Right folks… here’s the drill;

I think it could be that as the summer is drawing to a close, the absence of domestic football (and Englands abysmal showing) has got us all going a bit stir crazy.
Things in here have taken a turn for the worse (IMO) (and its my opinion that counts)… so time for change.

I’m obviously a lot more lenient than the other mods on FISO and it seems that things have gone too far.
My liberal blasé attitude has seen things go down the pan.

Its obviously a fine line between banter and abuse.

So here’s the drill.

As well as the terms and conditions that you all signed up to (see here if you want a refresher fiso-forum-etiquette-read-before-posting-t1547.html ).

- If you respond to a post, it has to be ON TOPIC.
- In most/all cases pictures are not going to be tolerated anymore. If the particular thread warrants it (at my discretion), then so be it. Otherwise, its getting binned.
- I/we don’t care how well you are going to do. I don’t care if you are going to take over the world.
- abuse is not tolerated on FISO
- sniping is not going to be tolerated.
- sticking a or writing (banter) after a thread doesn’t make something ok

Time for all the grudges to be buried – you don’t have to become best friends, but nor do you have to snipe at your ‘enemy’s teams’. I wont go down to the level of pointing out who these are, I am sure you all know.

I'm going to be like a referee with a new whistle, repeat offenders are going to quickly find themselves wracking up warnings and bans!

If this all seems a bit draconian, its not meant to be, we just need to get things back on track.

Yes we can still have fun.
Yes we can still have banter.

Remember: Football threads are sacred… lets get back to why FISO was created in the first place.

I am going to leave the Dog Inn in its place – it remains a place for chewing the fat and talking nonsense. ITS NOT A PLACE WHERE ABUSE IS ALLOWED.

A quick refresher of the t's and c's you agreed to when joining FISO fiso-forum-etiquette-read-before-posting-t1547.html


Post on the Appropriate Forum

There are a number of different forums on these message boards - the full list is on the Forum Index page. We appreciate that there are a large number but please try to use the appropriate forum when starting a new topic. Messages relating to a specific fantasy football game should be posted on that game's own forum and if a forum has not been set up for that game then please use the 'Other Fantasy Football Games' Forum. If posting your team line ups, e.g. for rating, guidance or advice purposes, each of the major game forums has a Rate My Team (RMT) forum for specific team advice/queries.

Player or team news (e.g. injury news) should be posted here. Football topics not related to Fantasy Football should be posted on the Football Talk forum. Many other major sports have their own Fantasy Forums. We also have a Betting and Gambling forum, a Poker Society forum and a FISO News Forum. We suggest you navigate using the Latest Topics page, which will also help you understand the use of the various forums.

Keep On Topic

Do try and keep to the topic of the thread. If you want to raise a new issue then consider whether a new topic is more appropriate.

Personal Disputes

The forums are not to be used for personal disputes, heated debates, personal attacks or aggresive/abusive name-calling against other members, flame wars etc. You are expected to treat each other with respect in the forums and take any personal disputes to a private mode of discussion off the forums. If you should find that your discussion is becoming too heated or someone is becoming far too passionate about their argument, please take the discussion to private message or email. The forum software also provides a foes option if you wish to hide all posts from selected members (you can still click to display a foe'd post).

Personal Topics

Personal topics are threads that, whilst posted in public forum, are intended for a discussion between only a few members. These kinds of topics are frowned upon and will be locked/moved/deleted by Moderators. Public posts should be open and inviting to all members. Personal discussions among a select group of users should take place in private message - use your messaging facilities- or see the 'pm' icon next to a user's post.

Respect Other Members

Sometimes people can write something that you may find offensive. Before launching into a public condemnation though, please consider that the person may not have intended to cause offence. It is very easy to misinterpret a post on forums. There is absolutely no need to resort to insults. Respect others' views even if you disagree with them.

No Trolling

What is a troll? It's a person who posts something which is bound to stir people up and then sits back and watches as dozens of people jump in and start arguing. Sometimes trolls get their friends to join in or post under different names. Generally they will do anything it takes to get attention. If you see a message like this, report it and please try and refrain from replying to it - it may well be edited/moved/deleted by Moderators anyway.

Power-Posting

Power-posting is when board members post 'empty' messages to the board, in order to simply increase their number of posts more quickly. Examples of power-posting are replying to a message with only 'LOL' or 'I agree', but failing to contribute anything further to the discussion. If you reply to a message, make sure you have something to say. Consistent power posting clutters up the forums, clutters up the 'new posts' function, and uses extra bandwidth and server space. While we don't mind people using bandwidth to chat usefully on the board, we do mind people using it just because they want a more impressive 'post counter'. If you're not sure if you're power-posting, take a moment and think it over before you post. If all your post contains is a 'LOL' or an emoticon, it's a power-post. If it adds something to the discussion, it isn't.

