Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums FAQ

Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.

What are the general rules of EoFF? [IMPORTANT]

We don't have too many rules here. We're mostly laid-back. Here are some things to keep in mind though.

Flaming. We don't allow flaming. Flaming means insulting other members of the forum. Be nice at all times. We try hard to keep things very friendly here. No flaming of any kind for any reason, period. Trying to induce others to flame (trolling) is a no-no too. If you feel you were flamed in a post, please warn the post and let the moderators handle it. DO NOT respond in kind. That will only escalate the situation and get yourself in trouble.
Profanity. The F-word, C-word and S-word are censored automatically by the forum. Don't try to get around the censor. Doing so will result in your post being edited, and a possible warning. Other swear words are not censored, but we discourage the use of them. If a staff member deems your swearing excessive or used in an inappropriate context, your post will be edited.
Harassment. Like flaming and other antagonistic behaviors, harassment in all of its forms will not be tolerated at Eyes on Final Fantasy. Harassment is defined as contact (or attention, eg. mentioning of the member in posts) that is expressly and directly known to be unwanted by the receiving party. This contact could take place anywhere on the Eyes on Final Fantasy site, forums, chatroom or via emails sent using Eyes on Final Fantasy. Eyes on Final Fantasy's staff do not take responsibility for any harassment taking place outside of these areas, although we can offer guidance in such situations.

We expect all of our members to resolve conflicts as adults. Talk it out, be reasonable, find a compromise. If this is impossible, if you dislike a person, or if you do not wish to contact that person or see their posts, please use the ignore feature. If the offending member does not leave you alone when asked or subverts your efforts to not be in contact with them and you have made an effort to make your wishes clear, then you should contact a Cid's Knight or Administrator.

If you feel you or someone else has been mistreated or abused by a member of Eyes on Final Fantasy staff, you should contact Loony BoB or Psychotic privately or alternatively raise a thread in the Private Feedback Forum (please be aware threads started in this forum are visible to all staff).
Off topic posting. Off topic posting, also known as spam, will be treated differently in different situations. Threads without a legitimate topic will be closed. Off topic posts within a thread are at the discretion of the moderators, but we will generally tolerate some of it as long as it is kept civil. Excessive off topic posting will be deleted.
Advertising. If you came here just to advertise, don't waste your time. Not only will your thread be closed, the link will also be removed entirely and you can also get banned for advertising via Mognet Messages. We tend to be more lax if someone has been a long standing member of the community but if in doubt, ask a staff member or keep links to your signature.
Signature size limits. They're listed in this FAQ, and they're specified right in your profile where you enter your sig. If your sig is too big, a staff member has to go and edit it him/herself and then yell at you for it, which is pretty darn annoying. No one wants to see your berserker-huge 5MB animated gif sig banner anyways. Keep it small. Save us all some trouble.
Member moderation. It’s annoying when a spammer shows up. It's just as annoying when non-staff members start saying things like "Oh my god you spammer" or "Close this thread!". Please don’t do that. Just ignore the jerks and let the Mods take care of it. Posting NOTHING in response to them is the best thing to do. Unless you're a Mod, you shouldn’t be doing anything Mod-like. If you do want to help out, click the lightning bolt under the post to Warn their post and make a concise summary of what the problem is.
MB wars. Don't say anything bad about other forums. Message-board-site-wars are pointless and we don't want any. When in doubt, just assume that we get along with every other site in existence. If you've been banned from so-and-so site and you're looking for a place to rant about the nazi admins over there, go somewhere else please.
Banning. Banning is, in most cases, permanent. Everyone gets at least one warning by Mognet before we ban you, except in extreme cases. Extreme cases include mass spamming or advertising, posting or linking to porn or even porn-related / implied material, or posting extremely disturbing content, all of which will get you banned without warning. Considering there are members as young as 10 here (when they can behave themselves), we want to keep the place on a family-friendly suitable level in general. We reserve the right to ban anyone for any reason, but we generally don't ban anyone unless they're being a huge jerk about something. But once you're banned, you're gone for good. Be nice and you don’t have to worry about it.

