THE FORUM RULES

Clarification on what "importing or exporting a war" means:

Simplest version: No threads about events on another forum.

If Alice is a poster here, and Ben posts here in order to continue a fight or harassment that was going on on another site, Ben is importing a war. Ben will be banned. It doesn't matter whether Ben came here specifically to harass Alice, or if he was already a poster here. He is bringing a fight from another website here.

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If Greg uses his posts here to go on about how horribly Harry is behaving on some other site, Greg is importing a war and will be banned. If Harry posts here to continue the fight, Greg and Harry are both importing a war, Greg by using us as a base for his attacks, and Harry for continuing the fight here. Both Greg and Harry will be banned. One poster has been warned that he would be banned for this when he tried to stir up interest in launching a raid on ED and 4chan(!) from here.

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If Sue posts here about something that happened on another site, and Tom, Una, and Vincent go to that site and start trouble because of it, in a way that causes it to bounce back here, Tom, Una And Vincent are exporting a war and will be banned. If the mods find evidence that Sue intentionally posted what she did to in order to instigate the others to react the way they did, she'll be banned too.

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If Joann posts on another site, about something that happened on TV Tropes, in such a way that implicitly or explicitly invites people to attack or harass our site or any user on it, Joann is exporting drama. If we are able to positively determine that Joann has an account on TV Tropes, that account will be banned. If any TV Tropes users abet Joann's action, they may also be banned.

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What it boils down to, very simply, is

• Tropers are not your private army.
• Don't use our forums for a battleground,
• Don't encourage or instigate others to use our forums as a battleground,
• Don't use our forums as a launching pad for a fight, and
• Don't use other sites to launch attacks on this one.

edited 3rd Dec '15 11:57:55 AM by Fighteer

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Subforum Specific Guidelines

Several of the various subforums here have their own specific guidelines. Failure to follow the guidelines means you run the risk of being assumed to be trolling, or at least of not being taken seriously.

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Trope Repair Shop

• A more in-depth version of these guidelines may be found here.
• An intuitive redirect may be preferable to an outright rename. See Creating New Redirects.
• Do not rename a trope if:
  • It ain't broke. If the title has good inbound links, is being accurately used around the wiki to refer to the trope, or is a term already in use in the world, it ain't broke.
  • You have only a personal problem with the title. Change should benefit the community as a whole.
  • There is no consensus to change it. Never rename a trope unilaterally. Establish a consensus in TRS first.
• A rename may be needed if:
  • The title is incoherent.
  • The title requires knowledge of a specific series in order to be understood.
  • The title is named after a specific character.
  • The title is the same as that of an existing work of fiction. In this instance, unless the trope title is a pre-existing term, it will almost certainly be changed.

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Image Pickin'

• A more in-depth version of these guidelines may be found here. An older discussion can be found here.
• Page images must be illustrative. They should not require any any additional context in order to be understood.
• Image Pickin' is not a popularity contest. The goal is to select the most suitable image.
  • If multiple, equally illustrative images are found, post a crowner to select the image to be used, remembering to include all the suggested images as options.
  • The illustrative images which are not chosen should be added to the relevant Image Links Wiki page. If several good, illustrative images were proposed, and there is no Image Links page, make it and add them to it.
  • An illustrative image can still be nominated for replacement by a better image.
• A bad image is never desirable. If no suitable image can be found, it is better to have no image at all.
• Images must be safe for work. If your grandmother would be scandalised by the sight of an image, it probably isn't suitable.
• Ideally, no two page images should be identical.

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Tech Wishlist

• Don't bother asking for a quote button. It's not happening.

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On-Topic Conversations

• No derails, on pain of post-thumping.
• Repeated attempts to derail a thread or threads will result in a warning, and possibly a ban.
• When a new thread is created, the mods are notified of it. Posting in the new thread isn't allowed until a mod has approved of the thread.
• There are some topics that have proven, over time and repeatedly, to be nothing but trouble. Threads made on these topics will not only not be opened for discussion, people who repeatedly try to start threads on these topics may be OTC blocked (meaning they will not be able to post in the OTC subforum at all.) At this time, these topics include:
  • Abortion
  • Israel and Palestine.
  • Theism vs. atheism.
  • Justifications for piracy.
  • Paedophilia
  • Rape.
  • Topics about how humanity sucks, how life sucks, and/or about how we need to all kill ourselves or stop having children.
  • Topics made simply to collect expressions of outrage over something that cannot be reasonably regarded as anything but outrageous.
  • Arguments about which side has it worse, and which side is doing more oppression, in a given debate - men vs women, religion vs atheism, etc - are not a productive discussion, and in the absence of several independent and unbiased academic studies we probably won't have an answer that everyone would accept. If you want to participate in the Oppression Olympics you can do so on some other site.
  • Another tactic we don't want to see is Appeal to Worse Problems: declaring that the topic at hand isn't worth discussing because there's a similar one that you, personally, consider worse or more important. It's a logical fallacy because it assumes that someone can only be concerned with one thing at a time. It's a dirty debate tactic for the same reason.

