Rules Update January 2020

[Jeremy]

Good evening, everyone. We have a few additions to the rules to announce tonight. Be sure to read through all of them and let us know if you have any questions. You can find the full rules by clicking the "Rules" tab at the top of the forum or by clicking here: Rules and Guidelines. Here are the specific updates with some more information:


Copied text should be in quotes.

We've had instances where a user will copy/paste large blocks of text into new posts in order to farm bells. This is the inspiration for our new written post quality rule.

Large blocks of copied or plagiarized text from external sources not contained within quote tags.

Posts shouldn't be nothing but constant negativity.

While it's fine to disagree with someone or be negative about something you don't like, we want TBT to be a generally positive and friendly environment. If we feel someone is being constantly overly negative and bringing down the mood of a discussion, we will ask them to stop.

Repeated or constant behavior that is overly negative, toxic, or inflammatory.

Bumping is no longer allowed in non-trading boards. We also specify what we mean by "bumping."

The bumping section has been rewritten in list form and one change has been made: bumping is no longer allowed in non-trading boards. If you'd like to revive a general discussion thread, you can always contribute to the discussion instead of simply posting something like "bump." As always, trading threads should not be bumped more than every 4 hours (and less for amiibo cards). We've also specified what we mean by bumping in this rule. Reviving an older discussion thread is still allowed, as long as its topic is still relevant and your post adds to the discussion.

Bumping on The Bell Tree is defined as posting the word "bump" or other variant for the sole purpose of bringing the thread to the top of the board index for increased visibility. To avoid excessive and unnecessary posting on the forum, users must abide by the following guidelines when bumping:

• Threads in trading boards should not be bumped until the thread is inactive for at least four hours.
• Due to the slower rate of posting in the Animal Crossing amiibo Card Post Office board, threads may only be bumped after eight hours of inactivity.
• The bumping of discussion threads is not permitted; i.e. you may not post solely to bump the thread. You must have something on-topic to say when posting in a discussion thread, and the thread topic must still be relevant.
• Posting a contributory reply in a general discussion thread is permitted and is not classified as a bump, no matter the age of the thread.

We've also removed the part about reviving old and irrelevant threads from the post quality list since this is covered in its own section here.


Age restriction for registering clarified.

The forum will stop a user from registering if they're under 13 years old, but it hasn't been in the written rules until now.

You must be at least 13 years of age to register on and use the forum.

New written rule about using another person's account to gain bells and collectibles.

This rule was announced during our Red Balloon World Tour event. Some people may have friends or family that don't use the forum very often. When these accounts are logged into during events and then send all of the rewards to an active user, it is effectively similar to using an alternate account. This is why we don't allow it, as it creates an unfair advantage to the recipient. This will be determined at the staff's discretion.

An account that exists solely to benefit another account in terms of bell and collectible gifts will be treated the same as an alternate account.

Reporting section now defines mini-modding and suggests using Contact the Staff for help.

If you have a specific question or concern you'd like to discuss with the staff team, make a thread in our Contact the Staff board.

Please use the report feature if you see a misplaced thread or any other post that requires attention. Responding to this yourself is considered mini-modding and can cause unnecessary confusion.

Another suggestion to use Contact the Staff, this time instead of messaging a mod in Discord.

If a user needs help on the forum, their instinct may be to PM a moderator who's online in the Discord server. Instead, it would be better to make a Contact the Staff thread so all staff members can help you with the problem. This also helps us keep organized and make sure you get the help you need.

Our Discord server is not to be used for reporting site issues or concerns. Instead, please make a thread in our Contact the Staff board or use the report feature where applicable.

 

[Stella-Io]

Was not aware of people farming bells by copying large chunks of text, wow.

I like that the new bump rule has been added, I've seen people bump -not trading- threads just to bump them with no context to add. Like, I guess it was for visibility.

I do have a question about this one thou. Does this apply to museum shops? Let's say a shop went a long time without any orders so it has been brought down on the board. Is bumping it back up for relevance allowed or is it not considered a trade thread?

 

[Zura]

I do have a question about this one thou. Does this apply to museum shops? Let's say a shop went a long time without any orders so it has been brought down on the board. Is bumping it back up for relevance allowed or is it not considered a trade thread?

Well, I'd think the museum would count as a trading board so I wouldn't worry about that.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

Posting about negativity constantly is what the What's Bothering You tread exists for lol (never not grateful for that thread, feels nice to be able to vent here).

 

[ali.di.magix]

Posting about negativity constantly is what the What's Bothering You tread exists for lol (never not grateful for that thread, feels nice to be able to vent here).

Yeah that is true ^^" I guess that thread and some like threads would be exempt from the rule, as people can probably tell from the title that it will be a generally negative thread.

 

[Alienfish]

Was not aware of people farming bells by copying large chunks of text, wow.

Yeah same.. I def. don't do that and if I need to copy I only do it for myself to like a document so I remember maybe or just, yeah use a quote block and link the sauce if needed.

However though, I think that mini-mod rules is a bit vague and I think it should maybe be "don't respond at all and just report", i mean it's even more confusing if people do and i think some do because just saying you shouldn't is a bit vague plus people might do it still if they don't "know" and you are still "allowed", unless I read it wrong.

Also might want to clarify "negativity", like does it mean you can't post negative opinions or just don't flame which is more obvious? should maybe post like "Don't make negative flame replies only" or such.

Glad with the bump rules, seen a bit too many nontrades getting those.

 

[duckykate]

thank you for the new rule about constant negativity!

 

[Dinosaurz]

Constant negativity? Whoops looks like I’m getting banned

 

[Alienfish]

Constant negativity? Whoops looks like I’m getting banned

Same lol, unless they'd clarify what they mean aside from obvious flame troll threads.

