Rotoworld's Basketball Forum's Posting Guidelines

[Tarheels_2433 1,135]

To the Rotoworld Forums Community:

The Moderators and Administrators have received feedback regarding the management of the Basketball Main Forum 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 (CoC) for the set of policies regarding general Forum behavior. Members who agree to join RW Forums agree to abide by the CoC - by posting in the Basketball Main Forum, along with the CoC the following are the rules by which posting in this Forum will move forward.

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 Forum can be made better is welcome via PM (for policy or individual thread/posts) or through the Fantasy Feedback forum (if at a policy level).

POSTING RULES FAQ - BASKETBALL FORUM

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 Basketball Talk Forum - This is the area for discussing NBA news, and general FBB strategy. It is *not* the area for addressing specific questions for your own team/league/settings, that belongs to the Assistant Coach Forum. Creating or participating in "Player Outlook" Threads is always encouraged. With that said, please use the Search Function to make sure the intended player's thread is not already created.

Assistant Coach Forum- This forum is for all issues regarding your particular team. These include but are not limited to, "Do I make this trade?", "Is this a fair offer?", "What trade value does he have?", "Which player do I start?", "Which player do I pickup/drop?", "Which player should I keep?" and "Rate my team". Please note that asking to choose between 2 or more players (Player A vs. Player B is often viewed as an Assistant Coach post, since it usually reflects a choice that an owner is facing, but wishes to ask a wider audience - and it moves away from general discussion into specific player merits for draft/waiver/trade purposes. Also, any issue that is specific to your league settings and/or service (Yahoo, CBS, etc.) gets posted here, since it's specific to your league's settings. In short - if the discussion centers on roster-specific or league specific issues, then that discussion is not for the Main Board. Ultimately, any thread that is labeled as one thing but becomes focused on Assistant Coach discussion will get moved there - this is the most common move that occurs, FYI. Any post that centers on AC discussion in the Main Forum will be rendered invisible to keep the Main Forum threads on-topic and avoid hijacking of the topics being discussed.

League Finder Service - Need to find a league/owner? Go here.

Off-Topic Talk Forum- This is the forum for anything that relates does not fall in to the above categories (exempting religion and politics, while still being in-line with the CoC). Talking about officials (in general, not about a specific call), uniforms, broadcasters, 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 - all inquiries about individual posters or posts/threads should sent in private to the PM's to the Moderators if it relates to CoC/Threads/Posts/Members (to avoid hijacking the original thread), or to the Admins if it's related to a Rotoworld Product. ALL threads related to RW columns/products should be posted here for one simple reason - Admins from the Main Site will not necessarily see any posts/threads posted elsewhere - but they do check regularly to the Feedback Forum, for these exact reasons. So, to ensure that you have a concern/issue on a RW product/Main Page addressed, please post there.

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 specific Forums. The community 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 community as a whole.

MERGES

If a new topic relates to the *same discussion* as another existing one, the threads get merged. Moderators may choose to change the title/subtitle to include a relevant update when a merger occurs. While individual posters may wish to have a thread dedicated to their own specific needs, threads in the Main Forum, unlike those in Assistant Coach or RW Leagues, are primarily for the community at large, and must remain general in nature. Main Forum threads do not belong to an individual poster, but are posted for the community's benefit. Merges with threads on similar topics follow this principle.

MOVES

1. Assistant Coach-discussion threads get moved to the Assistant Coach Forum. Threads that are labeled as general discussion but which are AC in theme & discussion will be moved to the Assistant Coach Forum.

2. Off-Topic threads get moved to the Off-Topic Talk Forum (with discretion in the offseason).

3. 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 where the thread is moved. 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 or the thread may be eliminated altogether. 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 pay site content, public complaints about thread/post deletion (which belong in PM's), suspensions, 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 Assistant-Coach questions or League Finder requests 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* Assistant Coach questions are rendered invisible, but posts that also answer them (as it only promotes more thread hijacking). In short - if it's about your team / situation, it's not general to the community - so it's invisibled.

3. Linking to AC Coach Forum, League Finder and other member-specific threads will be invisibled/removed. Links to threads that are in the Main Forum, or third-party links, can be acceptable. As per the Code of Conduct (CoC), linking for personal gain is not allowed under any circumstances - please refer to the CoC for details.

