Metal Storm User Policy Update
Metal Storm has revised its user policy. Please take a few minutes to read through it.
We could say that this is due to recent circumstances, but the fiasco underneath the last piece of Varg-related news is no longer recent (nor is it extant at all) and Metal Storm has gone for quite a while without a real update (or reinforcement, we'll say) of its user policies. Over the years, we have had our fair share of issues with controversial topics spiraling out of control, individual users turning this place into a dumping ground for their own outrageous effluent, threads becoming cluttered with off-topic spam, the works. Lack of decorum, tact, and regulation makes any forum a worse place to be for everyone. We want Metal Storm to be a place where folks can have engrossing discussions, debates, and even arguments about a variety of subjects, particularly those pertinent to the metal community, and having this space to do so requires us all to enter the social contract described by our site's rules.
Metal Storm has certain expectations regarding the behavior of its users, both technically and conceptually, and these expectations are outlined below. Even if you think that you remember the rules well enough, please refresh your memory anyway; you never know what you might have forgotten. If you think that the rules do not apply to you, you are incorrect. Whether you're a brand-new user or a veteran staff member, your conduct on this site affects the people around you and the functioning of Metal Storm as a whole. That means you must pay attention to what you are doing and why.
RULES OF POSTING:
Trim your quotes. We are sick of seeing paragraphs-long quote chains strung together like paper cranes. To follow a discussion, you need to be able to follow the discussion, and it's hard to do that when you're wading through somebody's own retelling of War and Peace. Be considerate and conserve space. If you're getting three or four quotes deep into a conversation, cut some of them out. If you're responding to a 1,000-word post, refrain from pasting that entire novel right below. Summarize the content you are quoting; pull out specific points you want to address; delete the quoted text entirely and put a placeholder within the quote tags. Littering is punishable by a fine.
Stay on topic. We know that an interesting conversation takes you places, but if you post on a news item about Sacred Reich's fall tour and you look up ten posts later to find that you're arguing about the oeuvre of Roberto Rossellini, you've gone too far. Keep it relevant to the OP. Metal Storm has plenty of forum space for all topics; use those fora. If you are on a roll and don't want to abandon your immersive debate, suggest moving your conversation to the appropriate thread and leave the one you're in for the topic it was made for. We know it can be awkward to break up the flow like that, but staying on topic is a great help in avoiding pointless quarrels.
Resort to private messages. You may think that your argument with xhatebreedxbrox6969x will solve poverty, racism, and world hunger all within a single comments section beneath a review of Transilvanian Hunger, but all we see are a series of irate comments cluttering up our forums and making it difficult for other people to converse. If you find that you're becoming entrenched in a war of words with another user, take it outside and resolve your disagreements privately using the direct-messaging capability we provided for that exact purpose. We are not hosting discussions of music so that you can hurl profanity and epithets at another person while arguing over politics, religion, economics, or best girl (Rem > Emilia). This option also serves as a solution to the above issue.
Involve the mods. If you see a topic getting out of hand or a user whose behavior is escalating - and this includes Metal Storm staff - make a forum report. Use this tool to flag inappropriate comments and bring them to the attention of the staff. You may also contact a Moderator or our Editor-in-Chief directly and explain the situation that way. Metal Storm's administrators are responsible for keeping the place in working order, but we have a lot of conversation space and we can't be everywhere at once; you each share in that responsibility, too, so it is important that you alert us to spam or other content that violates our rules. Again, this includes members of staff; we, too, need to be on our best behavior.
Keep NSFW content to a minimum. No gory, pornographic, or otherwise explicit material. Some of us actually do use MS at work (on lunch breaks, I promise) and we want to run a good, clean site. If you have something that you absolutely must share, please give us a link instead, accompanied by an appropriate warning. This applies to the ShoutBox, the forums, publications, your profile - wherever you can express yourself on Metal Storm.
No links to or solicitation of illegally shared material. We're not dumb; we know that plenty of folks pirate music, including users of our site. Metal Storm does not, however, condone the practice, and we do not allow the site to be used to facilitate piracy. Don't post links in the ShoutBox, don't ask if anybody can hook you up, and we prefer that you not talk openly about it at all; we're on the legitimate side of the industry here and we want to show respect to the bands and labels we work with.
Speak English or Die. We're not as strict as that, of course, but Metal Storm is an English-only site. This extends to signatures and personal text on your profiles. Do what you like in your PMs.
Post intelligently. This is a broad requirement. We don't expect perfect English and academic discourse in our forums, but do put some effort into what you say. Short, antagonistic blurbs (i.e. "this sucks," "worst album ever"), non sequiturs, and repetitive comments basically amount to spam, and we don't want to see that. If you have some criticism to drop, provide some reasoning or context. If you have an opinion to share, take some time to construct it. This isn't a meme page for shitposting; it's a site with forums for discussion. This is not acceptable behavior.
