I think several people who regularly post in this forum need to be reminded of a few of the rules we have here.
Please read over these rules in particular:
Originally posted by Rules: General Behavior1. Don't flame or troll.
Treat other users with respect. Don't provoke others.
Originally posted by Rules: Forum Rules1. Do not spam.
Avoid creating unnecessary posts with little or no thought involved.
6. Don't backseat moderate.
Don't tell the staff what to do, and furthermore do not try to enforce your own rules on the site. You are welcome to politely point things out to other users, but you are not superior to them and should not act as such. If you have a concern or question, please send the appropriate staff member a private message.
The reason that I bring these up is that I have noticed a pattern among a small group of users who seem to almost "patrol" this forum for new users making hack threads.
Granted, sometimes new users will make mistakes when making new threads, like neglecting to add screenshots or stretching tables with huge screenshots or similar minor issues. There is
nothing wrong with informing a user about our policies.
However, if you are going to tell a user they need screenshots, or that they need to link to pictures instead of direct sourcing, please have some other relevant information in your post whenever it is possible to do so. If a user has posted content that can be commented on, please do so. Offer them a welcome to the site. Anything less could be considered "creating unnecessary posts with little or no thought involved" -- spamming. And definitely, if one person has already advised a user they are violating a guideline, it doesn't need to be said again.
Along those lines, new users are new here for a reason -- they are often learning about LM for the first time. They aren't necessarily going to do things well or "right." We encourage everyone to give these users
constructive critcism. That means instead of saying "GAH! FIX YOUR PALETTES THEY'RE BURNING MY EYES NOOB!" you say "I honestly think your palettes need some more work; you might want to choose colors that are less bright." See how one way is attacking the person and the other way is helping them? We want to help people. Doing anything less can be considered flaming or trolling, and people who make that a habit do not last long here.
Last but not least, please do not backseat moderate. That means don't tell the staff what to do and don't tell other users what to do like you are a member of staff. At best, you will only be creating unnecessary posts (spamming) and making yourself seem like a bossy jerk; at worst, you will give out wrong information. Not to pick on anyone, but this is a good example -- I recently saw someone tell a user that he should test his own hack instead of asking other people to do so. Meanwhile, we have
an entire thread for people who want others to test their hacks. This is why you shouldn't tell people what to do -- you might not be giving them correct information.
tl;dr
1. Don't make pointless redundant spammy posts.
2. Don't be an asshole toward other users.
3. Don't backseat moderate.
