Voice Acting Alliance Forums FAQ

Do you want to tell us about your favorite movie/book/comic/anime/video game/etc? That's fine! However, there are a few guidelines: First, please use the "search" feature, located at the top of the forum, as well as at the top of each forum topic. If you're unable to find a topic similar to yours, go for it. Otherwise, please post in the pre-existing thread. Further, posting about your favorite subject is fine, but please post with something substantial. Posts like, "I like X-men!!" lacks some substance and will, more than likely, get locked as soon as it was posted. Consider the following: What if people haven't heard of the X-men? You'd be better off posting somethng like, "So I really like the X-men.. are there any other X-men fans here? I think it's great because../My favorite character is../" and so on. Please be advised that not everyone is going to share your love for whatever it is that you're posting, and people are entitled to posting their opinion, so long as it is constructive. In short, keep everything substantial, use the search feature and don't be offended if someone doesn't share your opinion.

Sometimes, subjects will get so out of hand that they need to be locked. And, sometimes, such as instances when there's already a topic for your subject, or if it belongs in a journal-space, we will lock your thread as well. A locked thread neither equates to a warning, nor does it mean you're going to be banned. It simply means that we either: - wanted to cease drama before it continues, - there's already a topic that's started, or - that it should be posted somewhere that it can be more constructively viewed, such as the aforementioned journal-space. Many of our administration will give some posts the benefit of the doubt, and wait to see how the thread will turn out. If it seems that nothing constructive will be coming from the thread, expect it to be locked. Do not take offense to it, as it doesn't mean we have something against you, or want to ban you, it's just to keep our board clean, organized and/or drama-free.

Currently, the VAA does not offer a link exchange. However, you're free to promote your site as long as you obey the rules. Promoting other AVA sites is definitely okay, so don't worry about whether it's okay or not. What is NOT okay is: - Attacking the VAA in order to highlight the virtues of your site. That doesn't make anyone look good. Talk about the positives of your site, instead of the negatives that you feel are ours. - Advertising a product, such as an e-book, or "free lasik," and so on. - Advertising for pornography.

Chances are, if you're at the site, you're here to either produce some sort of project, voice act, sing, or all of the above. And there's another chance that something with your voice in it is going to be posted at some point during your stay at the Voice Acting Alliance. There are a lot of members who will be very willing to listen to your work, and some of those members will give in-depth reviews that we like to call "constructive criticism." Sometimes, it may not be what you want to hear, and it may not make you feel so great to read, but constructive criticism is a good thing. People who post it care only about you and your skills as a voice actor/producer, as well as the growth of those skills. Take everything they say to heart and try to learn from it so that you can apply what you've learned for the next time you record or mix. If you can't take constructive criticism, please say that you do not wish to have your project critiqued, otherwise, people are going to give it to you. And if someone does end up saying something you don't want to hear, please don't blow a gasket over it and end up turning the thread into an argument. We're aware, though, that sometimes people aren't always constructive and, instead, downright rude. If someone says something that's over the line, such as "You have the worst voice I've ever heard, why are you even voice acting? You make me want to shove bricks in my ears." please notify the administration so that the situation can be handled appropriately.

If you see a topic that you'd like to post in, and something that is said while in topic reminds you of something similar, it's definitely okay to post it. However, if it veers so far off topic that you're talking about Flying Elephants instead of the most recent Naruto video game, someone's going to step in and ask you to bring the subject back to the topic at hand.

In both Original/Non-Anime, and Anime topics, there are two heading topics, both of which surround the rules and general guidelines of how to post in them. READ These or you will be asked to read them by an admin, followed by a request for you to alter your post. You will have two days to do this, and if the request is not processed, your thread will be locked. It may be unlocked when you PM a staff member, saying that you'll make the appropriate changes. Also, follow everything in the guideline to the "T". Audition lines are definitely required, an e-mail address for people to contact you at is definitely required. Please don't skip out on these important details. Lastly, do not involve us in any "e-war" that may be going on. While there might be some on staff who feel the same way about a certain issue as you do, we do not want our site getting wrapped up in something that wasn't our business in the first place.

If a user continues to break the rules and ignore the requests given by the staff, said user will be banned from the forum. Typically, the board operates on a "Three Strikes and You're Gone," policy, but oftentimes, we tend to be more patient with people. There are situations where we feel an instantaneous ban is necessary: - Posting advertisements, such as "Free Lasik in Dallas!!!" - Posting pornography, in videos or pictures. Also, it's a good idea not to take videos of yourself, where people will accidentally see your genitalia. - Signing up just to troll. - Turning entire threads into a mini war because you don't like certain people of a certain sex, race, sexual preference, etc. Banning is not something that we like to do. And we try to be as patient as possible before taking this action with people, but sometimes, it's necessary. Just follow the rules, and you won't have to worry about it.

We're always willing to listen. However, if a problem has escalated to the point where it requires a banning, chances are it's for the best. Take a break, have a rest, and grow up. In future, if you prove to be mature we'll consider it. Unfortunately for you, if you continue to evade your ban or post through other accounts, the chances of us being patient with you in the future reduce drastically.