However, if after a minimum of one year after your banning you can demonstrate that you are reformed enough to return, you can appeal to the staff, and if there is unanimous consent, you may be unbanned.
Images. While "art" may be subjective, any image containing nudity which the poster considers art must be kept within the confines of the art forum, and marked as NSFW. While the art in question may contain nudity, it may not be sexual, or you will be banned. If you are unsure as to whether or not your image will get you banned, PM it to a staff member to have it cleared for posting. If you fail to do so and a staff member deems the image obscene, you will very likely be banned. If you post nudity (anything covered by a bathing suit) outside of a marked art forum thread, you will very likely also be banned. An image that implies sexual acts, regardless of whether or not it actually shows them, will also get you banned. Otherwise violent or disturbing images will be dealt with at the discretion of the staff, so use caution.
Private Forums. The Lifestream and Academia are private forums that require you to be logged in in order to read them. People come here to confess personal issues. Consider everything posted in those forums to be private and do not post it elsewhere for others who do not have access to this forum to see. We appreciate that people will talk to each other in private, we can't stop that, but if staff feel that someone is making a notable breach of trust relating to posts within the Lifestream, we can and will ban them.
Multiple accounts per user. Are not allowed. We reserve the right to ban or merge excess accounts without telling youm as we see fit, and all your accounts if you continue to be a pest.

If you want a new name, don't create a new account, Mognet an admin instead, asking for your current name to be changed. Name changes will be allowed at our discretion with 1 year between changes, and no stupid names. Remember we can deny a name change request for whatever reason (but we usually have a good reason)
Double posting. Double posting is when you have two or more consecutive posts one after another. Please don't double post, especially to "bump" a thread to the top of the page. If you have more to add to the last post of a thread, use the edit/delete button. Double posting is occasionally acceptable when timely updates are warranted (for example, an art or writing topic) or in general if not excessive.
Reviving or 'Bumping' of old threads. While there isn't an exact timescale set for when this becomes a no-no, you can generally assume that if a thread has reached the fourth page or is over three months old, then you should leave it. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and if you still want to bump an old thread and are not sure if it's okay, just send a Mognet Message to an Administrator or Cid's Knight and we'll let you know if it's okay. Also, it's okay if you are Christmas.
Ruining The Groove. If your general attitude is agreed by a number of staff to be disruptive to the atmosphere of the forum, you may be warned or banned.
Having the letter "m" in your user name. Don't.

Are introduction threads allowed?

Yep. Also known as "newbie threads", it's nice to say Hi to everyone at the forum when you're new. The General Chat forum is the place to do it!

Argh, I have questions. Help me.

Use the Private Feedback Forum if it's site/forum related, otherwise there's the Bug Reports & Technical Issues .

What are the rules/limits set on signatures?

The following rules apply for signatures at EoFF:

A maximum width of 600 pixels.
A maximum height of 250 pixels.
The height includes any text in the signature besides images.
Text may flow freely horizontally to fill the page width, but must auto-wrap if required.
Total file size of all images combined must not exceed 2MB.
AAny signatures not following these rules and signatures with questionable, obnoxious or otherwise problematic content as judged by staff will be removed or edited, and you may have your signature editing privileges temporarily disabled if this happens several times.

What are the buddy and ignore lists?

The buddy list is used to keep track of the friends you have made on this forum. By going to "Open Buddy List", you'll be able to see which of your friends are currently online, and be able to send them a mognet message. Adding people to your buddy list also allow you to send mognet messages to multiple forum members at the same time. You may add any member of the forums to your buddy list by clicking this button in a member's posts.

Ignore lists are used for those people whose messages you wish not to read. By adding someone to your ignore list, those messages posted by these individuals will be hidden when you read a thread.

