The PokéBeach Master Document - Rules & Information
Rules, Features, Staff, FAQ, and more.
By Water Pokémon Master & Shining Raikou
Rules, Features, Staff, FAQ, and more.
By Water Pokémon Master & Shining Raikou
Account Rules
Like all websites, PokéBeach's forums have common-sense rules that all members must abide by. In addition to the rules listed below, please abide by any forum-specific rules stickied to the top of a forum.
Although these rules are designed for the forums, they also apply to all parts of PokéBeach where applicable, including TCG One, Pokémon Showdown, and our chat room. If you break these rules or the "spirit" of them on those areas of the website, it will impact your ability to access all other parts of the website.
1. Treat other members with respect.
Feel free to disagree with another member and to deconstruct or even tear apart their arguments. But never attack or flame other members with slander, libel, cussing, insults, or ad hominem. Everyone here is human (unless you’re a talking Meowth) and deserves to be treated like one.
2. Make meaningful, relevant, and detailed posts.
This forum is not a chat room, nor is it Twitter. You are not texting a friend. A forum is a medium where you record your thoughts in detail and provide meaningful reasons for your opinion.
Sentence-long replies, posts saying “Your deck is good,” “These new cards are terrible,” “This episode was awesome,” “I agree,” “Thank you,” “+1,” etc. have no intellectual value and rarely spark fruitful discussion (if any discussion at all). Such SPAM posts will be deleted on sight and warnings will be issued without hesitation. Use the “Like” button, profile comments, or PMs in place of making shallow comments to someone. If you have nothing meaningful to say for a certain topic, it's best to not make a post!
For quicker discussions in real time, PokéBeach also has a popular chat room you can use.
3. Use proper spelling and grammar.
“Tipig l1k di$!” does not portray your thoughts in the best light and makes the forums look trashy. These posts will be deleted on sight and warnings will be issued without hesitation. Warnings will also be given out to members who consistently fail to use correct capitalization, apostrophes, etc. Take pride in your writing!
4. Use specific thread titles.
Make sure a thread's title gives a clear and specific idea of its content. Never name a thread "Best deck ever" or "Can you help me?" Give them specific titles so people know what to expect when they open your thread, such as “How many versions of Base Set Charizard are there?”
5. Do not mini-mod.
It is not a member’s responsibility to scold other members for breaking the rules. However, we greatly appreciate members using the “Report” button to report perceived rule violations to moderators.
6. Do not impersonate a member or staff member.
Please do not appear as or impersonate any member on the site, or use a staff members past or present avatar, userbars, badges, or other information pertaining to them as your own on the site.
7. The following things are prohibited across PokéBeach:
- Uncouth discussion about drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and illegal activities.
- Sexual or pornographic content.
- Anything discriminating against a race/group/sex/nationality/etc.
- Broad “catch all” topics that would discourage prolific, meaningful threads from being created (such as a “Celebrity Death Thread” for all celebrity deaths).
What is considered “advertising” depends on a variety of factors and is at the discretion of the staff. In most cases it is acceptable to link to other sites when they have relevant content that PokéBeach would not have. But in general, you should not undermine PokéBeach’s efforts by directing members to other Pokémon sites with similar content, advertise websites you work for, or lead our members to register at other sites. You may, however, link to your personal websites on your profile page or in your signature if done so in an unsoliciting manner.
9. You can only use one PokéBeach account.
Never register another account or use another member’s account. We regularly run various checks to make sure each user is only using one account. If you have trouble logging into your existing account, e-mail [email protected] for assistance. You, and you alone, are responsible for your account and anything that happens on it. If you have family members who want to register here, you must notify Shining Raikou or Juliacoolo before they register or both accounts could get banned.
10. If you wish to protest a rule violation, do so in private.
Use the PM system to contact the mod who issued you a warning for the violation and try to work it out with him or her (do not IM them, e-mail them, post about it in public here or elsewhere, or contact them through any other method). All violations and protests are kept private and the same is expected of you. If you still feel you have been warned unfairly or that a moderator is not using good judgment, please PM another super moderator or forum admin to report your concerns. Do not do this lightly, however, as blindly protesting valid moderation could lead to further warnings.
11. By logging in to this website or using it any way, you agree to the website's terms of service and rules.
If you have questions about the rules, please do not hesitate to ask here or PM a staff member. We are here to answer your questions and do not generally bite unless you’re made of chocolate... in which case, what the heck are you and how are you browsing the Internet?
The Warning System: Consequences for Breaking Rules
PokéBeach has a warning system that operates on points. Each time a rule is broken, members will receive between 0 and 10 points based on the severity of their offense and that member's history of rule breaking.
Each warning will expire after a certain amount of time, which varies according to the severity of the offense. If you are given a warning, you'll be notified through a private message. This message will include the warning reason, the amount of warning points, and the duration of the warning. Only the staff can see infractions you've received.
The staff also have the option of posting public warnings over your posts. For example, if you make a shallow post, we may tag it as such so that other members see it as an example of what not to do.
If you reach 10 warning points, you will be banned from the forums and the chat room. If you behave badly on those portions of the website, you'll in turn be banned from the forums and all other areas of the website as well.
Warning Classifications
- Null Warning: This warning is worth 0 points. If you're a new member or have a history of following the rules, we'll still give you this warning so you know what to fix going forward. This is just a friendly reminder to follow the rules.
- Normal Warning - The range of points for this type of warning is usually 2-4 points. This is for members who should know better or for a blatant rule violation that no one should ever do (such as cussing someone out or making a very shallow post).
- Severe Warning - The range of these warnings are usually 5+ points, depending on the offense and situation. Someone who has not changed despite previous warnings or who does something with ill intent will get a severe warning.
- Banned - If you happen to receive a total of 10 warning points, your account will be banned and you won't be able to view the forums or the chat room. You will be placed into a special banned user group that can only see the "Ban Appeal" forum. In the "Ban Appeal" forum, you will need to type up an appeal to the PokéBeach Staff in order for them to consider letting you back on the website.
- Permaban - If you knowingly and willingly do something with ill intent, and the act is extreme or repeated from an earlier incident, your account will be permanently banned and you will not be allowed to appeal your ban in the “Ban Appeal Forum.” You will be blacklisted from the entire site, including PokéBeach's activities, tournaments and the chat room.
