Comic Creators: Rules and Guidelines

[The Admin]

Comic Creators Forum Rules & Guidelines

Welcome to Comic Creators! The Comic Creators forum is a discussion forum specifically for comic works of your own making. Feel free to post pictures of your sequential work in progress, discuss your own stories, ask for help, and discuss anything else related to the creation of your own comics/manga. Independent comics, webcomics, and doujinshi can also be discussed here.

This forum is not for the discussion of professionally published titles--please use the Anime/Manga/Comics forum.

As a member, it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the forum's rules before posting. Posting in this forum implies that you read and understand the rules and guidelines and that you accept responsibility for the appropriateness of your thread or post.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  
• General Posting Guidelines
  
• Guidelines for Posting in Comic Creators
  
• How to Report

[The Admin]

General Posting Guidelines

Please be sure to follow the Terms of Service and Rules and Guidelines here, as in all forums.

Common violations to avoid:

Spam: Posts that are gibberish, off-topic, contain advertisements or begging, or have low or no content are considered spam. Please ensure that your posts are on topic and contain an appropriate amount of discussable content.

Flaming & trolling: Posts directed at another member which are hateful, abusive, or intentionally inflammatory are considered flaming. Making intentionally inflammatory or provocative posts to incite responses from other members is considered trolling.

Sexually explicit content: Posting, requesting, distributing, or offering sexually explicit material is not permitted anywhere on Gaia. Sexually explicit content includes explicit photographs, text, artwork, video, or cybersex conversations.

Art theft/Plagiarism: Claiming another person's work as your own or posting artwork that has been copied or traced from other people's artwork, or images created using other people's artwork without permission and credit is considered art theft. Art theft and plagiarism should be reported with a link to the original work.

Scamming: Taking or attempting to take another member's gold, items, or efforts, through false promises, deception, tricks or get-rich-quick schemes is considered scamming and is not tolerated on Gaia.

Copyrighted Materials: Posting, requesting or linking to copyrighted materials, such as mp3s, movies, TV episodes, or computer software is not permitted on Gaia.

Terms of Service violations may result in a warning or a ban on your account.

If you find Terms of Service violations, or threads that may need moved to a different forum, please use an appropriate report. The procedures for doing so can be found here.

You can find online moderators by following the "View Forum Moderators" link at the top of the forum.


Gaia Staff will NEVER ask for your password! If anyone asks you for your password, report it.

[The Admin]

Guidelines for Posting in Comic Creators

Please read these guidelines and try to follow them, so that our Comic Creators subforum is enjoyable for everyone who visits here. These guidelines are in accordance with the Terms of Service and Rules & Guidelines for Gaia, and this subforum still falls under the same Rules & Guidelines for Art Discussion.


Tips for Posting

• Look Around First
  As with all the forums, it helps a lot to read the rules, and then browse a few of the active threads on the first page to get a feel for the flow of the forum. The regulars will appreciate it greatly as well.
  
  
• Do Not Request Ideas
  This is a Comic Creator's forum. If you need people to give you new ideas for your own work, you might want to rethink even creating a comic or story - it's not as though the work stops after completing one story or comic. You'll always need ideas if you want to keep making comics, and asking other people for it can also result in copyright/legal issues. So don't do it.
  
  
• Getting Help
  Most people are happy to help when asked, but please keep these things in mind when requesting help:
  
  • Spelling - If no one can understand what you're saying, it will be very difficult to respond to you. So try your best to keep your questions literate.
    
  • Duplicate Threads - A previous thread may already exist that answers your question. This is another reason why it's a good idea to look around first and make sure your question hasn't already been covered.
  
  
• Thread Necromancy
  Do not bump/respond to threads over a month old - it clutters up the forum and may bring up old arguments. It's fine to make a new thread if you have something new to add to the discussion.
  
  
• Bumps
  This is a very slow discussion forum. There is no need to bump a post unless it is in danger of falling off the second page and has not been responded to. Otherwise, bumps are not permitted if you are just trying to keep a thread alive - please use the chatterbox for that kind of thread. Bumping is considered spam, and spamming can result in a warning against your account.

