Anime, Manga, and Cosplay Rules, Guidelines, & FAQ

In order to see that things run smoothly here, and that conversation is worthwhile for everyone, we have a number of Rules in place. Generally speaking, you must simply treat other posters with respect, present yourself and your opinions intelligently, and and keep up with what is already going on and has gone on around the forum.

Rules

As mentioned before, Rules are not suggestions, but rather, as the name indicates, rules. Failure to follow these will result in locked threads, or, potentially, a ban.

1) All FAQ and RPA : Central FAQ Rules Apply Here

Which means no flaming, no site plugging, no spamming, no trolling, no posting of non-work-safe images, no revival of dead-threads, etc. Please see the Role-Play Adventures Forum Rules and the general Forum Help.

2) Bootlegs, Fansubs, & Scanlations Are Illegal

This forum is not a resource for locating bootlegs, fansubs, or scanlations. They are illegal, and any requests for them will be shut down immediately. Yes, people do watch them, and people do talk about shows they've seen or scanlations they've read, but actually discussing the files and obtaining in them is off limits. More on this subject further below.

3) No Solicitations

Do not create threads to promote your website, your online recruitment game, your webcomic, your convention, or anything else. Put anything you feel the need to promote in your signature, and please don't link to anything illegal. However, if you want to make a thread about something that you want people to check out and that's on topic in this forum, you can--as long as you phrase it in a way where you encourage people to reply and discuss, as comments, critiques, answers, suggestions, and generally promoting positive discussion here. If you just want to "pimp" however, YOU MUST GET PERMISSION FROM A MOD OR ADMIN.

4) Colored Text and Odd Fonts Are Bad

Most people find colored text (particularly whole posts in colored text) unpleasant to look at, and in some cases unreadable. Likewise, odd text fonts are not recommended. If you want your posts to readable by all forum goers, simply stick to the default text font, color, and size. People will often completely ignore your posts if you do otherwise.

5) Do Not Post Material That Isn't Worksafe

These forums should be viewable by people at work. To that end, any material posted here should be work safe. Work safeness is a complicated issue, but generally speaking, if it could fit in a PG-13 movie, it's probably work safe. Nudity is out of the question; however, heavily implied, or near nudity is as well. It's always best to err on the side of caution. If you absolutely must share non-work safe images or videos with members, link to them, and make sure that you note that the link in question is not work safe

6) Don't Flame

As stated in the RPA Rules and FAQ, do not flame other users. If your comments are unnecessarily negative, and do not further discussion, then refrain from making them. Making such comments does not yield worthwhile conversation; typically, it does just the opposite. One flame is often enough to send a whole discussion spiraling off topic.

7) Keep Your Sig Small

The limit for sigs is either 8 lines of text at default size and font, one 125 pixel high sig image and three lines of text at default size and font, or the rough equivalent if you have a sig image that is less than 125 pixels high. The maximum width for a sig image is 600 pixels. The maximum total size for sig images is 35KB. This will ensure that the forums load quickly for all users. Quiz pictures are, for most cases, too large for signatures.

Guidelines

As stated earlier, 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.

1) 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 hang around for awhile, read posts, and see first hand how things run here. As is often said, academic knowledge (i.e., these Rules & Guidelines) isn't worth nearly as much as practical, first hand knowledge.

2) 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. 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.

3) Tell Us What You Think

If you want to know what we think about this show or that manga, that's fine, and that's great, but tell us what you think. If you don't have anything to say about the show in question other than that you like it, then don't bother posting. This is a forum for discussion, and the best way to kick off discussion is with your own thoughts.

4) Have Thick Skin

Don't be offended if someone doesn't like your view on Eva, Love Hina, or any other show, for that matter. In fact, just don't be offended if someone disagrees with you. Don't allow yourself to be drawn into heated arguments by trolls or flamebaiters. Trolling is not tolerated; if you think someone is trolling, or their attitude otherwise has problems, don't make a scene out of it in a thread - PM a mod.

5) 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.

6) Jap is a Racial Slur

To reiterate something found in the FAQ: "Jap" is a racial slur. Please do not use it, even as an abbreviation for "Japan" or "Japanese."

7) 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 "I need help." 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.

8) 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.

9) Otaku Isn't a Compliment

"Otaku" means someone who is unhealthily obsessed with their chosen area of interest; an anime otaku is someone who spends all of their free waking hours watching anime, and considers doing that more important than such trivialities as maintaining a healthy diet or performing personal hygiene. While many fans outside Japan have come to use the term to mean "anime fan," calling yourself an otaku here on this forum will get you chuckled at, and calling someone else an otaku could be perceived as an insult.