forum rules

1) Don't be excessively mean. Yes this is a judgment call, and no one (especially not fans of Spring Awakening) likes censorship - but if you want to skirt the line between acceptable and unacceptable, then you do so at your own risk. If the majority of moderators think you're crossing the line regularly, you will be dealt with. The reason I call it 'excessively' mean is because no one's saying you have to treat everyone like your best friend, hell, even being cold and distant is not illicit - some people aren't warm people and that's fine. But becoming angry, attacking or insulting someone directly and personally, especially if unprovoked, is simply not the kind of behavior we condone.

2) Don't be disrespectful. Everyone has their own opinions - you are obviously free to (and even encouraged, as this is a discussion forum) disagree with other people's opinions, but make sure you do it in a civilized way. If it's not a matter of opinion but a matter of facts, then when correcting someone try to do it in a non-mean way.
Example of a non-mean way: "no, that's not true; X is Y because blah blah..."
Example of a mean way: "no you stupid idiot, X is Y my god i can't believe you didn't know that you're so ignorant blah blah"
When differing on an issue of opinion, same thing.
Example of a non-mean way: "I disagree with X's opinion on Z; I actually think Z is blah blah"
Example of a mean way: "OMG are u serious X? Z is totally blah blah that's disgusting ur an idiot asshole if u feel that way"

3) Don't be an instigator. I know people and things inevitably get heated from time to time, which is why it's important to try not to ignite stuff in the first place. If there's a fight and things end up getting ugly, and you try to say the other person was saying way worse stuff than you, fine - but if you provoked it, then you're just as guilty. The key to this is the following rule, and this is a good segue...

4) Be Mature, or Pretend To Be Mature - this is the key to a lot of these rules. What is being mature? Being mature is letting things go. Being mature is not taking the bait. Being mature is knowing to (and knowing *how* to) disagree in a non-confrontational way. Being mature is resisting the temptation to get overly defensive. Being mature is all of these things and a bunch more - it's that nameless quality which makes you say "this is petty" or "I'm better than this" or "it's not worth it" and prevents you from saying things which are just going to make both you and the person(s) you're saying it to, more unhappy. Now, I realize there will be people who are not mature (hah). Maturity is the cure-all for symptoms - so hopefully, if you happen to not be mature, you don't have a lot of other personality issues that stir conflict between you and others. If you do, you need to do something about it. Talk to a moderator about stuff, vent about stuff to your friends, but don't display behavior which is not in line with the rules of the forum. If you eventually force yourself to do this even if it's completely gainst your gut reaction and instinct...over time, out of habit, it will become your new instinct. In other words, fake it 'til ya make it!

5) Learn the formalities to live by - no illegal bootlegs (or anything too illegal for that matter), no spam (obviously), nothing that qualifies as spam, whose definition is very broad for a reason -
-repetitive posts which make it hard for others to read threads
-"purposeless" posts whose only purpose is to make your post count higher, etc.
-posts which open discussion of something completely unrelated to, and in fact in direct hindrance to the discussion topic of the thread. So for example, if you and 3 friends start talking about your auditions in the stagedoor pictures thread, or vice versa, that's bad. Moderators will move your posts if it gets out of hand, and you will be warned if you habitually do this kind of thing.