Rules and Guidelines ***UPDATED: August 4th, 2021***

[chadmc90]

[Gil]

In my stories I post some links, to pictures. Is that okay or do I have to remove them?

[chadmc90]

In my stories I post some links, to pictures. Is that okay or do I have to remove them?

As long as they follow the Visual Media rules, rhe pictures should be fine.

[slackywacky]

> provides a fun and productive experience for all our community members and visitors.

Love that goal!

[Beaumains]

In the previous rules, extreme bondage (pain and BDSM were named explicitly) were banned if they involved minors. Is there a reason why this (in my opinion logical) rule was removed?

[chadmc90]

In the previous rules, extreme bondage (pain and BDSM were named explicitly) were banned if they involved minors. Is there a reason why this (in my opinion logical) rule was removed?

Check out rule 6.d.

[TomYi]

Does this change in banners mean that the email/account creation problems are behind us?

[chadmc90]

Does this change in banners mean that the email/account creation problems are behind us?

Unfortunately, no. That is still on my bucket list to fix.

[Zaa121212a]

What qualifies as graphic/sexual activities between minors? Is BDSM allowed and to what extent?

[Xtc]

[mention]Zaa121212a[/mention] Please read the note to rule 6.
This should NOT be considered as a challenge to see how much a writer can get away with.
Please see [mention]chadmc90[/mention]'s note 1.

Yours sincerely,
Mr Grumpy.

[harveygasson]

All seems fair, reasonable and straightforward to me

[DesertFox]

Thanks for the update! It all seems very reasonable. My only question:

I and some of the more frequent writers sometimes post generic pictures of things (socks seem to be a common theme, which I totally get). These are basically just Google image results. Do you want a citation for these, even if they don't really have any specific info, artwork, original content that an author/artist might have created, etc?

[WAMGuy]

Understood! This all makes perfect, reasonable sense and I'm glad these new rules have been implemented!

[wataru14]

Looks good. Clear and concise.

[PurpleTurtle]

Understood. I agree with the rules

[andrewtied]

a pretty good and basic overview of the rules. good job Forum team

[TightropesEU]

I was wondering if there is a way of limiting the sizes of the signature tags I see more and more of you guys are using. It is getting difficult to find the actual content of the stories, when those adverts are soooo big? Just saying!

[Xtc]

I tend to agree with you, [mention]TightropesEU[/mention].

[Dominik]

I completely agree with TightropesEU and xtc: Those monster signatures are becoming more and more of a nuisance (especially when added to posts of 1 or 2 lines).

A size limit should be introduced, e.g. "not higher than 10 lines of standard text" or even less.

I wouldn't even complain if signatures would be completely abolished.

[Xtc]

I wouldn't go quite as far as [mention]Dominik[/mention] but we should severely limit the unnecessary clutter.

[TightropesEU]

Who will take action?

[bondagefreak]

Yes, let's make throwing sticks into the wheels of the authors that remain here the flavour of the month!

You know, when I saw the initial lament three days ago, I decided to take it in stride and not make a fuss about it. I can see how banners might be annoying to those who don't really care about the forum but are only here to read. As such, I decided I would limit all future banners to a maximum height of 300 pixels. For those of you who are a bit disconnected from forum affairs, I'm the one who creates 95% of the banners that are in use here. It's my way of helping the authoring community and my way of helping slow down the decline of the storyboards at a day in age when forums like this one are becoming a rarity.

Not a single week goes by that some new reviewer doesn't reach out to inform me that my banner was responsible for drawing their interest. These banners have been of great help to the many authors that have been using them; namely by drawing a great deal more traffic as well as attracting more reviewers. I have every intention of limiting the height of future banners, but I find some of the comments here frankly quite bewildering.

I wouldn't even complain if signatures would be completely abolished.

