There are very few "rules" on RR. RR is intended to feel primarily democratic, and most of the "unwritten rules" come by way of self-government by the community through Recommended Fanposts, positive and negative feedback, peer influence, etc. The few official Community Guidelines exist for a singular purpose: they exist to help make RR a place that is safe and enjoyable for the entire community.

Free Speech on RR

RR believes strongly in free speech and in celebrating a diversity of people, and of ideas, on the site. Users are, in general, free to express their opinions without fear of retribution. The diversity of personalities, beliefs, and styles is appreciated as being part of what makes RR strong. Slyde, and RR's committee of moderators all operate within this belief system.

However, RR is a community, and free speech does not mean "the right to say what you want, when you want, how you want," without being sensitive to, and respectful towards, the community as a whole. In a community, speech is not "free"--it comes with responsibility.

The following are simply not acceptable on RR (excepting, in some cases, for obvious humor between people with an existing rapport); they violate RR's Community Guidelines, and are subject to sanction as outlined below:

1. Personal attacks on community members, directly or through sarcasm/belittling, e.g., "You're an idiot," "You don't know what you're talking about, dumbass," "Apparently, you've never seen a baseball game, or you'd know...", "My Chihuahua knows more about baseball than you do," etc.
2. Comments that are intolerant or prejudiced (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.) in nature, e.g., "Why don't you go play with your dolls?", "The Reds shouldn't sign black players," "Doesn't Taveras look like a fag?", etc.
3. Harassing/Baiting of users, e.g., "How about that Encarnacion; isn't he great?" posted five consecutive times that Encarnacion makes an error, "The Reds will never win this game" posted 10 times in 30 minutes, etc.
4. Relentless negativity will not be tolerated. What constitutes "relentless negativity"? It's simple: simply posting the Reds suck 100 percent of the time without reasoning or proposing solutions. There is nothing helpful about someone who constantly says that their team "sucks" and complains. We're all fans and we all get frustrated when the team doesn't perform or has bad luck, but regurgitating the same venom over and over again doesn't help anything or anyone. RR is aiming to be better than that. If you continue to do nothing but post negativity, you may lose posting privileges without warning. There's a difference between someone who aims to point out flaws and be constructive and someone who is destructive. 10 Fanposts, or 10 comments, in a row about how the Reds stink with no reasoning or proposals is basically trolling and that's how it will be treated. The goal is to make this community fun for everyone.
5. Politics, religion, and other hot button topics are generally off limits.  Occasionally these topics pop up in conversations where they may be relevant.  That will happen, but do not look at it as an invitation to debate the issues.  First and foremost, this is a site to talk about the Reds and baseball in general.  Confrontations on a non-baseball topic will not be tolerated.  What constitutes a confrontation is entirely at the discretion of Slyde and the other RR moderators.
   

Consequences for Violating RR's Community Guidelines

Consistent with its baseball roots, when it comes to violations of the Community Guidelines, RR works on a version of "3 strikes and you're out." Complaints about possible violations of the Community Guidelines should be directed to RR's moderators for review and consideration.

The moderators aim to balance a high tolerance for the importance of free speech and low tolerance for minor or petty complaints, with enforcement of the stated guidelines on behalf of the entire RR community.

Strike 1: If the moderators agree that a violation has occurred, the offending user will be contacted privately and issued a formal "strike 1". No other action is taken.

Strike 2: A second violation through this process triggers a "strike 2 warning" from the moderators, with a "cc" to Slyde.

Strike 3: A third violation through this process is forwarded directly by the moderators to Slyde for administrative action at Slyde's discretion.

Note that as the site's chief administrator Slyde may, at any time, choose to bypass the 3-strikes process and ban a user if he judges that a user has the primary motive of disrupting and/or upsetting the community or if an offense is judged by Slyde to be exceptionally grievous in nature.

Procedure For Lodging An Official Complaint

If you believe a user has violated the Community Guidelines and you wish to bring it to RR's moderators for review, flag the offending comment, choosing "inappropriate" from the drop-down menu selections, and include a note about why you feel the comment is a CGV.

Complaints are evaluated, and any appropriate follow-up action taken, internally. The user who made the complaint should not expect any reply unless the moderators have specific questions.

Fanposts

The only Community Guidelines for Fanposts are:

• A Fanpost must be a minimum of 300 characters.  If you are struggling to make the minimum number of characters, please do not add filler text.  If you can't add enough thought to your post to reach 300 characters, consider using a FanShot or just posting it within a comment.
  
• A Fanpost must in some way belong on RR--in other words, it must relate to the Reds, or to baseball, or to RR, or to an existing thread or Fanpost, etc.
• Users posting several Fanposts in a day may be warned or temporarily banned.

Tips on writing good Fanposts:

Some of the qualities that the most popular Fanposts often have in common are:

• They expand upon the main idea with supporting examples, or statistical data, or a link to a relevant article, or a "thinking question" for others to consider, etc.--something beyond just the main idea itself.
• They explore a topic, idea, or question that has not been explored recently, or at all, on RR.

Keep in mind that if your Fanpost contains only one point or idea that is not developed, expanded on, or supported with arguments or data, it is really not a Fanpost--it is a comment that should be posted in an existing thread or Fanpost.

General Disclaimer: What is written above are guidelines that help to explain the policies, procedures, and processes RR generally uses. It is entirely at Slyde's discretion how to interpret and implement these guidelines, which are subject to change at any time.