Operation Sports Forums - The Do's and Don't of OS

Hey all!

It's been about 3 weeks since I created a thread welcoming everyone here from the EA UFC forums. I want to first say thank you to most of you - we've had some excellent discussions (both public and private), there have been some great feedback threads with interactive and constructive back and forth, and a great many of you have embraced OS as a temporary home. To this I say Cheers!

With that being said there are a number of issues starting to pop up that I'd like to address. We've slacked off a bit in terms of rules in the UFC forum to give everyone time to acclimate, and the time for weeding out the people that just want to come here and destroy our constructive atmosphere has come. What you will find following are some 'guidelines' to follow when posting here. I quote 'guidelines' but please understand that not following these (most of which are stated in the OS Terms Of Service) can lead to your permanent banning from these forums.

First I would like to state that if you EVER feel that you are unfairly banned please email [email protected] with your username and your issue and I will personally look into it.

On to the rules:

- You may only have one username on OS: This works two fold - you can't post as two different people, and if you are banned you can not create another username to get back onto the forums. If we find out you have, we can ban the second name immediately. And for those of you that do this and aren't caught and think you've gotten over on us? The fact that you are now abiding by our rules and no one knows who you used to be is fine with us because you are now a constructive member of the community.

- Bashing/Attacking the Developers/Game Changers/Other users: Simple - don't do it. NO PERSONAL ATTACKS ARE ALLOWED ON OS. This means calling other users names, making fun of their skill set or even poking fun at their ideas. If you want to argue a point do it CONSTRUCTIVELY. And most importantly - use respect. A respectful post is read 99% of the time. A disrespectful post is either ignored or starts a fight where both users end up banned.

- Personal Feuds: You don't have them here.

It starts as harmless fun for the OS audience or a afterthought, then it devolves into name calling, PSN message posting and no fun for anyone. CHECK YOUR EGO BEFORE YOU POST. I can't say this enough - If you have a problem with another user - come to me or another mod. It's what we do. Sometimes we fix the issue, sometimes we just tell all parties involved to stay away from each other. But don't get banned because you want to look like you're better than someone else.

- Report posts: We have a 'Report Posts' feature both on the main forums and on Tapatalk. Use it. It emails all of the mods immediately and someone will look at it as soon as they can. DO NOT FIRE BACK. We don't need you to mod the forums - that's what we do. Remember - If you get into a fight on these forums the chances are you will be banned as well, and we don't want that.

- Name calling: Addressed in the 'Attacks' rule, but I want to specify - there is to be no name calling. Don't call someone a troll, report them for being a troll and allow the mods to handle it. Don't call someone a liar, engage in a conversation because you may not understand their point of view. Again - BE RESPECTFUL.

- Constructive Criticism: This is a BIG one for here. No one listens to the squeaky wheel here. Just because you post a lot doesn't mean the devs listen. You have to post CONSTRUCTIVELY. What does that mean? Don't attack the devs in your post. Express your idea clearly. BE RESPECTFUL (see a trend happening?). If you mask a great idea with an insult - you normally get ignored then banned. You don't need to flatter anyone - but you need to understand that most of us are adults here and we expect mutual respect. That includes the Game Developers and Game Changers. Don't be personally offended if a Developer doesn't respond to you - if you are constructive I can tell you personally that your idea was read. I know how much time these guys spend active on the forums (not posting, but moving thread to thread) - you are absolutely heard here. And listen to the GCs - they can't always tell you everything (NDA and such) but they are your lifeline to helping this game.

Last but not least (and I'm going with the big boy font for this):

BE RESPECTFUL

This is and always will be the most important thing on OS. If you can't be respectful to your fellow poster than you are not welcome here. I have loved watching the mass of you come here and interact and understand that we will always have a home for you and your voice as long as you know how to use it. Personally I want your voice to be heard. I have seen forum members get hired by game companies because of OS - seriously. I have seen games take leaps and bound because members of this community give feedback that devs can't get anywhere else. YOU DESERVE TO BE A PART OF THAT. And we deserve to be able to see that in a respectful manner.

As always I am keeping this thread open for discussion. I hope this thread doesn't scare or make any of you apprehensive to post as that is not its intention. But we need to start cleaning up "the Wild Wild West" and getting to work on ideas and feedback.

Don't hesitate to PM me as well if you don't feel comfortable posting a question in public. Just know that I do sleep sometimes (You know who you are lol).

Mill