy (and this is by the way what you are leaning towards without realizing it, suggesting freedom of speech and less abuse of authoritative regulation). This is a private ownership, none of us are paying for the registration of this site, thus we have no right to impose our views on the administration. In addition without a bit of a slap on the butt, the behavior that I last noticed in this forum was obscene, dominated by utter trash and it would have continued unless someone stepped forward, if not the future of this forum would not fall short of that other chatroom-like Armenian teen forum and that is a harsh lump to swallow.

              I also must add, that eventhough most of you complain about the policy being too strict and being afraid to post risqué material here, we all have done it in the past and in the present including myself (I’ve done my share bashing with Anon by the way), however it could be just me, but I don’t believe that anyone has received any warnings. Admin is simply placing us on our toes to give us a bit of a scare and encouraging us to fix our act. I think it’s pretty obvious that he is not the kind to enforce dictatorship rules, otherwise pretty much half of this forum would have been erased, also many people would have been banned by now. None of that happened yet, and in terms of free bashing, the previous posts were full of trashy insults by the new forumers and that is not what I would call entertaining. Plus he depends on us as much as we depend on him, so it's a mutual dependency and partnership so to speak. So stop wining and instead enjoy the ability to express yourself freely and yet not lose the distinguished level of what this forum used to be and is, as far as I am concerned!
              My analogy is valid in the theoretical sense regarding laws and regulations. Of course it is a private place and they can do as they please, no one contends that.

              You were never here long enough to know what the 'forum' was, basically you are one of those that welcomes this crap, and I find it hard to post in such a place and be myself, Either the rules go, or many of the quality posters go.
              Achkerov kute.

              Comment


              • #8
                I would say the opposite is true, the quality of the posters will go if this place becomes infested with meaningless trashy talk, nor will anyone of interesting caliber will be willing to join. Besides, I did a bit of browsing before I joined the forum and it was no different than when I joined it. It’s a natural course of things, there are bad and good waves all the time, and if you just let things be it my take you in the wrong direction, like that Teens forum, where there are no rules imposed, tell me from reading that crap would you be tempted to join? Right, the same way quality individuals think. It’s like recession and protrusion, natural course of time.

                The fear of rules exists only in your over exaggeration of things, there were no actions made to enforce them in a malicious manner, and like I said, I used profanity as well, and admin never warned me, everything in moderation you see.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Look apparently you didn't browse long enough. I explained in my initial post how this natural order worked. You just choose to ignore it. I'm not going to justify or discuss this with you. You are obviously in support of this, therefore I don't see your position helpful on this.
                  Achkerov kute.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by anileve Admin is simply placing us on our toes to give us a bit of a scare and encouraging us to fix our act. I think it’s pretty obvious that he is not the kind to enforce dictatorship rules, otherwise pretty much half of this forum would have been erased, also many people would have been banned by now.
                    I hope that you're right.

                    Comment

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