Sep7agon.net Forum Rules, and Information [Updated: 23 Oct 2015]

Last Update: January 19^th, 2016

1. Personal Attacks/Harassment/Private Information (Strict Moderation)

• Moderators will no longer automatically be editing out reported personal attacks in a “one-size-fits-all” manner. Instead, we will be looking at the context of the attack to determine the best course of action.
• Petty, schoolyard insults such as calling a user gay, stupid, etc. will likely not be edited out, merely receiving an unofficial warning if it becomes necessary. More malicious insults will be edited and face more severe moderation.
• Harassment is not tolerated, this does not involve being unkind to another user but is more akin to stalking and repeatedly sending unwanted PMs rather than insulting a user or mocking them. Refer to the Streisand Effect for details on how best to deal with people using painful insults or embarrassing information that was posted publicly which is now regretted.
• The release of other user’s personal information, including full names, addresses, social media accounts, images, private messages, etc. without their consent is not tolerated. Doing so will lead to the information being edited out and bans being applied.

2. Graphic Content (Strict Moderation)

• Sexual/Shock/Gore images and videos must remain in Anarchy only.
• War Clips and Images, and similar graphic content with Political/Religious discussion value, must be posted in Serious with a clear NSFW tag in the title.
• NSFW responses in safe-for-work (SFW) threads are not allowed, due to spoiler problems on Taptatalk
• NSFW threads (including sex role-plays, sex stories, Cheerio threads, etc.) that do not include photos or videos are allowed in The Flood, so long as the thread is distinguished as being NSFW. Responses in these threads do not need to be in spoiler tags.
• Avatars and custom nameplates MUST be safe for work, as they cannot be spoilered like post content can.

3. Raids, Impersonation, and Alts (Strict Moderation)
 

• Absolutely no organizing attacks, and raids on Bungie.net or any other website or community.
• Impersonating other users, or potential future member, through posts, or user profiles is not tolerated. Users caught impersonating others will potentially face a lite-ban for the main account, with a permanent removal of the impersonating alt.
• Alternative accounts (“alts”) are allowed, as long as they are not used to circumvent a ban. Users caught doing so will have their alt perma-banned and the ban on their main account extended by 1 to 3 days.

4. Miscellaneous/Casual Rules (Lax Moderation)
 

• ”Shitposting”, or posts that add little discussion value to the forums, are not encouraged – however, they are allowed under the rules. On the whole we will not be seeking out shitposts for the axe, if you are posting multiple threads with nothing to discuss in them they may be locked. Consider this a relaxing of the shitposting rule for now, please do not abuse it as we can easily bring the harsher rules back.
• Spam remains prohibited in the nature of continuous out-of-context submissions capable of hindering or disturbing discussion, namely through excessively long single posts, or repetitive posts. Reaction images and videos do not count as spam, so long as they are only linked once.
• Derailment of threads, or purposefully going off topic, is not encouraged and should be kept to a minimum. If you want to discuss another topic or side topic from the original thread, request a split thread from a moderator or report your own post where the side discussion commences.
• Report Spamming, or the repeated reporting of a single, or several, posts in a short amount of time, is not allowed and does not solve the problem faster.
• Threads should not contain topic titles that break the forum structure.
• Creating threads with the sole purpose of communicating with another member (calling out) is discouraged, and the thread in question may be locked, depending on the content and context of the thread. Calling out a user maliciously will automatically earn a lock and may include a warning of 5% to 15%, depending on the severity.
• Posting spoilers for any kind of media outside of a clearly marked thread and/or spoilered post is not allowed, equally people must take some responsibility for their own choice to browse the internet in the time approaching or shortly after the launch of an anticipated game/book/film/episode. Please refer to the Septagon spoiler policy below for more details.
  Obviously fake spoilers are not considered moderation material, ones intended to be believable and subsequently upset other users are potentially in the firing line.
• Editing or adding back a post that a Ninja removes to enforce the rules is not allowed.
   
     Thread titles must be SFW
  

5. You Have No Rights. Play Nice.
 

• The forum staff reserves the right to remove you, and your content, from the forums for any reason, without warning. This was agreed upon registration to the site.
• Ban lengths are adjusted to each case of a rule break. Similar offenses does not equate to the same penalties.
• If you disagree with a moderating decision, contact a member of the staff via Private Message, or post a serious thread on the matter in Septagon. Public threads calling out staff members in other forums for their actions will be moved to Septagon. Continuing to do so after the fact will lead to further penalties.
• In the event that a warning is given out for a misconstrued joke or prank, if both the person who dished the insult, and the person it was aimed at, contact a moderator to explain that it was a joke, any punishment could possibly be rescinded. This is on a context by context basis, and one should not expect this to occur in all scenarios.
• Your posts must be primarily in English. If we can't understand what you're saying, your posts will be moderated.

6. Punishments

• Punishments for violating Casual and Strict rules below are basic guidelines - as stated above, punishments for similar offenses may vary based on the situation and other circumstances.
• Continued violation of rules considered "Casual" will lead to harsher penalties, in line with a strict rule.

