Mod Post /// Final Ruling on the Explicit Content Issue!
After great deliberation, I've decided what to do about the Explicit Content issue...
Looking at the polls, there are still more people who are offended by explicit content than there are people who would be offended by the rule banning it. After reading a few comments, I think I came up with a reasonable solution.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: This will hopefully answer all questions regarding the subject.
Nudity AND curse words are banned. Abbreviations (ie: OMG, WTF) are ALLOWED. I'll also go ahead and allow the word of you have at least one letter substituted with a symbol (ie: SH*!), or something like that. Straight out curse words are a definate no... And I know some of you may be a bit bewildered by the nudity issue, so let me say that this rule is mostly for the Actor challenge since all the other challenges use HP screen caps which do not contain nudity. And YES I've actually had icons submitted that contained nudity that I had to disqualify. As far as nudity goes, what is specifically banned is (obviously) genitals or even really too close to that region. I also don't want to see butts OR bare chested women... Someone specifically asked me about the GOF Harry bath scene, and that would be perfectly acceptable! I know there might be a few of you who say "well if bare chests is fine for guys, it should be for girls" but IT IS NOT AT THIS COMMUNITY (bottom line). Most societies don't allow women to roam around topless, so that won't be allowed here either. Basically, don't submit an icon that would make your grandmother blush a deep red.
Your icon WILL BE DISQUALIFIED if it violates these rules. If we catch your icon before the deadline, (as always) you will be notified in case you want to change it before the polls. If we don't and/or you submit late, well, sorry that's just too bad because its all in the rules that you should have read. I'll be working on a community FAQ maybe sometime this week that will explain this rule, and other issues, in depth.
So this is my final ruling. I know I can't please everyone, so I hope that most of you are happy with it.
Looking at the polls, there are still more people who are offended by explicit content than there are people who would be offended by the rule banning it. After reading a few comments, I think I came up with a reasonable solution.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: This will hopefully answer all questions regarding the subject.
Nudity AND curse words are banned. Abbreviations (ie: OMG, WTF) are ALLOWED. I'll also go ahead and allow the word of you have at least one letter substituted with a symbol (ie: SH*!), or something like that. Straight out curse words are a definate no... And I know some of you may be a bit bewildered by the nudity issue, so let me say that this rule is mostly for the Actor challenge since all the other challenges use HP screen caps which do not contain nudity. And YES I've actually had icons submitted that contained nudity that I had to disqualify. As far as nudity goes, what is specifically banned is (obviously) genitals or even really too close to that region. I also don't want to see butts OR bare chested women... Someone specifically asked me about the GOF Harry bath scene, and that would be perfectly acceptable! I know there might be a few of you who say "well if bare chests is fine for guys, it should be for girls" but IT IS NOT AT THIS COMMUNITY (bottom line). Most societies don't allow women to roam around topless, so that won't be allowed here either. Basically, don't submit an icon that would make your grandmother blush a deep red.
Your icon WILL BE DISQUALIFIED if it violates these rules. If we catch your icon before the deadline, (as always) you will be notified in case you want to change it before the polls. If we don't and/or you submit late, well, sorry that's just too bad because its all in the rules that you should have read. I'll be working on a community FAQ maybe sometime this week that will explain this rule, and other issues, in depth.
So this is my final ruling. I know I can't please everyone, so I hope that most of you are happy with it.