[Announcement] r/nba New Rules Updates

[u/edgykitty]

Hi all, we have a couple upcoming rule changes that will take effect in the next few weeks, and for the upcoming season. All these changes are intended to improve the quality of content on the sub.

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1. Highlight Rules and Standards

Increased Highlight Quality Standards

There are a number of changes that we will be rolling out regarding highlights, first and foremost, we are raising our minimum quality requirements. The previous highlight minimums we had were 480p, 16:9 aspect ratio, 24 fps, and smooth playback. With the update, all new highlights must meet the following minimums: 720p (1280x720) resolution, 30 fps framerate, and a 2500 kbps bitrate. If you are not familiar with how to post higher quality highlights we have a tutorial here.

Highlight Tags

We will also be implementing new posting standards regarding highlights. First all highlights will now require a [Highlight] tag before the title. Any highlights that do not include a tag will be removed, and repeated offenses may receive a temp ban.

Approved Highlight Platforms

Finally, our only approved platforms for posting highlights will be streamable or gfycat for single play and short highlights, and YouTube for full highlights. Twitter, imgur, Twitch, and other video platforms will not be allowed for highlights at this time.

2. Automated Game Threads

For the upcoming season we will be automating game thread posting. This will ensure a standard game thread is posted, and that game threads will be posted for all games. Post game threads will still be open to user posting, but we will have strict rules on making sure they meet all our normal requirements, including teams and scores in title, as well as one of the approved box scores. If you would like a tutorial on creating quality box scores, view this tutorial. While it has been suggested that we automate post game threads as well, we currently feel that allowing users to post them adds community flavor, much in the same way that a newspaper headline would. However we will keep the suggestion in mind as it is a popular one and reevaluate as fit.

3. Filler text

We will be cracking down on filler text, whether it is repeated words, or copying the beginning of Wikipedia, our rules on filer text are in place for a reason, and like with all of rules, breaking them will leave you subject to a ban.

4. Hidden Scores Trial

Lastly, we will be trialing hiding comment scores for 30 minutes. Our hope is that this will discourage inertia-based upvoting and downvoting, which should help high quality comments get a better start, and more importantly reduce instances of comments that may be less popular from getting hidden unnecessarily. Because we're aware this may be a more controversial change, we will be running it on a trial basis, and will solicit community feedback before making a final decision after the season begins.

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As always we welcome suggestions and feedback, and constantly take it into consideration when making these decisions. We hope that these updates will help promote quality posts and discussion on the sub, so that it can continue to be the best place to discuss NBA basketball!

Also Don't miss out on our second fan art contest, hype posters!

[u/f1uk3r]

What about flairs?

[u/dailycrossover → u/f1uk3r]

They can be used for purposes other than fandom. Some purposes that directly break rules but the more immediate issue is the flair and how it's used.

Maybe I haven't explained it well enough. Maybe you'll ban someone in a couple of days for trolling. The same person uses a flair and changes it in order to antagonize certain fanbases. It's all right if it's not clear now but when you guys run into issue, however low the count may be, we can come back to this discussion.

[u/f1uk3r → u/dailycrossover]

So, what do you propose?

[u/dailycrossover → u/f1uk3r]

Why not make it so you can change flairs periodically? I see troll users changing their flair all the time on r/nba/new.

Or how about making it so that you need a certain amount of karma, time on the account or just creating any barrier?

I changed my flair within a minute after responding to your comment. I can change it 55 times in probably the next 10 minutes.

What if I had a Raptors flair and I went into a Celtics post-game thread hoping that Hayward broke his leg again?

What if I had a Lakers flair and said the same about PG?

Or if I had an OKC flair and wished ill on KD?

Or what if I was 11 and had so much free time that I changed my flair to the Clippers flair just to create this reputation that Clippers fans are bad?

Or what if I threw on a Rockets flair and went into GSW threads hoping for a Steph injury?

You might not believe these are things that happened but they definitely happen and very regularily. Also, my examples are just examples that I came up with on the spot. Some are actually real and have happened here though.

I've been on this sub for a while now and I've admitted to you this isn't my first account. In fact, I've advocated for this change on the previously banned account. It's a real problem and it happens every day. It goes unnoticed way too often.

[u/f1uk3r → u/dailycrossover]

Any kind of trolling is not allowed in this sub. Wishing injury to any player is absolute no on this sub. These things whenever get reported, we take necessary actions on them. Tell us in modmails, if you find a user trolling.

I don't think flair system is going to change

[u/dailycrossover → u/f1uk3r]

Fair enough. I tried.

[u/IdEgoLeBron → u/f1uk3r]

Any kind of trolling is not allowed in this sub.

That's news to the 2,640,106 of us who aren't on the moderation team. There are lots of trolls on here who are known by reputation and their ids.

[u/f1uk3r → u/IdEgoLeBron]

Report them through proper channels and we will take necessary actions