Posting Rules and Guidelines ( please read! )

All things BZFlag - no [OT] here please
Post Reply
User avatar
JeffM
Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 5196
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2002 4:11 am

Posting Rules and Guidelines ( please read! )

Post by JeffM »

This forum is for discussions about the game and the project that are of interest to everyone.

This is not a general support forum. That is the one titled Help: Setup / Hardware / Performance Issues

Most questions about the game can be answered by looking at the BZFlag WIKI (http://my.bzflag.org/w/) or by using the SEARCH button on these forums to search for information on a subject.

Specific questions on subjects like server administration and map making should be asked in there respective forums.

When you post here, please post in a clear and understandable manner. Do not use abbreviated words, or "leet" or "chat" type of text, they are only annoying and will lead your topic to be ignored.

Posts made that are not understandable, vulgar, rude, off topic, pointless, or in all caps or other forms of gibberish will be deleted with out warning.
Last edited by JeffM on Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
ImageJeffM
User avatar
Winny
Grouchy
Grouchy
Posts: 2381
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:27 am
Location: Ottawa eh?
Contact:

Post by Winny »

Please follow these guidelines when posting. Clear communication is well worth the effort. (It makes you look good, too!)

Before Making a post, ask yourself these questions:
- Is this post really worth it?
- Does it add to the topic?
- Has it been posted or answered in the same thread?
- Does it add to the forum?
- Has this been asked before, in another topic? (Do a search to make sure)
- Is this post a response to someone making fun of me? (Then take it up in a PM, in a civil manner...)
- Am I making this post out of dislike for another player? (Then take it up in a PM, in a civil manner...)


While posting:
- Is the grammar correct? Is it legible?
- Remember, people from foreign (non English) countries may need to read this, when they already struggle with English! What happens if they run across something like this?:
you no in dat map where the triangle tings r wel i tink dat the maper shud muve dem ova abut 2 units cuz it makes dem esier 2 get 2 do u agre wid mi???
Hell, I can't even read that, and I have high marks in English.


After Posting:
- After your done, check it over for any spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors.


Some Examples:

These represent how and how not to make a post. If you want help, please speak clearly. We can't read your mind, and we're also much more willing to help you if you use proper grammar.

- 1)'s represent proper posting.
- 2)'s represent improper posting.

1) I am currently experiencing some trouble with my BZFlag client. It does not connect to any servers. I have disabled all my firewalls, and checked that the proper ports are allowed on the router. Any help would be appreciated.

2) HI!!!! IM havin a prob wid ma bzf it doesn sem 2 wurk!!!1:D:D:D I CAN'T CONNECT TO ANY server!!! :twisted: :twisted: can u plz help mii?!!??!!?? I RLY RLY wanna play!!!!
__________

1) Can you please help me set up my server? I can't seem to get it on the list, even though users can connect to it fine. I have forwarded my ports, but I didn't disable my firewall.

2) HELP PLZ?!?!!!!!!! WHEN i run ma serve NOONE CAN CONNECT?!!!!! what am i doin rong>!!/!?!?! can u plz help me?
Last edited by Winny on Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:42 pm, edited 6 times in total.
User avatar
Spazzy McGee
Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major
Posts: 1405
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:59 pm
Location: Planet MoFo, Sheffield Division; United Kingdom

Post by Spazzy McGee »

Punctuation: Just as important as the words.

We use punctuation to indicate the the structure of our posts. Without it we vastly reduce the meaning and readability.

Look at the changes that punctuation can have on the meaning of the following sentences - the meaning is drastically changed, practically reversed. Both are grammatically correct.

A woman without her man is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Thus we should strive to use good punctuation in our writing:


Full-Stop or Period (.) and the capital letter.
The full stop comes when you end a sentence. When we end a sentence, we always capitalize the first letter of the next sentence.

Refrain from using ALL CAPS. It reads as shouting - and when are you going to have to shout?

Comma (,)
The comma is one of the most important punctuation marks. We can use it in lists, as shown in the following example - note that we can choose to omit the comma after 'Chicago' (see serial comma.):

I went to America and visited New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington D.C.

Furthermore, we use the comma to join independent clauses, or ideas, or as interrupting a one clause with another, for example:

My dad is tall, whereas my grandfather is short.
My dad, even though his father is short, is tall.

Omission of the comma can change the meanings of sentences:
The suspect drove a light blue truck.
The suspect drove a light, blue truck.

Apostrophe (')
We add an apostrophe and an s to indicate the possession of a singular noun. When the singular noun already has an 's' sound, we just add the apostrophe.

This is Spazzy McGee's post.
We visited the town where we used to live, for old times' sake.

If there is more than one of the noun, or a plural noun, we put the apostrophe after the s.

It's the girls' hockey team.

We also use the apostrophe to indicate omitted letters.

Do not = don't.
Can not = can't.
Are not = aren't.
You are = you're.
They are = they're.


It's and Its
The only time when we use "it's" with an apostrophe, is when we can substitute it with "it is". Contrary to the possessive rules for the apostrophe, we never use the apostrophe when "its" is possessive!

It's quite a fun server!
These are its settings

Exclamation and Question Marks (!, ?)

These replace the full-stop (period) at the end of a sentence, to indicate an exclamation or influx when reading the sentence.

This being a forum, we don't mind the odd double exclamation mark (!!), or exclamation-question (?!), but more than that (!!!!!!!) looks idiotic.

These are basic guidelines. There is further punctuation, such as hyphens, colons and semi-colons, that are used less often. You can look these up in your own time. On an internet forum, nobody is going to shout at you for putting an apostrophe in the wrong place, or forget a capital letter - just try to punctuate as best you can. It really helps the readability of your posts.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon
Post Reply