2.0 Courtesy (No Flaming)
Simply, be respectful of other forum users. If you can't control the urge, go somewhere else.
In the past, MTS has taken a beating in public opinion for condoning inflammatory, offensive and ugly forum behavior. To an extent, this was true and while it looked crude to outsiders, it was more or less acceptable when the site was small, and when many of the posters knew each other and didn’t take the vulgarity and flaming personally.
As Legacy has grown after the September 1, 2004 Type 1/1.5 banned list split, so has the membership of this site. Accordingly, we’re taking inflammatory posts seriously these days and far less tolerant of flaming/insulting users of this site.
The short of it is this: be respectful and decent to others -- both publicly (forum posts) and privately (PMs). If you see someone acting like a raging douche bag to you or someone else, Report the Post to the site staff. (It’s that little red triangle in the bottom left-hand panel in every post.) Engaging trolls and responding to flame-bait will get you a warning, so just ignore them and report it to us.
If you’re looking to get banned from MTS, flaming others is the quickest way to get that job done.
Last, a Note about Private Messages. While the threshold for flames and insults are lower in the public areas of MTS, if you're using the forum software to deliver insults and harassing comments via Private Message (PM), that is not acceptable either. While we ask that you attempt to resolve the conflict through less formal means at first, if you continue to receive derogatory and insulting messages via PM, forward the message(s) to a mod/admin and we'll take care of it. Harassment of other users via PM may result in warnings, up to a site ban.
3.0 Lack of Content (No Spam)
Ever since Internet bulletin boards and Usenet newsgroups sprang up in the early 90s’, we’ve all had to deal with worthless posts and ideas - honestly, far too many of them. At MTS, posting without meaningful and relevant content is the easiest way to get a thread locked. Before you post, ask yourself if anyone cares what you have to say on the topic. If no one will, keep your thoughts to yourself.
Other posts falling into this category:
- Posting decklists without content. Those will be locked as soon as we see it. There's no hard and fast rule about how much content you need with a new deck, but it should be it should cover the basics (e.g. why the deck is worth playing, notable card choices, what relative advantages/disadvantages it has over decks with a similar strategy, etc.)
- One-liners or even one-word posts. There's a fine line between wit and spam.
- Hijacking threads with off-topic posts. Stay on topic and make your posts in the appropriate thread to keep the discussion on-track and relevant.
In general, strive to add worthwhile information and perspective to the discussion at hand.
Important Note: The Decks to Beat Forum (D2B) has the harshest of all posting quality standards on this site. When that forum was first created, we discussed if only Adepts and above should be able to post there. In the end we settled on a compromise that all users can post there, but that the posting standards in the D2B are higher than the rest of this site. This means, no one-liners, poorly written posts, or other superfluous junk. Treat it like a temple and leave the garbage outside (preferably, on another site).
4.0 Intellectual Honesty (Model Posting)
The guidelines in the sections above establish the minimum standards of conduct at MTS; basically: 1) have a functional grasp of the English language, 2) be decent to others on this site, and 3) don't post garbage. However, as MTS is primarily a discussion and debate forum, we hope that all contributors to this site demonstrate and promote intellectual honesty in the presentation of their ideas.
Below are some guidelines to keep discussions on this site intellectually honest.
4.1: Above all, be honest and don't lie.
4.2: Criticize faulty lines of logic or incomplete reasoning, but don't personally attack a person making an argument. (see ad hominem attack)
4:3 Don't twist or misrepresent an opposing point of view for the purpose of easily refuting it. (see straw man)
4.4: Don't purposefully omit key facts or information that contradicts your point of view.
4.5: Check your facts.
4.6: Be willing to...
- Admit when you are wrong
- Acknowledge weaknesses in your argument
- Analyze your own biases and assumptions
- Be open to reasonable alternative points of view
Note that this section is framed as "model posting." If we seeing site users burning down straw men, not fully disclosing weaknesses in their arguments, not fully researching facts, etc. we're not going to issue warnings or do anything else punitive at a formal level. Rather, these are the guidelines we hope all posters can abide and embrace.
Lastly, nothing in this section applies to pre/post tournament trash talking.
7.0 Warnings and Bannings
If we see you violating the Site Rules listed above, you're going to get a warning. If you receive three (3) full warnings, you’ll be banned from the site. It’s as simple as that. While we usually don't enjoy banning users, if a few disruptive and problematic users lose their posting privileges to increase the value of this site for everyone else, we're cool with that. Warnings are partly punitive ("knock it off"); partly a tip to other posters on where the line for acceptable forum behavior lies.
The Mods/Admins will make it clear what you’re being warned for and it will usually be a violation of a rule found above, though there may be fringe cases that we haven’t considered.
The Mods/Admins may issue verbal warnings for minor infractions of the rules, but repeated violations of that rule (awful grammar, for instance) will quickly turn into a full warning. If you’re egregiously violating a rule -- especially flaming -- we’ll issue a full warning from the start. When the staff feels it necessary, we may ban users who have less than three warnings. It will be for cause and it will be for the good of all.
Going back to the opening post above, if you're decent to others and make positive contributions to the public discussions on MTS, you have nothing to worry about.
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These "Site Rules" are the property of MTG: The Source, (c) 2007.
