Friends Chat Rules & Guidelines

[admin]

Friends Chat Forum Rules and Guidelines

Welcome to the Friends Chat subforum! Friends Chat is intended for users to hang out and make new friends.


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.

Navigation:
What Belongs in the Friends Chat subforum
What Does Not Belong in the Friends Chat subforum
General Posting Guidelines
How to Report

[admin]

What Belongs in the Friends Chat Sub Forum

Friend Request Threads
When making a thread for requesting friends you should make sure to put somewhere in your post or in the thread title that you want to request friends.

Hangout/Chat Threads
When making a hangout thread it would be best if you put in your post or in the thread title the word "hangout" or "Chat." Note however, that just adding "this is a chat" to the bottom of your post isn't enough. Low content/spam threads are not allowed in the Friends Chat forum and will be moved. Though discussion topics aren't allowed either, threads posted in Friends Chat should still have some sort of substance to them. The point is to make a thread that will hopefully last as a chat/hangout.

This means that one sentence threads probably aren't enough to generate a good response. If you are making a chat/hangout, be sure to add in some conversation starters - something that requires more than a "yes" or "no" answer.

Boyfriend/Girlfriend Threads
The Friends Chat sub forum allows threads asking for online dating. Please take a moment to read the Online Dating sticky on this topic. There is a zero tolerance on flaming and trolling in these types of threads.

Adopt Me/Adopt a Newbie Threads
Threads where a user wants to be adopted or threads where users can adopt newbies are allowed here. The aim of these threads is allow users to find other users who want to be adopted into Gaian families or get taken under the guidance of an older user.

Gaia Family Threads
Threads in which users can create family like bonds with other users are allowed here. Low content threads will be moved to the Chatterbox.

Celebration Threads
Threads that are solely to celebrate a user's birthday or an anniversary is allowed here. Low content threads will be moved to the Chatterbox.

Lite RP Hangout Threads
Chat or Hangout threads that involve a lite role play are allowed here. However, threads with more in depth or heavy role plays will be moved to the Barton Town Forum.

[admin]

What DOES NOT belong in the Friends Chat sub forum

Requesting Personal Information or Offline Meet Ups
For safety reasons, it is against Gaia's Terms of Service to post or request personal information such as real first names, home address, or phone and cellphone numbers. Any thread requesting personal information or to meet offline will be deleted.

Private/"My Friends Only" Threads
Threads where you wish to have private conversations with another person, or with only people on your friends list, is not permitted in this forum. While this forum is for chatting, these types of threads are very disrespectful to those who are searching for places to chat or to make friends. However, you may use the ignore feature of the friends list to keep people from posting on your thread, but specifically stating your thread is private and you don't want certain people in it is against the rules, and your thread will be moved to the Chatterbox.

Discussion/Debate threads
This forum is for lite chat, not for heavy discussions or debates. If you want to have a more constructive discussion or debate then you should use either the General Discussions forum or the Chatterbox.

Generic Party Threads
Party threads, whether they are a sleepover, pool party, etc. are not permitted in this forum. However, party threads celebrating a specific event (such as a birthday / anniversary / etc.) are exempt to this rule. Generic party threads will be moved to the Chatterbox.

Low Content Threads
The Friends Chat sub forum is for lite chatting. However, threads that are low content, bumping, gibberish, or otherwise spam will be moved to the Chatterbox.

"I'm Bored" Threads
Threads which just state "I'm Bored" is considered spam in this forum. Request for friends or state that you want to hang out or chat. Threads that just state "I'm Bored" will be moved to the Chatterbox.

Rate My Avatar Threads
Threads requesting to have their avatars rated are not allowed in this forum, and will be moved to either the Chatterbox or the Avatar Talk sub forum.

"Meet me in Gaia Towns/zOMG/Rally" Requests
Threads requesting for others to meet up in Gaia Towns, zOMG, or Rally are considered spam, and will be moved to the Chatterbox.

"Post your Pictures/Rate my Pictures" Threads
Threads requesting for others to post pictures, or rate pictures are not allowed in this forum, and will be moved to the Chatterbox.

Any of the above types of threads found in the Friends Chat sub forum will be moved by a Forum Assistant or a Moderator. Continued mis-posting can get you an official warning or even a ban if you continue to do it. Keep your threads in the right place and everyone will be happy.

[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:

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. There is a zero tolerance policy on this matter in this forum.

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.

Bumping. This forum is for casual chatting only, and if you do not get a good response in your thread, you can most likely find someone who is looking for a friend by looking around at other threads. There is no need to bump your thread up to the top of the forum.

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.

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 procedure for this may be found below.

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.

[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.