Threads That DO Belong in This Forum

These are some examples of threads that are acceptable discussion for this subforum.

• Manga Creation
  Feel free to post your personal creations for constructive criticism - better to have sequential pages but concepts and character designs are fine as long as it's not standalone artwork.
  
  
• Looking for a Writer/Artist/Circle
  If you're looking for a writer or artist to help you, or would like to join a collaborative project.
  
  
• Comic Making Supplies and/or Techniques
  Share techniques, ask questions, and get reviews.
  
  
• Getting Published
  Get advice about companies/methods, or see if you're ready for an updating schedule.
  
  
• Scriptwriting for Comics
  The writing side of comics, story ideas, plots, and getting help with comic writing.
  
  
• Storyboarding/Layouts
  Post preliminary work for a comic, or get help with making your initial concepts clearer.
  
  
• Other Independent Comics/Webcomics (non-professionally published works)
  Talk about other people's comics that are independently created.

Threads That DO NOT Belong in This Forum

• Professional Comics
  Discussions about professionally published comics should still be discussed in Anime/Manga/Comics.
  
  
• Promotions
  Promoting (linking to it for more visitors) your comic should go in Promotions.
  
  
• Gaia Sprite-Based Comics
  Sprite comics made using Gaia avatars belong in Avatar Talk.
  
  
• Shops
  Selling artwork or graphics for Gaia gold and/or items belongs in Mini Shops and its respective subforums.
  
  
• Single Images
  Post a single piece of artwork for comments and critique in Picture Post.
  
  
• Guru / Information Threads
  Threads meant to display as much information as possible regarding a topic or where the point of the thread is to generate "ask questions, get answers" sessions regarding a topic. Do not make these kind of threads in this forum.
  
  
• Low content / unstructured threads
  Topics that are too general or can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no" lack discussable content. When asking a question please include enough specific detail to enable others to respond accurately.

If you find a thread that should be in a different forum, please use the Report This Thread button to report the thread so it can be moved to the correct area.

[The Admin]

How to Report

Abuse of the report system will result in a warning or ban of your account.

Report a Post

Use the button when an individual post in a topic contains inappropriate content.

Reasons to Report a Post:


• The content of the post violates the Terms of Service or forum rules.
  
  
• The content of the post is off-topic.
  
  
• The member who made the post has a signature which violates the rules.

Report a Topic

Use the Report this Topic button at the bottom of the page when a topic is not appropriate for the forum.

Reasons to Report a Topic:


• The topic violates the Terms of Service or forum rules.
  
  
• The topic is in the wrong forum and should be moved to a more appropriate forum.

If you need to contact a moderator via Private Message, please use the "View Forum Moderator" link at the top of this forum to find a moderator.



Report Hacking, Scamming or Abuse & Harassment?

The Hacking, Scamming and Abuse or Harassment report forms can be found at the bottom of the forum index. When submitting a report, ensure that you fill out all fields and include as much relevant information as possible.

Report A Hacking
Use this form to report a Hacking. Hacking, on Gaia Online, refers to the unauthorized access of an account by someone other than the account owner. In most typical hacking cases, an unauthorized person enters an account which does not belong to him or her and takes items or gold from the account, often changing the account information so that the original owner can no longer access his or her account.

Report A Scamming
Use this form to report a Scamming. Scamming is when another member of Gaia takes your gold or items, or tries to take your gold or items, by making false promises of giving you rare items, get-rich-quick schemes, or by any other deceptive means. Scamming generally involves a situation in which two members of Gaia make an arrangement to trade gold, items, or a Gaia approved service (e.g. avatar art commission) with each other and then one of the parties involved in the arrangement fails to live up to his or her promise of an exchange.

Report Abuse or Harassment
Use this form to report ongoing Abuse or Harassment. If you are reporting harassment or abuse that is occurring directly in a thread, please use the "Report This Post" button instead.