The Godawful Forums have always been an unmoderated venue where self-moderation and maturity are expected and valued.  Sure, there is established forum culture and a million unwritten standards of behaviour which you'll absorb by osmosis the longer you spend in contact with the forums,  but to participate in GAFF, all you really need to do is abide by The One Commandment and demonstrate the same levels of maturity and conduct that any rational adult is capable of.

 

The One Commandment

We have but one rule here at The Godawful Forums:

Thou shalt not post anything illegal

That means no kiddie porn or links to kiddie porn. No discussion about trading pirated software, movies, music or links to same.  Doing so will swiftly bring The Mighty Hammer of Admin Justice down upon your head.

NC17 fiction, adult content, naughty language and links to same are all allowed and covered by our TOS. Post on, post free, post bravely, but do not post underage smut.

 

The Ten Suggestions

The Godawful Forums tend to be bustling venues full of conflicting opinions and personalities, heated conversations, and vigorous debate. This is its charm and, occasionally, its curse. The best way to be a part of the forum is to use common sense and common courtesy, but for when things get out of hand you could do worse than to remember these Ten Suggestions.

I      Thou shalt not abuse this service
The message board is not moderated
Everybody is encouraged to share their opinions freely without fear of censor or censure
Everybody, ya’ hear? Even those who disagree with you

II      Thou shalt respect other poster’s boundaries
This is an anonymous message board
There is a reason IP numbers are not displayed
Many who choose to post under nom de plumes would not post otherwise and the forum would be poorer for it
The "outing" of others is not acceptable

III      Thou shalt not spam
Spam will be smote with extreme prejudice

IV      Thou shalt not troll
It is lame, it is boring, and you’re not impressing anyone
Trolls will be caged in the Johnny Wizard Memorial Forum until they sin no more

V      Thou shalt not reply to a troll
The best way to discourage a troll is to ignore it
Suspected trollery should be brought to the admin's attention and it will be dealt with from there

VI      Thou shalt not post entire stories
A few choice excerpts will suffice and a link is always appreciated

VII      Though shalt not engage in sock puppetry
Pick a nom de plume and stick with it
Abusing the anonymous nature of the message board to invent multiple aliases is just embarrassingly pathetic on every level

VIII      Thou shalt not get personal
Attack the story, not the author
Attack the post, not the poster

IX      Thou shalt not name call
What are you, eleven?

X      Thou shalt turn the other cheek
You sinking down to a clueless newbie’s level serves no purpose
Someone has to be the adult and it may as well be you

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