Welcome to the new Guidelines:
We feel this is everything that we as Staff and the vast majority of the Members have asked for, e.g. shorter guidelines, more moderator discretion, and plainer language. The Guidelines have been simplified and streamlined from six pages to three pages.
Feel free to make comments, questions, and suggestions. Most of the answers that are given will be used to create a "Staff Lounge guide to the GL" for use by all Staff. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and should help avoid some of the problems that have arisen in the past concerning lack of consistency with Staff changeovers as well as detailing internal processes that do not need to be in the Guidelines themselves. Please keep in mind that every post is different and there is no way that our judgment and discretion will produce absolutely uniform results.
As far as the moderating goes.... Well.. We are changing the way things are moderated by taking a step diagonally.... We will try using PM's and cool-its in thread (both personalized and more general) as unofficial warnings to give people a better idea of where the line is drawn, and then warning if they keep up the behavior. Also, the plan is to allow more discourse and that means more generalizations (to an extent), i.e. we plan to try and not sweat the small stuff too much and concentrate on the big stuff. Expect more proactive moderation with this approach with more cool-its before things get out of hand, and please listen when we ask you to back off. If something is clearly warnable, it will be warned as normal.
If a poster has to ask, "am I too close to the line", then they probably are over the line of normal discourse, but might not be up to the level of a warnable offense. This does not mean that a poster can ride that fine line continuously without consequences.
Our job as Moderators and Admins should be to encourage Members to think before they post and have the Members moderate themselves with little interference from Staff, with the Mods stepping in for official warnings only when necessary.
Theoretically, if the members listen to the Mods' advice to back off, then we should be handing out very few if any warnings.
These new Guidelines are an attempt to shorten, simplify, and introduce greater flexibility into the old Guidelines while maintaining much of the precedents that the staff set under the old rules. They should be taken as an evolution of the older set rather than a reset, and in order to be successful, will need the cooperation of everyone who posts on this board regardless of your place or planet of origin.
Final Notes:
Please be aware that the Guidelines are not set in stone. Each case is different, and may be subject to conditions not readily apparent to all posters. When warnings are issued, consideration is given not just to the specific offense, but also the member's prior actions and infractions. New rules may be added as circumstances dictate.
There will be no separate discussion period for this Guideline Ratification; it is a straight Yay/Nay vote. Both the Staff and Rov approve these guidelines on our end. The current bloated version of the Guidelines is partially the result of an 'amend as we go' ratification process. That is why we are asking for a straight up/down vote on this document. Certainly if its major principles seem wrong-headed to you, you should not vote for them. On the other hand, mere matters of phrasing or rhetoric should not make you vote against them. If you still have problems with them after a couple months in operation they can be altered via the polling process.
The voting period will be open for seven days. Members belonging to any group with full posting and PM privileges (e.g. Islander 2.0 but not Islanders) are eligible to vote. If you have questions, please ask them before you vote. If this Ratification fails, the Staff will go back and look at your suggestions and see what can be done to implement or correct them before presenting the GL for another Vote. If the GL pass, I personally would ask that you give time to allow them to start working for you before proposing changes in AQG.
Thanks,
Corwin
QUOTE
Guidelines 6-25-2006
Ex Isle Mission:
Ex Isle exists to provide a place for science fiction and fantasy fans to engage in civil discussion in their areas of interest, including science fiction and fantasy in all media. Other topics include science, current events, creativity, general socializing and fun.
Part I:
A) Expected Member Behavior
1. All members will treat each other with respect and decency. Healthy disagreement is welcome, as long as criticisms are focused on the ideas being expressed rather than on the people expressing them. Responding to other posters with insulting or deliberately disruptive comments violates this spirit. Do not attack other posters because they differ from you. Hatefulness is not allowed.
