Guide to Good Posting

<disclaimer>This Guide is mostly the work of Mind_Slayer and myself. M_S made the original guide, which was then commented on, and from that guide and its comments I created this. A total list of contributors is at the bottom of the thread.</disclaimer>

Table of Contents:

Introduction

If you have examined threads on forums.rpgforums.net then you have undoubtedly discovered that some topics and comments are more well-received than others. Why is this? It has much to do with the content and presentation of the post. In the following few pages, I will attempt to outline good forum etiquette, as well as a few topics to avoid in your time there.

Note: this guide is specifically for forums.rpgforums.net, but the principles contained herein may be applied to any forum anywhere on the web.

Picking Names

A forum name (handle) is important. It gives other posters a way to refer to you, and sometimes tells people something about you. For example, the former moderator of the Diabloii.Net Necromancer forum uses the handle 'NecromancerLord' to indicate his interest in the Necromancer character class.

Names should be carefully chosen. Abusive or threatening names will not be tolerated. Using the handle 'Blacks_R_Bad', for instance, would have you immediately banned from the forums. 'daterape' is another example of an inappropriate handle. A good rule of thumb for handles is 'if it might offend you, it might offend someone else.'

Names that mimic other posters' names are also inappropriate. There is a user with the name Apocalypse_Demon. Making your name ApocaIypse_Demon is rude, shows a lack of respect, and will quickly see you on your way to a new name.

Along the same lines as a carefully chosen name, your Avatar (the picture that appears under some people's names) and .sig (signature text) should also be reasonable. These may both be edited from your User Control Panel. Avatars with profanity, explicit pictures, or other inappropriate content will have you visited by the moderators and asked to change it, or else simply removed from the forums.

IMPORTANT: If you want us to see your Avatar, it must be a link to an online picture. We can't see it if it's on your computer.

In the same way, your signature should only use appropriate language and content. Links to explicit sites will not be tolerated by the moderators. Signatures should also be relatively short, and not too repetitive. Two lines of smileys will annoy other posters, and a 48 line catalog of every character you've ever played will do the same.

Recently, content of a .sig file has been shortened to a maximum of 3 lines, which means no more than 2 [Enter] keystrokes. This helps, but it's still possible to have a very long .sig file by simply not pressing [Enter]. Please don't do this, it wastes loading time and bandwidth.

Writing Style

Nobody can ever say enough about proper grammar and spelling. Nobody here will ever expect perfect English from anyone else here, especially if English is not your first language. All we ask is that you take your time, and make sure you are properly communicating your ideas. If you won't spend the time to make sure your post is readable, why should we spend the time to decipher it and answer?

There are a few simple rules for good posting style, beyond good language skills:

1. DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS. It makes you seem like you're yelling, and makes the message harder on the eyes.
2. since peoples eyes will be reading your post try to use punctuation. Punctuation (. , " ') makes posts easier to read, since cars and car's mean two different things.
3. dOn'T aLtErNaTe BeTwEeN cApS aNd SmAlL lEtTeRs. If it's not easy on your eyes, it's not easy on ours.
4. ty 2 us th ful nd crorect speeling f l wrds. (That said 'try to use the full and correct spelling of all words). Once again, if you won't put in the effort to make it readable, why should we read it?
5. Don't make your entire post one long paragraph. It makes it hard to keep track of where you are. If this guide were one giant paragraph, would you read it? At 1024x768 screen resolution, about 2.5 lines in the message text box equals to 1 line while viewing the post. The easiest way to make sure your paragraphs aren't too long is to preview the post before submitting it. If it looks too long, it probably is, and you'll still be able to change it.
6. |)0ñ7 u53 1337-5p33|<. (That said 'don't use leet-speek'). It's hard on the eyes, and nobody will read it.
7. It never hurts to insert some color in your text. A little variation in text color on a long post makes what you say a little more eye-pleasing.
8. When posting a website's URL address, please be conscious of the length of the URL. For simple URLs like www.diabloii.net it's fine to leave them as they are, but longer ones will be catenated by the server and made hard to read. When making a URL, you're given the option of having different displayed text than the URL link. It's the difference between http://forums.rpgforums.net/forumdisp...umid=22" and this.

