# The Bell Tree Rules and Guidelines



## Jeremy

We ask that you follow our guidelines in order to keep The Bell Tree an enjoyable environment for everyone.

Community Guidelines
Respecting Others
Post Quality
Thread Bumping
Prohibited Content
Accounts
Private Information
Signatures
Reporting
Warnings
Bans
Discord Chat Room

Animal Crossing Online
Respecting Other Towns
Respecting Your Visitors
Playing Fair and Honest
Being Responsible For Yourself and Your Town
Dealing With In-Game Trouble Makers

Forum & Game Transactions
General Principles
Prohibited Transactions
Auctions
Trading Board Organization

Feedback System


*Community Guidelines*
*Respecting Others*
Respect other Bell Tree members in your posts, private messages, visitor messages, Wi-Fi ratings, and other conversations.
If you disagree with someone, please do so in a dignified manner and refrain from using personal attacks.
Keep your criticism constructive and avoid posting anything that belittles another user.
Do not intentionally provoke or instigate a negative reaction out of another user. This is also known as trolling.
If another user is disrespectful or makes a personal attack, do not attack them back.  This will create a lengthy series of attacks known as a flame war.
Do not interfere with someone else’s trading thread, including policing prices, advertising a competing deal, or criticizing someone else’s proposed offer. Only post in the thread if you are interested in buying or selling from the user who created the thread.
Publicly blacklisting other users is not allowed. If you have an in-game issue with someone, use the feedback system.
Do not target, harass, publicly criticize, or make snide remarks towards staff members of The Bell Tree. As volunteers, staff members devote their free time to running the forum and should be allowed to do so without being targeted.

*Post Quality*
In order to keep forum discussions meaningful and substantive, posts are expected to have a certain level of quality. Posts and threads made in The Basement are generally an exception to most post quality rules due to the nature of the board.

The following types of content fall under post quality violation and may be removed or moved to The Basement at a moderator's discretion alongside a warning or suspension:
Poor quality replies which add little or no meaningful content to the conversation or thread. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Low content replies which add little or nothing to the conversation and are unhelpful in answering a question or furthering the discussion.
Image, link-only, video, or smiley replies, accompanied by no written text or other meaningful content.
Replies which are off-topic, do not contribute to the subject, or are otherwise irrelevant.
Simple and short agreement replies, such as "I agree", "This", "Thanks", "Lol", and "Haha". Instead, use the Like button or contribute to the discussion by explaining your opinion in more detail.

Poor quality threads which offer little meaningful content to the forum or encourage others to make low quality posts.
Incoherent threads or posts with purposely poor grammar.
Text that contains entirely non-English languages without translation.
Threads and posts created solely to advertise your blog, forum, Discord server, Tumblr, YouTube, website, shop, contest/entry, etc.. Instead, use your signature to share these websites, but be sure to follow the signature rules.
Large blocks of copied or plagiarized text from external sources not contained within quote tags.
Repeated or constant behavior that is overly negative, toxic, or inflammatory.

*Thread Bumping*
Bumping on The Bell Tree is defined as posting the word "bump" or other variant for the sole purpose of bringing the thread to the top of the board index for increased visibility. To avoid excessive and unnecessary posting on the forum, users must abide by the following guidelines when bumping:
Threads in trading boards should not be bumped until the thread is inactive for at least four hours.
Do not bump trading threads belonging to another user.
Due to the slower rate of posting in the Animal Crossing amiibo Card Post Office board, threads may only be bumped after eight hours of inactivity.
The bumping of discussion threads is not permitted; i.e. you may not post solely to bump the thread. You must have something on-topic to say when posting in a discussion thread, and the thread topic must still be relevant.
Posting a contributory reply in a general discussion thread is permitted and is not classified as a bump, no matter the age of the thread.

*Prohibited Content*
Do not post any content that contains or promotes the following:
Violence, terrorism, suicide, self-harm, or other obscene content.
Advocating or celebrating the harm or death of others.
Discrimination against any race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Hacking information, viruses, or harmful computer software.
Information on how to access items that violate copyright laws.
Pornography, nudity, or sexual material.
Words or images that purposely bypass the forum censor, including partially replacing letters with asterisks or other symbols.

*Accounts*
An individual person should only own and use a single account, and an account should only be used by a single person.
You must be at least 13 years of age to register on and use the forum.
Account switches are not allowed unless under extraordinary circumstances and must be approved by the staff.
If you made more than one account by mistake, please continue using only your original one and contact the staff so they can disable the others.
An account that exists solely to benefit another account in terms of bell and collectible gifts will be treated the same as an alternate account.
You are responsible for what's posted by your account, so be sure to log out if other people use your computer to visit The Bell Tree.
An account will not be deleted upon request unless it has fewer than 12 posts. However, when there are serious privacy concerns or potential for real-world harm, your username or specific posted content may be edited as a courtesy.