2. Do not bring disputes from real life or other boards to Ex Isle.
3. No public calling for the sanctioning of a member. If you have a dispute, take it to a Moderator or Admin.
4. Threats: Any post, PM, or other entry, which can be read as a threat against a member's or other's life or welfare is forbidden. We will consider all such threats to be real and actual, not satire or hyperbole, and act accordingly. Threats to the security of Ex Isle will be treated in the same manner.
5. Criticism of public figures is allowed and an important component of discussions. Posters should make this criticism as constructive as possible so it can foster further discussion but threats of violence against public figures whether directed at that public figure or via proxy will not be tolerated.
B) General Posting Rules
1. No Promoting illegal activity in any form (based on US and Texas state law).
2. Commercial advertising unrelated to the board is not allowed. The Staff will edit such posts without waiting for the member to do so. Please PM a Mod or Admin if you have a question about advertising.
3. No Obscene / Explicit content: Sexually graphic images and posts are strictly forbidden. Obscene imagery and content in the forums should be reported to the Staff via PM ASAP.
4. Vulgarity: Certain words are not allowed here at Ex Isle- if you must use them they must be masked. Here is the link to the current list. Staff has the right to edit, without first requesting an edit from the member; they will simply replace vowels with asterisks. Note that exclusion of certain vulgar terms/words does not mean that members are free to use them.
5. Proper Attribution: When quoting outside sources (e.g. news articles, web sites, Wiki entries etc.) members must provide links back to the original material. Due to copyright laws, entire articles must not be quoted -- even if the original article is unavailable online, in an inconvenient format (e.g. PDF) or behind a mandatory registration page. In addition hot linking images or stealing bandwidth from other sites is strictly forbidden. The staff has the right to edit and insert the required link without waiting for the member to do so.
6. Thread Hijacking/Spam: While natural thread drift is allowed, forcefully appropriating a thread for a discussion totally unrelated to the original purpose of said thread may be considered spam depending on the guidelines for that forum and the specific situation. Posting multiple replies to long disused threads for the purpose of "bumping" the threads can be considered spam and is not allowed.
7. Baiting: These are posts that are made with the aim of angering/provoking a heated response from a single person, or several, indirectly. The staff will attempt to head off these types of posts with friendly cool its and reminders to be civil whenever possible. Please contact a Mod or Admin if you think you are being baited and please do not respond in kind.
8. Spoilers: Members must use "Spoiler" labels in topics and/or spoiler spaces in posts if you are starting a thread that will contain specific plot related details for any book, film or episode of a show. If a member is posting in a thread that does not already contain a spoiler label and they wish to discuss spoilers, they must use spoiler space and/or the spoiler bb code in the post.
9. Members may edit posts up to 48 hours after the original post is made. After that, a request must be made to a Moderator or an Admin via PM.
10. Always check the posted forum guidelines for further clarification on how these guidelines are applied in a forum and for additional forum specific guidelines.
Part II: Warnings and Suspensions
Some infractions are enough to warrant immediate suspensions. These include, but are not limited to:
1. Posting pornography or other obscene materials, stories or situations.
2. Posting anything libelous about or threatening specific harm to another poster.
3. Posting anything that violates Ex Isle's terms of service agreement.
4. Posting anything promoting illegal activities, or linking to sites which promote such activities: this includes but is not limited to cracking ("hacking"), phreaking, warez, and pyramid schemes.
5. Posting content advertising commercial services unrelated to board matters.
6. Engaging in or promoting any activities which attempt to attack or compromise Ex Isle's security and/or gain unauthorized access to secured sections.
7. Spamming by posting the same content repeatedly to multiple threads in a manner that disrupts communication. Multiple threads and/or posts questioning staff decisions, particularly in more than one forum, can also be treated as spam.
8. Posting something obviously hateful, such as addressing another poster by use of a racial, religious or ethnic slur or impugning their sexual orientation.
9. Repeated refusal to cooperate with the moderators on matters of possible illegal content, inflammatory remarks, or other board guidelines.