SPAM/CoC VIOLATIONS

If you see a post that is suspicious for spam, or flagrant CoC violations that occur (trolling, flaming, etc.), please report these posts ASAP by pressing the Report Button for each post. Because Moderators aren't around 24/7, you're reporting of spam and/or CoC violations will help RW Forums maintain an environment that is civil, constructive, and welcoming....and 100 percent dedicated to fantasy sports discussion. Furthermore, it can help prevent unfortunate conflicts from escalating further.

VENT/CELEBRATION/INJURY THREADS

These threads are created to manage the flood of emotional content that doesn't necessarily add to ongoing discussion and analysis in the player threads. Posts from player threads that are better served in meeting the criteria of these threads may be moved there. Please use them often and accordingly.

OFF-SEASON - WHAT CHANGES?

Now, in the off-season, two major changes:

1. Off-Topic Basketball Talk is OK.

First, since discussion / volume goes way down, then more off-topic stuff that relates to basketball in general (the draft, for example), that stays in the Fantasy Basketball Talk Forum, as long as it relates to Basketball. During the season, given the high volume, off-topic basketball-themed threads will be moved to the Off-Topic Talk Forum.

2. General Player vs. Player discussion is OK.

Secondly, as all owners face general draft decisions, discussion and posts, not threads, on Player A vs. Player B, as long as it is general, and not setting/league/roster-specific, is fair game for the Main Forum. Please note that if the question is setting/roster/league-specific, it is still considered an Assistant Coach question and will be moved/invisbled accordingly. Once the regular season begins, and drafts are now complete for the great majority of posters, since these types of decisions now become team specific, and no longer general in nature, given the usual heavy volume of traffic, ALL Player A vs. Player B questions are considered Assistant Coach questions and threads will be moved or invisibled accordingly.

FINALLY...

Ultimately, the above is the guide by which Moderators 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 (not in a public display), personal attacks upon Moderators, as with all members of the Forums, are 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

TIPS FOR YOUR PROFILE:

Adding your team to your signature.

First go to my controls, then on the left hand column under the "Personal Profile" section you will see "edit signature." Click that, then fill out appropriately, and save. Make sure to keep it short. 20 lines is the maximum.

Adding your personal avatar.

First go to my controls, on the left hand column you will see "Personal Profile" which under that you will then see "Edit Avatar Settings" once you click on that you can either enter a URL image, upload one from your personal computer, or select one from the Rotoworld base gallery. Due to image abuse, members who have < 500 posts are not permitted to upload an avatar, as per 2008 rule changes. Members who had pre-existing avatars prior to the rule change are permitted to keep their original avatar.

Using the SEARCH function.

There is a search function at the bottom of every page you load on these forums. In comes in great use to prevent the boards from being cluttered with multiple threads that are the same and also creates less work for the mods! To make the search function work best, you can try 2 options:

1. Make sure to click the "search this forum only", which narrows the topics displayed

2. Click Advanced Search, then type your name/keyword, then select "Search title only" - that really narrows things down. It might leave out topics you are generally interested in, though.

To assist in the search for topics, as there are multiple threads, and the threads are the most relevant, where multiple threads exist, please use the current year. Also, you can search for information inside any thread if you are trying to locate specific information or posts from a specific poster.

Trying to keep up with a HUGE thread? Use the Orange Tick box!

Some of the threads here get pretty large, and users may have difficulty keeping up. One helpful tool - the orange-colored tick box next to the Topic title is the "Go To First Unread Post" link - that way, if you're catching up on the day's posts, you start off where you left off the last time.

***Update***

Probationary Members - for those of you who have just joined, welcome! While you are in a probationary status, please note two important differences from other members. First, you can't send PM's or receive PM's until you move up to regular member (10+ posts). Secondly, as of 2013, Probationary Members can reply to exisiting threads, but can't create new threads in the following Forums:

Main Football Forum (Fantasy Football Talk)

IDP Football Forum (IDP Forum)

Main Baseball Forum (Fantasy Baseball Talk)

MILB Baseball Forum (MILB Forum)

Main Basketball Forum (Fantasy Basketball Talk)

Please note that probationary members can still create threads in the other Forums, and can reply to existing threads in the above Forums. This will allow probationary members to get their feet wet in the Main Forums, and also help new members avoid posting Assistant Coach / Bench Coach threads in the wrong Forum.

As always, take a moment to read the RW Baseball Forum Posting Rules, RW Football Forum Posting Guidelines and RW Basketball Forum Posting Guidelines as this will cover all the areas of posting for RW members. Welcome aboard!

[Patrick Bateman 6,849]

By signing up and posting on these forums, all posters agree to abide by the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is also at the bottom right of your page. Thanks and enjoy your stay.