What are Visitor Messages?

Visitor Messages are a cute little way to leave a message for a friend without having to worry about your Mognet space or needing a reply. Don't spam them up though. Instances of Visitor Message abuse will get them deleted, your ability to post them taken away, or in very serious cases, yourself banned.

You may see in your Profile if you have any Visitor Messages, and the date of the last one received is also noted. You cannot use HTML in usernotes. Also, if you are banned from Eyes on Each Other, your Visitor Message privileges are taken away.

Finally, you will receive the ability to post Visitor Messages to other people's profiles after being a member for 7 days and having made 10 posts.

How do I know who is a staff member? What do all these colored titles mean?

You can view all current staff members on the Forum Leaders page.

Cid's Knights and Administrators

These are the forums staff of Eyes on Final Fantasy, and are responsible for keeping misbehaving users in line, as well as being helpful to new members. They also decide on the rules of the forum and what new features should be implemented.

Cid's Knights can edit and delete all posts, as well as close, delete, move, stick, merge or rename all threads. They can also edit signatures, avatars and profile pictures, and can hand out a variety of bans. Administrators can also do all of this, and they can also edit various elements of user profiles (such as names) plus the very forum itself by adding new forums, usergroups, features, etc.

Tech Admins

Tech Admins play a vital role in the maintenance and construction of the site. While the majority of their work might be behind the scenes in the code that normal users can't see, their importance to making Eyes on Final Fantasy a smooth sailing vessel of hopes and dreams is paramount. Developers are also responsible for those sweet styles that you use to browse the site and forums, so be sure to thank them. Developers also are responsible for setting up and maintaining our incredibly snazzy frontsite.

They are not responsible for moderating the forums/community.

I want one of these titles!

Don't we all! We will either ask people to apply for roles or approach individuals who we think could fill an important gap on our team. Being a good, active and productive member is the best way to get noticed and approached for a position as one of the staff members. Pro-tip: Don't ask for the title, though, or even try to give subtle hints that you think you deserve it. In the mean time, have fun!

How many threads can I post? / Why am I banned from making new threads?

You can post as many threads as you like, so long as you don't post too many within a short period of time. A basic guideline would be that if you post more than five threads in a single forum in a single day, it's probably too many. Likewise, if you post more than two new threads in a single forum every day for a week, that's probably too many, too.

We do have the ability to 'thread-ban' people so they can only post replies and not new threads, and if people post too many threads in a single forum for our liking, we may thread-ban them for a period of time. We sometimes also use this for people who consistently make threads of poor quality.

I thought I was banned?

We have different levels of bans here, at EoFF. The most serious ban is a Full-out Permanent Ban. This means you can't use the forums for any of the things a Registered User can.

The most common temporary ban is a "Lifestream Ban". The Lifestream has a zero-tolerance policy in effect, which means if you goof off in there, disrespect other members, or post something not in accordance with the purpose of the forum, you will be banned from that forum. You may post in other forums as normal, however you do lose a few privileges for the duration of your ban. Your first time will typically be about two weeks.

Another temporary ban is a "Signature Ban". This means you cannot edit your signature, probably because you were abusing it and we Mods got tired of editing it. These are generally more long lasting than Lifestream bans, but don't have any other loss of privileges.

There are a few other bans, but if you follow these rules in the FAQ, you probably won't run into them.

Temporary Full-bans

We here at Eyes on Final Fantasy love a good time as much as anyone else. Occasionally the entire population of a forum will be banned for a special occasion, but it's not permanent, and odds are you'll enjoy everything else that's going on as well.

I got punished for breaking a rule and I didn't realise that I would get punished in that way. Now I'm mad as a bug!

We deal with most things on a case-by-case basis and punishments can vary. Generally, any punishment that we feel would discourage you from breaking the rule can be used, and you won't always know what that punishment will be until it's given. If you don't want to get punished in any certain way, then just don't break the rules.