10. Duals and proxies: The use of dual identities or proxies for registration/primary use without admin approval is forbidden on Ex Isle. Using, registering, or attempting to register duals will be grounds for suspension of all user names.
Warnings:
The staff will issue warnings based on both the letter and spirit of the Guidelines. We strive to be as lenient as possible and as strict as necessary, so please cooperate with the Staff when requested to do so. When possible, the Staff will issue Unofficial Warnings publicly in threads or by PM to specific members. Failure to abide by these requests can lead to Formal Warnings. Warnings are applied board wide.
3 Warnings = 1 week suspension
5 Warnings = 2 week suspension (this means that after a suspension, a 2nd warning will earn another suspension.)
7 Warnings = 1 month suspension
9 Warnings = 3 months suspension
Warnings will be issued in the specific forum in which they are earned and a notification PM’d to that member. Members will always be informed of suspensions in the AQG forum and the suspended member will be emailed. Warnings may be appealed to the staff in AQG or using the PM system. The only person who can start the appeal is the member who was warned. Members who are suspended may make an appeal to [email protected] .
The Staff retains the right to further extend the suspension length after the 3 month period. When dealing with members who have no suspensions on their record, the staff will look back over the past six months to determine the member's number of previous warnings. For members who have incurred any suspensions in the past year a period of one year will be used to determine the number of warnings the member has when considering suspensions. In cases where an immediate suspension is warranted, the Staff may impose an indefinite suspension to allow the Staff time to discuss the issue before assigning punishment. The AQG thread will be updated after the decision is made.
Perma Bans: When a poster's behavior is consistently disruptive to the board and the poster has failed to contribute substantively to civil discussion, the administrators have the option of enacting a permanent ban. The staff can also choose to enact this option after a member has accrued three suspensions and has made no effort to modify the behaviors that garnered the suspensions. Any new member who appears simply to spam, harass, or post pornography may be permanently banned without intermediate suspensions. A member sanctioned by the permanent ban shall have the right to make one appeal of the ban to the administrators. The appeal can be made no less than 30 days after the ban, and must be sent by email only to [email protected] by the person who was banned.
Part III: Moderator and Administrator Guidelines
Moderators have wide discretion over their assigned forums, but shall moderate within the scope of the Guidelines.
1. Intent is difficult to prove over the Internet, so the Staff will work under their best assumptions.
2. The Staff will strive to be fair and impartial in every situation.
3. The Staff will normally not edit posts without the poster's consent (except for matters such as adding spoiler space or editing of words on the profanity list) unless they must because pornography or other such malice is present, or made to keep quoted articles within the fair use guideline.
4. The Staff will not lock or delete threads, except in the case of duplicate threads, threads that violate the Board Guidelines or Forum Policy, or other special circumstances, which will be explained in AQG if they arise. Threads may be moved to a more appropriate forum without warning.
5. Announcements regarding Suspensions and Board Changes will be made to the Announcements, Questions, and Gripes Forum (AQG) within 24 hours of the indicated action.
6. The Staff has the option of warning for violations up to 1 week after a post is made. Any post involving a violation of the TOS will be exempt from this timeline. Any discussions about possible violations/warnings should be made and announced within this timeline.
Part IV: Member Protection and Watchdogs
Two Watchdogs with access to the Staff Lounge will monitor the Staff for improper behavior. Watchdogs serve a six month term, with some flexibility according to circumstances. Watchdog selections will be announced in AQG by the outgoing Watchdog who will accept nominations from members via PM or email, with a copy to a designated Admin. Nominations will last normally 2 weeks. New Watchdogs will be selected from the Nomination list by the Admins after consultation with the Moderators and Watchdogs.
1. Moderators and Admins are, first and foremost, members of the board, and, as such, are subject to and protected by the above standards.
2. Privacy: Certain aspects of Staff decisions are not discussed with members due to concerns over privacy and security. Staff will not give out email addresses, IP addresses, passwords, or other personal details about members to other members. This is for your protection as much as it is for ours. Because of this, some cases may be resolved with no visible effect.
