READ: The Unofficial Ten Commandments of Cutstuff Posting

[HD_]

Ugh, despite Myroc's really good tutorial that everyone should go read, people are still posting horribly. Therefore, listen to these commandments, my child, and thou shalt find thyself enlightened.

I. Thou shalt not necrobump topics.

This is one of the pet peeves of many Cutstuff users. If a topic has not been posted in for more than a month and you are not the topic creator, please please please don't post in it. Exceptions can and should be made for mods that are still being worked on if you have something important to say (ex. a bug) about it.

II. Thou shalt not post only "lol" or "QFT".

This is another pet peeve that happens way too often. If the meat of your post is "lol" or "QFT", you're doing it wrong. These two phrases contribute absolutely nothing to the conversation; if you actually laugh, keep it to yourself instead of posting "lol". Although QFT is used in a much more serious context, there's no need for you to post if all you're doing is restating someone else's point. At least try to restate it in a different way.

III. Thou shalt not post random bullshit.

We don't care about what you had for breakfast today. We don't care about that dog you taught 5 new tricks. We don't care that you got a C on your math test yesterday. I know this seems like what the Spamthread should be for, but you don't need to post every goddamn aspect of your life in it.

IV. Thou shalt not become emotional and rage at thy opponent in an argument.

We are Cutstuff. We tend to argue about things. We tend to do that a lot. Keep your arguments logical, and don't use petty insults in a meager attempt to discredit the person you're arguing against. And, under no circumstances should you create a post dedicated to raging about the fact that you lost an argument! You have to be the better man here; admit that you lost the argument, and move on. If you rage at everyone that disagrees with you, people will start ignoring you.

V. Thou shalt not make more than one post in a row.

This is another pet peeve of many Cutstuff users, although I personally don't mind this one. Please don't post in a topic where the last post was yours, unless it is to bump it for a relevant and important reason. We've had lots of problems recently with certain users and double posting, so don't be that guy who double posts!

VI. Thou shalt not self-censor.

If you're going to post a fucking curse, post the whole fucking word. I can't stress this enough. You've already put the curse word in your post, what's the point of censoring it? Anyone with an IQ greater than 5 can realize what you're saying. Besides, "f***" just doesn't have the same effect as "fuck".

VII. Thou shalt not overuse emotes.

Ugh, this is a real problem among newer posters, and frankly, I don't get why. Try to keep your emote usage to a maximum of one per 5-10 posts. It's just annoying to see   spammed everywhere in a post and it doesn't have any sort of practical use.

VIII. Thou shalt use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

I can't stress this enough; it is so much more likely that people will take you seriously if you use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Now, if English isn't your first language, I can understand this a little; if you've grown up with the English language, you should be posting with correct grammar. There is no rush in writing a post, take your time! This is definitely the biggest problem among Cutstuff posts in general!

IX. Thou shalt avoid using size tags as often as possible.

This is a personal pet peeve and not one that's particularly relevant to Cutstuff, but please try to avoid using size tags. They're just plain annoying. Mini text is forcing the reader to take extra effort to read some part of your post, which is really annoying, while large text is just flat-out annoying and makes it look like you want attention. If you need to emphasize something, bold, italics, and underline tags work just fine.

X. Thou shalt avoid moving the thread in a direction it was not originally intended to go.

I don't care if you don't like the thread creator. I don't care if you don't like the thread itself. I don't care if there's someone else in the topic you don't like and you feel the need to argue with them. Use the thread for its intended purpose, not to settle personal grudges.

If you have anything to add, post in the topic! Thanks!

[Red]

to  be honest, the problem with myroc's thread is that it was buried in the tutorial subforum

if you want people to actually read these things, you should sticky this thread or myroc's.

[Hilman170499]

About Tip 6 : What if the poster is a kind of person that does not curse?

[SmashTheEchidna]

Then they shouldn't even have to censor in the first place. Duh. =P

[Korby]

You forgot "Thou shalt not backseat moderate"

except that's exactly what this topic is

[Tesseractal]

I. Thou shalt not necrobump topics.

Discussions on this forum (outside of Forum Games) are not purged. If the admins wanted to prevent posts to old topics, it would be easy: lock or purge them. They do not, because threads always warrant discussion regardless of age. If someone needs a question answered but can't find it in a current thread, it is appropriate for him to respond. His only other option is making a new thread, which would be redundant and a form of clutter. Irrelevant posts (spam) is already discouraged as it is.

