Who are we?The director and treasurer for this site is
Ben. They are assisted with community management by
administrators and with server maintenance by
technicians.
The people who enforce the forum rules are the
moderators and it is them you should contact in the first instance with any queries or complaints. They are assisted, informally, by
emeritus staff.
What are the rules?Generally a thread will have a well-defined subject, and we ask that posts remain on-topic. Please use common sense and obey normal forum etiquette (e.g. no large signatures, obnoxious avatars, multiple posting, thread necromancy, spam, etc.) — a moderator will let you know if you fail to meet our exacting taste.
Try to be courteous. Posts must not be abusive, and in particular we have a zero-tolerance policy towards *ist, *phobic or otherwise offensive comments. "Winding up" other users ("trolling" or "flame-baiting") is also
verboten.
The
it was a joke defence — "Ah, but I was only
pretending to be an idiot!" — is viewed as dimly as you might expect.
Please
never embed or link to pornography (below-the-waist nudity or "hardcore" imagery) in
any thread. Excepting pornography, we allow NSFW content to be embedded in threads tagged "NSFW", and
linked to only in work-safe threads as long as the link is clearly labelled. Permission should be obtained from a Moderator before the creation of a NSFW-tagged thread.
Finally, (and it should go without saying,) we forbid the posting of any content illegal in the UK or France (where our server is).
Are there extra rules for "serious" threads?In a debate thread, tagged "Discussion", we require: that you read the thread and find out the main arguments presented before commenting; that facts are sourced with reliable evidence, and opinions backed up when faced with critique; and that other posters' opinions are not dismissed with "funny" animated .gifs, single-emoticon replies, or most of all any
ad hominem attacks.
Dropping a controversial viewpoint into a thread and then disappearing is known
affectionately as "shit-and-run posting" or "drive-by trolling" and is considered a serious breach of these rules.
How are the rules enforced?Small breaches of etiquette may be met with a friendly verbal reminder from a moderator, either in the thread or by PM. Minor infractions should be met with an official warning, which will add a note to your account telling us you've been making trouble.
For serious (or persistent!) breaking of the rules, or petulance in the face of lesser action, you may be banned from the thread you have fouled in, or the entire board if appropriate. The length of the ban is decided case-by-case by the moderators, but will generally be around one week for a first offence. If you evade a ban by creating an alt account then the alt will be deleted, your ban will be extended, and any posts you make will be deleted — so don't bother.
Permanent board-wide bans are usually reserved for those who
obviously deserve it, such as spam robots, people who post illegal content, or those who through
extraordinary service to awful posting bring the community as a whole into disrepute.
A short legal noticeLegal responsibility for GRcade lies with
Ben — all other "staff" are community volunteers. Content uploaded here is the property of GRcade, and we may do as we wish with it. We may withdraw a user's membership at any time and for any reason.
We do not share personally identifiable information with third-parties. We may change this agreement at any time. By posting here, you agree to these terms. Your statutory rights are not affected.