3. Mods and Admins are accountable for their words and will be held to them, more so than the average poster, because of the responsibility their position entails.
4. Failure by the Staff to abide by Board and Moderator Guidelines can constitute grounds for removal from their position, at the discretion of the Admins after consultation with the watchdogs. Admins can only be removed via a silver bullet, or possibly a stake in the heart (necessary for Corwin), and followed by hanging and then decapitation.
Part V: Guideline Change Process:
1. Part I of the guidelines will be put before the members once a year for a review and ratification by the membership. If the ratification fails, the Staff will modify the document based on member proposals until that section of the document is ratified by the membership in a new vote. All voting on Guidelines will be open for a period of 7 days.
2. The other sections of the guidelines and board features will be reviewed periodically by the Staff and during the general review process. The membership may propose changes to the Staff at anytime including holding informal votes on these sections of the guidelines and board features. Implementation of these proposed changes will only be done by the Staff. The Staff retains the right to refuse any change that could hinder the smooth operation of the board or conflicts with Ex Isle’s Terms of Service agreement.
3. Members can request a Poll to change parts of Part I: Expected Member Behavior and General Posting Rules at any time. These Polls must have a clearly agreed upon wording and number of requests required to institute a Poll will be 10% of the members that have been active in the past month. (This number will be provided on request and must be published in the Poll thread) The Poll will be left open for a minimum of 96 hours. Again, the Staff may refuse the start of any Poll with justification if the proposed change has the potential to hinder the smooth operation of the board or conflicts with Ex Isle’s Terms of Service agreement.
4. All active members with over 50 posts (Islander 2.0) are eligible to vote and make Poll or change requests.
Please be aware that the preceding guidelines/rules are not set in stone. Each case is different, and may be subject to conditions not readily apparent to all posters. When warnings are issued, consideration is given not just to the specific offense, but also the member’s prior actions and infractions. New rules may be added as circumstances dictate.
We feel this is everything that we as Staff and the vast majority of the Members have asked for, e.g. shorter guidelines, more moderator discretion, and plainer language. The Guidelines have been simplified and streamlined from six pages to three pages.
Feel free to make comments, questions, and suggestions. Most of the answers that are given will be used to create a "Staff Lounge guide to the GL" for use by all Staff. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and should help avoid some of the problems that have arisen in the past concerning lack of consistency with Staff changeovers as well as detailing internal processes that do not need to be in the Guidelines themselves. Please keep in mind that every post is different and there is no way that our judgment and discretion will produce absolutely uniform results.
As far as the moderating goes.... Well.. We are changing the way things are moderated by taking a step diagonally.... We will try using PM's and cool-its in thread (both personalized and more general) as unofficial warnings to give people a better idea of where the line is drawn, and then warning if they keep up the behavior. Also, the plan is to allow more discourse and that means more generalizations (to an extent), i.e. we plan to try and not sweat the small stuff too much and concentrate on the big stuff. Expect more proactive moderation with this approach with more cool-its before things get out of hand, and please listen when we ask you to back off. If something is clearly warnable, it will be warned as normal.
If a poster has to ask, "am I too close to the line", then they probably are over the line of normal discourse, but might not be up to the level of a warnable offense. This does not mean that a poster can ride that fine line continuously without consequences.
Our job as Moderators and Admins should be to encourage Members to think before they post and have the Members moderate themselves with little interference from Staff, with the Mods stepping in for official warnings only when necessary.
Theoretically, if the members listen to the Mods' advice to back off, then we should be handing out very few if any warnings.
These new Guidelines are an attempt to shorten, simplify, and introduce greater flexibility into the old Guidelines while maintaining much of the precedents that the staff set under the old rules. They should be taken as an evolution of the older set rather than a reset, and in order to be successful, will need the cooperation of everyone who posts on this board regardless of your place or planet of origin.