Shouting/Caps Lock/Bold - Posting Styles

Posting in capitals or large text is considered as shouting so please refrain from over-use. Likewise posting in bold or colour should be used sparingly, for example where part of your post needs stressing. Please try to keep your posting style in an easily readable format.

In light of recent events I am adding to the above. This is a warning and not an invitation to a public debate. The Moderator team works very hard to try and keep FISO running smoothly and lately far too many people are intentionally making this place a more difficult place to be.

It is our firm intention to treat people as the adults they are. All forums carry a degree of tension, dispute and conflict. It is always our hope that people are grown up enough to sort their own differences out, have the maturity to walk away from an issue that is going nowhere, and maintain a sense of perspective when people are trying to wind each other up or act in a childish way.

Recently we have found ourselves having to take more and more action against people who have been unable to, or just plain decided not to act with respect for others. There are countless incidents that would not be tolerated on other forums that we have let go in the hope that people can sort out the conflict themselves. As moderators, our patience has run thin. Due to the childish and nasty nature of recent posts and personal messages that have come to our attention, there have been several temporary bans and de-activations. This increased severity of our action will now continue until we reach a point where we have a more respectful environment for fellow posters.

FISO is not a place for pettiness and meanness - go elsewhere if you want that. Primarily, this is an information exhange and for that to succeed people need to respect others and be mindful of the tone of each thread. There is a place for banter, we do not want to see a sterile, boring environment... however it is our responsibility to ensure that the forum is a pleasant place to spend time. At the moment it clearly is not.

After recent suspensions and deactivations I sincerely hope that people take this in the spirit it is intended. Our goal is to create a fun and respectful environment. Aggression towards fellow posters will be met with severe action. We are committed to stopping the recent unsocial behaviour. You have been warned.

Again it has been necessary to remove a few threads that have wandered off topic towards personal dispute territory. These threads are now being considered within the moderators' forum as to whether any further action will be taken.

Whatever bees some of you have in your bonnets - there is absolutely nothing to be gained by constantly banging on about the same things in thread after thread, taking them off topic and spoiling any relevant discussion that was there in the first place. If you want to throw insults at each other, please do it somewhere else away from FISO.

The Moderator Team have been discussing with Admin, the general increase in provocative and intimidating posts within the Sun Forum.

He is now considering imposing sanctions on those who are causing the majority of the problems.

The next time we have to move posts because of a members persistent breach of the T&C's then we will be given the option of recommending to him that their right to post on the DT forum should be removed for a month.

I trust that you appreciate the gravity of the situation and that we can trust you to abide by the Terms and Conditions which you signed up to on becoming a member of FISO.

Due to the boundaries having been pushed back bit by bit, again we find ourselves with an increasing number or posts that require moderation. The post below was added as a sticky in the WDT forum by myself earlier today, it is applicable throughout the SDT forums, please take heed of this warning, if the only way to restore order to the SDT forums is by posting bans either from the SDT forums or FISO as a whole than they will be issued.

This is NOT a banter forum, please use the Syndicate Banter forum for your swipes at each other.

Posting of off topic pictures are not welcome here, they will be removed when spotted.

Pictures and comments anywhere on FISO that appear to be of a racially motivated nature will be removed and those posting them will face the threat of warnings, temporary bans or deactivation.

Last and final warning!

Enough is enough.
Time to move on.

Its obvious that some parties dont like others, but the endless, childish, taunts have now got tiresome. Now as in "12 - 18 months" worth.

We all know who likes who.
We all know who dislikes who.

I am not saying put a stop to banter or even ridicule - but its got to be done in the right spirit.

As a rule of thumb;

Would that person want to meet up for a beer if he was in town (and would I want to go)?
If YES, go for it…. mock away.
If NO - then dont risk offending.
If unsure - dont bother.

There are still plenty of other people for you to enjoy banter with… so dont see this as some killjoy move. I think we all know each others motives with some of their/our posts.

It was hoped that you'd have been adult enough to work this out for yourselves…. or better still, got bored. Alas, that was too much to ask.

Anything seen as pointless/needless taunting or bullying or trolling (IN MY OPINION) is going to be deleted. No discussion, binned. Should you have an issue with this, fire a complaint off to the chief (Admin or Karrde).

Repeat offenders will find themselves moving up the ladder to a ban.

If someone does post something, dont retaliate. Be the man, take the moral high ground, turn the other cheek and let me (or one of the other mods) get rid of it.

The normal rules and etiquette of FISO still stand. So repeat/serious offences will be punished and offenders will get one step closer to being banned (as is the norm).

Time to move on boys.

Any questions, let me know.