Exercise judgment in creating threads. Before you get started, search the forums to make sure you aren't duplicating a preexisting thread. Name your thread in a manner that describes its intent accurately; refrain from using caps lock, cluttering the title with punctuation/symbols, and other obnoxious things designed to draw attention. Don't create threads that violate other rules of this site. If you wish to advertise your band/label/other project, please use the appropriate forums (Musicians Corner or Promotion and Ads, depending on your goal).
RULES OF CONDUCT:
Be civil. This includes interactions with people you think are the scum of the earth. The funny thing about internet fights is that nobody is ever wrong; by going ballistic you aren't likely to convince anybody of anything, only to make them double down in defense. Before posting your heated response to an offensive comment, ask yourself: "Is my caps lock off? Could the words I'm typing be aired on daytime television? Will I emerge from this exchange with any dignity?" It's not always about being right - sometimes it's about being sensible. We're all adults here, except for those of us who aren't, and we won't police your language per se, barring certain slurs (see below). Nonetheless, your choice of language will affect your exchange and could wind up getting you in hot water anyway, so go easy on the obscenities and avoid petty name-calling.
No discriminatory content. Racial slurs, sexist derogation, and all forms of discourse that seek to disparage a particular demographic are unacceptable. Keep that stuff out of your posts, out of your signatures, out of your avatars, and off this site. This obviously includes Nazi propaganda. We know that some of you aren't bothered by the political ideologies of the bands you listen to, whatever they may be. That's your prerogative. You're allowed to enjoy those artists and discuss them here in the appropriate places, even if we don't feature them in our database - but you may not share or advertise material that embraces or supports NS ideologies. If you want to trade white supremacist talking points, you've come to the wrong Storm. Religion is a tricky question, due to metal's frequently antagonistic relationship to it, but suffice it to say that just because we feature Burzum on this site doesn't mean you can go around disparaging someone's faith or people who share it. If you want to have a rational debate about beliefs and practices, do so in accordance with our other rules of conduct. Making posts that are simply demeaning is not making an insightful argument.
Listen to the staff. We're all pals here, but keep in mind that Metal Storm has a hierarchy. If a member of staff tells you to cool off, not to pursue an argument, not to use such-and-such language, listen to them. We will issue time-outs and bans. Just follow the rules and play nice. This extends to respecting our disciplinary decisions. If you feel that action was taken unjustly, i.e. your thread was deleted, your posts were removed, someone was banned, etc., you may contact a staff member to discuss the situation, but do not take your complaints to the forums and make a big show of it. That will only make things worse.
One account per person. There's no reason that an honest, salt-of-the-earth user can't conduct all their business with a single account, but there are many ways in which mischief can be achieved with multiple accounts. We do enforce our one-per-customer policy; extras will be banned, and possibly all of your accounts, depending on the severity of the situation.
Rate albums responsibly. If you spend more than 10 minutes on MS, you'll see folks complaining about rating abuse. Truthfully, it's not the worst thing in the world, but it IS obnoxious and a show of bad faith; we use those ratings individually as a personal measure of value and as a useful tool to see what other people think - where to start with a band, how other people received an album, etc. Like everything else around here, it's all supposed to be in good fun, so we expect you to use this function like a sensible person. If we check your profile and find that you're slinging around 1s and 10s like Robo-Santa launching rockets, we'll come knocking on your door. If it looks like you are sandbagging or inflating a band's entire discography or manipulating the yearly charts to your own benefit, we'll sweep away your ratings altogether. Numbers aren't everything.
GENERAL ADVICE:
Don't overreact. Communicating through the flat, impersonal surface of the internet makes things difficult. It's not always possible to catch subtleties or distinguish humor from aggression. Plenty of us are conversing in what is our second, third, or fourth language, and we're all born and bred in different cultures that teach us to interact differently; you can be sure that misunderstandings will arise. If somebody says something inflammatory that you don't like, take a second to consider your response; perhaps their comment simply came off in the wrong way or you've misinterpreted it. Pretend you're in anger management class, count to ten, and be diplomatic. If it turns out you're both reasonable chaps, you can clear up a misunderstanding, but an ounce of foresight saves you a gallon of apologies later (not to mention time in the cooler).
