Community Guidelines
Retroland was founded on a simple principle: you are what you were. Every toy you treasured, every snack you savored, every road trip you took when you were wee has developed you into who you are today. Our past informs what we enjoy, and how we interact. Think about it: you're at a party surrounded by hordes of people you don't know, and you overhear a stranger across the room say "I loved my (Easy-Bake Oven, or Atari, or Big Wheel)!" And at that instant, there's a spark-- because their inner ten-year-old has connected with your inner ten-year-old.
We believe friendships can be built on the connection between Easy-Bake and your gourmet kitchen, Atari and your PlayStation addiction, Big Wheel and your chopped hog. We developed this site so that you can feel that spark of familiarity, that celebration of our youth and how it informs us today: Retroland. To foster that joyful feeling, we ask that while you're visiting, you follow these simple rules.
Retroland is like recess for all kinds of children-whether they're fifteen or fifty-but we're not on the playground anymore. Be respectful, please. We will not tolerate name-calling or personal attacks. You are more than welcome to disagree with any other member, but please voice your disagreement respectfully, without insult. Address the message, not the messenger.
Everyone is welcome at Retroland, and everyone has the right to feel comfortable here. We will not tolerate bigotry, whether it is implicitly or explicitly expressed. You have the right to any opinion about any race, religion, or sexual preference, but please refrain from actively expressing it while you are visiting our site. There is a fine line between racial humor and racist remarks. There is a fine line between respectfully disagreeing with someone’s choices and condemning them. If you are curious about the practices of a specific religion, you’re welcome to ask what the practices are. You’re welcome to ask why the person chooses to practice them. You’re welcome to say that the practices are not for you. But when you attack the person or the group to which they belong, your post will be deleted, and you will face suspension.
A day at Retroland should feel like a lazy summer Sunday: mellow, relaxing, and light-hearted. But we understand that you may need an outlet to rant about whatever thistle clung to you on your nature walk, so we've created a place for you to do so. Please limit all heated debates and controversial topics to the Debate Club. Our goal is to moderate conduct, not content. While our rules of conduct still stand at the Debate Club, controversial topics like religion or politics WILL be allowed in that forum only.
Remember the old Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the other"? Hula-hoops and Etch-a-Sketch are OK toys to discuss, but toys of a more mature nature aren't appropriate for the regular forums. If you feel the urge discuss the birds and the bees with all the maturity of a thirteen-year-old boy, please take it elsewhere. Retroland isn't the place for adult discussions.
Which is tastier, Safeguard or Lever 2000? All profanity should be left off the board. Please be clever and creative in your use of vocabulary. Please avoid saying anything that would make your 4th grade teacher cringe. Please avoid posting images or links in the general forum that are not "work safe"-no nudity, violence, or gore. Any links to content others might find objectionable should be kept within the Debate Club or the 18+ Board.
Show-and-Tell is welcome here! To avoid any copyrighting issues, however, we ask that when you quote an outside source, please limit it to under 200 words, and provide a direct link to the page where the rest of the document can be found.
On the other hand, Show-and-Sell is not OK. Personal promotion is expressly forbidden. Do not post links to items you are selling on E-bay. Do not use the boards for any kind of fundraising, be it for a charity or your own personal game. Do not use the board to advertise your own product or company. Please do not post material that is the intellectual property of another website, even if you wrote it.
Please do your best to keep threads on topic. If someone starts a thread about their love of the Slinky theme song, please don't post about your love of slinky dresses. We understand that sometimes a thread will take on a life of its own, but there is a difference between a conversation taking a natural turn, and members purposefully derailing a thread because the topic doesn't interest them.
The discussion often moves along at quite a clip, and every new thread pushes another thread down on the list. Extraneous threads should be kept to a minimum, especially if they're just designed to inflate your post count. Please do not start a thread to address a topic that is already being discussed (or has been in the last few days), simply post under that thread.
Were you the kid who sat in the front of the room with your hand raised all day? Me! Me! Me-ism might have gotten you an A in math, but it won't help you here. Even if you want to see something you wrote on top of the list again, please don't "bump" a thread with extraneous responses. Threads live and threads die, but please don’t artificially resuscitate them.
Headbang all you like to Judas Priest's "Breakin' the law," but please keep your illegal behavior to yourself. Chat in private messages or on the phone about the drugs you've taken and that tube of lipstick you shoplifted when you were sixteen, but Retroland is not the place for that type of discussion.
Retroland allows you to register under one name and one name only. Sock Puppets are secondary accounts that belong to a single person, and they are unwelcome. You are only allowed to post under one screen name. If we find that any poster has a sock puppet account, the sock puppet will be immediately deleted and the poster will face suspension.
Trolling is an Internet term which refers to someone who only posts to stir up trouble or irritate another member. Trolls are not welcome at Retroland and will be advised to crawl back under the bridge from which they came. Trolls will be given two warnings before being banned.
If you encounter a troll, please do not feed them. Sometimes it's difficult to resist reading and responding to the posts made by someone who continually irritates you. If so, consider using the "Ignore" function. With a poster on "Ignore", you will no longer see the irritating posts, and your Retrolife will be much happier.
When a poster is removed from the community, either by temporary suspension or by permanent banning, please do not. It is a personal attack, even if the member is not around to defend themselves. Grave-dancing is not permitted, whether or not a person has been banned. If you have a problem with a Retroland member, please contact the moderators.
Moderators are here to keep the board a safe and secure place, free of fighting and infractions. If you find yourself breaking any of these rules, you may receive a warning from a moderator that requests you to "straighten up and fly right," as Nat King Cole put it. You need to heed this warning. Failure to do so may lead to suspension or other disciplinary action up to and including expulsion/banning.
If you receive a warning from a moderator or an administrator, and you are confused about it, you are welcome to ask for more information. If you disagree with their assessment of the situation, please feel free to send them a PM to explain your actions, but please do not start an argument with the moderators. They work as a team, and try to ensure that each issue is discussed and agreed upon before any action is taken. You may want to review the rules and FAQs as a first step.
The moderators may delete or edit a thread or post at any time, and will provide an explanation on the board or in a PM.
After several infractions, the Retroland staff may decide that you need a time out from the board. We will work with you as much as possible to avoid suspensions. If you receive one, it is not permanent; it will provide the chance for you to take a breather from the board, and for the board to take a breather from you.
Sometimes it may become necessary to permanently ban a member of the community. We do not like to expel anyone from the Retroland playground, but in some extreme cases, it may become the necessary course of action. All expulsions are decided by a group of Moderators and Administrators. Follow the rules of Retroland and you will have nothing to worry about.
RETROLAND CONTACTS
When you encounter a problem that you can't resolve by any other means, please contact a Retroland moderator or administrator. (Current moderators include Amberosia and Jughead Jones. Current administrators include Penny Dreadful, and LSPoorEeyorick.)If you encounter problems signing up for membership, please contact .
