DDR Forum Rules/Links - READ BEFORE MAKING TOPICS (esp. for STEPMANIA questions)

[Char]

Back at Bemanistyle 6.0, too many threads were being made for topics that were already covered in previous threads, and in a lot of cases covered by a sticky thread. If you're going to post, please have a quick check in this thread to see if whatever you're going to post about is already linked here. This post will be edited from time to time if a thread worthy of inclusion pops up.

Even if something isn't listed here, a quick search of the forum will usually tell you whether or not what you are about to post already has a thread about it. Bumping for no reason is bad, but it's better to post in an old thread than to make a new one about the same thing.

I'd also like to reiterate my request that you try and use Google to find information before asking about it here. Most things like song lists will take all of 10 seconds to find. In most cases, taking the thread title you were going to use ("DDR song lists" or "DDR Extreme locations", for example) will yield the information you're looking for.

No overdone threads currently. Consider this a clean slate

Note also that Bemani polls and questions go in the Polls and Questions forum. If you don't know what a poll thread is, check out the sticky thread over there. It's a pain when we have to lock and move stuff that shouldn't have been posted in the first place, so please make things easier for us and don't ignore these threads.

Above all, please be respectful of other users. We were all new at some point, and flaming someone who is trying to ask a question neither educates them about what they were asking or encourages them to make an effort to shape up.

THIS THREAD WILL BE APPENDED WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES AND RULES WHEN NEED BE. KEEP AN EYE ON THE THREAD TITLE.

[LAMBORGHINI FCUKER]

I think we can follow that up with other notes:

-THIS IS NOT THE SIMFILE/DWI/STEPMANIA FORUM
Countless newbies rush in asking about some particular something for StepMania or simfiles. First, spruce up on your reading because this is the DDR forum, not Dance Dance Revolution Simulation. I have kindly linked you to the correct forum at the least. Also take time to read the README that comes with StepMania in the first place. You can also do your simfile requests in said forum. Do not discuss about simfiles in here either.

-WE ARE NOT YOUR PERSONAL ASSISTANTS
Some people just like to lurk and then when something big comes up that interests them, they just make an account and post a thread demanding that info be sent directly to their e-mail inbox. First of all, publicly posting your e-mail address for a bunch of other people to see is just plain stupid. Especially if it's your e-mail that's linked to your Internet Service Provider (sup spam). Next, what makes you so high-and-mighty enough to give the information just for you? And what's to say that the person who was actually kind enough to e-mail you in the first place will actually give you the right information?
Let's just put it this way: read the damn threads. What we, the community, know about so far will be posted in the forums. They'll be typically in the first post of any thread, making it easier on everyone. So please, browse threads and search the forums beforehand.

Now for some basics:

-Common Sense, Please
Just, you know, pay attention or do some searching beforehand before posting. Also there's the occasional case where someone needs help with a feature of the game which can be easily and quickly solved by reading the manual.

-DON'T BUMP OLD THREADS
...UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. Don't go to the last thread in the last page for no reason. Only post in an old thread (threads around 2 weeks old and older) if you have relevant AND current information to post in. No, nobody will care if you post in some old poll that was somehow forgotten. Don't bother.

-DO NOT REQUEST SONGS
Don't ask where to download. We'll be happy to tell you where to buy it at though.

-HAVE A SOURCE
Your friend is not Konami. Your made-up somebody is not a gaming source. If you believe you found something worthy of note for the community, LINK TO IT. We don't want rampant posting sprees of DDR WHITE DWARF with zero sources about it.

-NO ONE-WORD/SMILEY POSTS
Self-explanatory. This will be considered as tokenwhoring and tokens will be taken away from you.

[Char]

Some additional guff about language

Note: The following is slightly relaxed for users whose first language is not English.
The mods are not here to tell you exactly how you should use the forums. On the other hand, this is not GameFAQs. When posting, use sensible English, type coherantly and don't hide your posts in a bunch of *~||ASCII||~*. Whilst typing like an idiot isn't breaking any rules per se, myself or any of the other moderators may decide to start editing or deleting posts which we feel are contributing to a general untidyness of the forum.

Good post:

I can't believe they're cancelling Supernova. It's not something you'd expect considering that it's only just been released.

Bad post:

omg!!! wtf <_< >_> O_O i just saw they r cancelling SUPER NOVA this is some bull shit ima go bomb the konami offices just kidding lmoa but seriously im pissed as hell

If you see something familiar in the bad example, consider bucking your ideas up. You have been warned.

[Sexy]

To continue up on good posts and bad posts, if a thread that is acceptable on the forums is clustered with tons of bad posts, or posts that contributes absolutely nothing, it will be locked. Maybe locked for a short period of time, maybe locked for good.

Please, keep note of this.

You have been warned.

