By creating an account with Dog-Eared Forums, you agree to abide by any rules laid out by the administration team, whether now or in the future. You also agree to abide by any specific rules that an administrator or moderator might put upon you for any reason, whether now or in the future.

Each rule has its own consequence, but if a member is warned more than five times total, he will automatically be suspended for three to five days.

Warnings will stay in the system for five months.

1.) No Spam

Spam is defined as off-topic posting, posting two or more consecutive times, a nonsense post (such as 'angrih123joifrj!'), a post that, while on-topic, bears little constructive information pertinent to the discussion at hand, and any post that is less than ten words long. Administrators and moderators judge this on a case-by-case basis, so, for instance, if a post contains less than ten words but is still on-topic and contains information pertinent to the topic at hand, it will not be counted as spam.

All this is up to administration discretion.

Members will be warned no more than three times for spam before being put on Moderator Preview.

2.) Respect other members

Keep rude, instigatory, inflammatory, and otherwise uncivil posts off the board. These are judged at adminstration discretion, but simple common courtesy will eliminate the problem altogether.

The first time it occurs, the member in question will be warned. The second, he or she will be put on Moderator Preview for no more than one week. The third time it occurs, the member will be banned for two weeks. Bans will increase in length if such behavior continues, ending in a permanent ban at the administrator's discretion.

3.) Use proper English

Not everyone is perfect at grammar and spelling, but we ask that you use the English language to the best of your abilities, and invest in a spellchecker to supplement what you don't know. Repeated use of bad grammar, bad spelling, leetspeak, textspeak, netspeak, etc., will result in a warning.

After five warnings, members will be placed on Moderator Preview for up to three weeks.

4.) No personal attacks or potshots on Christopher Paolini, Stephenie Meyer, or any other author being discussed.

We are not a free-for-all bashing site. We are critiquing the writing, not an author's looks, gender, sexual identity, or family.

You may critique statements he has made regarding writing and whatnot, but personal attacks are off limits.

A warning will be issued for breaking this rule. A second warning will be accompanied by suspension for up to a week.

5.) Keep language to a minimum

We are not asking you to not cuss at all, but please keep it down to a miminum. Refrain from strong profanity as often as possible, please, to help keep content appropriate for everyone old enough to be on a forum (by law, 13+).

A member will be warned if a moderator feels they are using too much language, OR if stronger profanity is used.

6.) Keep all content PG-13

This is a forum for all ages, viewable by all ages. As such, let's keep discussion mature and avoid petty or immature sex jokes.

A warning will be issued for each infraction.

7.) You cannot get away with whatever you want

If a moderator feels the need to warn you for any reason not explicitly stated in the rules, he or she may do so. It is up for contestation, but once a final ruling has been passed down from the administrators, you will comply, or feel free to leave.

Most such cases are cases wherein members do not use common courtesy or respect.

8.) If you act like a troll, you will be treated like a troll

Regardless of whether you're a newbie or a veteran member, trolling the forums will result in an immediate suspension for up to a week. Upon your return, you will be placed on Moderator Preview until the staff is convinced you've stopped trolling.