This list is not exhaustive, and the mods reserve the right to add other topics to it if they believe it's necessary, or to decline to open threads on topics not on this list.

These topics are off-limits across all the forums; OTC is simply where they would be most likely to show up.

• 'Link-Discuss' Opening Posts mean that the thread will not be opened, no matter what the topic is. A 'link-discuss' OP is one that consists of a Link to something off the wiki (most often, but not always, a news story or editorial), and an instruction for follow-up posters to Discuss it.

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Manga & Anime

• These anime already have threads. Check the linked thread to avoid duplicate topics.

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Yack Fest

• Threads derail, and that's OK. Deal with it.
• If the responses you get aren't the kind you wanted, too bad. You'll live.
• If you don't like a thread, don't post in it. Posting in a thread simply to say you don't like it, or that it's stupid, or to point out that you 'knew who made it before you even clicked on it', or to predict that it will end badly will get you warned. Doing so repeatedly may result in a ban.
• Try to stay calm.
  • No strawmanning.
  • If somebody is being uncivil, don't retaliate. Give the mods a holler.
• Snowclones are discouraged. Contentless snowclones will be nuked on sight. Repeatedly making contentless snowclone thread may result in a forum-ban.
• Sockpuppets are not prohibited, but use them sparingly.
• The mega-threads (Hangout, Troper Updates, Random Thoughts, Quickie Questions) are the place for posts that are unlikely to cause an ongoing conversation. They move fast, and posts in them may or may not get any response at all.

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Forum Games

• A more in-depth version of these guidelines may be found here.
• Try to stay vaguely on topic.
  • Conversational derails are discouraged.
  • Take your drama elsewhere.
  • If you don't see a game that interests you, make your own. Don't derail an existing thread.
  • However, there's no point in trying to force tropers to play a game that doesn't interest them.
• Roleplaying goes in Zone: Forum RPG, not here.
  • Don't derail every thread into a free-for-all fight.
  • No godmodding.
• Have fun!

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Troper Covens

• Covens are threads where people with a common interest outside of a specific work or media (those go in the appropriate thread in the Media subforum) can gather and chat about it. It is not an exclusive hangout for you and your mates. Nor is it a place to go looking for a fight if you don't like whatever the common interest of the thread is.

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Zone: Forum RPG

• As explained here, each of the boards in this section has its own purpose:
  • Role Playing Signups: The first place to go in order to join a game or start your own. In this place the GMs post the basic settings, story and rules of the RPs and the players post their own characters and wait for approval to start posting in the game proper.
  • Role Playing Discussion: Where all the OC talk goes, like discussing character actions and a place to ask questions.
  • Role Playing: This zone is where the actual Role Playing takes place.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Jun 5th 2023 at 7:29:05 AM

Welcome To TV Tropes | How To Write An Example | Text-Formatting Rules | List Of Shows That Need Summary | TV Tropes Forum | Know The Staff

Ignore this outdated post.

edited 23rd Apr '11 11:44:39 PM by FastEddie

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Post information obsolete.

edited 23rd Apr '12 7:30:51 PM by blackcat

While it ought to go without saying, no posting solely to advertise something that's not related to an actual discussion topic. In short, no spambots. Anything that looks like advertising spam will be zapped and the poster banned immediately.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

A note regarding Private Messages

Private messages are private. It is a bannable offense to share the contents of a PM that you receive with any third party without permission, except for reporting improper behavior to a member of the wiki staff.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

New (Slightly Revised) Spoiler Policy

There are two parts to concealing a spoiler. First, and obviously, you need to hide a spoiler in spoiler text. Second, for those people who want to see some spoilers but not others, you must make it clear where the spoiler is from. You also need to indicate which installment of the work is being spoiled, if the work has multiple installments. The obvious examples here are TV shows (indicate which episode or season) and webcomics (indicate which strip or arc), but this also includes DLC and content-adding patches for video games. If a thread references exactly one work in its title, it is assumed that all spoilers are from that work unless otherwise noted, so there's no need to specify the source work (though specifying episode/season/arc should still be done where appropriate).

A spoiler that meets both criteria is considered properly hidden. Off-site links are treated similarly: their content is pretty much always hidden unless the url itself is a spoiler, but they must still be labeled as spoiler links.