Penalties for Rule Violations (Casual Rules)

Rule Violated___________	Punishment
Spam	Excessive spammers in the forums will be given a verbal warning. Continuing to spam after the verbal will lead to official warning percentages, starting from 15% and potentially increasing with the severity of the spam. Spammed threads may be merged, locked or deleted as per the discretion of the moderator.
Shitposting	Shitposts that are more akin to spam will be locked, shitposts with discussion value will be left alone.
Report Spamming	Report spammers will be given a verbal warning via private message. If the user continues to spam the report feature, they will be given an official warning, ranging from 15% initially.
Calling out Staff Decisions	If a thread is made outside of Septagon, it will be moved to the correct forum. Continuing to post these threads outside of the forum, or outside of a private message, will result in a formal warning of 15% - with room to grow if needed.
Spoilers	If you post unmarked spoilers the punishment can include the editing out of the post and also ban time of up to three days.
Derailment	Excessive cases of derailment will be deleted out of a thread, with a verbal warning being given to those involved. Continuing to derail a thread will result in a formal warning of at least 15%.

Penalties for Rule Violations (Strict Rules)

Rule Violated___________	Punishment
Malicious Insults	Posting malicious attacks will carry penalties ranging from a 15% warning for the first offense, to lite-bans of various lengths.
Harassment	This is generally handled on a case by case basis, please note this does not refer to people insulting you or being unpleasant. This refers to more serious matters more akin to stalking and doxxing. Please do not confuse the two and the recommended approach for when someone insults you and you find it offensive is to take note of the streisand effect and not let the person know it upsets you. Punishments can vary from warnings to banadu depending on the severity.
Revealing Personal Information	Revealing another user's personal information without consent will carry, at a minimum, a one day lite-ban. The length of the ban will be determined by the severity of the information released.
Impersonation	Impersonation of another user carries a punishment of a 25% warning percentage added to the main account, with any "alt" accounts used being permabanned.
Graphic Content	For posting graphic content without the necessary warning in the title, a waring and edit will be given. Continuing to do so, along with posting pornography/meatspin outside of Anarchy, or posting graphic content in a non-NSFW thread, a one day lite-ban will be given.
Organizing Raids	All involved in the organizing or execution of a raid will receive, at a minimum, a three day lite-ban.
Ban Evasion using an Alt	For using an alt to avoid a ban, 1-3 additional days worth of ban-time will be added to the main; Meanwhile, the alt will be permabanned.

• There are a few different types of bans that can be handed out for breaking the rules. All can bind to your username, email, IP address, and hostname

Ban types, and descriptions

Name___________	Description
Lite-Ban	This is the most common type of ban, usually given out after receiving a warning. The time limit is based on your warning percentage and in length it can range from one day to permanent
Post Ban	This is the second most common type of ban, usually given out for punishments that are not quite so severe. The time limit can range from one day to permanent, and it prohibits posting in all the forum's boards
Board Blacklist	This is a permanent blacklist for a particular board that can be given out by Master Ninjas. Users that are blacklisted from a individual board will be unable to post or create new topics in it, but their posting abilities will be unaffected in other boards.
Full Blacklist	This is a more severe version of the Post Ban. Users that are blacklisted cannot access the forum at all and their posts are censored on all boards. Their nameplate will also be stripped for the duration of the blacklist. These are mostly permanent bans, but they can also be temporary
Banadu	This is the ultimate ban and it's always permanent. Users slapped with this motherfracker will be barred from connecting to the website at all. Only administrators can hand out this type of ban

Septagon Spoiler Policy

With the upcoming fall lineup of new releases in the world of entertainment, and after several recent problems regarding spoilers, the Sep7agon site staff is implementing a new Spoiler Policy, which goes into effect immediately.

The new policy, which will cover movies, television series, and video games, aims to help define what the staff considers a spoiler, and how we hope to prevent spoiler leaks on our forums. Details of the policy are below:


1. What Counts as a Spoiler on Sep7agon?

• Content that qualifies as a spoiler includes, but is not exclusively limited to, storyline elements that are integral to the plot, endgame content, & sequel discussion.
• Discussion of a media's music choice, art direction, etc. are allowed, but kindly take other member's viewing experience into thought before doing so.
• To use Halo 4 as an example: Discussing the fact that Halsey betrayed the UNSC would qualify as a spoiler; Meanwhile, discussing that you can drive a Mantis on Mission 6 does not.

2. Our New Sep7agon Spoiler Policy

• Threads created with the sole objective of discussing spoilers must be clearly marked as such in the title, either by manually stating that spoilers are allowed, or using the upcoming "Thread Tag" that Cheat is working on implementing.
• Spoilers in any general discussion thread not dedicated to spoilers must be places & marked in a spoiler box.
• This spoiler policy will apply to Movies and Television Series for a period of two weeks following it's release.
• Meanwhile, this policy will apply to Video Games for a period of one month following it's release.

3. Disclaimer from the Staff

• Disclaimer: As a site staff, we cannot 100% guarantee that spoilers for your media preference will not leak in some manner on our site forums or private messages, or on any other site. As a media consumer heading into the busy Holiday season, please use common sense when browsing online communities if you wish to have your experience as pristine as possible.