Welcome to the NZPWI forums. This forum has some basic rules in place in order to make things easier for forum users as a group. These forums are moderated by the NZPWI Forum Moderator, which is made up of NZPWI Staff. Please direct all issues to this account via a Private Message (PM).

* Dealing with personal issues
Try to settle any issues you have with another member personally. Before you ask the Moderator to intervene, send a PM to the person (if appropriate) to try to settle the issue first.

If this does not solve the issue or is not appropriate CONTACT THE MODERATOR IMMEDIATELY. Contrary to popular belief, NO ONE MEMBER is exempt from being banned for breaking the rules, impeding free discussion or unduly harassing members.

Our vision for the NZPWI Forum is to ensure it's a relaxed and enjoyable place to visit so rest assured, we will not tolerate ANY MEMBER who threatens that.

Please keep in mind, IF YOU DO NOT LAY A COMPLAINT WE CAN NOT DEAL WITH ANY GIVEN SITUATION. We welcome these complaints and can promise you they will be dealt to anonymously.

We can not strongly enough press home the fact that NO MEMBER is "friendly enough" with the moderating team to get away with offensive or "bullying" behaviour, but once again, we can not do anything about this unless we receive complaints - please feel free to do so.


* Spoiler free zone!
The NZPWI forum is a spoiler free zone. As NZ television coverage is a few days behind the US, we ask that you visit our Spoilers Forum if you wish to discuss current US storylines. If you wish to stay spoiler free, steer well clear of the Spoiler Forum. Posting spoilers in other forums may result in a ban.


* Text ettiquette
As with e-mail, forum members take offense to people who post in all caps, bold, large text, use "text-speak" or have (very) bad spelling. Please keep this in mind when posting.


* Try not to take a thread off-topic
If a thread gives you a lateral idea, it may be best to start up a new thread to discuss it rather than having the thread wander off topic. If a topic wanders too far off topic for too long, it will be locked. Most forum users don't want to spend their time going to a thread which discusses a topic completely different than it's title.


* No personal attacks
Flaming is fine when appropriate, and part of a forum experience. Personal attacks are not, and may result in a ban.


* No offensive material / racist slurs
Calling someone a racist term or a "fag" is unacceptable on this board. As a ground rule, posts that are deemed to be offensive may be deleted by an admin and could result in your account being closed.


* No offensive images
Images that the Mod team deem as offensive (grotesque / sexually explicit / otherwise objectionable) may be taken down without warning. We'll be sure to PM you an explanation of our actions if it comes to that, or you may be simply asked to tone down the image. Keep in mind that young people also visit these forums.


* Signature size
The maximum size of your signature graphic should be 180px in height x 500px in width; anything larger may be removed. If your total signature size is considered too large by mods (i.e. having several lines of text), you may be asked to make it smaller. Also, there should be no more than 2 images per signature. Sizing your signature text smaller than the default text size is a good idea. Animations in signature images can have large file sizes and cause the Forum to run slowly for users on a dial-up connection. These rules are put in place to enhance the experience for other users.


* No post-whoring
This is a grey area. Rule of thumb: is your post truly adding to the thread? Even short posts can be constructive ("Bwahahaha" to illustrate your amusement, for instance), but it's something moderators crack down on - the forum isn't here for users to solely increase their post count. This rule also applies to starting new threads un-necessarily. Check to make sure the topic you have in mind isn't being discussed elsewhere before creating a new thread, and refrain from starting meaningless threads.


* Do not store important information only on the forum
Any topics which has not received replies in over 28 days is automatically pruned from the forum. It is for this reason that we ask you don't "store" important information solely on the forum - it may be pruned and will be irretrievable.


* Use common sense with personal information
Just like other forms of interaction on the web, there are some nasty people out there. Be very careful with personal information such as your home address, phone number, bank account etc. and make sure your password is kept secret and not something that can be easily guessed.


* Private messaging
In an effort to keep our forum database as small as possible, Private Message "Sent Items" are cleaned out regularly. On occassion, we may clear out old messages in your Inbox, but will post details of this maintenance at least a week out from carrying it out. Please save any messages you want to keep in your Savebox, or, if it is important information, try to save the text on your own PC. Also note that Private messages are just that, PRIVATE. Please respect other member's right to privacy and do NOT post PMs in the public forum.


* Don't be a jackass
We hope this forum is a way for like minded fans to share opinions. But the forum isn't here if you just want to wreak havoc, offend people and argue in every single post. If you disrupt the forum, you may find your account closed for the greater good of the board.


* Advertising
We frown upon using your account for the sole purpose of advertising your product or own site. If you're an active member of the community and want to advertise, then in general this is fine. However, if you create an account for the sole purpose of redirecting users, your account may be terminated.


Repeated offending of any of the rules may result in a 3 day or permanent ban.


NOTE FOR NEWBIES

Before jumping in the deep end, have a look around the forum before posting to get an idea of the type of posts and behaviour that goes on and please post in our Introducing First forum first.

We also ask that our members try to make newbies feel welcome - please don't harass them just because they are new to the board.


Just these few simple things should make the experience better for all users involved. The mods will be following these rules when it comes to deleting posts or locking threads. If you have issues with the locking or deletion of posts, please PM the Moderator.

Kind Regards,
NZPWI Staff

Last update: August 27, 2008

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Twenty-thirteen, not two-thousand-and-thirteen.