In order to maintain a friendly and constructive environment we have created a Code of Conduct that we ask posters to follow while on the Rotoworld.com Forums.

All Posters imply agreement with and adherence to this Code of Conduct by the act of interacting with the site.

General

By registration you agree to be bound by the following:

While the administrators and moderators of this forum will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every message. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author and not Rotoworld's.

The moderators on this forum are volunteers and therefore can not be expected to be online 24 hours a day. If you feel a post is offensive and/or violates this CoC, please report it to the moderators by using the report button or by sending a PM to the moderators. One of the moderators will then resolve the issue as soon as possible.

You agree not to post any material which is obscene, vulgar, slanderous, libelous, threatening, sexually-orientated, racially offensive, or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned. You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators of this forum have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit.

No commercially motivated messages, such as advertisements or links to commercial websites are allowed. It is okay to put links in your messages if these are informative and directly relevant to a discussion.

Unless you allow for visibility by other posters, the email address you provide is used only for confirming your registration details and password (and for sending new passwords should you forget your current one) as well as for administrative mailings.

Use of this board is a privilege and not a right.

Rotoworld reserves the right to change this Code of Conduct at any point in time.

User account and registration

In order to post registration is required. Please note the following:

Although users are allowed to pick their usernames, unsuitable usernames will be rejected by board administrators and immediately deleted. Impersonating other posters or other individuals will result in the termination of your account. If you have been previously banned and have returned under a different username you will be banned without warning.

Board Etiquette

Please employ the same high standards of politeness that are expected of all of us in "real life" interactions. Treat other posters as you would like to be treated.

Please be considerate and never belittle, unduly criticize, hurt or ridicule posters and/or members of the Rotoworld's staff.

Attacking an opinion is allowed, attacking a poster is not.

Please do not resort to excessive use of uppercase typing - this is the equivalent of SHOUTING!

Please confine all non-sports related posts to the "Off Topic Talk" section of the board. Off topic threads in sports related sections will be moved. Religious and/or political discussions are not allowed.

Do not flood the board with large sections of cut and pasted text. It is often sufficient to quote the website URL instead.

Please indicate clearly what point you are trying to make in your initial posting.

Limit yourself in posting pictures from other websites because this can use excessive bandwidth and could also violate copyrights. Any form of embedded streaming video is prohibited.

Board Policy on Suspensions

Occasionally we run into the unfortunate situation where we have to suspend members for poor conduct on the message board. A member who breaks the rules outlined above may have their account terminated with or without warning.

Spamming the board will not be tolerated and may lead to immediate revocation of posting privileges.

Pornographic postings are cause for immediate suspension.

Advertising

1) Advertising for personal gain (financial, increased traffic, etc.) is strictly prohibited. Members who have personal blogs that are relevant to the fantasy sport in question are permitted to post urls of blogs in their signatures. Please note signatures do not support live links. Posting live links of personal blogs in posts is not permitted.

2) Copying and pasting of your blog/article is permitted, please avoid live links of said articles in your post.

3) Citing a mainstream article or third-party source to inform the membership of a current event or in support of points made during discussion and/or debate is permitted. Citing your source is not only encouraged but essential. Using posts to promote personal blogs is not permitted.

League Finder Service Forum Use

Rotoworld Forums provides a League Finder Service Forum as a means to facilitate league formation between fantasy sports enthusiasts. As many of the leagues will involve monetary prizes, and it involves online members, disputes can and do occur in a small minority of situations. In order to ensure that the League Finder Service meets the needs of the community, the following policy on League Finder Service Forum use by RW Forum members is now in place:

1. Caveat Emptor: Rotoworld Forums does not police individual leagues formed through our League Finder forums. People who join leagues as a result of Rotoworld Forums League Finder Service Forums do so at their own risk. Rotoworld.com is not associated with and makes no guarantees regarding any of the leagues advertised through the League Finder forums. The resolution of any and all disputes that arise between members of a fantasy league is the responsibility of the members of the league and not Rotoworld.

2. If there is a clear and consistent history of league abuse by a Rotoworld member acting as Commissioner, these members may be restricted from using the Rotoworld Forums. League abuse includes, but is not limited to, failure of prize payout, unilateral expulsion of teams, or unilateral roster management (locking out/drops). We expect all leagues formed through the Rotoworld Forums League Finder will treat all members with the the high standards of personal conduct expected of all members of civility and respect to be maintained between members. Flagrant violations of this principle, if demonstrated to be consistent and repeated, will prevent members from enjoying the privilege of League Finder Service Forum access - as all aspects of membership are a privilege granted by Rotoworld Forums, not a right.

