To the Rotoworld Forums Community:
The Moderators and Administrators have received feedback regarding the management of the Forums and have, as a result, reviewed the policies to make sure they are in the best interest of the entire membership. Much of the feedback that has been received reflects existing Forum policy. However, this policy has not been publicly available. For this reason, Rotoworld Forums wishes to make the policies in place transparent for the entire membership. Below you will find the highlights of some of the policies in place, in an effort to ensure that the rules are both transparent and understood by all members. Please refer to the Code of Conduct for the set of policies regarding general Forum behaviour.
We realize that this site will not cater to every individual's exact wishes, but we believe that you will still find value from what the Forums have to offer. Rotoworld Forums has enjoyed its success due to the contributions of its membership as a whole, and making the policies transparent will ensure that this success continues in the future. As always, specific suggestions about how the Forums can be made better is welcome via PM or through the Fantasy Feedback forum.
POSTING RULES FAQ - BASEBALL FORUM 2008
With a new season, Rotoworld welcomes a population of new members and returning members. In an effort to promote a thriving, contributing community, feedback from membership has led creation of different Forums. Please refer to the description of each Forum before posting a thread/post, as it will help to get your posts the feedback/help you are seeking. To help, the Forums are divided as follows:
FORUM DESCRIPTION
Fantasy Baseball Talk Forum - This is the area for discussing MLB news, and FBB strategy. It is *not* the area for addressing specific questions for your own team, that belongs to Bench Coach.
Bench Coach Forum - This forum is for all questions regarding your particular team. Such questions include but not limited to, "Do I make this trade?", "Who do I start?", "Who do I pickup?", "Who should I keep?" and "Rate my team". Please note that asking to choose between 2 players ( Player A vs. Player B )is often viewed as a Bench Coach question, since it usually reflects a choice that an owner is facing, but wishes to ask a wider audience. Also, any question that is specific to your league service (Yahoo, CBS, etc.) gets posted here, since it's specific to your league's settings. Ultimately, any thread that is labelled as one thing but becomes focused on Bench Coach discussion will get moved there (this is the most common move that occurs, FYI).
Minor League Forum - This is the forum to discuss the future of MLB - players who are in the minors, and with *no clear timeline* of callup. Minors players who are officially listed as being called up, or with a *definite* imminent call-up date, can be discussed in the Main Forums as MLB news. Players who are in the minors on rehab assignment are *not* considered minors players (e.g. Francisco Liriano in 2008).
Matchmaker Forum - Need to find a league/owner? Go here.
2008 Rankings Forum- This is the forum where all ranking threads for 2008 go.
Off-Topic Talk Forum - This is the forum for anything that relates to baseball, but not in the above categories. Talking about umpires (in general, not about a specific call), uniforms, broadcastesr, etc. - things that do not affect FBB go here.
Feedback Forum - This is the forum if you have feedback for the Moderators/Administrators of Rotoworld about the website, the Forums, its products, or questions in general about Forum operations. Please note that this is *not* a Forum to complain about other members, or one particular thread - that should sent in private to the PM's to the Moderators if it relates to CoC/Threads/Posts/Members, or to the Admins if it's related to a Rotoworld Product.
New members may ask why there are so many Forums, and why the rules are so clearly set. The reason for the above is simply due to the *HUGE* volume of threads and discussion that takes place on the Rotoworld Forums. This division has occurred at the request of the membership, and frankly, is the one way to ensure that members get their specific needs met in the Forums. The membership has held to the belief that this division has led to the success that Rotoworld Forums has enjoyed. As such, Rotoworld expects each member to abide by the rules set above, to ensure the best experience for the membership as a whole.
OFFSEASON - WHAT CHANGES?
Now, in the offseason, one major change - since discussion / volume goes way down, then more off-topic stuff that relates to baseball in general (the Clemens saga, for example), that stays in the Fantasy Baseball Talk Forum, as long as it relates to baseball. During the season, given the high volume, these threads get moved to the Off-Topic Talk Forum.
