The Rules (updated 2013-03-18)

[Aeolus]

Welcome to Smogon.com, the preeminent site for competitive Pokemon on the internet! We hope you find your time here enjoyable and informative, but we must lay down some ground rules to help maintain the high level of quality of our forums. We cannot stress enough that Smogon's rules and expectations are a bit different from those found elsewhere on the internet, especially in the sub-forums. The Smogon moderation staff assumes that you have thoroughly read the general rules and those specific to the sub-forums in which you choose to post. Full compliance is required; loss of privileges will result if your posting habits are not up to scratch. The following are general rules which are enforced in all sub-forums. Be aware that moderator discretion is supreme in all cases.

• No open proxies. If you are using an open proxy, you will be IP banned.
• Do NOT organize trolls here. If you post here about how you've been trolling a forum, you will receive a warning. You aren't safe in "a forum" either.
• If you get a warning, and you want to reply to it, think long and hard about that reply. If you respond with flames, sass, etc., you will get a harsher warning. This applies to harassment of staff outside of the forums for performing their moderating duties.
• Do not disrespect the hard work of the Smogon staff. Suggestions are encouraged, but keep it constructive and polite. Further, though it should go without saying, insults and condescension are included under the umbrella of "disrespect", so be careful in your discourse with the staff.
• No staff impersonation. This includes any attempt to appear to have certain abilities not possessed; such as using badges as an avatar, using a similar name or other earmarks of staff, or claiming verbally to be staff.
• Do not be a junior mod. This means that you are not to make posts like: “In before lock” “Ban this guy!” “This is a bad thread!” “Off to Trou with this one!” The Smogon moderation staff is more than capable of maintaining these forums; please let them do so without your interference.
• Do not advertise other sites, especially those related to Pokemon. Do not link to them in your posts or in your signature. We are not interested in learning more about your upstart clan or anything else of that nature. There is a line between linking to another site for informational purposes and making an attempt to promote another site; we know the difference.
• Outside of "a forum", trolling is not allowed. This means keep purely joke posts and one word replies out of the serious forums. If you do not have something substantial to contribute to a thread, do not bother posting. Just think to yourself, "Does my post add something to this thread?" If the answer is no, think twice about hitting that submit button.
• This is an English forum. Post in English. Unless your topic is specifically about posting in Spanish or something similar, there is no reason to not post in English.
• Employ the conventions of standard written English. Nobody is going to jump down your throat if you make a spelling mistake or split an infinitive, but please, your posts MUST be readable. As you might imagine, l33t 5p34k and other intentional misspellings (u, liek, etc.) are expressly banned. Spell out "you" and "your" instead of typing "u" or "ur." Don't be lazy!
• Do not bump old threads except where explicitly allowed. Making meaningless posts in threads that have long since died is strictly prohibited. If you have something of consequence you’d like to add to a thread that has fallen off the front page, feel free to do so. All “bump” “to the top” etc. posts will be warned and deleted without exception.
• Do not register multiple accounts, ever. This is self explanatory. If you create an alternate account when warned or banned, your ban will be extended or made permanent.
• Do not flame or abuse other members. The anonymity of the internet does not give you a license to treat the users of this forum disrespectfully. Of course, posts in Firebot may be an exception, but please refer to the rules of that forum. This rule goes at least triple if the member in question is a moderator or administrator, as alluded to above.
• Do not post illegal stuff here! This includes links to ROMs, warez, or anything of the sort. If it's illegal, do not link to it here.
• General stupidity is banned. This includes linking to porn sites, shock sites, “lol cats” or anything else in that vein. Similarly, we'd ask you to only discuss the anime in Orange Islands. The majority of Smogon is interested in the competitive aspect of Pokemon, not whether or not Ash beat Lt. Surge on his first try! The discretion of the moderators is supreme in the enforcement of all rules, this one especially.
• Do not create threads that do not support discussion. Creating an entire thread to ask a simple question is not acceptable; do a Google search for that stuff. All thread starters are required to provide a good basis for discussion in their opening post.
• Do not disparage other internet sites here, especially other Pokemon communities. We are not interested in your trolling episodes- we are above that here at Smogon. Please keep all negative comments about other sites to yourself.
• Do not flood or double post. If you have something more to add to a post you have made, please edit it rather than creating a second post.
• If your post or thread is edited or deleted by a moderator, do not remake it. It was altered for a reason, and there is nothing else that will earn you an infraction faster than this.
• Post all threads in the correct forum. The topic of your thread determines the most appropriate location. For example, you would not post a serious political debate in Dragonspiral Tower or a discussion of Starmie’s prowess in "a forum". It is fairly easy for us to move threads, but it would be nice if you would be conscientious enough to make your threads in the correct places.
• Do not send mass PM's for any purpose, especially advertising. Please forward any such PM's to a Super Mod or Administrator if you receive one so that the offender can be dealt with.
• All signatures must be at least 100 pixels tall when the signature area is viewed with a width of 500 pixels at the default font size. It must scroll horizontally at this size. This rule applies to all members.
• Because of COPPA, we strictly enforce our age policy. If we somehow determine, or if you announce that you are under the age of 13, you will be banned immediately. No exceptions.
• Do not link to shock sites, rick rolls, or other sites designed to scare and/or annoy the person accessing the site. This goes for signatures too.
• Read the rules of the sub-forum in which you would like to post before posting. Here are links to each of the rules threads which have been stickied in their respective forums.

Pokemon
Smogon Metagames
- Overused
- Ubers
- UnderUsed
- RarelyUsed
- NeverUsed
- Little Cup
- Ruins of Alph
- Other Metagames

Nintendo Formats
- VGC
- Global Battle Union
- TCG

Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi Tournaments
- Local Tournaments

Orange Islands

Competitive
Tournaments
Battling 101
Rate My Team

Contributions & Corrections
- C&C General Information
- Analysis Formatting Guide
- Quality Control Documentation
Projects
- Translation Projects

Site & Projects
Pokemon Showdown! forum
The Smog
- The Smogcast
- Smogon YouTube
Create-A-Pokemon
Suggestion Box

Socialization in the Empire
a forum
- Sports Arena
Circus Maximus
- CAP ASB
Smeargle's Studio



And that is all you need to know about the rules of Smogon! We also invite you, however, to read this wonderful thread on The Philosophy of Smogon as it may provide additional insight that will make your stay here more fruitful!


Thank you,
The Smogon Community