THE REALM RULES! (REVISED 5/31/08) PLEASE READ!!

To all members of the Christian Metal Realm…

I have had to do some serious thinking about the direction the CMR is headed. For the most part, I am still very happy with the community we have built, and am proud to be the "owner", whatever that means. However, there are some things going on that don’t make me happy, and some things that need to be addressed.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people here are unable to police their own actions, emotions, and responses. It seems that no amount of reasoning, warning, or consequence seems to limit the problems. Sure, the Staff here could ban all of these people, but that just creates a backlash of, "Well, if my friend can’t post here, I won’t either…and I’ll tell my three other friends to go to this other board where you can say or do what you want!" Quite frankly, I’m tired of that as well. If such a board exists, and I have no doubt that it does, then go if you choose. Celebrate your right to carry on profane discussions and to incite arguments however you choose. It is not going to happen on the Christian Metal Realm any longer. The Staff is tired of having to watch over a select few people 24 hours a day, deleting, editing, or moving threads and posts, when all it would take is some personal responsibility on the part of the members. And trust me, several moderators and administrators openly admit their frustration with specific individuals as well, and feel they do not even want to moderate certain parts of the board, or certain types of threads, for fear of being dragged into the discussion/debate/argument. Therefore, I am instituting the following policies, starting June 1, 2008.

The Study And Debating Room is going to be closed, completely. We tried to create an area where people could engage in positive, constructive debate, but this has obviously not worked, and it boarders on being a flame/war room, which I will not tolerate.
The Discussion Chamber will remain open, but ALL political threads will be immediately deleted. They will not be edited, they will not be moved, they will not be closed, they will be deleted.
The Prayer Request and Praise Reports room will remain open but it will NOT include Theological debate or discussion AT THIS TIME. That is something the Staff is looking into for the future.
Any member who turns a thread into a name-calling session, who degrades the opinions of others, or who deliberately antagonizes or flames another member, will be immediately subject to a temporary ban.
Any person who has had 2 "temporary bans/time-outs" AFTER June 1, 2008, will receive a mandatory 1-year ban from the CMR. Previous bans are excused at this point. Anyone who is currently on a "temporary ban/time-out" will serve the remainder of the ban, but it will not be considered a strike towards the 1-year ban.<li>Personal signatures that include profanity, degrading comments, directly antagonizing remarks, or inappropriate slogans, pictures, or links, will not be allowed. The poster will have the opportunity to edit this themselves or they may be subject to a "temporary ban/time-out".

PLEASE REVIEW THE REVISED "REALM RULES" AS POSTED BELOW

The REALM RULES

Rule 1
Use common sense.

Rule 2
No profanity. If you are uncertain what word may be seen as profanity,
then use some common sense and choose another word to get your point
across.

Rule 3
Use some common courtesy and be civil when interacting with others, even if you disagree with
them or are attacked by someone else first. If you are attacked outside of reason, let an Administrator or moderator (listed below) know and the matter will be taken care of.

Rule 4
Do not let arguments and heated discussions get out of hand. If the Admins
and MODs feel that something is getting ridiculously out of hand, we'll ask that the matter be taken elsewhere (i.e. by email, chat, etc.) and the thread will be closed. If YOU feel that you are being unfairly
treated, feel free to email or EZMail one of the administrators or moderators (listed below).

Rule 5
Do not bring personal arguments, whether from another board, email, instant messaging, or the "real" world into this board, please. No one else most likely knows what is going on, and we don't need mudslinging and
name calling.

Rule 6
Do not post links to material that is unfit for this particular board.

Rule 7
Do not post links to material you do not own. This is not limited to only MP3's, but also pictures from other web sites, hotlinking to emoticons or avatars, etc.

Rule 8
Banning will not be a ban by username anymore, when we ban someone it will be a ban on their IP address. We are tired of the games that some people are playing. If you are banned and feel it is a mistake then please feel free to contact and Admin or MOD and plead your case to us. A temporary banning is not 100% irreversible, but they are also not issued lightly or without significant consideration. A mandatory 1-year ban IS irreversible without 100% agreement of the full CMR staff.

Rule 9
Polls are fine, but there will be a limit of two polls started, per day, by ANY member. If excessive polls become an issue, they will be moved to the Catacombs section.

Rule 10
Any and ALL political discussion, debate, ranting, and raving will be IMMEDIATELY DELETED from the Christian Metal Realm. The administration/moderating staff will have FULL DISCRETION as to what is deemed to be of a political nature. This will be non-negotiable.

If you can't live with these rules, stay out of the discussion. Posting here is a PRIVILEGE...NOT A RIGHT!

Thanks and God bless!
The CMR Staff

arttieTHE1manparty--owner/administrator
Ultmetal--administrator
Kmorg--administrator
Rexorcist--administrator
alldatandensum--administrator
metalholic--moderator
OrionCrystalIce--moderator
Tall Tyrion--moderator