II. Thou shalt not post "lol" or "QFT".

lol

Banning two words isn't going to stop people from making short, vapid posts. If you want people to make posts longer than one word, tell them to use multiple words. (Which is already stated in the rules.) Banning "lol" will just make everyone overly serious, and incapable of laughter.  

III. Thou shalt not post random bullshit.

None of the things you listed are 'random' since they all occur on a typical basis. What you're referring to is "conversations about the user's day", which, is exactly what the OP's thread asks for:

just for talking about your day, Plans, or something different.

Given that the thread has existed in such fashion without intervention from moderators, there is no harm in posting "slice of life" information. Refraining from posting such information would be off-topic.

IV. Thou shalt not become emotional and rage at thy opponent in an argument.

Logic can only be used against the similarly logical, which CutStuff cannot always claim to be. Logic cannot characterize, either: only machines speak purely in it. Given that rage is one way I make character assessments, I would prefer to continue seeing "rage" on the forums. Rage is fine; immaturity is not.

V. Thou shalt not make more than one post in a row.

Similar to the necropost complaint to the point of redundancy. Spam is already discouraged in the official rules. And as usual, if something needs to be said, it should be said.

VI. Thou shalt not self-censor.

Self-censoring serves an aesthetic purpose of making a post look "cleaner". If people didn't know what the censored word being said was, the censorship would be pointless. Instead, they can see the word indirectly. This allows the poster to use the word he desires but by cutting down a degree of crudeness. (Only negligible, since cursing is crude in general. But there's no reason to advocate uncensored posts, unless you're referring to pornographic or hentai images, which definitely should remain uncensored.)

VII. Thou shalt not overuse emotes.

It's a method of characterization, since it's impossible to display actual emotion in forum text. It's similar to ornamentation in music: The meaning is changed only slightly. And, as with other methods of posts, it should be always applied whenever appropriate. If my emotion were to suddenly shift every line break, an extra emoticon would be the only way to communicate that.  

VIII. Thou shalt use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

the purpose of this forum is for communication, right?
the method of typing is one such way of showing that.
if the person typing is able to communicate effectively, i think
his point can get across.

X. Thou shalt avoid using size tags as often as possible.

I frequently employ size tags to shrink quotes, as I have above. Usually it's more effective with larger quotes. This allows me to refer an above post (which has already been read) but save space simultaneously. Like emoticons, size can also be used in text as a form of characterization.

X. Thou shalt avoid moving the thread in a direction it was not originally intended to go.

This is an inevitable subject of human conversation. Regardless, it seems your issue is more with "people disliking thread creators" and not actual off-topic discussion in threads. Which is already discouraged in the official rules.

Ugh, despite Myroc's really good tutorial that everyone should go read, people are still posting horribly. Therefore, listen to these commandments, my child, and thou shalt find thyself enlightened.

"Enlightened" usually refers to a broader understanding. Since you are insisting on constricting the manner of users' posting, I would refer to listeners of this set of commandments as "decadent".

No one of significance cares about your personal peeves. Your entire thread is as pointless as the posts it describes.

[Galactan]

I actually do care about this, as I share many of these dislikes.  This is a fine list you have set up, HD.  Except for number 3.
Now if people would actually follow it, we'd be a much better place.

[HD_]

You forgot "Thou shalt not backseat moderate"

except that's exactly what this topic is

Not really, because most of these aren't in the rules to begin with.

It's more of an unofficial general posting guidelines thingy.

I'd love to respond to Roc's post but phones are evil things, so later tomorrow.

[Ivory]

1. Thread title is READ THIS: which makes it sound official.
2. You are telling someone* what to do with these 'rules', which is backseat moderating.
*i.e. the entire population of Cutstuff

So yes, you are, in fact, Backseat Moderating.

[HD_]

Well now it says unofficial, so it is now officially unofficial.

[Jman]

You forgot "Thou shalt not backseat moderate"

except that's exactly what this topic is

(click to show/hide)

As much as I agree with most of the statements in the first post, what korby said is so true.
Besides, I think someone has made a (rather angry) thread like this already

[GameAndWatcher]

The thing is, that Ivory made an admittedly not-so-smart decision by hiding it in the tutorial thread. I honestly think xe should of kept it in here.

[Ivory]

I think the real problem here is that the tutorial section isn't well known enough. Or is it? I dunno.

[HD_]

The Tutorial forum should be more apparent

Right now it's hidden in Help and Editing which people don't really search through the topics of that often

[Ivory]

Point taken. I'm going to try some SCIENCE and keep have existing under the MM8BDM section instead.