Official Forum Policies

[jimmcq]

First and foremost this is a family-friendly forum. So absolutely no explicit language, images, or links. In general we'd like this to remain a friendly environment to everyone, so please be courteous, and use good judgment in making posting decisions. Abusive or offensive material will not be tolerated.

Spam (useless and off-topic posting) is frowned upon. Please try to keep your contributions helpful. Bumping up old topics should be kept to a minimum, unless necessary. This also applies to "double posting." You should always try to edit your previous post before adding a new reply back-to-back with your own post.

Respect other's opinions. Your views are just as important as others. Please watch what you say and respect opinions emitted by others then yourself. Threads and posts that challenge the actions of any one moderator or administrator will be deleted on sight and you will receive an official warning. However, as a valued member you have the right to PM an Administrator or Moderator to dispute your post if you feel as though it is unnecessary.

Advertising, in the form of graphic content, spoken word, or written is strictly forbidden without administrator permission. If you would like to advertise on here with no-formal-rules-broken, please contact us for advertising opportunities.

Do not post information about cheats, hacks, exploits, or links to them. If you would like to report information regarding cheats or hacks, PM it to a forum staff member here. Do NOT post it to the forums.

Forum moderators have full discretion to address any behavior that they feel is inappropriate. Any violation of these policies will result in a warning and notation of your account. You will not get more than three warnings. After that you will receive a minimum 2-day suspension. If further violations occur your account may be banned completely.

No alternate accounts allowed. Should you be disciplined will a restriction or ban, you are not allowed to open a new account to circumvent said actions. Restrictions are given for a reason, and usurping that action by re-registering is simply not tolerated. If another or many more accounts are opened and we are aware, all will be removed and the first account will be more harshly punished.

Don't be simultaneously active using more than one account. Accounts are one per person, not one per "character" or "persona". If you absolutely must have different characters at once, find some other way to differentiate them.

You should observe the Internet Safety guidelines at all times.

If you are unhappy about any of these policies, or the actions of any of the staff here (including moderators and myself) then please let us know. All we ask is that try to stick to constructive criticism rather than outright bashing.

Thank you,
-jimmcq and the PinataIsland.info staff of Moderators

[jimmcq]

A few words about spam...

Before you post something just take a moment before you click the submit button and ask yourself if your post if relevant to the original topic of the thread.

Also ask yourself if it is something that should be sent in a Private Message instead. If you are making a comment or question that is directed to a single individual and probably isn't useful to all of the other members, then you should probably use a PM instead. Obviously there are places where something like that is OK, such as welcoming an individual in their Introduction thread, please try to keep it reasonable.

Remember, please try to keep all of your posts helpful to other members.

[jimmcq]

There have been some questions about warnings, infractions, account restrictions, and banning. Hopefully these will address some of your concerns.


How Severe Is A Warning/Infraction?
In the scale of tools the moderators have at their disposal, the Warning/Infraction system is the mildest tool. If you were to compare the system to driving, a warning/infraction is just like getting a warning for speeding. Temporary and permanent bans are a more severe tool more akin to losing your license.

Am I In Trouble When I Get An Infraction?
No. You're not in trouble and no one is even mad at you. We just wanted to let you know that you stepped over the line. Don't lose any sleep over it, but please be more careful in the future.

What’s the Difference Between a Warning and an Infraction?
Think of a yellow warning as a friendly reminder. It doesn't count against you in any way and it does not give you any points. However, it lets you know that kind of post isn't really needed here. Red infractions are slightly more serious because if you build up too many, you will be banned. However, getting an infraction is no need for alarm. It just lets you know that we do care about maintaining the friendly atmosphere on the site and we take the rules seriously.

What Are Infraction Points and How do I Make Them Go Away?
Infraction points work in a manner similar to the points on a driver's license. The number of points earned depends on the rule violated. Some infractions are only worth a point or two, others are worth more. When a user earns 5 points, their account has some restrictions placed on it. Users who earn 10 points are banned for 2 days (or until the infraction points expire). The good news is that most infractions simply go away after a period of time. We expect you to learn from your mistakes and move on.

How Do I Find Out How Many Infractions I Have?
Your infraction history can be found by looking at your profile. Only you and the forum staff can see your infraction history. It is not visible to the general public. Remember, expired infractions have 0 points.


Be aware that procedures and policies involving the warning/infraction system may change without notice. Use of the infraction system is at the discretion of the moderator staff. The moderator staff can still permanently ban users whose behavior warrants special consideration.