OK, so those are the Forums and where everything should go. What happens when posts/threads don't quite go where they're supposed to? Or, what happens when members posts 3 threads on the same player? What if it's the same player, but a different topic? Well, here's a guide to what happens:
MERGES
1. If a topic relates to the *exact same discussion*, the threads get merged. Moderators may choose to change the title/subtitle to include a relevant update when a merger occurs.
2. If multiple threads are started on 1 player, but the topic for a certain player is different, each topic gets its own thread. This is not to say the title dictates the discussion - "Roy Oswalt for Cy Young" isn't really a different topic than "Roy Oswalt love/hate" thread. Examples that are different include:
-Gameday threads
-Tout threads
-Injury threads
-Trade likelihood threads
3. Old threads from before the season started are not used for merges, given that the situation from seasons gone by do not reflect current events.
4. If an old "superthread" (thread of incredible # posts) is being kept alive by the general population, it is kept alive, and is left alone. This is a key concept, because some threads become *huge* in volume by the users themselves.
MOVES
1. Bench Coach-discussion threads get moved to the Bench Coach Forum . Threads that are labelled as general discussion but which are Bench-Coach in theme & discussion will be moved to the Bench Coach Forum.
2. Ranking threads get moved to the 2008 Rankings Forum.
3. Off-Topic threads get moved to the Off-Topic Talk Forum (except in the offseason).
4. Feedback threads get moved to the Feedback Forum.
Please note that when a Moderator sees a relatively new user post a thread incorrectly, Moderators may choose to leave a link to the moved thread to show where it's gone, or in cases where the thread is moved to a less familar forum. However, in the majority of cases, when posters who have been around the Forums do the same, or in cases of high volume, such links may not be present. Ultimately, it is up to the poster to post in the proper forum, and each thread can be found by using the Search function, or by going to My Controls, and viewing threads started/posts started as well.
INVISIBILITY
1. Posts that do not conform to the Code of Conduct (CoC) will be edited, and/or rendered invisible. This includes personal attacks, trolling, spam, plagiarism, pasting of paysite content, public complaints about thread/post deletion (which belong in PM's), etc. In addition to thread/post invisibility, violations of the CoC are subject to official warnings, and in cases of repeat violations or the severity of the violation in question, bans from posting at the Rotoworld Forums may be issued. Please refer to the Code of Conduct to ensure that the CoC is being upheld at *all* times.
2. All posts that are related to Bench-Coach questions that are posted on Main Forum threads are rendered invisible, so as to keep the Main Forum threads on-topic and not hijacked. This has come about due to the large volume of complaints in past years about thread hijacking. This means that not only posts that *ask* Bench Coach questions are rendered invisible, but posts that also answer them (as it only promotes more thread hijacking).
One distinction about invisibility and deletion - making a post invisible does not actually delete your post/thread completely, it only renders it invisible to the viewership. In other words, it remains in the Rotoworld database.
FINALLY...
Ultimately, the above is the guide by which Mods will enforce the Code of Conduct (CoC) and rules of each Forum. Please keep in mind that Mods will exercise personal judgment in making these decisions, and do so in the best interests of Rotoworld and the Forums. If you have a disagreement with an individual decision, please PM them. The Moderators are in place to uphold Rotoworld's Code of Conduct (CoC) and Forum rules, and as with any set of rules, often have to make decisions with gray areas, so they welcome any feedback that is given in a constructive and civil manner. Also keep in mind that while the Mods will always listen to a well-reasoned argument, they will exercise their judgment in these decisions. Disagreement with a Moderator is permitted, personal attacks upon Moderators, as with all members of the Forums, is not.
We hope this helps all those who have questions about thread/post moves/mergers. Rotoworld has the best Forums around, and it is large part due to cooperation and participation of the membership to ensure a positive experience results for all. Thanks in advance for your continued participation, cooperation and feedback!
Sincerely,
The Rotoworld.com Forums Team