Post Content

Just as there are general guidelines for good posting style, there are also good suggestions for what content has a place in your post. Posts with reasonable content are more likely to elicit responses than posts that are completely off-topic. Here are a few simple guidelines:

1. Certain profanities are automatically filtered out by the site. What words these are should be relatively intuitive. If you type the word, it will be replaced by a number of ***s equal to the length of the word. Don't worry, we'll all be able to tell from context and number of *s what word you meant.
2. Don't get around the profanity filter. Firstly, it's poor style to do an end-run around the rules. Secondly, if anyone reports your post to the moderators, you might find yourself banned.
3. Keep your topic within the bounds of the forum you're in. Odds are people in the Barbarian Forum don't want to hear about Everquest, or how hot you think Britney Spears is. If you must post a thread that's off topic, begin your subject with "OT - " to let us all know. Don't be surprised if you're told you're too off topic, though.
4. Don't post flame-bait. Flame-bait is anything that inflames the rest of us to want to phsyically hurt you for what you're saying. Since that's improbable on a forum, other posters might reply with what's known as a flame, which is a post whose sole purpose is to insult another poster or their family. Examples of flame-bait are "I am so great" posts, "You suck for no reason" posts, anything supporting breaking the law or supporting prejudice. This is not the list of all flame-bait, just a few examples.
5. Don't flame. Flaming is the act of making a post for the sole purpose of insulting someone. A Flame is any comment that insults another user. Flames are banned by the forums, and so should not be posted. Basically, if someone posts flame-bait and you respond with a flame, you're no better than they are. There is a convenient button to alert the moderators of an inflamatory post, and the moderators might actually decide that poster doesn't deserve to post on the boards ever again.
6. Never advocate a hack or cheat. The general concensus of all forums is that hacks and cheats are bad. You cannot change our minds, so don't try to. Posting about hacks and cheats also goes against the posting rules at the top of every forum.
7. If you have an argument to make, support it. Saying "x is better than y" is flame-bait because you're not backing yourself up. Saying "x has aaa quality, and y has bbb quality, so I think x is better" is a much more intelligent way to say what you want to say, and might lead to an interesting debate.
8. If you have a complaint about what someone has said, or you've found a factual error, simply say it. Don't whine or complain, as that will have the same effect here as it does in real life.
9. At the bottom of this guide you will find a list of commonly asked and answered questions. If you ask any of these, you will likely find yourself being directed to this guide to read the answer.

Posting Style

When you read a thread, at the bottom right of each post you will notice two buttons: 'edit' and 'quote'. These exist to aid you, the user.

Editing Posts

If you make a mistake in your post, the Edit button lets you correct yourself, or remove the post entirely. Please use this button instead of making an entirely new post to correct yourself in. The Forum Moderator might close threads after a set number of responses, and using a post to correct yourself just gets us closer to that number.

Avoiding double-posts

Sometimes you'll hit the Submit Post button twice by accident, and your post will be made twice. This is known as a double-post. If this happens, it is courteous to use the Delete button to remove the second post.

Similarly, if you have several things to respond to, please don't use a separate post to reply to each one. It's much easier to read if you put all your responses in one post. If you see something you missed, you can always Edit your existing reply.

Don't "Bump" Threads

"Bumping" is the act of posting a reply for the sole purpose of moving the thread back to the top of the thread list. Please believe that we will look at all new threads, and not just the top few.

Quoting Someone

If you want to reply to someone and quote what they said for rebuttal or expansion purposes, the Quote button will insert their quote directly into your post. The button will insert the entire post however, so you will want to crop it down to the relevant part. It's easier to tell what you want to say, and it uses less bandwidth.

General Etiquette

Most people on this forum have a mental image of several other forum members. The more intelligent your posts, the better our image of you will be. If you post lots of flame-bait and lower our mental image of you, and then ask a perfectly innocent question, our mental image will influence how we answer you. Remember, you only get to make a first impression once.

If you have a comment or question directly related to a different section of the forums, then that's the part you should post it in. Posts of the nature "Rate my level 99 PK Sorceress" will not get any good responses in the General Strategy Forum, nor will PK (Player Killer) debates. If you want to know if your trade was good, or show off an item, go to the Trade Forums.

