Required Reading, Everyone Please Read...

[python]

First thing, everyone need to be reacquainted with the rules which can be found here:

Forum Rules

Also, everyone needs to read this post:

Forum Etiquette and Guidelines


Now on to the new stuff.

We had hoped that a post like this would not be necessary here on PipesMagazine, but unfortunately it is.

As we all know, the "In Thing" in society today is negativy, bashing, etc. And it seems that it has spilled over into our site. Well, that is not a good thing and it will not be allowed to continue. That is not the type of attitude and atmosphere that we strive for here at PM.com.

While we agree with unfavorable reviews, constructive criticism, the dislike of certain products, etc, and we do encourage people to post their honest experiences and reviews on things because everyone has different tastes and experiences; the dog piling, unnecessary bashing, bad attitudes, attacks, political views and rants, racial prejudices, fighting, etc are going to stop now!

This is not the place to spread your negativity. This is a place to come to get away from the negativity and stress of everyday life and to enjoy ourselves talking about something that brings us pleasure and that we are passionate about; Pipes and Pipe Tobacco.

Over the last year or so, we have lost long standing and new members, as well as site sponsors, due to the negativity, bashing, dog piling, etc. and we will not allow it to continue.

If you have the need to be negative all of the time, start crap, fight, etc, go to another site because we don't want, or need, it here. Now don't get me wrong, everyone is welcome here, as long as they follow the rules. But the negativity and bad attitudes need to be checked at the door.

And before anyone jumps up and says stuff like (and we've heard it all before),
" What about the First Amendment? "
" This is censorship! "
" This is communism! "

Let me explain something to you; This is a PRIVATELY OWNED site. The First Amendment doesn't apply here. We have the right to ban anyone at anytime for any, or no, reason. We also have the right to modify, lock, delete, etc any post or thread, and basically anything else that needs to be done in the best interest of PipesMagazine.com.

By participating here, you agree to follow the rules. This means previous rules, new rules, rule changes, and any future rules. Failure to do so will result in consequences from the moderation team.

We have also had problems with new members being bullied. This will stop now as well. If you are incapable of making a new member feel welcome here, then don't post anything.

We have a moderation team, we don't need members "moderating" posts and threads. If you think there is a problem or someone broke the rules, please hit the report button and the moderation team will handle it.

I hope that I have been perfectly clear here. Please leave all of the negativity and bad attitudes off of the site and enjoy yourselves. There's more than enough of it in the real world. Let's not have it here in our happy place.

 

[python]

After posting the above, I've been going through a few threads and having to clean up some stuff, I would like to add this:

For over a decade we have prided ourselves here at PipesMagazine for having a light hand in the moderating process of our forums. But we have noticed lately that there has been an obvious disregard to the rules to the extent that even when specifically asked to not do something, some do it.

So unfortunately until people get the point, the moderation of the forums may be getting a little more heavy handed.

 

[admin]

I want to reinforce everything that Bob said, and state that I fully back it up. If there's a thread that you feel is off the rails, please use the Report feature rather than sending a PM to one of the mods. The Report feature sends all five of us an email, so there's five times the chance it will be handled quicker.

 

[python]

Bump for those who have not read it.