In response to a request for a more clear statement on our policies with regards to maintaining order here at Heroscapers, I present this. It’s been through a couple revisions already, and will go through more.
Heroscapers.com Guidelines for Conduct
General Conduct
With the launch of our new site, we added a bunch of cool stuff. We also implemented fun technology that allows us to ban or moderate commenting from certain people. We Use these tools in conjunction with the registration system to allow us to preserve what we consider to be order by sealing out anybody we feel is causing a disruption in our community.
However, this is not a public street corner. While we are rabid free speech supporters, your natural right to self expression does not require us to publish your opinion and spend bandwith and resources doing so.
We will ban for any reason and for no reason. In order to ban people who are lame, we will inevitably end up banning people who have done nothing wrong. There’s no appeal process. Bans may be permanent, and they may be adjusted to better target specific people, or repealed entirely, even within the same day.
Seriously: Most of the time no reason will be given. No explanations will be given on who’s banned, why, or when. Most of the time it will be obvious but there will be times when it might not seem so obvious to somebody not in the know.
The “no reason” section done, here’s my guess at the kind of things that will get people banned.
Abusive behavior towards others. When you post in reply to people, pretend that you are arguing with an umpire.
“You blew that call, he was safe by a mile.” = Okay
“You blow.” = Ejected
Or, if we had a Heroscapers get-together, we were all eating pizza and drinking beer, having a good time, would yelling your comment get you punched, then or later?
As with anything relating to tone, this is obviously a subjective and lame standard. It will be applied inconsistently: you may see someone get away with something one day and the next week someone’s gone for the same thing. It’s going to happen.
Leaks/Unverifiable "News"
As we have an excellent relationship with Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast we consider unsubstantiated news and information regarding Heroscape (or any other Hasbro product) to be in very poor form and will likely lead to banning. Please refrain from posting such items unless you are able to reference an official publicity release or publicly available information and photos from trade shows and conventions.
Sightings of product availability in stores and on website for pre-order are, of course, fine. A list of units to be released in a future expansion before the information is made available publicly is not.
Possible reasons for deletion or banning or warning or all of the above
What else… posting illegal offensive or pornographic links or pictures, spamming links in threads, whether it’s your site or whatever (pointing to other sites is fine, and even pointing to related articles on your own site’s been tolerated sometimes, but “come eat at Joe’s” isn’t). No signature links to Warez, porn, hate sites, or other questionable content. Absolutely no affiliate links in signature. Disparaging remarks about this site and those that run it. Being mean to new members for such things as asking questions that seem redundant or making a couple of spelling/grammar errors. Speculation about another person’s motives for taking a particular position, particularly in a negative and derogatory sense. In a disagreement constantly attampting to get the last word in is a no no, and will only fan the flames.. Not acceptible. Posing as another member or using multiple accounts, this includes the chat room. Selling or profiting off of materials that are available on our website is a violation of copyright and not only gets you banned but may lead to further action.
Again, though, that’s a non-inclusive list and is intended for you to get a general sense of what kind of comments get sent to the great message board in the sky. There will be posts that seem to violate these guidelines that are up, and posts that are deleted that seem innocuous. If you can’t live with that, then this is not a place you’re going to be happy posting at.
With all that said, this not free: We do not intend to ban anyone from commenting because they disagree with anyone else, everyone else, or specifically the viewpoints of any (or all) of the authors. You’re not required to even like me, or anyone here, though you should because there are many great people here. All you’re required to do is be civil.
On and off-topic comments
Please, please, don’t just post it in the first thread you come across. This is rude and annoying. It may get deleted and/or make someone mad.
If you’re considering starting a comment with “I know this is off-topic, but–” please, just reconsider the importance of what you’re about to post.
There is a section on our site where off-topic random thoughts and all other items not related to Heroscape may be discussed. Use your best judgment when starting a thread there. Having an off topic section does not mean our site is to be used for you to post every trivial thing that comes to mind. Practice restraint and use the off topic section sparingly or you will dilute the value of our site as a place for Heroscape information. There is a certain amount of recklessness when posting about controversial subjects. If we get the sense that one of these threads was started as a way to infuriate and amuse we will delete the thread immediately or at the first sign of trouble.