Let things go. More likely than not, you won't be changing anybody's mind about a serious issue. We're not saying that you should not defend your beliefs if they are challenged or shy away from a claim you find questionable, but you are also not obligated to respond to every provocation or fight each battle to the death. If somebody is making racist comments or disseminating Nazi propaganda or something along those lines, then it should be addressed, but dealing with that person becomes the domain of the staff. For less significant controversies, you'll just have to learn to live with the fact that other people have different values and you can't convince them to share yours in a thread that's supposed to be about how nobody cares about Necrophagist anymore. If things get heated, take a step back, excuse yourself, and walk away.
Enter the "serious issues" forum at your own risk. Be advised that this is where all the most controversial topics will be discussed, and those topics tend to attract the most hostile and disagreeable people. A number of squabbles arising there have bubbled over in the past to the point that we gave earnest consideration to deleting this forum altogether. We relented because we have no desire to be so restrictive, but moderating those threads has become such a headache for us that we're not going to respond to each and every complaint originating there. You know what comes of people discussing volatile issues online. If you want to participate in those discussions, you're free to do so, but don't be surprised if you take offense to what lies there. Naturally, all of the above rules apply to that forum as much as any other and we will still discipline serious infractions.
With all of that said, we want you folks to enjoy coming to Metal Storm. We on staff do, which is why we're all still here, and we want this place to be inviting to new and old users alike. Act like a decent person and everything will turn out just fine.
Love,
The Metal Storm Staff
We could say that this is due to recent circumstances, but the fiasco underneath the last piece of Varg-related news is no longer recent (nor is it extant at all) and Metal Storm has gone for quite a while without a real update (or reinforcement, we'll say) of its user policies. Over the years, we have had our fair share of issues with controversial topics spiraling out of control, individual users turning this place into a dumping ground for their own outrageous effluent, threads becoming cluttered with off-topic spam, the works. Lack of decorum, tact, and regulation makes any forum a worse place to be for everyone. We want Metal Storm to be a place where folks can have engrossing discussions, debates, and even arguments about a variety of subjects, particularly those pertinent to the metal community, and having this space to do so requires us all to enter the social contract described by our site's rules.
Metal Storm has certain expectations regarding the behavior of its users, both technically and conceptually, and these expectations are outlined below. Even if you think that you remember the rules well enough, please refresh your memory anyway; you never know what you might have forgotten. If you think that the rules do not apply to you, you are incorrect. Whether you're a brand-new user or a veteran staff member, your conduct on this site affects the people around you and the functioning of Metal Storm as a whole. That means you must pay attention to what you are doing and why.
RULES OF POSTING:
RULES OF CONDUCT:
GENERAL ADVICE:
With all of that said, we want you folks to enjoy coming to Metal Storm. We on staff do, which is why we're all still here, and we want this place to be inviting to new and old users alike. Act like a decent person and everything will turn out just fine.
Love,
The Metal Storm Staff
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Comments: 30
Visited by: 307 users
| Spacerunner Posts: 249 From: Belarus  |
Quote: How about "Report" button on a user's album_votes page?
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| Khold Baroness Posts: 588 From: Portugal  |
Thanks MS and good continuation of your great job 👍🎩...greetings from Portugal
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| christmas.inHell Posts: 202  |
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| Mehdi Taba Mehdi Taba Posts: 433 From: Iran  |
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| IcePickLodger Posts: 148 From: Slovak Republic  |
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| metalwolf Posts: 103 From: Belgium  |
I didn't even know that there's a 'serious forum'... but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here for the music and info on sacrificing young virgins.
---- ---------------------------------------------------------- Cthulhu for President! Why settle for the lesser evil?
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Posts: 21306 From: Canada  |
Written by metalwolf on 09.09.2019 at 13:49 Sorry friend, only a bunch of old virgins around here 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Karlabos Meat and Potatos Posts: 5658 From: Brazil  |
I still think it needs to say somewhere in the FAQ that this site does not feature NS bands (I know, it's written there in the middle of this text but most people won't get past the 1st paragraph or so) I remember when I was a newcomer I kept trying suggesting Nokturnal Mortum to the suggestions only to discover later it was to no avail. The no adding NS rule, though, 'still' cannot be found anywhere on the site policy or whatever...
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 60962 From: Sweden  |
Those to me are basic ms forum rules IMO
---- Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!! Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''  apos;'[image] I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1537 From: Hungary  |
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| tominator At best deranged Posts: 1061 From: Belgium  |
Written by Bad English on 09.09.2019 at 19:22 They are absolutely. But those rules are unfortunately not always complied to. I mean we've all seen things like quote trains, discriminatory stuff, etc. in the forums.
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| no one Posts: 591 From: New Zealand |
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Posts: 15250  |
Written by qlacs on 09.09.2019 at 19:44 one would think, but hey, gotta lay it out clearly for the few who just don't get it.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| moribun Posts: 92 From: Vietnam  |
Quote: This alone reminds me enough to follow the rules (in moderate fears)(lol).
