PLEASE READ

Welcome to our community guidelines! Like most places, we also have certain rules and guidelines we enforce concerning our Guests or Members that use the community services.

This includes, but is not limited to; All Forums, Chat/Chat Server, and/or the Pager.

They ARE simple rules, so if you tell us you did not understand them, then do not be surprised by our response. ;)

A team member will warn you if you go too far. Either by email, or in chat, or a post in the forums. Please take this warning seriously. We do not like bothering with banning or revoking membership accounts. It is a waste of our time and we would rather you come back and participate over and over again.

These rules pretty much covers all features that may or may not have direct contact with the public.

1. DO NOT SPAM OR POST UNSOLICITED ADVERTISING

   No spam. No, we are not talking about the canned "meat" substitute. No advertising. DO NOT post spam in our forums or chat; or anywhere else that is considered spamming. It is enough that our members get it in their email and have to deal with pop up windows all over the internet. We repeat; we DO NOT want it here!
   
   PLEASE, understand the difference between advertising and referencing. If a user is talking about a topic or subject and refers a link to another site for more information, that is not spamming. I'm sure we all know the difference.
   
   As to refering we're talking about website that helps with the your discussion. So it's simple, especially if you just got here as a new user, do not post a link to a website you are running or a part of. Do not recommend sites with a simple, "Hey, check out this other site". This will set off warnings to the team that you are a spammer. Use the forum settings and enter the link to your website or just place a link in your signature as long as it doesn't look like some commerical. That is allowed.
   
   If you have something that pertains to the topics surrounding THEOOZE and need to get the word out, do not be afraid to contact us. That's one of the purpose of the site. We will help you circulate the information to our members some way or the other without annoying them. If you need help, just ask. :)

2. ABSOLUTELY NO PORN AND ADULT MATERIAL

   It shouldn't need to be said, but, No porn or adult material. Don't post nude pictures of Margaret Thatcher or anyone else for that matter. We all know that there is no shortage of porn on the internet.

3. NO ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

   Nothing illegal. Anything that is against the law is not cool here. This includes, but not limited to, copyright infringement, piracy, illegal substance, etc. You can talk about it, but do not use our site(s) as an avenue for your Pimp Daddy activities. As per the Terms of Service we WILL hand over the information to the proper authorities.

4. NO HARASSMENT OR THREATS

   Messaging others privately is a great way to get to know someone. But if a member or team member requests that you do not contact them then NO means NO.
   
   If you keep following someone around bugging them because you are mentally unstable or if you keep bothering someone by messaging them, leaving personal dirty secrets in public arenas, that is HARASSMENT. It is undesirable crap we do not care to see on our site. Take your personal vendetta's elsewhere. If you feel like slandering someone get on Ophrah or Jerry Springer.
   
   If you are being harassed, inform the person that you do not wish to be contacted by them. Then to be safe, file a FORMAL complaint with us by using the CONTACT US link. This allows us to have a record of the complaint and have leverage to handle any future complaints about said person.
   
   This ONLY applies when you are using our community or any tools we provide. Anything outside of the THEOOZE is none of our business. We do not want to hear about who's fault it is or any personal problems you are having with the person. That is your business and none of ours.
   
   We DO care if someone is harassing you on our web site(s) and we will investigate the problem which may lead us to just telling this person to lay off or banning/revoking the person's account.

5. FALSE REPRESENTATION

   DO NOT POSE AS A TEAM MEMBER. If you are not sure if someone is a team member that contacts you about something, tell that person to hold off and use the "CONTACT US" and ask if this person really is a team member and await for a reply before talking to that person again.
   
   DO NOT BE AFRAID TO DO THIS. OUR TEAM ARE TRAINED TO EXPECT THIS FROM YOU IF YOU ARE UNSURE.
   
   Also look at "OUR TEAM MEMBERS?" in these guidelines. If you find someone posing as a team member let us know! If we find you doing so, you'll be out of here!
   