Final Notes:
Please be aware that the Guidelines are not set in stone. Each case is different, and may be subject to conditions not readily apparent to all posters. When warnings are issued, consideration is given not just to the specific offense, but also the member's prior actions and infractions. New rules may be added as circumstances dictate.
There will be no separate discussion period for this Guideline Ratification; it is a straight Yay/Nay vote. Both the Staff and Rov approve these guidelines on our end. The current bloated version of the Guidelines is partially the result of an 'amend as we go' ratification process. That is why we are asking for a straight up/down vote on this document. Certainly if its major principles seem wrong-headed to you, you should not vote for them. On the other hand, mere matters of phrasing or rhetoric should not make you vote against them. If you still have problems with them after a couple months in operation they can be altered via the polling process.
The voting period will be open for seven days. Members belonging to any group with full posting and PM privileges (e.g. Islander 2.0 but not Islanders) are eligible to vote. If you have questions, please ask them before you vote. If this Ratification fails, the Staff will go back and look at your suggestions and see what can be done to implement or correct them before presenting the GL for another Vote. If the GL pass, I personally would ask that you give time to allow them to start working for you before proposing changes in AQG.
Thanks,
Corwin
QUOTE
Guidelines 6-25-2006
Ex Isle Mission:
Ex Isle exists to provide a place for science fiction and fantasy fans to engage in civil discussion in their areas of interest, including science fiction and fantasy in all media. Other topics include science, current events, creativity, general socializing and fun.
Part I:
A) Expected Member Behavior
1. All members will treat each other with respect and decency. Healthy disagreement is welcome, as long as criticisms are focused on the ideas being expressed rather than on the people expressing them. Responding to other posters with insulting or deliberately disruptive comments violates this spirit. Do not attack other posters because they differ from you. Hatefulness is not allowed.
2. Do not bring disputes from real life or other boards to Ex Isle.
3. No public calling for the sanctioning of a member. If you have a dispute, take it to a Moderator or Admin.
4. Threats: Any post, PM, or other entry, which can be read as a threat against a member's or other's life or welfare is forbidden. We will consider all such threats to be real and actual, not satire or hyperbole, and act accordingly. Threats to the security of Ex Isle will be treated in the same manner.
5. Criticism of public figures is allowed and an important component of discussions. Posters should make this criticism as constructive as possible so it can foster further discussion but threats of violence against public figures whether directed at that public figure or via proxy will not be tolerated.
B) General Posting Rules
1. No Promoting illegal activity in any form (based on US and Texas state law).
2. Commercial advertising unrelated to the board is not allowed. The Staff will edit such posts without waiting for the member to do so. Please PM a Mod or Admin if you have a question about advertising.
3. No Obscene / Explicit content: Sexually graphic images and posts are strictly forbidden. Obscene imagery and content in the forums should be reported to the Staff via PM ASAP.
4. Vulgarity: Certain words are not allowed here at Ex Isle- if you must use them they must be masked. Here is the link to the current list. Staff has the right to edit, without first requesting an edit from the member; they will simply replace vowels with asterisks. Note that exclusion of certain vulgar terms/words does not mean that members are free to use them.
5. Proper Attribution: When quoting outside sources (e.g. news articles, web sites, Wiki entries etc.) members must provide links back to the original material. Due to copyright laws, entire articles must not be quoted -- even if the original article is unavailable online, in an inconvenient format (e.g. PDF) or behind a mandatory registration page. In addition hot linking images or stealing bandwidth from other sites is strictly forbidden. The staff has the right to edit and insert the required link without waiting for the member to do so.
6. Thread Hijacking/Spam: While natural thread drift is allowed, forcefully appropriating a thread for a discussion totally unrelated to the original purpose of said thread may be considered spam depending on the guidelines for that forum and the specific situation. Posting multiple replies to long disused threads for the purpose of "bumping" the threads can be considered spam and is not allowed.
