Bachmann Message Board - Code of Conduct

[3rail]

Dear Message Board Members,

Recent discussions have prompted us to post an "Official" Code of Conduct.  Please read and abide by these simple rules to make using this forum an enjoyable experience for everyone.  Also posted below is the initial registration agreement you approved when signing up for a user name.

Regards,
Bachmann Message Board Moderators




Bachmann Online Forum Code of Conduct

Members are expected to follow this code of conduct. Failure to do so may result in a revocation of posting access on the forum.

This forum is provided to discuss Bachmann model trains, associated products and techniques. You may mention and discuss the products of other manufacturers, but please don't use our board for their announcements or discussions focused specifically on another manufacturer's product. Also, please refrain from criticizing other manufacturers, as they are not here to respond.

Please keep your posts friendly and on topic. Religion, sports, politics, and current events have their place, but generally not here.  As with any discussion, disagreements will occur, we ask that your responses are respectful.  Name-calling, bashing, or any other form of cyber bullying will not be tolerated.

Profane language of any form is not allowed.  This forum is rated G for all audiences. We have censor filters in place for improper words.  If you find any post that uses improper language, please report it so that the post can be deleted and the offending word(s) added to the censor list.

Soliciting of products, services, or membership to organizations is not allowed. (Basically anything that is asking for payment from a forum member).  There are plenty of auction sites, and classified sites on the internet that are specially designed for this purpose, please use them. Any posts of this nature will be deleted as soon as they are discovered. Posts directing forum users such as "Check out my train for sale on ...." will also be deleted.

Avatars are allowed, but the file size is limited to 150 x 150 pixels. Improper avatars will be deleted.

Moderators reserve the right to edit or delete posts if they violate this code of conduct.


Reminder of your registration agreement that you approved during initial sign up.

You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, adult material, or otherwise in violation of any International or United States Federal law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.

Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.

You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum.

You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason.  We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.

After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.

Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.

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[BradKT]

I had once asked if it was appropriate to ask questions about other products and was assured that was OK to do so in the General Discussion forum.  For example, I asked about how to make DC to DCC conversions of Athearn engines and a very informative discussion ensured.  I also asked certain questions about certain Atlas engines.

Is this sort of thing still permissible...or are we limited to discussing Bachmann products only?  I will, of course, abide by the Code of Conduct but that's still not clear to me.

[Yampa Bob]

I think the code is pretty clear on that, as long as it's kept within reason. 

I think it all comes down to common sense and applying "The Golden Rule".

Anyway, I fully support and will abide by the code of conduct.  Hey, this hobby is supposed to be fun, right?

[3rail]

Posted by: BradKT  Posted on: Today at 03:16:14 AM 
 
I had once asked if it was appropriate to ask questions about other products and was assured that was OK to do so in the General Discussion forum.  For example, I asked about how to make DC to DCC conversions of Athearn engines and a very informative discussion ensured.  I also asked certain questions about certain Atlas engines.

Is this sort of thing still permissible...or are we limited to discussing Bachmann products only?  I will, of course, abide by the Code of Conduct but that's still not clear to me.

Directly from the original post:

You may mention and discuss the products of other manufacturers, but please don't use our board for their announcements. Also, please refrain from criticizing other manufacturers, as they are not here to respond.

Regards,
3rail

[Hamish K]

This code of conduct was long overdue! I have one query - while it is perfectly understandable that Bachmann does not want people to announce competitors products here (and to do so is an abuse of Bachmann's generosity in hosting this board) , does this apply to all other manufacturers products? What about the small scale cottage industry makers, particularly those products designed to complement or enhance Bachmann products? The Bach Man himself recently announced on the On30  board a kit from a small  maker to enhance the Plasticville O scale coaling tower and Bachmann does cooperate with some of these makers. My suggestion would be to use common sense, no announcements of products from other major makers or products from any maker that competes with Bachmann items - but small scale maker's products, especially those designed to be used with Bachmann items are OK?

Hamish

[3rail]

Hi Hamish ,

This will have to be a judgement call when something is posted.

In general we are not going to answer questions like is this allowed or is that allowed.  If you are unsure about something just don't post it.  If we don't like the post, we will delete or edit it. We will not ban anyone for making an honest mistake.  Just play nice and everything will be fine.


Regards,

3rail

[the Bach-man]

Dear Hamish,
Our intent is to advance the hobby and art of model railroading. The coal tower top you mention actually promotes one of our products, but after market manufacturers that enhance all our efforts should be fine. To use our board to announce that XYZ, who may or may not have their own site, has a new loco is just plain rude. To use our site to bash XYZ's new loco is unfair; they may not feel able to respond.  I think common sense should determine most situations, and we're here to make the final call.
Thanks!
the Bach-man

[Pacific Northern]

When can we expect the moderators to actually delete either rude postings or those that bash other model railroad manufacturer's products?

[3rail]

Hello Pacific Northern,

If there is a post that is a problem, please click on report to moderator at the bottom of the post.  This alerts us to review the post.

Thanks,

3rail

[3rail]

Dear All,

The thread was getting a little long with many users just stating that they agree to abide by the rules.  We have kept the revelant comments, but deleted the rest.

We are locking the post and keeping it at the top of the list for the benefit of new members.

Regards,

3rail