Mets360 Terms of Service
January, 2018 update:
Thanks for reading Mets360! This site exists for me to escape the non-stop complaining I experience in other areas of my life. Try to be civil and not so depressing while you’re here and we’ll get along just fine. Furthermore, this is not a democracy; at best it’s a benevolent dictatorship. Here are the rules that the dictator expects everyone to follow:
1. The expectation is that everyone knows the sites Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs. If you’re not familiar with those sites, it’s up to you to catch up – not anyone here to explain things that have been around for a decade or more. Don’t be lazy – if you don’t know the definition of something – go somewhere and find it out.
2. Words and letters and their definitions matter. Dictionary.com lists 33 synonyms for the word “good” and the word “mediocre” is not one of those 33. That’s not semantics – that’s the English language. As for letters and their importance – the primary example is you cannot just say WAR. Both B-R and FG have their own ways of calculating the stat and it’s inherent on you to make clear which one you’re using. Cite it as bWAR or rWAR for Baseball-Reference and fWAR for FanGraphs.
3. Everyone starts from the same point on the team’s owners.
A. They acquired the team through less than glorious ways.
B. They hold a crippling amount of debt on both the team and the stadium.
C. Even given number two, the payroll is less than it should be.
Since we all agree on these points, there’s no need to say them over and over and over and over and over again. There’s no need for anyone to play the role of Captain Obvious, as this really annoys the dictator. There will be articles devoted to payroll or the general lousiness of the owners. These articles will contain a double-asterisk (**) in the headline. That means you are free to bitch and moan about the payroll/owners in the comments on these stories. Any stories without the double asterisk where your comment complains about the owners/payroll– your comments run the risk of being edited or deleted based on the whims of the dictator on that particular day.
4. Part of being civil is not capitalizing words in your post. If your writing is so poor that you cannot get across your point of emphasis without capitalization – please go somewhere else. If you capitalize words your post will be either edited or deleted, based on the whims of the dictator on that particular day.
5. Another part of being civil is not calling people names. Disagree with ideas, not people. The dictator may edit or delete your post if it violates any rules of common decency. Also, don’t be surprised when you come here and act like a jerk if people immediately tell you that you’re not a nice person. There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with ideas. You don’t have to be disagreeable while doing so.
6. I don’t care if you’ve been following the team since 1962. That by itself doesn’t make your opinion any better than someone who started following in 2015. Some of the best commenters at the site have been following the team since the 1960s and they bring with them their knowledge and experience. Some of the worst posters at the site have been following the team since the 1960s and think that makes them special. It doesn’t. Come here curious to learn new (or old) things and consider new (or old) ideas. If you think the only things that matter are Wins, RBIs and batting average – please go somewhere else. If you think everything is done better today than it was 40 years ago, you’re just as bad.
7. Of the 10 people who have commented most at the site, the dictator has had disagreements with … all 10 of them. Sometimes the dictator has been right in his opinions and sometimes he’s been wrong. But the dictator would be extremely happy to sit down and watch a game with all 10 of those people. And the goal is to have 1,000 more people like that. Be kind, be passionate, be intelligent and be willing to recognize when the other person has made a good point.
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Original Policy
Thanks for reading! Our goal is to provide an enjoyable experience for everyone. Ideally you will read an article here and come back and read a whole bunch more, too.
We love comments at Mets360 and we like nothing better than to hear that you read our work and enjoyed it. Of course, sometimes you’re going to read things that you simply do not agree with at all. You can tell us about those, too.
We expect civility from everyone who participates at Mets360. Agree or disagree but do so respectfully. If you tell me, “I disagree that Ike Davis will hit 60 HR because he does not make enough contact or hit enough fly balls to make that happen,” that’s a great comment.
But if you say, “You’re a moron for thinking Ike Davis is going to hit 60 HR!” that’s not a productive comment.
Here are some rules to follow before making a comment.
1. Read the entire article.
We received a comment claiming that an article was invalid because the author didn’t discuss defense. Meanwhile, in the very first paragraph of the piece, the author said explicitly that he was focusing only on offense. So, the commenter came across looking foolish. We want commenters to come across looking brilliant – so please, read the entire article before posting.
2. When you disagree stay on target and criticize ideas – not people.
Good: “The idea that Ike Davis is going to hit 60 HR this year is crazy.”
Bad: “You are a moron if you think Ike Davis is going to hit 60 HR.”
3. Write in proper English
We have people ranging in age from eight to 80+ reading Mets360. We try to use proper English without swearing when we write our articles and we expect the same from the comments you leave for us. The intent is not to make non-native speakers feel unwelcome – rather to encourage people who know better to act accordingly.
Comments like “Mets Rool!” or “Phuck the Phillies” – along with any post in ALL CAPS – will be deleted immediately. Do not capitalize words for emphasis. Those posts will be edited or deleted based on the whims of the editor that particular day.
Also, pick a user name and stick with it. Your user name can be anything you like but we want you to have the same handle whenever you comment at the site. If you continue to create new aliases, those will not be approved and your comments will go to the trash.
Any comments that you leave for the site are subject to being removed if they violate these – or other – terms of basic common sense and decency. Our goal is to have 100 well-considered comments on every story. However, we have no interest in having moronic or profane material on this site. If you say something pointless, obscene, or needlessly argumentative – it will be removed.
The goal is to have comments that make us think, not ones that make us cringe. Hopefully our articles bring something to the table and your comments do the same thing. We value the comments section tremendously and we have definitely learned things from our readers there. We want the good stuff to continue and not to get drowned out by objectionable arguments and personal attacks.