3. Members who wish to bring up a complaint of potential commissioner abuse by a fellow Rotoworld member may do so by reporting the original thread used to find members, or by PM to a Moderator - but only if the League Finder service was used here. Public complaints are NOT allowed - please use the Report feature on the original thread, or PM to a Moderator.

If a league dispute arises from a league in which there has been no use of the League Finder Service Forums, then no action can be taken, unless a prior history of league abuse is present.

4. In leagues where lack of payout, team/roster lockout or roster management does not occur, no action will be taken. In other words, if this is a personal dispute about values, or trades made, Rotoworld Forums will take no action - judgment calls in these areas do not fall within the scope of these rules.

5. Members are not permitted to use the League Finder Services Forums as a means of financial gain. This includes, but is not limited to, acting as a broker for league finder services, or advertising leagues without personal active participation for the leagues in question.

6. Members may appeal by PM the decision made by Rotoworld Forums to a Moderator - as they will be informed of any decision to suspend League Finder Forum access. However, final decisions on restricted access to League Finder Services will be made by the Rotoworld Forums. Failure to comply with restricted access rulings constitute further CoC violations and will be treated accordingly.

Copyright Issues

When posting on the message board, remember to give credit to the authorship and Copyright of any references or articles that are linked to and/or included in said post, and take note of any "Copyright," "All Rights Reserved" or similar Notices on Website Pages/Articles.

In addition, links to sites which provide unauthorized live or recorded video or audio streams of rights protected performances (including, but not limited to: MLB games, NFL games, NHL games, NBA games) are strictly prohibited.

Unless otherwise and previously arranged, for all content submitted to any part of Rotoworld's message board, the submitting entity automatically grants, or warrants that the owner of such Content has expressly granted Rotoworld the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate and distribute the Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such Content. You further warrant that all material and content you post at Rotoworld does not infringe or violate the copyrights, trademarks or any other intellectual property rights of any third party, and agree to indemnify and defend the Rotoworld from all claims, including attorneys fees, resulting from any breach of such warranty. The submitting entity also permits any visitors and/or posters of the Rotoworld.com's message boards to access, view, store or reproduce the Content for that visitor and/or posters personal use. Subject to this grant, the owner of Content placed on the Rotoworld.com message boards retain any and all rights which may exist in such Content.

What does this Copyright section mean in plain English?

We want to be sure all posters respect the copyrights of third parties. We are also safeguarding ourselves against people who want to sue Rotoworld when a poster copies/pastes copyright protected material on the Rotoworld.com web site or message board. We do this by requiring the poster to grant us the right to use the material, and guaranty to us that he has the right to grant such rights and is not using materials owned or copyrighted by someone else.

Rotoworld.com does not own anything a poster posts on one of the message boards, and therefore does not claim to own what a poster posts on one of the message boards.

[Tarheels_2433 1,135]

With basketball season now underway, and an ever growing Forum population, we'd like to remind the posters that the Main Forum is for posting on discussion for general purposes. This means team-specific issues, rosterbating, cool-story-bro moments - while they mean a lot to the poster posting - they don't fit the bill. There are threads for celebration, venting, cool-story-bro posts - and there is a separate Forum to post roster or team/league-specific issues - the Assistant Coach (AC) Forum.

As RW Forums posting volume has increased, so has the # of these types of posts. While it's understandable if it's happened unintentionally - it's also becoming clear the Main Forum is becoming overrun with AC posts, and the above types of posts which are hijacking player discussion. Again, if it's someone learning for the first time, or inadvertent, we get that - but too many veterans are contributing to the problem. We cannot stress this enough, this problem tends to grow exponentially because too many people see others doing it and think it's okay, but this only worsens the issue. Lead by example and use the appropriate threads!

The Main Forum is to help promote general fantasy discussion that's usable for the entire community. To keep this focus, for those who can't stop - harsher penalties, including temporary disabling of posting privileges (or longer in the case of repeat offenders following prior penalties) . Hopefully, this won't be necessary - but as all posters agree to abide by the CoC and Posting Rules when they join, notice that AC posting will need to be done in the AC Forum is clearly necessary.

Given that the rules are well-known to returning members, we trust this reminder will help returning members keep Main Forum discussion for the community at large and away from AC/team content, and help new members avoid future problems as well.

Thanks

The Moderating Team