I have found if you knock anything at all about K&C products you stand the chance of being jailed for a week.
Not. Criticizing a manufacturer's product most certainly will not get you banned or "jailed for a week."
Sometimes it's all in how you say it. Here is an example of a post that does not follow the guidelines:
"The latest offering from XYZ Company is the biggest piece of blankety blank garbage I have ever seen and the owner of the company is a complete idiot to think any of us true collectors would be stupid enough to spend our hard-earned money on it. Whoever sculpted it should go back to art school and it was obviously painted by a drunken monkey.
Anyone who is dumb enough to buy this piece doesn't know his blankety blank blank blank from his elbow and shouldn't be able to call themselves a collector. The company is crooked to try to sell it at that price, the owner of the company's wife must be ugly if this piece is any indication of their lousy taste. Hey XYZ, get a clue and produce something worth our time and money!
"
Here is an example of saying the same thing without insulting the company, any fellow collector who happens to like or have bought the product, the painter, the sculptor and the owner and their spouse:
"I have just seen the latest offering from XYZ Company and I have to say I'm disappointed. I don't think the sculpt is as crisp as their usual offerings. The flesh tones seemed a bit on the green side and I would have preferred that the dog have been painted brown instead of purple with pink polka dots. In my opinion this new product isn't up to XYZ's standards and I personally would not recommend it."
Sometimes an inoffensive post will get deleted because it follows an offensive one that has been removed and the posts that follow no longer make sense without the context of the removed one.
In the two and half years that this forum has been offered there have been a total of 3 temporary bans and in every case it was because someone got angry and offended with another board member and had a complete meltdown, took the gloves off and jumped into the rubber room to have a knock-down drag out fight taking everyone else with them as spectators. If this sort of thing was allowed to go on and we quit caring how people treated each other a lot of people would just leave or quit posting for fear they might be the next to be jumped. I and the mods will continue to keep this a place where all members can feel welcome and comfortable.
And as far as the forum being "free" all members and guests are "free" to be a part of the toy soldier community here on the forum and "free" to post their thoughts and opinions in a respectful way. The forum is "free" to all members and guests but not "free" to Treefrog Treasures. The forum has gotten so big it now costs thousands of dollars a year plus the cost of the forum software to have it hosted on a dedicated server. We at Treefrog feel this forum is an extremely valuable asset to the collecting community and is our way to personally promote the hobby and we are willing to spend the money, maintain the board and keep it a friendly place for you all. We just ask that all who join and participate keep the guidelines of respect they agreed to abide by in mind when posting and interacting with others.
I think that's a pretty fair price to pay.
Best regards,