It obviously becomes inconvenient to hide all plot points for a work when in a thread that's about that work. How long do plot points count as spoilers? If installments of a work are released regularly (e.g. a weekly/nightly TV show), the normal span between installments is the length something must be hidden. That is, spoilers from a weekly TV show like Glee are fair game after a week. If a work doesn't have regular installments (e.g. a video game with or without DLC, a novel, a stand-alone film), spoilers become fair game in a thread about that work after one month.

There is one exemption to this rule. If the work is available freely and legally online and can be consumed in less than fifteen minutes, new content comes out of spoiler text five posts after a link is posted. This will cover most webcomics and some other web series.

Where does this put adaptations and earlier works in a series? Adaptations are considered separate works from the original and must be treated accordingly. If there is enough interest in comparing two versions of a story, a new thread might be created for that purpose (see below). Earlier installments, on the a other hand, are fair game if their story directly leads into the story of the work being discussed and are from the same medium. For an example here, a thread on The Empire Strikes Back can spoil A New Hope right and left, but has to properly hide events of Splinter Of The Minds Eye—though both A New Hope and Splinter of the Mind's Eye were released before The Empire Strikes Back and cover the adventures of the protagonists of Empire before that film begins, Splinter is a novel.

The other sticky situation comes up for release dates. For the purpose of spoilers, the "release date" is first English-language release date for works that have an English-language version or translation in the making. Remember that since spoiler rules count by release date, Interquels and Prequels count just the same as Sequels—no exemptions for events taking place earlier.

Now that it's clear what is and isn't a spoiler, the following rogue spoilers are grounds for immediate loss of posting privileges.

• Spoilers in thread titles—you can't hide them, after all.
• Improperly concealed spoilers from works not mentioned in the thread title or otherwise exempted above.
• Improperly concealed spoilers from material that has yet to be released, excluding official previews for such material.

Improperly hiding already released material in the thread for it will just get a Rules thump, but do realize that getting too many of those is just an alternate path to ban-town.

If there's so much spoiler content being discussed that the thread looks like Swiss cheese, you can Holler a mod to split the thread into multiple versions with their own spoiler policies. The following thread types are "standard" and can be referenced in the thread title without further elaboration—custom thread-specific spoiler policies must be noted in the thread title and explained in the first post of the thread.

• Spoiler-free: No spoilers of any kind. Only officially released content can be discussed. Future speculation must be based only on currently released content.
• Live Reactions: Spoilers allowed from the moment of official release. This will generally come up for TV shows, with people posting their reactions mid-broadcast.
• [Adaptation] Spoilers: The work is an adaptation or remake of an earlier work, and comparisons will be made between the old version and the new version. Both versions count as thread topics. Change the tag as appropriate—use your common sense.
• Unmarked Spoilers: Everything related to the work in the title is fair game: cast interviews, leaked information, the whole shebang. Spoilers from other works must still be hidden appropriately.

edited 23rd Sep '12 5:59:22 PM by Ironeye

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

Suicide threats

As a matter of wiki policy, we take threats of suicide (and other forms of self-harm) very seriously. However, unless a user voluntarily provides personal information, we have no means by which to report these incidents to the authorities.

TV Tropes does not employ health professionals and the Internet is not a place to diagnose or treat any illness. It is also not fair to place the burden of a person's life and/or well-being on people not trained or equipped to handle it.

A threat of suicide and/or self-harm, regardless of credibility, will be dealt with as follows:

• The threat and any related messages will be removed from public view.
• The user making the threat will be contacted by the staff and advised to seek help. Where possible, information on local emergency mental health services will be provided.
• A user making repeated threats after being advised to seek help will be banned.

If you see a suicide threat on any part of the wiki, do not reply. Instead bring it immediately to the attention of the staff.

Lastly, any user found to be bullying, taunting, or in any way encouraging a person to commit or threaten to commit suicide will be permanently banned.

edited 26th Aug '12 1:59:49 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

The spoiler policy has been rewritten in a more conversational tone, which should hopefully make it easier to understand. The only major functional changes are in bold.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

Thumps

As you're browsing the forums, you may come across a post that's written in orange text and pertains to some kind of conduct. This means that the person's original post was overwritten by a mod, or thumped, for violating a conduct guideline for the forums. Most of the thumps are self-explanatory; if you need clarification on something, ask a mod. Thumps are are directed at the person whose post was thumped and are accompanied by a PM to that person. Thumps are not the same thing as a forum suspension/ban, but accumulating a lot of them can lead to one.

Update to the rule about not editing the now obsolete thump tags out of a thumped post: you're not allowed to re-post the text of a thumped post. One would imagine that this is so obvious that it goes without saying, but it seems that some are confused about this. A thump is not an invitation to re-post the text of the thumped post. That the post was thumped means that it was against the rules. If you post it again it'll still be against the rules. Doing this is grounds for a forum ban.