We understand that you might be excited about your first project, or that you might be anxious to have a question answered, but please do not post it in every single section of the forum. If you're excited about your project, post it in the appropriate section, then link to it in your signature, or tell all of your friends. Plugging in other places, such as livejournal, is also appropriate. Posting it in multiple sections, however, is not. Only double post if you're bumping a topic, or if it's absolutely necessary. 99% of the time, however, it is not absolutely necessary, and you must make use of the edit button that is at the bottom right hand corner of your post.

There is quite a large amount of younger users on the board. Additionally, there's also the simplistic rules of taste, class and tact. The following depictions are not allowed in your graphics: - Sexual content. This is extreme nudity, and pornography of any sort, cartoon or otherwise, - Intensely disturbing images, - Symbols that have the power to offend, such as swatstikas and other controversial subjects, - Subject matter involving negativity towards race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, etc.

Everyone breaks rules from time to time, whether it's known that you're doing it, or whether it's inadvertantly. Usually, we're pretty lenient the first time or so, and merely advise you against doing what you're doing. However, if it's a serious offense [i.e. Trolling, or flame-baiting], or if you ignore the requests, we will issue a warning. One warning is not going to get you banned. In fact, there are very few instances in which people will be instantaneously banned, but that will be saved for another topic. If you are issued a warning, do not worry, but please don't push it to the side. If you were issued a warning, it was because you weren't listening to what was asked of you, and something needs to change. If you continue to act in the manner that earned you the warning, you'll continue to get warnings and you will be banned eventually. We hope that if you are issued a warning, you'll learn from it. Learning from your mistakes means there's no need to worry about being issued another warning. We trust you'll respect the rules.

While the general chat section is, indeed, for general topics, it is not to be used as a rant-post. Mundane topics about how your mother is mean because she won't let you go out, or how terrible you feel because you accidentally knocked over your friend's house, are topics to be placed in one's livejournal, or other similar sites. Understand that when a staff members explains that your post is more of a journal-entry, we are not issueing a warning. For more information around this, the appropriate topics, "Understanding what it means to have your thread locked/to be issued a warning." There are exceptions to this rule. Marriages, births, and the like are more than welcome due to the fact that most of the members would be more than willing to give you well-wishes and appropriate congratulations. We also like cake and ice cream. ;D Note: We will soon be adapting a blog-feature to the site so that people can post their daily rantings there. So, once we install that, feel free to post whatever you'd like. More details soon. Though it's been touched on, we just want to clarify: No pity posts. Please don't make a topic asking why no one's commenting on your projects - You're not the only person who isn't getting 50 comments on a project. You must understand that people have lives outside of this hobby and, just because you're not getting comments, doesn't mean people aren't watching. We realize it's frustrating to not get comments on things, but there are ways to go about trying to get them: Promote yourself in your signature and plug it to your friends. When the main site goes up, we'll have new and recommended projects listed on the site, giving a bit more publicity to projects that have just been released. The pity post thing goes for everything AVA related: - No, "Why am I not getting cast?" - that's something for you to ask your producers, as they listen to your auditions. - No, "How come no one is commenting?" - See above. - No, "Does anyone like me here?" - If you're unsure of that, try to warm yourself up to others, take the time to contact them outside of the board and try to get to know them beyond their username. - No, "Why is no one auditioning for me?" - Check out your audition thread. Are you following the rules? Do you have character descriptions and, or anything that might draw someone's interest? Also, plug yourself in your signature. And so on. Use common sense and you should be fine.

We understand that there are members who fluently speak other languages, and we do not wish to supress people who want to speak in other languages, but please use some descretion: Do you know Chinese and want to say something in Chinese in your thread? Go for it. However, know that not everyone is going to understand it.. and if your post is really meant for only one or two people to read, you'd be best off saving it for a private means, such as Instant Messaging or Private Messaging. Secondly, we want to be able to understand you. Netspeak annoys and is quite difficult to understand, especially since we have members from other countries whose English skills aren't perfect and thus, using netspeak would make things quite unnerving for them. Because of this, we ask that everyone refrains from using it. We don't require you to speak with perfect grammar, syntax and the like, but we want to be able to understand the point you're attempting to get across. Try your best to write as clearly as possible, and definitely no "1337-speak."

This is, pretty much, all encompassing. Do not flame someone because they've given constructive criticism that you don't like, and don't call them names or make personal attacks against their character, or flaws that you might find within their character. Additionally, this goes for the rest of the forum. Do not make any derrogatory statements and such about people, no matter the circumstance. If you're getting into a heated debate, instead of making immature, inflammatory comments about their race, sex, sexual preference and so on, please take it to PM and discuss it like adults, or contact a staff member. Lastly, flaming and personal attacks can fall under the troling category - If you're going to be apart of this board, post constructively. Don't turn everything you see into a big drama-fest filled with flaming and nonsensical posts because you have an issue with a person, or multiple people, on the board.