7. Baiting: These are posts that are made with the aim of angering/provoking a heated response from a single person, or several, indirectly. The staff will attempt to head off these types of posts with friendly cool its and reminders to be civil whenever possible. Please contact a Mod or Admin if you think you are being baited and please do not respond in kind.
8. Spoilers: Members must use "Spoiler" labels in topics and/or spoiler spaces in posts if you are starting a thread that will contain specific plot related details for any book, film or episode of a show. If a member is posting in a thread that does not already contain a spoiler label and they wish to discuss spoilers, they must use spoiler space and/or the spoiler bb code in the post.
9. Members may edit posts up to 48 hours after the original post is made. After that, a request must be made to a Moderator or an Admin via PM.
10. Always check the posted forum guidelines for further clarification on how these guidelines are applied in a forum and for additional forum specific guidelines.
Part II: Warnings and Suspensions
Some infractions are enough to warrant immediate suspensions. These include, but are not limited to:
1. Posting pornography or other obscene materials, stories or situations.
2. Posting anything libelous about or threatening specific harm to another poster.
3. Posting anything that violates Ex Isle's terms of service agreement.
4. Posting anything promoting illegal activities, or linking to sites which promote such activities: this includes but is not limited to cracking ("hacking"), phreaking, warez, and pyramid schemes.
5. Posting content advertising commercial services unrelated to board matters.
6. Engaging in or promoting any activities which attempt to attack or compromise Ex Isle's security and/or gain unauthorized access to secured sections.
7. Spamming by posting the same content repeatedly to multiple threads in a manner that disrupts communication. Multiple threads and/or posts questioning staff decisions, particularly in more than one forum, can also be treated as spam.
8. Posting something obviously hateful, such as addressing another poster by use of a racial, religious or ethnic slur or impugning their sexual orientation.
9. Repeated refusal to cooperate with the moderators on matters of possible illegal content, inflammatory remarks, or other board guidelines.
10. Duals and proxies: The use of dual identities or proxies for registration/primary use without admin approval is forbidden on Ex Isle. Using, registering, or attempting to register duals will be grounds for suspension of all user names.
Warnings:
The staff will issue warnings based on both the letter and spirit of the Guidelines. We strive to be as lenient as possible and as strict as necessary, so please cooperate with the Staff when requested to do so. When possible, the Staff will issue Unofficial Warnings publicly in threads or by PM to specific members. Failure to abide by these requests can lead to Formal Warnings. Warnings are applied board wide.
3 Warnings = 1 week suspension
5 Warnings = 2 week suspension (this means that after a suspension, a 2nd warning will earn another suspension.)
7 Warnings = 1 month suspension
9 Warnings = 3 months suspension
Warnings will be issued in the specific forum in which they are earned and a notification PM’d to that member. Members will always be informed of suspensions in the AQG forum and the suspended member will be emailed. Warnings may be appealed to the staff in AQG or using the PM system. The only person who can start the appeal is the member who was warned. Members who are suspended may make an appeal to [email protected] .
The Staff retains the right to further extend the suspension length after the 3 month period. When dealing with members who have no suspensions on their record, the staff will look back over the past six months to determine the member's number of previous warnings. For members who have incurred any suspensions in the past year a period of one year will be used to determine the number of warnings the member has when considering suspensions. In cases where an immediate suspension is warranted, the Staff may impose an indefinite suspension to allow the Staff time to discuss the issue before assigning punishment. The AQG thread will be updated after the decision is made.
Perma Bans: When a poster's behavior is consistently disruptive to the board and the poster has failed to contribute substantively to civil discussion, the administrators have the option of enacting a permanent ban. The staff can also choose to enact this option after a member has accrued three suspensions and has made no effort to modify the behaviors that garnered the suspensions. Any new member who appears simply to spam, harass, or post pornography may be permanently banned without intermediate suspensions. A member sanctioned by the permanent ban shall have the right to make one appeal of the ban to the administrators. The appeal can be made no less than 30 days after the ban, and must be sent by email only to [email protected] by the person who was banned.