If you have an opinion to state, make a point of specifying it as your opinion. If you don't, we might think you're trying to pass it off as fact. The simple words "I think " at the beginning of your post will do fine.

When you want to mention somebody by name in your post, take the time to get their name right. It's insulting to see someone not take the few seconds to double-check something like that. The more you respect us, the more we'll respect you.

Stay on topic. If the thread is about Windforce vs. Eaglehorn, don't start talking about whether Windforce is more rare than Grandfather.

THOU SHALT NOT MAKE RACIST, SEXIST, OR OTHERWISE BIGOTTED COMMENTS. These will simply not be tolerated for any reason, and you can expect to be banned by the administrators. If you didn't know this, you should probably read the Forum Rules.

Lastly, try to be concise. We will react much better to a straight-forward question than one that beats around the bush. For example:

This is a good question. Quick and to the point.

Also a good post. Took a bit of time to get going, but that was to explain why it was being asked where it was. The question was honest, and straight-forward.

Is this a question or a comment? It's not very precise, and takes a lot of time and space to say very little.

Mind_Slayer compiled a Guide to Getting Banned that covers most things you shouldn't put in a post. It's not a bad idea to read it, and do the exact opposite of what he says.

Frequently Answered Questions/Frequently Dealt-With Subjects

q: Buriza?
a: Most people here feel its high damage and 100% pierce, combined with freeze, is over-powered and needs to be nerfed.

q: Any MF question?
a: Flux's Magic Find Guide

q: Maphack?
a: As stated above, the great majority of these forums feels maphack is bad, and you won't change our minds. Our opinion is mostly based on the unfair edge in speed and item-grabbing, and the fact it leads to slowdown on the Realms due to faster games meaning more games more quickly.

q: Other hacks?
a: If you're asking about how to do it, don't bother. It's against forum rules to post hacking methods. If you're asking about when the hack will be fixed, don't bother. We don't know. If you're asking what bug the hack exploits, don't bother. Answering is, again, against forum rules. If you want to know other things about the hack, you'll probably find answers on the front page of www.diabloii.net

q: Anything about Pindleskin?
a: He's a Super-Unique Zombie in Nihlathak's Temple. You get there through Anya's red portal, provided you have not done both of: Kill Nihlathak, collect Halls of Pain Waypoint. He's easy to kill, and in Hell he can drop any item in the game, and this is why everyone runs him for items.

q: Free rushing/items?
a: Giving either of these to you takes our time, and time is money. If we don't know you, we won't do it.

q: Check out this item I got!
a: We might find ourselves amused at these posts if they happened infrequently, but they actually occur rather often. We know you're pleased with what you found, but what effect will your finding it have on us?

q: Has anyone done _____?
a: The game's been around more than 2 years, so probably. A better question would be: Has anyone done ______, and what did you find?

q: What is x worth on y server?
a: Go to the Trade Forums and ask there.

q: What's coming in the next patch, and when will it be out?
a: We don't know. Look here for a list of rumored patch content, but be aware that nothing is guaranteed.

q: When is Blizzard going to fix ____?
a: We still don't know.

q: Why are the realms down?
a: Really, we don't know. diabloii.net, battle.net, or the Arreat Summit might have something to say about it though.

q: What's better, x or y?
a: Ultimately, it comes down to your own decision. We can tell you anything we want, but if you want an accurate decision you should just try them both out.

q: Can you tell me how to make a ______ character?
a: Diabloii.net has some Strategy Guides for just that purpose. If it's not there then say so in your original post, so we know you took the time to look.

q: Why do I get flamed?
a: Because you posted flame-bait, and someone jumped on it. True they shouldn't have flamed you, but you also probably shouldn't have posted whatever you posted. Please scroll up and read 4. and 5. of Post Content

q: 3 Gems + Magic Item in the Cube?
a: Look Here

Conclusion

I hope this will help you to be a productive and creative poster in these forums.

This guide was created with help and input from Mind_Slayer, DariusTriplet, DemBonez, superhal, hyperglide, SylentSpy, Eritar, and Paladabomb from the General Strategy Forum, Darkness who moderates the Single Player Forum, NecromancerLord who moderates the Necromancer Forum, and Elly who runs the diabloii.net pages and forums.