Editing or deleting posts
Posts may be deleted but the poster not banned, and a poster might get banned while the comment that provoked it remains up.
Comments will not be altered by editors unless there’s no other way to fix something, and I don’t see how that would be possible.
In some cases, we may edit a post that contains one particularly egregious violation within a larger post that is good enough that we don’t to delete it entirely. This is a judgment call, and we’re going to be inconsistent about it.
Titles of topics may be changed to better reflect the contents. Especially if the original title is "some help here" or similar unclear titles.
On identification
Fake names are fine. Offensive names and assuming the names of public figures is not, and will get your posts and account deleted. If you’re famous and want to use your real name, email us, and we can work something out.
In particular, pretending you’re a current Hasbro game designer or employee will get you banned. As will posing as another member or using multiple accounts, this includes the chat room.
Having said all of that stuff about random acts of deletion/banning, I would bet that in almost all circumstances we can easily get things done by PM’ing a note that says: “please watch tone” or something, you’re much more likely to get off the hook if you take it well.
“Regulating tone and civility, especially on the internet, is doomed to failure”
We will not concede this point yet. If we ran a nice sports bar and threw the jerks out every night, I think it’d be a place people who don’t like to be around jerks and want to watch some baseball and have a beer with like-minded people might hang out at. That is what Heroscapers.com is all about. Of the hundreds of people I have met through this community 99% are kind folks with integrity. We simply will not let a few trouble makers ruin this place for the rest… It is our commitment.
“But I want a good fight with hair-pulling and name-calling!”
Then this is not your site. There are forums all over the place. They offer different crowds and debate flavors, and if this doesn’t sound like your pint of beer, I hope you find one that’s more to your tastes.
Who polices us?
The Administrators and Moderators of this website in hopes of maintaining a fair warning and banning system will be held accountable by the other Administrators and Moderators. This is balanced by the fact that they have been part of the HeroScape community for a good length of time and are from diverse backgrounds whether it be geographic, scholastic, economic, religious, political, etc. This should allow for a balanced reaction to any dispute.
Heroscapers.com Guidelines for Conduct
General Conduct
With the launch of our new site, we added a bunch of cool stuff. We also implemented fun technology that allows us to ban or moderate commenting from certain people. We Use these tools in conjunction with the registration system to allow us to preserve what we consider to be order by sealing out anybody we feel is causing a disruption in our community.
However, this is not a public street corner. While we are rabid free speech supporters, your natural right to self expression does not require us to publish your opinion and spend bandwith and resources doing so.
We will ban for any reason and for no reason. In order to ban people who are lame, we will inevitably end up banning people who have done nothing wrong. There’s no appeal process. Bans may be permanent, and they may be adjusted to better target specific people, or repealed entirely, even within the same day.
Seriously: Most of the time no reason will be given. No explanations will be given on who’s banned, why, or when. Most of the time it will be obvious but there will be times when it might not seem so obvious to somebody not in the know.
The “no reason” section done, here’s my guess at the kind of things that will get people banned.
Abusive behavior towards others. When you post in reply to people, pretend that you are arguing with an umpire.
“You blew that call, he was safe by a mile.” = Okay
“You blow.” = Ejected
Or, if we had a Heroscapers get-together, we were all eating pizza and drinking beer, having a good time, would yelling your comment get you punched, then or later?
As with anything relating to tone, this is obviously a subjective and lame standard. It will be applied inconsistently: you may see someone get away with something one day and the next week someone’s gone for the same thing. It’s going to happen.
Leaks/Unverifiable "News"
As we have an excellent relationship with Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast we consider unsubstantiated news and information regarding Heroscape (or any other Hasbro product) to be in very poor form and will likely lead to banning. Please refrain from posting such items unless you are able to reference an official publicity release or publicly available information and photos from trade shows and conventions.
Sightings of product availability in stores and on website for pre-order are, of course, fine. A list of units to be released in a future expansion before the information is made available publicly is not.