That is quite grand coming from you, especially seeing as how the three comments you've dropped to the storyboard over the course of the last year have all been on stories that are completely devoid of any banners save for [mention]Killua[/mention]'s...which, ironically enough, is one of the authors you've recently started following.



We have about 75 authors using banners at this time ([mention]squirrel[/mention] [mention]Caesar73[/mention] [mention]wataru14[/mention] [mention]Volobond[/mention] [mention]Killua[/mention] [mention]Jason07[/mention] [mention]Pantyhose971[/mention] [mention]gag1195[/mention] [mention]Gagfan[/mention] [mention]FelixSH[/mention] [mention]Trammel[/mention] just to name a few) all of whom have experienced a boost in visibility, traffic and reviews following the use of the banners they are sporting.

As I've mentioned (twice now) I have nothing against limiting the size of future banners. What I do find mildly distressing though is how zealous you guys are about getting the Admins to take actions against authors, while the rest of us are struggling to find ways in which to slow down the inevitable decline of phpbb3 storyboards like this one.

Those who use banners have been blessed with a figurative breath of fresh air in the form of more traffic and comments (the lack of which has been plaguing the authoring community for years). And yet it seems that there is a great empressement to cripple us and take away the small breathing room we've been granted.

Disheartening, to say the least.


[mention]chadmc90[/mention] [mention]Xtc[/mention]
Keeping in mind the reasonable complaint voiced by [mention]TightropesEU[/mention], I will strive to keep all future banners below the 300-pixel mark. For reference, the B&G banner I'm currently using is almost 400 pixels high. My misgivings about this discussion are not so much about the original complaint itself as it is about Dominik's and the great empressement for you guys to "take action".

The irony in all this is that those of us using banners are the ones currently contributing the majority of the forum's written content. Disabling the use of banners, as is being suggested by at least one user, would be the equivalent of chopping the authoring community's head off at this point.

[FelixSH]

There is also the possibility to simply disable signatures, if a users wants to. I had disabled them for quite some time myself - they are still there to be used, but if they are too big for some people, they can decide on there on not to see them anymore.

Just as a suggestion, for people who don't care to see them at all. I find the idea of limiting the size sensible.

[bondagefreak]

There is also the possibility to simply disable signatures, if a users wants to.

Exactly. It seriously takes two seconds to tick the appropriate box in the "edit display options" menu of the user control panel, so I find it really disheartening that the idea of preventing us from using banners has even been uttered.

P.s- For those of you who still don't know, your user control panel lets you choose what you can see and not see.
Everyone has the option to see and use the forum without images, banners and emoticons if they so wish to.
This option has been available both here and on the old board for over a decade now. Definitely something to try out instead of campaigning against us.

[Xtc]

Sigh!
No one is trying to poke sticks in anyone’s wheels. I know that banners is “your thing” but please don’t denigrate the rest of us becauase we have our own opinions.

Dubbing those who disagree with you as “those who don’t really care about the forum“ is obviously completely unjustified. Thanks for your appreciation of the effort that I make (English sarcasm with a hefty helping of hurt). Do you not think there is more than an element of self-aggrandisement in your following remarks?

Our remarks (those few that have been posted) should not be bewildering; they are merely our opinions! Surely the ad hominem attack on [mention]Dominik[/mention] is completely unjustified and in no way supportive; does that not go against your stated platform? Surely the fact that his comments have been “dropped” on stories that lack banners is irrelevant, especially looking at the strange stats you quote, which are completely unreliable. (Retired maths teacher)

What is all this about “zealous”? Who is mounting a prolonged campaign? People have merely stated an opinion. You might remember when I dared to express an opinion about someone throwing a hissy fit about the lack of reaction with which you did not agree. Now what followed that was more of a campaign!

What do you mean by “empressment” (presumably “impressment")? As far as I know, there is no attempt to force people unwillingly to any point of view, except, perhaps your own

As I have said above and, on previous posts: this is MY opinion and I (and any other member) is entitled to an opinion.

I'm out of here.