Terms and Rules

Introduction

Welcome to The Water Heater! We are a relaxed community where people come to share silly thoughts, argue the toss about anything and everything, and derail as many threads as possible.

General Rules Mission Statement

The basic rules of the land are fairness and common decency. In other words, don’t be a tool. For more detailed rules, see below, but if you follow that basic concept then you should be fine. Equally, if you ever have any questions, concerns or comments, you can post about them, PM a mod or contact us.

Sometimes, threads have specific rules, but these are normally highlighted where relevant. For example, one of these rules relates to debate threads: Where a thread is tagged as a debate, it is a "Toxin Free" zone. All posts in such threads should contribute to the topic and will be held to a higher level of civility. Off-topic, low-effort or over-the-top posts will be removed. Another example is that all posts in the Picture Thread must include a picture. Failure to comply will result in Readout editing your post in a way that makes you look silly.

Please note that this site does not count as the provision of a service of any kind. We do not charge for the site, gain any remuneration/profit from running it, enter into a contract to provide access, or (insofar as we have a choice) accept any liability for anything whatsoever. Our provision of the site is done entirely as a hobby and an act of love. Please treat it accordingly.

Rules of Conduct

Most of the time, rule violations will be dealt with by a warning and potentially the removal of the offending content. Where the mod team deems it appropriate, we may issue a short suspension. In extreme cases, we may ban accounts. If any of these things happen to you and you believe that you have been unfairly or incorrectly treated, please contact us and we will review the situation.

As stated above, the governing principles of the site are fairness and common decency. Since this is necessarily a little subjective, ask yourself: If the positions were reversed, how would you feel reading this? Remember that, on the other side of the computer monitor, is another person with their own feelings and interpretations of the situation. Be nice to them.

Spoilers, NSFW content, anything which might give someone a headache, etc. should be hidden behind a spoiler tab unless you are posting in a clearly marked thread. Pornography, gore, and "jump videos" are not permitted in any circumstance. If you are unsure whether the NSFW content is allowed, please contact any member of the mod team.

Similarly, controversial topics are allowed but please be mindful that these topics can remind users of a traumatic experience that you did not anticipate. You should use common sense and be mindful of other users when posting regarding any controversial topics.

The debate prefix is only enabled in The Missing Link. This prefix indicates that the content will be held to a higher standard. Debate threads are certified "Toxin Free". As a result, you must maintain a level head if you wish to participate in debates. Additionally, all posts to debate threads should contribute to the topic or be related in some fashion to the topic. Low effort comments and off-topic remarks will be removed.

Forum Games are allowed, but may be removed at a mods’ discretion if they are simply an attempt to spam or gain trophies etc. with no added value. This includes increasing your post count, your reaction score, or maximizing your reaction-to-post ratio.

Requests for content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion.

Finally, just in case: As mods, we may remove or modify any content at any time, with or without good reason or notice. Equally, we may suspend or end your access to the site at any time, again, with or without good reason or notice. Of course, we do not intend to do so and hope that we never have to do so! All members of the mod team are committed to treating you, and all members, as fairly as possible and commit to that principle and ideal.

Accessibility

This site is only available to users who are at least 13 years old. If you are younger than this, please do not register for the site. By registering, you agree that you are over that age.

Responsibility for Content

The owners of the site, the admins and mods or anybody else even remotely associated with running the site, are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts. Content submitted express the views of their author only.

All content you submit, upload, or otherwise make available to the site may be reviewed by the mods. It may also be sent to a third-party verification services, including, but not limited to, spam prevention services. We strongly suggest that you do not submit anything that you consider to be private or confidential. Do not upload anything over which you do not have the rights to upload (e.g. pirated material).

You agree to not use the site to submit or link to any content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, unlawfully/inappropriately contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws. You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that content or your conduct.

By uploading content to this site, you agree that we are allowed to store that content and distribute it to others accessing the site. You retain copyright over anything that you post, but insofar as is necessary, you grant us permission to use that work for the purposes of running the site.

Changes to the Rules and Terms

These terms may be changed at any time without notice.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use the site. If you wish to stop using the site, please contact us.

If you agree to these rules without reading them, you are hereby condemned to forever browse the site in Eye Cancer mode.