The Penthouse User Guide/Posting Rules Policies

Purpose of The Penthouse and Tiger Factor Forums

The Penthouse is to only be used for discussion of LSU sports and recruiting, as well as other sports discussion. It is a great place to ask questions for the TigerBait.com staff, as well as to post your thoughts on LSU's teams, recruiting efforts, as well as LSU opponents and other news from the sporting world.

The Tiger Factor is a message board for LSU fans to discuss a wide range of topics including politics, movies, hometheater equipment, DVD's, music, fishing, hunting, you name it.

The Penthouse and The Tiger Factor are independent message boards and are not affiliated with Louisiana State University or the Southeastern Conference in any way.

The Penthouse and Tiger Factor Rules for Posting

If a poster violates these rules, do not respond on the message board and instead email the staff a link to the offending post.

1. No profanity. The use of profane words is prohibited. This includes the use of language that is racist, hateful, sexual, or obscene in nature in a public area.

2. No pornography. Posting of or linking to pornographic materials or websites is strictly prohibited. Pictures in user signatures shall contain no nudity including see through tops, wet t-shirts, etc.

3. No personal attacks. Calling a fellow poster out, calling him or her names or referring to him in a demeaning manner is prohibited. Disagreements or controversial subjects are common on SEC message boards but keep your comments and responses on the subject and not on the poster.

4. No flame-baiting. Do not make posts for the sole purpose of starting a fight with a fellow poster or inflaming a large portion of the board. Posts on The Penthouse should be made to inform or generate or continue a discussion, not to anger a large portion of the forum.

5. No excessive player, coach or administration staff bashing. Saying a player or coach "sucks," needs to get "the heck out of town," or personal attacks on their physical characteristics etc., is not acceptable. A healthy debate, discussion and even criticism is allowed but such criticism should be handled in a constructive and non flame-baiting manner.

6. No posting of premium material. The copy and pasting, or linking of stories or posts from another pay web site is prohibited.

7. No posting of personal information. Posting of any personal information of fellow posters including names, addresses, phone numbers, email address, IP address, etc., is prohibited.

8. On the Penthouse there shall be no political discussions. Discussions of local, state and national politics, and political candidates. These posts should be made on the Tiger Factor message board. Any "political" posts made on The Penthouse will be moved to the The Tiger Factor.

9. No discussions of religion on the Penthouse. The same as No. 8, except it goes for discussion of religion, religious figures, and other religious topics. Just like politics, discussion of religion get out of hand quickly and should be made on the Tiger Factor Board. Any "religious" posts made in the Penthouse forum will be moved to The Tiger Factor board.

10. Don't attack the moderators. If you have a problem with a story, post, issue, rule, etc., send us an email. Don't trash us on our forums. We have to serve a large membership and can't please everyone. If you issue with one of the moderators or their actions, please contact Mike Scarborough at mikescar@cox.net, tigerbaitcom@aol.com

11. We welcome criticism of TigerBait.com. We prefer it to be constructive. If you are unhappy with something on the site regarding content or whatever, we require that you email Mike Scarborough so that your specific issues with the site can be addressed personally. Do not openly criticize the site on the message board. You can contact Mike Scarborough at mikescar@cox.net, tigerbaitcom@aol.com

Violation of the above rules will result in your post being removed and a warning. Repeated violations of the rules will result in blacklisting. What constitutes profanity, flame-baiting, coach bashing, etc., is at the sole discretion of the forum moderators.

Other helpful bulletin board tips

These are a list of suggestions that help to keep the bulletin boards on TigerBait.com more habitable and peaceful for all posters. Repeated violations of the code of conduct could result in a warning or eventual blacklist. These suggestions, however, are here to help new users to understand some of the posting norms and to remind veteran posters how to behave themselves.

1. Refrain from excessive posting. A message board dominated by a few posters drives off many other users. If you have an opinion, state it in a constructive way, and move on. There is no need for one poster to post the same message or opinion an excessive number of times during a day or over a week, month, etc.

2. Do not post excessive one-liners. Sometimes a post with just a message in the subject is appropriate but can often be overused. Excessive one-line posts from the same user are often a distraction.

3. Please use [*** or (nt)] with one-liners. If your post has no message in the subject, please put a *** or (nt) - meaning no text - at the end of the subject line. It irritates fellow posters when they click on a post only to find there is nothing in the body of the message.

4. Be careful when using sarcasm. The Penthouse is a sarcastic board but sometimes it's tough to tell the difference between a post meant in jest and one meant to attack a fellow poster. The use of a ;-) or an acronym such as LOL (laughing out loud) can help to differentiate between the two. But don't try to hide flames by posting LOL at the end; we're not that stupid.

5. Limit personal discussions. If you want to have a personal discussion with a fellow poster, send him an email or give him a call on the phone. There is no need to fill up the message boards with a bunch of personal messages.

6. On-going disagreements. If you and a fellow poster have an ongoing disagreement, the best solution is not to reply to any posts from that user and vice versa. It is a major distraction to other posters when the same posters are always arguing - usually over the same subjects over and over.

7. Labeling is not productive. For example, calling a poster or a group of posters a "Doom & Gloomer" or "Sunshine Pumper" takes away from the discussion and is really a subtle type of personal attack. The only label needed on The Penthouse is "Tiger fan" and we all fall into that category. Members of this site can be very complex and have differing opinions on many subjects. Let's explore those opinions and not stifle discussion with labels.

8. Treat new members with respect. TigerBait.com is adding new members every day and it takes a while for some to catch on. Instead of attacking a new member that makes an honest mistake, be a Good Samaritan and post some useful tips or hints.

9. Don't be discouraged. These rules are meant to put an end to the in-fighting, player and coach bashing and ugliness that occasionally crops up on The Penthouse.

Questions or Comments

If you have questions or comments regarding The Penthouse and Tiger Factor Rules and Code of Conduct, please contact Mike Scarborough at mikescar@cox.net, tigerbaitcom@aol.com