Appendix A. Basic Legacy Resources
Appendix B. Frequently Asked Questions for New Users
This section by Nightmare
What is Legacy?
Legacy is one of the two Eternal formats, sometimes referred to as "Type 1.5." It was initially created as an attachment to Vintage (Type 1, the other Eternal format) which used both the Type 1 banned and restricted lists as its banned list. During this time, The Source was a small community of players, mostly in the Syracuse, NY and Northern Virginia areas, who were keen to develop it into a serious format.
In September 2004, the Duelists Convocation International (DCI) separated the Type 1 Banned list from Type 1.5 (which was eventually named "Legacy" after a community vote) after years of urging from the Type 1 community. After an initial upsurge of frustration from The Source, the community settled down and developed most of the tier 1 decks you see today. Since the splitting of the lists, there has been a small but significant push from Wizards and the DCI to make Legacy a competitive format on a larger level, most easily seen through the Legacy Grand Prix tournaments in the US and Europe that occur roughly once every year and a half. These events have been largely successful, and are expected to continue as long as attendance continues to be excellent.
Why should I play Legacy?
Legacy is one of only two formats which do not rotate. In Standard or Extended, you may play one deck today, and tomorrow the deck could be unviable or even unplayable. With Legacy, you don’t have the same level of concern. Along with this, cards used in staple decks in Legacy hold their value much longer and better than those made popular in Standard or Extended. Since the format doesn’t rotate, there is less chance of cards falling out of favor and their price to drop considerably. Players who have been in the game for a long time frequently look to Legacy as a place where their old cards are still playable, and don’t need to keep up with as much of the new sets continually released.
Wizards has designed Legacy to be a format with a relatively low entry-cost. Barring Dual Lands and a few cards such as Force of Will, the cost of playing and maintaining a Legacy collection is much less than playing the Standard format or Limited. While there may be a higher startup cost, once you have the cards, you don’t need to worry about constantly getting more. Its much more economical to wait for the good cards in a new set to present themselves and settle in price, than to buy boxes to get the Standard staples of the month. On the other side of this, it is also a much cheaper format to play than Vintage, even with the rise in popularity of ten proxy tournaments.
What is The Source?
The Source is an online community of members who play, debate, theorize and enjoy the Legacy format. It has the most Legacy content of any major Magic: the Gathering site, and its members are some of the most prominent and proficient Legacy players out there. It is a site for the development and refinement of Legacy decks, as well as a community of people with common interests. It is a great place to post your deck and get critique from people who have a high level of knowledge and experience in the format, post tournament reports, announce upcoming tournaments in your area, discuss format development, DCI policy, etc.
Ok, I have a deck I want to post. Where should I post it?
Chances are, your deck is fairly undeveloped. For this reason, you should post it in the New and Developmental Forum. This area is for decks which have not been tuned, and a great place to get input on new deck ideas.
I put my deck there, and everyone said its bad. What the heck?
Don’t be discouraged. Take some time to test out the new ideas the other members have presented, and see how they may improve the deck. If you decide your way was better, you are encouraged to come back with results and show them why they were wrong. One thing to make sure you don’t do, on the other hand, is to insist that your ideas are correct without any kind of testing or results to back them up. Even if an idea seems like it's great on paper, it doesn't always pan out that way in real life.
Okay, I want to test some of these ideas. Unfortunately (my area isn’t big on Legacy/I don’t know anyone to test with/I’ve outgrown my other testing partners/etc.). What can I do?
A. Fear not, the wonders of the internet have fixed the problem. Go to www.magicworkstation.com and follow their guide to download and install Workstation (MWS). Once you have it installed, get familiar with the gameplay on it, and when you feel you are ready, log on and test with people. Be wary, MWS has a wide range of players, whose skill and knowledge is just as varied. Messaging members on The Source and asking for testing help is a good way to go about it as well.
what hppns if I want 2 tpye liek this?
One thing that is not tolerated on The Source is poor typing and grammar. A few members are from countries outside the U.S., and English is not their primary language. This is accepted. However, typing like you are on Instant Messenger or being lazy with grammar and spelling is not acceptable. Please be aware of the forum rules above.
Some people on this site are real jerks. Did you know that?
Yes. Unfortunately, the Mod/Adept team can’t sway the entire board to be the fine, respectable citizens that they themselves are. They do try. If you have any complaints about specific users or a specific post, feel free to Private Message an Admin/Moderator or "Report the Post" (that triangle-thing in the bottom of the left-hand panel of every post), and they will handle it. On your end of things, if you make a concentrated effort to post well thought-out, intelligent, relevant posts (aside from the Mish-Mash Forum, of course), it will go a long way toward receiving the kind of feedback you are looking for.
Why are some usernames in a different color than mine?
The Source uses a color-coded system to differentiate between the various user groups of members on the site.
Blue: These are the regular users of the site; they have regular posting priviliges in all open forums on the site, can start new threads, etc.
Teal: These are the site contributors; Users that have contributed money to support the ongoing costs for running the site.
Purple: These are the moderators of the site; other than some privileges that administrators have (e.g. to ban people, create new forums, etc.), moderators and administrators do the same basic thing: try to keep the site running and enforce the rules above
Red: These are the administrators of the site (they can ban you -- they will if you're stinking up the site)