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| Ansercanagicus endangered bird Posts: 532 From: France  |
"One account per user" Let me expose my case, as I am one honest, salt-of-the-earth user with two accounts, (other one is ImperialGoose). I use this one for "digging" the database, which means my collection grows by 10 albums every week or so and now there's above 4000 entries. Those are the albums I wanted to check, but I didn't necessarily liked them. I brand them with a note just to remember. So on my second account, there's only albums I know well and like (around 600), and that's closer to the initial use of a MS collection I guess. It's way more convienient than wading through all the first account's mess. These albums are not noted so my note doesn't count as double. I guess there's no problem with that (just asking ?)
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| MetalManic Posts: 623 From: Canada  |
|Post Intelligently...This isn't a meme page for shitposting Uhhhhhhh.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Posts: 21306 From: Canada |
Written by MetalManic on 11.09.2019 at 17:05 * MetalManic has left the chat
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Ruchesko Posts: 435 From: UK  |
Oddly, I'm a tad heartened to see MS is still active enough to merit a post like this.
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| Cynic Metalhead Paisa Vich Nasha Posts: 6809 From: India  |
I wonder who created a mess to let staff re-defined all over the Metal Storm User Policy. What did I miss?
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| Maco Pvt Funderground Posts: 3593  |
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 13.09.2019 at 21:17 IT'S ALL VARG'S FAULT
---- Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Posts: 15250 |
Written by Ansercanagicus on 10.09.2019 at 18:50 I'm going to say use the import or whatever feature to download your alt account albums into a spread sheet and use that as an alternate way to track the info. 1 account is the rule.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Ansercanagicus endangered bird Posts: 532 From: France |
Written by BitterCOld on 14.09.2019 at 04:53 I did this for convenience reasons, to be a able to separate all the important albums from the less important. I could have used a spreadsheet right off the bat, or I could have used the list feature too. But MS has a great database, you use a bunch of filters to quickly search through your celloection, and almost every text string is clickable and works like encyclopedia references. The easiest way to use all the features of a "collection" was to create another account to have another "collection". You can't have several collection per user, and there lies my problem. It's like a desk without drawers. So I'll change my version: "this is my brother's account, who connects from the same computer, and have a lot of albums in commons since we have the same tastes and had the same childhood. The two accounts are a bit different but they do belong to different persons" That's a lie but I guess there wouldn't be any problem with that, but what's the difference ? I'll take out my 2nd account but it bothers me greatly also I wonder, I see the "download as CSV" button, but where is the "import" button if I have to reverse the operation ?
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada  |
Could someone please fill me in? What's the Varg stuff that was referenced? Keep in mind I haven't been on the forum or in the scene for years due to precisely how toxic it can get. But I'm curious.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Posts: 21306 From: Canada |
Written by Ilham on 15.09.2019 at 19:07 He's a pretty renowned neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist who blames all the world's ills on (((them))) and has used his social media platforms to incite division against Jews and non-white races. YouTube shut him down after his alt-right supporters began to make some noise as a result of his rhetoric and now he's limited to rambling on his personal website which I won't bother linking.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.09.2019 at 19:19 Lmao I know who Varg is, cmon Troy. I was asking about this specific mystery thread or whatever thing that happened on MS that led to the staff posting these rules again. But I guess I can imagine what happened. If anyone has juicy details, you can PM them to me.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Posts: 8628 From: Romania  |
Written by Ilham on 15.09.2019 at 19:35 Pretty sure the entire thread got bombed into oblivion, but it had well over 100 comments
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Cynic Metalhead Paisa Vich Nasha Posts: 6809 From: India |
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada |
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 19.09.2019 at 17:30 Seriously? On this thread of all places?
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Posts: 15250 |
REVIEW THIS POINT: Involve the mods. If you see a topic getting out of hand or a user whose behavior is escalating - and this includes Metal Storm staff - make a forum report. Use this tool to flag inappropriate comments and bring them to the attention of the staff. You may also contact a Moderator or our Editor-in-Chief directly and explain the situation that way. Metal Storm's administrators are responsible for keeping the place in working order, but we have a lot of conversation space and we can't be everywhere at once; you each share in that responsibility, too, so it is important that you alert us to spam or other content that violates our rules. Again, this includes members of staff; we, too, need to be on our best behavior. ---------------- If you feed the troll I will treat you like a troll. If someone is acting horribly out of line, treat the post like one of those obnoxious Indian Escort Services or Australian Term Paper spammers. Report it and ignore it. Move on. Do not engage.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Cynic Metalhead Paisa Vich Nasha Posts: 6809 From: India |
Sorry.
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obvious fact, that Rem < Emilia
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