We've had threads before, started by both members and mods, concerning issues going on at that moment. But this thread will be pinned to handle Q&A going forward. It will be a place where mods can address issues regarding H&E. And where members can post a comment, question or concern about the site and know they will receive an answer.
About H&E
• This site belongs to one person, Smiter. It is his playground. We all just play here. But it belongs to him.
• The rules are very, very simple: Don't bash. Be courteous.
• Any opinion is welcome here as long as it stays focused on your opinion, and not pointing fingers at other users or fandoms.
• Use the Golden Rule to guide you before you post: If you wouldn't want someone posting that type of comment about you, then don't post it about someone else.
• Agree to disagree and then (and this is the important part) walk away from the topic. Just let it go. You don't have to get along or agree with anyone on here. But you do play a part in keeping the peace.
Personal Messages (PMs) and Blogs
• These are great personal tools of the site, and we are lucky to have them. Because they fall under the umbrella of H&E, the same rules apply. Bashing someone in a PM or a blog is the same as doing it anywhere else on the site, and subject to warns.
Mod Team: How it All Works
• Mods are members too. They are not paid. They have lives and jobs and families. They are members of this community who have said they'll give a little bit more of their time and effort to make sure things run smoothly. Don't forget we're all in this big boat together.
• The mods discuss every single issue, every single warn, every single ban, every single everything. Nothing is done without a consensus. Even though one mod handles the pm and official warn, the whole mod team stands behind that decision. It's our own system of checks and balances to make sure the member gets a fair shake.
• Also in the best interests of the member is the fact that we do not discuss the reasons for a member's warn publicly. Everybody makes mistakes. And this way if a member does get a warning, they can get back on the right path without fear of their old mistake haunting them.
• We listen to the report button. And it factors heavily into the decision-making process. If someone thinks it's bad enough to pm, then it's worth looking at. And we try to pm to address every single one. The person who makes the report may not know the issue's been dealt with, but we look at each one and try to sort out what's going on and whether we need to step in.
• There is no list of who reports on whom. None. You can hit that button every day if you want. Nobody's keeping score. It's just an easy reminder that if something is getting out of hand, there is something you can do about it.
• We listen to PMs. Some users don't feel comfortable with the report button, and that's perfectly fine. PMs are more informal and some people feel more comfortable using them. The mods greatly value these as well, sometimes even more than a report, because the member and a mod can discuss back and forth and find a good solution. (Especially if someone is feeling personally targeted or bashed, and doesn't want to open themselves up to more. Even if nothing comes of it, it helps that the member has alerted the mod to the problem, and we can be watching for it in the future. PM-ing one of us helps us get your back. Period.) And mods often share the parts of PMs that relate to a problem, but not necessarily the whole pm.
• The main warn system goes down like this: 3 Official Warnings -> 3-day Temp Ban -> 1 Official Warning -> 7-day Temp Ban -> 1 Official Warning -> 1 month ban -> 1 Official Warning -> 6 month Temp Ban -> PERMANENT BAN.
• The warns and a full list of rules, as well as when a member can expect a reset button, is in the Rules of Conduct thread.
Mod Team: Things we reserve the right to do
• If a user is being disruptive and engaging in trollish behavior, then we reserve the right to place him/her on a temp suspension until the mods come to a consensus on how to discipline them.
• If a user is trolling right out of the gate, we reserve the right to ban immediately.
• If a user bashes someone in a thread, then we reserve the right to call out at that user in that thread. If more than one person is targeted or if an entire thread is derailed, mods will step in. In fact, you should expect it.
• If a user starts a flamewar or willingly participates, we reserve the right to warn and/ban.
• If a user is a sockpuppet (a current member creating a duplicate account to troll), we reserve the right to ban immediately. And we reserve the right to warn/ban any members knowingly aiding in these types of frauds.
Mod Team: The good news
• The good news is the vast majority of our members never have to worry about these rules. We have a great site, and everybody pitches in to make it so. And when things get out of hand, the mod team is there to make sure everything gets back on track