[LAMBORGHINI FCUKER]

Apparently a lot of you are just being plain careless and posting up links to the same damn website to get your free music.

THIS ISN'T A PIRACY FORUM. STOP POSTING LINKS TO SOUNDTRACKS AND MUSIC. DON'T EVEN HELP OTHER PEOPLE TO FIND IT.

That rule is applied to the entirety of Bemanistyle but some of you are just forgetting it. This is why I'm posting about it.

You can ask where to buy the music, obviously. If you like it, you'll support it, just as you do buying DDR games.

[LAMBORGHINI FCUKER]

Ahh, sometimes I like to append this thing with rules that will help PREVENT problems before they show up.

-DO NOT RESPOND/REPLY TO INDIVIDUAL SPAM, FLAMEBAIT, ADVERTISING, ETC. THREADS. It is POINTLESS. Plain and simple. You are not accomplishing anything or doing anything productive in the first place.

Oh, and:

IF YOU REPLY IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED TYPE OF THREAD WITH "IN BEFORE LOCK" ANYWHERE IN THE POST OR IF IT IS IMPLIED THAT YOUR INTENTION WAS TO JUST POST IN IT ANYWAY, YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN INFRACTION. IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AS TOKENWHORING. HELL, LET'S JUST APPLY TO EVERY THREAD BECAUSE IT'S JUST STUPID IN THE FIRST PLACE.


Good night and good luck.

[LAMBORGHINI FCUKER]

Okay, so as this is being written, we're less than a week away from the release of SuperNOVA.

Let me put this out there right now: Most people here do NOT want the game spoiled. Game spoilers are unlocked content, or stuff in the game that you must earn.

For example, let's say these two songs are in EXTREME 2:
Wonderful Night - Fatboy Slim
PARANOiA Survivor MAX - 290

Wonderful Night is part of the default songlist and you are free to talk about it openly since it's right there when the game starts up no matter what, even if there is no memory card present.
However, PARANOiA Survivor MAX is NOT there when you first start up the game the first few times. You trigger something for it to appear sometime down the line. THAT is an unlock.

Now that you have the obvious concept of an unlock down, let's discuss how to deal with talking about it within a game's release:

Simple: Use a Spoiler tag. They're used like any other tag, like boldface or italic tags.

If you don't know how to make a tag, it's simple: look down at your keyboard and look at the two keys to the right of the letter P. The left ( [ ) and right ( ] ) brackets are used to tell the forum where the tag begins and ends. Type in the left bracket ( [ ), type the word "spoiler" without those quotes and without any space after the bracket and then close off the tag with the right ( ] ) bracket. This starts the tag. To finish the tag, type the tag again but put a front-slash ( / ) in front of the word "spoiler", again without spaces. The front-slash is found to the left of the right Shift key on your keyboard (look just to the upper-right of the spacebar). If you want an example of the tag at work, quote this post and scroll down to here and see the following:


MAX. (period) blows ass.

If you still aren't sure of how to use ANY sort of tag AT ALL, read the forum FAQ. Even if after all of this you still somehow cannot grasp the concept of tags, DON'T POST AT ALL. Somebody will most likely pick up the slack for you.

And what if I do post a spoiler?

Good question, random Anonymous! You are given an infraction for ignoring a staff warning, simple as that. And just in case you think that I would cut off some slack just because it's a game spoiler or something, you are very much wrong. It is a normal infraction, just like any other. The rule thread's title is updated recent enough to get anyone's attention, I gave a heads-up in the SuperNOVA AC/CS combo thread, and the first post in the (soon-to-be) dedicated SuperNOVA US CS thread will have the warning too. These are more than enough.

Seeing as the majority of users in this particular forum are from the U.S., this rule will be most heavily enforced on upcoming American releases. Stuff like SuperNOVA CS Japan/Europe, Unleashed 4...not so much enforced. In other words, you'll have to be careful when SuperNOVA, Ultramix 4, and Universe get out here (and any possible future titles from there).

After each game has been out for about two weeks, this rule will be relaxed and no longer enforced till the next major release.

Now that we have appeased those who want to be surprised and those who simply must know, enjoy the game as you see fit.

P.S.
No spoiler is worth posting in an urgency. Do not irritate other forum members or (if you actually dare) moderators/admins by asking them publicly or through Private Message. IT IS ONLY A GAME.

[LAMBORGHINI FCUKER]

The spoiler rule is in effect for DDR SN2 and Hottest Party Wii. At best, we'll keep the rule active for a little over a week and no more than two.

After a bit of insight, I have to say that because of how kind of tough it'll be for those who don't want to get spoiled by Hottest Party's offerings, we kind of have to deal it this time around since we're VERY hard-pressed to find an adapter for our dance pads. Regardless, I'll try to think of a way to still keep yourselves surprised for when you finally get the game.