Welcome to the Hockey's Future Boston Bruins forum!
Before posting, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the Hockey's Future site rules:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/help/terms
We all agree to abide by the above rules as a condition of registration. If you are a long-time member of the boards you may not have read the rules in full since you joined, so please review them occasionally in case they've changed. They have been compiled as a result of years of experience in board management by many skilled moderators and administrators, with the goal of providing a functional and somewhat flexible framework for allowing discussion. Without these rules we would not have this forum.
Some HF team forums have supplementary Local Rules tailored to the specific needs or challenges of their boards. HF Bruins will be adding our own Local Rules starting with the 2015-2016 season.
The intent of these Local Rules is not to further clamp down in any way, but to reduce the amount of mod intervention by making sure we're all on the same page. The HF Bruins Local Rules are based on existing site rules and will serve as guidelines to improve discussions while hopefully minimizing the need for mod actions.
Also note that the Bruins Board is an English speaking board and therefore posts must be in English.
HF Bruins Local Rules
1) New Posters – All users are to treat new posters with respect and courtesy. We are seeking to grow our community, and attacking or dismissing sincere questions with rude or condescending language is not acceptable. Just because something seems simple to you doesn't mean someone with less experience deserves to be attacked or humiliated. We were all new to this once.
2) Flaming & Trolling – Newer posters learn from what they see older posters doing. Our experienced posters are called upon to set the right standard. Regardless of registration date or post count, ALL users are subject to the same rules and standards (the obvious exception being mod duties such as editing posts, issuing warnings in threads, keeping conversations on topic, etc). A bit of banter is to be expected due to familiarity and years of debate. Since we know the positions others have held we may sometimes bring them up as part of ongoing discussions. But posts cross the line from banter/debate to violations when the perceived intent violates site rules regarding Flaming or Trolling, as judged by the moderating staff. Remember, generalized insults and “dancing around the rules” are not permitted, so cloaking attacks with vague/inflammatory language or other methods will not be tolerated. Citing your right to an opinion, or claiming you are not in technical violation of a rule (lawyering), will not be considered valid defenses of posts that are determined by moderators to be "not adding to the discussion", unnecessarily repetitive, part of a disruptive "body of work", inflammatory/insulting in perceived intent, or any other characteristic that could be considered Flaming or Trolling. As a rule of thumb, before you hit “Submit Reply”, think about whether what you're saying is really necessary, and if it can be perceived as a rules violation...particularly late at night after a tough game, a few beverages, or a bad day.
3) Reporting (and not Responding) – If you believe someone is violating the rules USE THE REPORT BUTTON. Do NOT respond to get revenge or escalate in any way. Feeling insulted does not give you the right to retaliate, and your response may instead put YOU in violation of the rules. There is also no “code of honor” here that forbids reporting posts. All mods would prefer you report rather than respond, so long as you do not use the report button for "revenge reports" against posters you disagree with. When you report a post it appears on a special mod forum where it may be reviewed and discussed by local, global, and supervisory moderators if necessary. Usually it is handled promptly by an available local or global moderator. If no action is taken there is always a reason. At times there may be a delay in response simply because we are volunteers who submit our time as available. Date and time must be considered. Please be patient. Many mod actions are invisible to general users, so please do not assume you are being ignored.
4) “Mod Abuse” – This is the exact term used in the site rules but it is not limited to rare instances of personal “abuse”. It is mostly about allowing mods to do their jobs. That job is NOT to be a babysitter or police officer. We do not sit around waiting to infract people. It's actually the exact opposite. We would much rather watch hockey and talk about hockey, because WE ARE HOCKEY FANS JUST LIKE YOU. We have our own opinions and we may participate in discussions the same as any other HF member. We are simply tasked with enforcing the rules and keeping the boards orderly for all to enjoy. And because there are so many users with differing opinions on the site (along with some who just want to troll or flame), open discussion of mod actions in forums inevitably degrades and disrupts board functionality. So please do NOT discuss or complain about mod actions in the forums. Come to us first if you can't figure something out on your own. If you have a question about a mod action send a respectful PM to a mod. We will try to answer your question in kind and as soon as we are able. Remember that our private communications with you are to be considered confidential, per the Disclosure rule. And again, we are volunteers so please be patient if you do not get an immediate response. If we are wrong about something we will seek to correct it. If you still feel your issue was not resolved you can send an email to [email protected]
5) Profanity Filter – This is a 13 and up website so there are minors present, which means offensive or adult language/posts will be regulated. There is no need to partially block out clearly obscene language with random characters since there is a profanity filter in place. Just type out the word as it is commonly spelled and let the filter handle it. If the word isn't in our filter and you think it should be, send a report. Common abbreviations based on profane phrases may or may not be moderated depending on context and frequency of use. Some words may not be filtered because they are parts of other words, but that doesn't mean they're OK. Use discretion.