*Private Information*
Private information, such as your address or phone number, is not allowed to be publicly displayed on the forums.
Please remember to be cautious before sharing any personal information with another person on the internet.
Sharing personal information of other people without permission, publicly or privately, is considered harassment and is not allowed.

*Signatures*
Keep your signature under a total height of 250 pixels tall, including all images and text.
Signatures cannot contain or link to content listed under Prohibited Content, and must also be relatively clean.
Additionally, make sure the file sizes of any images in your signature are not too large; this causes pages to load slowly.
Users with signatures in violation of the limitations will have their signature edited by a staff member to enclose it in a spoiler tag, with information below detailing the signature guidelines.

*Reporting*
If another user violates a rule, report the post by clicking "Report" instead of posting a response to it.
You can also report a thread to request it to be closed or moved to another board. Please note that this is only a _request_. A staff member will decide at their discretion whether it should happen or not.
Please use the report feature if you see a misplaced thread or any other post that requires attention. Responding to this yourself is considered mini-modding and can cause unnecessary confusion.
Do not use the report system to make demands, sarcastic remarks, or unnecessary reports. This is considered Report Abuse and can earn you a warning alongside removal of the report feature for your account.
If you have a specific question or concern you'd like to discuss with the staff team, make a thread in our Contact the Staff board.

*Warnings*
Warnings are received for rule violations and will explain what was done wrong.
When you receive a warning, you will receive a notification with the full details and must acknowledge it to continue using the forum. To view your full warning history, click the Warnings tab on your profile.
Warnings will not be reversed or removed, except under extraordinary circumstances.

*Bans*
You will be banned if you receive enough warnings from violating the rules. The length of the ban depends on the amount of warnings you received, any previous bans, and the severity of the violation(s).
Creating another account after being banned will only result in an increased ban time.
If you would like to discuss your ban further or submit an appeal, email tbt@belltreeforums.com.

*Discord Chat Room*
Due to the nature of a chat room, the Discord may be more loosely moderated than the forum, but the general rules of The Bell Tree still apply. We expect all users to keep these guidelines in mind while using our Discord server to chat:
Always be respectful to other users, even if they aren't currently present in the chat room. Respecting others in the Discord is just as important as it is on the forum.
Be as inclusive as possible, especially to newcomers. The public Discord channel should not be a place for cliques to take over or for users to be excluded. It should be shared by all members of the community, so make people feel welcome.
Refrain from having an excessively toxic attitude.  Constant negativity or rude behavior can make a chat room unwelcoming and uncomfortable, so please keep it to a minimum.
Do not spam the Discord channels with pointless, meaningless, or repetitive messages. Users will respond to your messages if they are interested.
Do not enter our Discord server to advertise another one.
Our inappropriate content rules apply in Discord, but may be enforced less strictly. Links and images to highly graphic or explicit content are not allowed, so use common sense before posting something that may be considered inappropriate.
Do not invite bots into the chat room unapproved by staff. They will be removed.
Our Discord server is not to be used for reporting site issues or concerns. Instead, please make a thread in our Contact the Staff board or use the report feature where applicable.
Your nickname in Discord should ideally be identifiable with your username on the forum. Moderators may ask you to identify yourself or change your name if this is not clear. Discord bans may also be longer if the moderator is not sure who you are.
Users with colored names are the moderators in charge of the chat room. Follow their direction if they feel you are not following these rules or creating a negative environment for others.

Breaking these rules may result in a kick from the Discord server and a warning on the forum. Repeated or more serious offenses will result in Discord and forum bans. The moderators may also send warnings through the forum about general long-term behaviors such as excluding others or constant negativity. These warnings are meant to improve users' behavior and make the chat room a friendlier place for everyone. If the moderators currently online don't know what your username is on the forum and is therefore unable to send you a warning, they will ban you for a longer period of time. You can use Contact the Staff to notify us about your account, so we can give you an official warning and potentially shorten your ban time.

*Animal Crossing Online*
*Respecting Other Towns*
When you visit another town, be sure to follow the rules that the host creates for it. If you don't like their rules, you can always leave. Also use common sense when interacting in another town. For example, don't cut down trees or run through flowers. If you see an item on the ground, you should probably ask before taking it.
*Respecting Your Visitors*
When you invite others to visit your town, don't expect them to read your mind. If you have a specific rule you want them to follow, tell them. Use your judgement to decide if it's common sense or needs an explanation.
*Playing Fair and Honest*
We expect all members to honor any trade agreements they make. You should not scam or steal from other players. Exploiting game glitches for gain is also not allowed. This includes using The Bell Tree to sell duplicated items or using the forum to find people to duplicate items with you. In this way, we hope to reduce the negative impact that cheating has on the game.
*Being Responsible For Yourself and Your Town*
Even if you meet other players on this forum, please remember that you are still responsible for yourself and your town. The Bell Tree cannot be responsible for what someone else says to you online or what they do to your town. If you want to end the session without saving, turn your console off to stop playing immediately.
*Dealing With In-Game Trouble Makers*
If someone creates a bad experience for you in the game, leave them a negative feedback to warn other players. These scores can be seen from all trading and online play boards. To give feedback to a user, click their profile and go to the Feedback tab. Also be sure to reward the good players with positive feedback! Feedback should only be used for in-game experiences and auctions organized on The Bell Tree for any online Animal Crossing game. Moderators may remove obvious violations of the feedback system, but cannot intermediate between in-game disputes.