Anyway good job staff otherwise

 

[seliph]

thank you father jeremy for the negativity rule -praying emoji-

(they're all good additions ofc but especially that one)

 

[Jeremy]

I like that the new bump rule has been added, I've seen people bump -not trading- threads just to bump them with no context to add. Like, I guess it was for visibility.

I do have a question about this one thou. Does this apply to museum shops? Let's say a shop went a long time without any orders so it has been brought down on the board. Is bumping it back up for relevance allowed or is it not considered a trade thread?

The Museum Shop is a trading board, so it's fine to bump threads in there every four hours!

Posting about negativity constantly is what the What's Bothering You tread exists for lol (never not grateful for that thread, feels nice to be able to vent here).

Also might want to clarify "negativity", like does it mean you can't post negative opinions or just don't flame which is more obvious? should maybe post like "Don't make negative flame replies only" or such.

I should stress that this rule is really only meant for extreme cases and the majority of people won't have to worry about it. Negativity itself is allowed on the forum and it's not our intention to make TBT some sort of super optimistic utopia where everyone has a forced smile on their face. But there's also a point where negativity and pessimism can go too far. For example, if the same user visits multiple threads and is constantly very negative about the topics, doesn't participate in the discussions without reaffirming their overwhelming negative feelings, and constantly steers the discussions back to their own personal opinions, it creates a toxic environment on the forum that we'd like to avoid. A similar rule has already existed in the Discord rules.

However though, I think that mini-mod rules is a bit vague and I think it should maybe be "don't respond at all and just report", i mean it's even more confusing if people do and i think some do because just saying you shouldn't is a bit vague plus people might do it still if they don't "know" and you are still "allowed", unless I read it wrong.

This is basically what the rules states. It has always been the case, but we wanted it to be explicitly written. Our warning category is also called "mini-modding," but we never actually used this term in the rules until now.

For those who are unfamiliar with this, we want people to report something that's wrong instead of reply themselves. For example, even with something as innocent as a misplaced thread, a user may have good intentions by telling them that it's in the wrong board, but it actually does more harm than good. We've seen cases where the person gives them the wrong information. Even more common is that the person who made the thread, who's usually newly registered, will repost it in the correct board, leaving us with duplicate threads for the same thing. This is why it's better to simply report the thread so a moderator can move it. The same goes for other things such as a heated argument that's going out of control.

 

[Alienfish]

Thanks for clarifying, Jeremy It makes more sense now and while I understand that "smiling happy place" was not the intended interpret I kinda wanted to make sure because some topics are quite like "fanbase only" and you can't write constructive replies almost at all and people might think said person posts the same content everywhere.

And yeah about the other, I definitely understand, I just think it's best to put it as concretely as possible for the sake of it getting read properly as well. From the Rules "Responding to this yourself is considered mini-modding and can cause unnecessary confusion." i think is almost more confusion as it it would pseudo-allow people to do it, even though I understand you don't want to write in big red bold letters DON'T POST, but maybe making that text bold or clarifying more. It def.made sense in your example with wrong board like above but yeah just for people think it'd be more alright to do so.

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

Thank you for the clarifications and updates, Jeremy!

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I should stress that this rule is really only meant for extreme cases and the majority of people won't have to worry about it. Negativity itself is allowed on the forum and it's not our intention to make TBT some sort of super optimistic utopia where everyone has a forced smile on their face. But there's also a point where negativity and pessimism can go too far. For example, if the same user visits multiple threads and is constantly very negative about the topics, doesn't participate in the discussions without reaffirming their overwhelming negative feelings, and constantly steers the discussions back to their own personal opinions, it creates a toxic environment on the forum that we'd like to avoid. A similar rule has already existed in the Discord rules.

I agree that excessive negativity is unnecessary and even uncalled for. I've seen instances on specific video game discussions where people are overwhelmingly negative about the topic without a clear justification, or they complain just to hear themselves complain. This is a really good rule to add, seeing negativity in places where it shouldnt be just ruins the atmosphoere of an otherwise very friendly forum.

 

[Alienfish]

I agree that excessive negativity is unnecessary and even uncalled for. I've seen instances on specific video game discussions where people are overwhelmingly negative about the topic without a clear justification, or they complain just to hear themselves complain. This is a really good rule to add, seeing negativity in places where it shouldnt be just ruins the atmosphoere of an otherwise very friendly forum.

I agree, however as long as you don't go extreme lengths and start flaming people for liking or disliking you should be allowed to have opinions :3

 

[Zura]

Constant negativity? Whoops looks like I?m getting banned

Same lol, unless they'd clarify what they mean aside from obvious flame troll threads.

Anyway good job staff otherwise

Better be on our best behavior

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I agree, however as long as you don't go extreme lengths and start flaming people for liking or disliking you should be allowed to have opinions :3

Yeah it just gets annoying when they whine about it. I don't mind people sharing their opinion but when they start to get defensive and go on rude rants then it becomes uncalled for.

 

[Alienfish]

Yeah it just gets annoying when they whine about it. I don't mind people sharing their opinion but when they start to get defensive and go on rude rants then it becomes uncalled for.

I think they are being defensive because it's kinda common some places have one "valid/popular" opinion and if you go against that you get kind of attacked so yeah.

Not gonna drag this on though.

 

[cornimer]

Thank you for the new rules, some of these were very much needed and it'salways good to have more clarifications glad to see a rule against excessive negativity as it definitely can ruin the mood of the forum

 

[Zura]

Quick question, if someone does bump a non trading board thread, will that post be removed?