6) Streams/Proxies – (UPDATED 10/17/15) Per site admins: "Links to illegal streams may not be posted. The forums may not be used to solicit links to streams." Because of DMCA issues this policy covers all threads, including gameday threads. We do not permit any discussion of illegal streaming services or proxy use whatsoever.
7) Spam/OT/Politics – NO politics allowed, not even in the OT thread, per HF Rules. . In general, stay on the given thread topic as much as possible. Some thread creep will often occur and topics will wander a bit, but always try to bring it back to the main topic. This is a discussion forum, not a dumping ground. If you are posting the same basic thing over and over, or if you begin “running a thread” with multiple posts, it may be considered spam. Use the multi quote button to your advantage. Similarly, if your posts are diminishing the ability of others to discuss the topics in any way, either due to content or frequency, your posts may be considered spam. Try to bring something interesting and thoughtful to the table. Gameday threads are the exception, since exclamations and simple posts like "nice shot" will be common.
8) FTFY – Per the site rules the typical “ftfy” (fixed that for you) practice of editing someone else's post to make your own statement is forbidden. Such posts will be deleted and possibly infracted. With a huge database of posts, such editing carries the possibility of someone being misquoted, flamed, or incorrectly infracted. That's why it's against the rules.
9) Starting Threads – All users who aren't restricted in some way can start threads. We just ask that the topic be unique and/or newsworthy enough to warrant its own thread. Check the existing threads and use the search function to see if your topic fits somewhere already. We have several ongoing threads that are likely to cover most of the basics (roster, lines, contracts, league news, player discussions, injuries, fantasy, etc). Please post there if your topic or question fits those categories, as this keeps our discussions linear and helps prevent confusion and cross-posting. We typically start GDTs the morning of a game. Anyone can start one, and there is no set rule about how elaborate it can or can't be (within the rules). Just include the teams, time, date and so forth in the title and keep it tasteful. Pregame talk on non-gamedays usually takes place in other threads.
10) Neutral Boards vs Home Boards (and Visiting Fans) – This forum is primarily for Bruins fans. Things said here may not fly on other team boards or even neutral boards. Similarly, some topics or comments that might be OK on neutral boards may be unwanted on a team board. If a visiting fan truly does “come in peace” and follows the site and local rules then there is likely no problem. But be advised that this is Bruins fan “home ice” and rival fans stopping by making questionable posts probably won't get the benefit of the doubt (meaning high possibility of infractions, threadbans, forum bans, etc). On our team board we may make comments about how we don't like rival cities or buildings or teams, but we MAY NOT make insulting, general comments about the fans as people. What we post is searchable on the web and isn't limited to our board. Keep that in mind before posting.
As far as Boston teams in other sports are concerned this forum is also home turf for the Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots. While we understand that many Bruins fans are not fans of the other local teams the same guidelines apply. Attacking Patriots, RedSox, Celtics fans will be considered the same as attacking Bruins fans.
11) Libel/Claims of Insider Information – As stated above, we are searchable on the web. If you post rumors about player conduct someone could search the web and find your post, which would then add to the rumor mill and possibly put HF in a liability situation. Since HF is a business this is taken very seriously. If you have insider information then contact a site admin about being vetted.
12) Ads – Yeah, we know. We don't control the ads. That's several tiers above us. But they do keep the site up and running. You can always use the various support options to let the site admins know your opinions on the ads, so do not complain about them or discuss them in the forum itself. It's clutter/spam/OT and, again, we know.
We hope these Local Rules add clarification to some aspects of the existing site rules, and broaden your understanding of how HF Bruins operates.
If you have any questions, send a PM to one of the site mods. The assigned mods are listed in the upper right hand corner of the forum page. If you have a support or technical question then please use the support link at the bottom.
bruinsfan1970 , Mr. Make-Believe , smithformeragent , TP , Fenway , Gee Wally, PlayMakers
--HF Bruins Mods
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