*Forum & Game Transactions*
*General Principles*
Transactions of Animal Crossing or forum items and bells on The Bell Tree should be straightforward and honest. Each user must agree to the transaction in its entirety. Feedback should be used to publicize an abuse from a buyer or seller. For example, if an item is stolen without payment in Animal Crossing, the offender is subject to receive a negative rating from the victim. However, fraudulent transactions between forum bells should be reported because moderators can view and revert them. Abusing TBT's bell system may result in removing all bells and suspension.
*Prohibited Transactions*
Do not sell, buy, trade, or give away the following:
Forum bells or forum shop items in exchange for real money or items representative of real money.
Animal Crossing bells, items, villagers, or services in exchange for real money or items representative of real money.
Duplicated, hacked, or power-saved items in Animal Crossing.
The sale of traced or stolen artwork.
Any other item in conflict with our rules and guidelines.
Items representative of real money include, but are not limited to, the following:
Gift cards.
For-pay currencies from other websites, such as DeviantArt points, Pokéheroes nuggets, and Flight Rising gems.
Download codes for games and other paid digital content.
Physical items with real money value.
The sale of The Bell Tree bells or shop items for real money or items representative of real money is strictly prohibited, whether organized on or off The Bell Tree. The bells or items purchased in such transactions will be removed with no refund, as it will be up to the buyer to arrange a refund with the seller. The Bell Tree and its staff will not be held liable for any refund that is not credited. The seller will face an extended account suspension from the forum and will not have their bells or items restored.
*Auctions*
Our auction guidelines apply to auctions of items and villagers in Animal Crossing, as well as auctions in the TBT Marketplace and Museum Shop boards. They are designed to keep auctions fair for both buyers and sellers, yet also give auctioneers freedom to create their own rules. Rules for an auction must be clearly set and followed by both the bidder and auctioneer. If the auctioneer wishes to reserve special rights, they must be stated at the beginning of the auction and must not conflict with the rules listed below.
Bidders are subject to accept all rules posted by the auctioneer.  If a bidder disagrees with special rights reserved by the auctioneer, he or she should not participate.
Auctioneers may only accept bids that are posted publicly in the auction thread. No bids may be accepted in private conversations, profile posts, Discord messages, or other threads.
Auctions posted on The Bell Tree should not also be made on another site. Not only does this cause confusion, bidders should not be required to check other sites for bidding purposes.
The end time of the auction must be clearly stated and should not be increased or decreased after it has already started.
All bids must be placed before the specified minute of the end time starts. For example, in an auction that ends at 6:00, only posts that display a timestamp of 5:59 or before should be counted. The edit time should be used for bids made on edited posts.
Bid retractions are not allowed except under extraordinary circumstances.
The last person to bid on an auction within the scope of its rules and time limits is the winner.  Auctioneers cannot choose another winner even if someone else makes a better offer after the auction ends.
Auctioneers are expected to see their auctions through to the end.  Unless valid reasoning is provided, an auction cannot be canceled.  Otherwise, the auction winner may give the host negative feedback for failing to complete the sale.
Winners are obligated to complete the purchase after they are determined to be the winner. If he or she backs out of the transaction, the auctioneer may leave negative feedback.
Furthermore, "selling" threads that accept bids should instead be reclassified as auctions and must abide by our auction rules. Best offers may be accepted in selling threads, but they should be made against a higher starting price or be individually accepted or declined in a timely manner.
*Trading Board Organization*
Whether you are using TBT or Animal Crossing bells, transaction threads should be made in the board that corresponds with the items being exchanged. For example, New Horizons villagers should be traded in the New Neighbor Network board. Exchanges between TBT and Animal Crossing bells should be posted in the TBT Marketplace board.

*Feedback System*
*General Principles*
The feedback system is used on The Bell Tree for Animal Crossing online gameplay, Animal Crossing transactions, and forum bell transactions.  Feedback should only be given for legitimate reasons.  A negative rating should not be made as a response to feedback itself.  Illegitimate ratings can be reported to the moderators and abuse of the feedback system may result in suspension.



Last major update: June 20, 2021


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