Part III: Moderator and Administrator Guidelines
Moderators have wide discretion over their assigned forums, but shall moderate within the scope of the Guidelines.
1. Intent is difficult to prove over the Internet, so the Staff will work under their best assumptions.
2. The Staff will strive to be fair and impartial in every situation.
3. The Staff will normally not edit posts without the poster's consent (except for matters such as adding spoiler space or editing of words on the profanity list) unless they must because pornography or other such malice is present, or made to keep quoted articles within the fair use guideline.
4. The Staff will not lock or delete threads, except in the case of duplicate threads, threads that violate the Board Guidelines or Forum Policy, or other special circumstances, which will be explained in AQG if they arise. Threads may be moved to a more appropriate forum without warning.
5. Announcements regarding Suspensions and Board Changes will be made to the Announcements, Questions, and Gripes Forum (AQG) within 24 hours of the indicated action.
6. The Staff has the option of warning for violations up to 1 week after a post is made. Any post involving a violation of the TOS will be exempt from this timeline. Any discussions about possible violations/warnings should be made and announced within this timeline.
Part IV: Member Protection and Watchdogs
Two Watchdogs with access to the Staff Lounge will monitor the Staff for improper behavior. Watchdogs serve a six month term, with some flexibility according to circumstances. Watchdog selections will be announced in AQG by the outgoing Watchdog who will accept nominations from members via PM or email, with a copy to a designated Admin. Nominations will last normally 2 weeks. New Watchdogs will be selected from the Nomination list by the Admins after consultation with the Moderators and Watchdogs.
1. Moderators and Admins are, first and foremost, members of the board, and, as such, are subject to and protected by the above standards.
2. Privacy: Certain aspects of Staff decisions are not discussed with members due to concerns over privacy and security. Staff will not give out email addresses, IP addresses, passwords, or other personal details about members to other members. This is for your protection as much as it is for ours. Because of this, some cases may be resolved with no visible effect.
3. Mods and Admins are accountable for their words and will be held to them, more so than the average poster, because of the responsibility their position entails.
4. Failure by the Staff to abide by Board and Moderator Guidelines can constitute grounds for removal from their position, at the discretion of the Admins after consultation with the watchdogs. Admins can only be removed via a silver bullet, or possibly a stake in the heart (necessary for Corwin), and followed by hanging and then decapitation.
Part V: Guideline Change Process:
1. Part I of the guidelines will be put before the members once a year for a review and ratification by the membership. If the ratification fails, the Staff will modify the document based on member proposals until that section of the document is ratified by the membership in a new vote. All voting on Guidelines will be open for a period of 7 days.
2. The other sections of the guidelines and board features will be reviewed periodically by the Staff and during the general review process. The membership may propose changes to the Staff at anytime including holding informal votes on these sections of the guidelines and board features. Implementation of these proposed changes will only be done by the Staff. The Staff retains the right to refuse any change that could hinder the smooth operation of the board or conflicts with Ex Isle’s Terms of Service agreement.
3. Members can request a Poll to change parts of Part I: Expected Member Behavior and General Posting Rules at any time. These Polls must have a clearly agreed upon wording and number of requests required to institute a Poll will be 10% of the members that have been active in the past month. (This number will be provided on request and must be published in the Poll thread) The Poll will be left open for a minimum of 96 hours. Again, the Staff may refuse the start of any Poll with justification if the proposed change has the potential to hinder the smooth operation of the board or conflicts with Ex Isle’s Terms of Service agreement.
4. All active members with over 50 posts (Islander 2.0) are eligible to vote and make Poll or change requests.
Please be aware that the preceding guidelines/rules are not set in stone. Each case is different, and may be subject to conditions not readily apparent to all posters. When warnings are issued, consideration is given not just to the specific offense, but also the member’s prior actions and infractions. New rules may be added as circumstances dictate.