   NOTE: TEAM MEMBERS from THEOOZE WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR YOUR PASSWORD OR YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER. UNLESS YOU ARE PURCHASING SOMETHING FROM OUR WEB SITE OR CALLING TO ORDER SOMETHING, WE DO NOT ASK YOU FOR THAT INFORMATION.

Yes! We do want your comments and suggestions. You can always post them in our "QUESTIONS & COMMENTS Discussions" forum in the Community section or use the "CONTACT US" link to send us any suggestions or comments you have about any of our features.

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE HEARD AND YOU WILL ALWAYS GET A REPLY ABOUT WHAT WE THINK.

The process is simple. First off, do not just "Tell a team member" in chat about a suggestion or comment. Do not email them. Our team are usually very busy and they cover more than one position most of the time. Using the "CONTACT US" link or the forum will ensure someone will get to it.

Do not be discouraged if it seems we are not listening to you because we ARE. If you do not get a reply on what we think about your idea, contact spencer@theooze.com :)

Please remember this also. We may not like the idea because of certain reasons and we will tell you why and sometimes we may like it but it will take a while to implement it. We are quite busy putting out really cool stuff for you. Try and be patient with us.

The job of the Team Members or Moderators in the forums is to manage and moderate the forum, not tell you how you should talk or post. You already know what the line is and they will remind you of that if you step over it.

A team member should never have a need to edit your post. If they do it was probably because of a broken link or because of something really bad yet does not warrant the whole message to be deleted. They may MOVE it to another forum if the topic is better suited for another forum.

They may delete it if it is simply inappropriate.

A thread may also be locked with a simple explanation as to why, this would be done if the discussion is going nowhere.

If a team member is NOT sure about a topic or a message within a topic they may move it to the message holding area while they get another staff member to look at it to make a decision.

REMEMBER team members have volunteered to give up their time to help out on THEOOZE, and for the record, they do a great job.

Not sure who the Team Members are look at our TEAM page

1. BE CIVIL

   THEOOZE attracts many different people with varied opinions. We ask you to keep your posts and replies civil towards each other. Express your views logically, not as flames against others. It is OK and encouraged to add humor, but do not disguise bullying with a smiley face. Flaming, name calling, trolling (comments intended only to provoke arguments), spamming, etc. are all violations under the rules. If you can't keep it civil then we rather have you go somewhere else.
   
   If you just can't stand the person IGNORE them. Go on to the next thread or replies. If you can't ignore them then email them or Private Message them on ICQ or something. Don't pollute the rest of the community.
   
   Team members manage the forums and make sure the discussions are running smoothly. They are not BABY SITTERS. If you get into a "Flame War", they will tell you to "Take it Outside". This means take it off of our forums. If you need to fight do it on your own time in email, private messages or whatever tools you use to communicate.
   
   We will not waste our time here. We'll give you a few warning and then that's it. No if, and's or but's. We really don't care who started it. If you are part of the "flaming" you are part of the problem.

2. STAY ON TOPIC

   Please stay on topic. If the forum is for World Building, please don't talk about your foot fungus. Staying on topic is important to keep the discussions going.
   
   If the topic is compromised, the messages in question will be deleted from the topic by the moderators judgement, not by the users. Plain and simple.

3. QUESTIONS & COMMENTS FORUM

   Have you got a question or comment? Ask them in the "Questions & Comments Discussions" forum. Do not plague other forums with questions about how to post or upload your avatar or any such questions. This will annoy other members. It's ok to ask questions. Just do it in the forum specified.
   
   If you don't plan to help out by answering questions in this forum then DO NOT REPLY. This is a safe zone. No matter how small the question is.

4. QUALITY OF POSTS

   Though our forums are used by different people from different places in the world and from various age ranges, we do expect a basic requirement of how to post on our message boards.
   
   Not only do we try and keep the forums civil but we also want to take into account the quality of what's being posted on our boards. We do not look kindly on those who degrade the quality of the forum. Do not post in all caps. That is considered shouting and rude behavior. Skip the l33t talk. Consider checking your spelling and punctuation. Try to act and post intelligently.