Possible reasons for deletion or banning or warning or all of the above
What else… posting illegal offensive or pornographic links or pictures, spamming links in threads, whether it’s your site or whatever (pointing to other sites is fine, and even pointing to related articles on your own site’s been tolerated sometimes, but “come eat at Joe’s” isn’t). No signature links to Warez, porn, hate sites, or other questionable content. Absolutely no affiliate links in signature. Disparaging remarks about this site and those that run it. Being mean to new members for such things as asking questions that seem redundant or making a couple of spelling/grammar errors. Speculation about another person’s motives for taking a particular position, particularly in a negative and derogatory sense. In a disagreement constantly attampting to get the last word in is a no no, and will only fan the flames.. Not acceptible. Posing as another member or using multiple accounts, this includes the chat room. Selling or profiting off of materials that are available on our website is a violation of copyright and not only gets you banned but may lead to further action.
Again, though, that’s a non-inclusive list and is intended for you to get a general sense of what kind of comments get sent to the great message board in the sky. There will be posts that seem to violate these guidelines that are up, and posts that are deleted that seem innocuous. If you can’t live with that, then this is not a place you’re going to be happy posting at.
With all that said, this not free: We do not intend to ban anyone from commenting because they disagree with anyone else, everyone else, or specifically the viewpoints of any (or all) of the authors. You’re not required to even like me, or anyone here, though you should because there are many great people here. All you’re required to do is be civil.
On and off-topic comments
Please, please, don’t just post it in the first thread you come across. This is rude and annoying. It may get deleted and/or make someone mad.
If you’re considering starting a comment with “I know this is off-topic, but–” please, just reconsider the importance of what you’re about to post.
There is a section on our site where off-topic random thoughts and all other items not related to Heroscape may be discussed. Use your best judgment when starting a thread there. Having an off topic section does not mean our site is to be used for you to post every trivial thing that comes to mind. Practice restraint and use the off topic section sparingly or you will dilute the value of our site as a place for Heroscape information. There is a certain amount of recklessness when posting about controversial subjects. If we get the sense that one of these threads was started as a way to infuriate and amuse we will delete the thread immediately or at the first sign of trouble.
Editing or deleting posts
Posts may be deleted but the poster not banned, and a poster might get banned while the comment that provoked it remains up.
Comments will not be altered by editors unless there’s no other way to fix something, and I don’t see how that would be possible.
In some cases, we may edit a post that contains one particularly egregious violation within a larger post that is good enough that we don’t to delete it entirely. This is a judgment call, and we’re going to be inconsistent about it.
Titles of topics may be changed to better reflect the contents. Especially if the original title is "some help here" or similar unclear titles.
On identification
Fake names are fine. Offensive names and assuming the names of public figures is not, and will get your posts and account deleted. If you’re famous and want to use your real name, email us, and we can work something out.
In particular, pretending you’re a current Hasbro game designer or employee will get you banned. As will posing as another member or using multiple accounts, this includes the chat room.
Having said all of that stuff about random acts of deletion/banning, I would bet that in almost all circumstances we can easily get things done by PM’ing a note that says: “please watch tone” or something, you’re much more likely to get off the hook if you take it well.
“Regulating tone and civility, especially on the internet, is doomed to failure”
We will not concede this point yet. If we ran a nice sports bar and threw the jerks out every night, I think it’d be a place people who don’t like to be around jerks and want to watch some baseball and have a beer with like-minded people might hang out at. That is what Heroscapers.com is all about. Of the hundreds of people I have met through this community 99% are kind folks with integrity. We simply will not let a few trouble makers ruin this place for the rest… It is our commitment.
“But I want a good fight with hair-pulling and name-calling!”
Then this is not your site. There are forums all over the place. They offer different crowds and debate flavors, and if this doesn’t sound like your pint of beer, I hope you find one that’s more to your tastes.
Who polices us?
The Administrators and Moderators of this website in hopes of maintaining a fair warning and banning system will be held accountable by the other Administrators and Moderators. This is balanced by the fact that they have been part of the HeroScape community for a good length of time and are from diverse backgrounds whether it be geographic, scholastic, economic, religious, political, etc. This should allow for a balanced reaction to any dispute.
(That wasn't out of line now, was it? JK 