If you feel that only part of your post violated the rules and want to re-post the parts that weren't against the rules, PM the Mod who thumped the post and discuss it with them.

edited 15th Nov '12 7:10:11 AM by BestOf

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.

Additions to the section about illegal material:

• This includes discussions of how to obtain or consume illegal or prescription drugs.
• This includes hate speech and threats of harm, whether directed to a person on-site or off.
• Where questions of "what is illegal" arise, general U.S. law shall prevail, as the site is located in the United States.
• Where there is a conflict between site policies, applicable laws, and/or Google AdSense policies, the strictest shall apply.

edited 3rd Dec '12 5:31:11 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Once again I'm baffled that I have to post something like this, but here goes...

Just to clarify our position on ban evasion:

If we discover that someone who has been banned from doing something (like posting in the fora or in a particular subforum, using YKTTW, sending PMs, editing the Wiki, etc) has used another handle to do those things while the ban was still active on the main handle (or any other handle of that person) we'll impose a full range of bans on all of the handles used by that person.

This has always been the case but it appears this was not general knowledge like we assumed.

edited 8th Jan '13 4:50:44 PM by BestOf

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.

As an addendum to , added to the ban evasion section:

We may also remove all posts made by a ban evading handle. If you're banned it means you're not allowed to do what you were banned from doing. If you're banned from the Fora you don't get to participate in Forum discussions. It's that simple.

It's something that we've always tried to enforce in the past, but it should be made clear.

edited 15th Jan '13 8:13:39 PM by Willbyr

• Do not deliver Messages or Edits from someone who is banned.
  • If you're banned from participating in something - Wiki editing, posting in the Fora, etc - it means you're not allowed to do that thing. If someone asks you to post something in a subforum in which they're not allowed to post, do not deliver their message. Same with Wiki edits from someone who is banned from editing the Wiki; that is just ban evasion by proxy.
  • Please don't engage with a Troper who you know is banned under another handle

  • Exception: If a user is suspended for poor grammar or editing style, they may post edits they wish to make in the "Get Help with English" and "Is this an example?" threads. Once those edits are corrected, other tropers may make them on the suspended troper's behalf.

edited 20th Oct '13 6:53:09 AM by Fighteer

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.

The list of topics which have been declared off-limits for OTC discussion has been extended to cover all the forums. It's unlikely that they would show up outside of OTC, but their nature is inflammatory enough that making them a blanket no-go is a prudent move.

EDIT: The list of these topics is in post 3 above, in the OTC section.

edited 27th Jan '13 7:14:38 PM by Willbyr

Addendum to the list of unwanted topics:

• Arguments about which side has it worse, and which side is doing more oppression, in a given debate - men vs women, religion vs atheism, etc - are not a productive discussion, and in the absence of several independent and unbiased academic studies we probably won't have an answer that everyone would accept. If you want to participate in the Oppression Olympics you can do so on some other site.

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.

Another addendum to the same list:

• Appeal to Worse Problems: declaring that the topic at hand isn't worth discussing because there's a similar one that you, personally, consider worse or more important. It's a logical fallacy because it assumes that someone can only be concerned with one thing at a time. It's a dirty debate tactic for the same reason.

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.

Contentless meta-posts like "First!" or "Whoo, 500th post!" are off topic in forums that ask threads to remain on-topic (anything in Realish or Pinned), and are strongly discouraged elsewhere.

This doesn't mean that you can't acknowledge a 500th post, or whatever, but your post must also have relevant content.

edited 7th Aug '13 9:15:22 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Exception to the rules for posting on behalf of banned users:

If a user is suspended for poor grammar or editing style, they may post edits they wish to make in the "Get Help with English" and "Is this an example?" threads. Once those edits are corrected, other tropers may make them on the suspended troper's behalf.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Clarified position under No Advertising re petitions.

Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty

Added:

• Broad, unfocused topics are discouraged in the Media forums. We would prefer that conversations there be about specific works, franchises, or creators. If you want to talk about "everybody's favorite X" or whatever, Yack Fest is probably a better place.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Added:

• Avoid posts that contain only links, without context. Not everyone can or wants to click out of the site to see what you're talking about. To help advance the discussion, quote relevant passages from the linked content or provide a summary.

Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 8th 2022 at 3:09:26 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Because of some incidents a while ago:

• The use of private messages for sexual role-playing ("cybering" or "cybersex") is something we heavily discourage. While we don't police PMs directly, we will investigate reports and may suspend or ban users if circumstances merit. Please do it somewhere else.
• If we find that any cybering anywhere on this site involves a minor and an adult, we'll toss you out so hard that you'll bounce off the Moon and back again.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman