Following the rules to the letter will likely keep you out of trouble with the mods, but will not necessarily guarantee that you'll go over well with other forum-goers. In order to help you get a feel for the way the forum works, I offer the following suggestions - not rules.

• Lurk and Learn
I cannot stress this one enough. There's no better way to get a feel for the forums and what is and is not accepted here than to lurk for awhile. Hang around, read some threads, and refrain from replying for a week or two. Get some firsthand knowledge of how things work here.

• Use Proper English
To the best of your ability, use clear English; strive for correct spelling and good grammar. This is, perhaps, the second most important point. You will find that people will tend to respond to your writing much more positively when you do. Resist the temptation to post using "fanboy Japanese" (mixing words such as "baka" and "kawaii" in with your English text) as well as leet speak (l337 5p34k). It's not going to impress anyone. And we said ENGLISH by the way. So please don't post all in Japanese or French or German or whatever. Yes, they are all lovely languages, but they're also kinda hard to moderate.

• Have Thick Skin
Don't be offended if someone disagrees with you. If you think their attitude has problems, PM a mod.

• You Don't Know Everything
It is definitely far from safe to assume (and even less safe to sound like you believe) that you know more about a subject than the rest of the forum; we have some very knowledgeable people here, and superiority isn't a tone that folks are prone to appreciate.

• Colored Text and Odd Fonts are Bad
Most people find colored text (particularly whole posts in colored text) and odd fonts (especially small ones) unpleasant, and in some cases, unreadable. Stick to the default text.

• Use a Meaningful Subject
When creating a new post, use an informative subject line / title. Too often we get threads with titles like "A question," or "Cool stuff." Please be specific about what you want to talk about; if you don't, you likely won't get many people participating in your thread.

• Tell Us What You Think
When creating a new post, state your own opinion. We frequently get posts that do nothing but ask, "What do you think of <topic>?" We would much prefer that you state your own opinion as well as asking for ours; it's more equitable, and gives us a starting point for the discussion. If you don't have enough information to form an opinion, by all means find some before posting.

• Read the Thread Before Replying
If you fail to do so, you're likely to say something that has already been said in the thread. This makes you sound like you're more interested in talking than having a conversation, which tends to put people off.

• Don't Quote Entire Posts
It's extremely annoying to see another persons's 20 line post quoted in entirety with only the comment, "I agree," or something similar added by the quoter at the end. When using the quote button to reply to posts, delete the text that is not relevant to the comments that you are going to make. You can edit the text in the "Original Post to Quote" box.

• Don't Double Post
If you need to reply to multiple users in a thread, do it within a single post. Denote who you're replying to by mentioning their name first. Don't make multiple consecutive posts. If another post appears while you are posting yours, use the edit button.

• You Can Curse Here.
Yes, you are allowed to say, fuck, shit, bitch, ass, damn, cock, balls, and even shit-fucking ass-balls cock here. It's really not a problem. We're fine with it. To that end, you should also avoid making a point out of someone else cursing. They're allowed to do that. Yes, even the mods. You don't like that they're cursing? Deal with it. Do not raise a fit in public.

These general rules are in regards to the forum itself. This is not limited to what the mods have added or will add in the future. This includes what is said in private message or what they post in the future.