Post images as text: Clarification on rule please!

[Kaliyana]

I actually think it could be reportable, if they're using an excessive amount of symbols in their posts.
Is they are, it would count as a large amount of unnecessary writing, which Soren Fey has said it spam.

[Shian]

We already have a couple vague rules where the punishment could vary from mod to mod depending on their own personal tastes.

"excessive" is pretty subjective to me. What's excessive?

Anything not needed for the subject? ie. single symbols at the beginning or end? I've seen those around a lot more often.
Headers such as a couple of these ♥♥♥ at the bottom and top of every post?
What about the chat room format?
Or signing their name in every post even though its not a joint account?
What about putting their name in the subject line? Is that spam too?

°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸
Where is the line?
---[]--- ---[]--- ---[]--- ---[]--- ---[]---

[nickjr]

I just realized that the Spam Guide says that ASCII art is spam:

• ASCII art - Small emoticons (e.g. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻) along with an on-topic post to emphasize your feelings is acceptable, but please refrain from posting big pieces or adding them as a decorative element to all your posts.

Only problems are that I have no clue if the decorative text headers/footers are considered ASCII art (I get mixed results when I try to look it up), and this doesn't exactly cover the chatroom element, but I figured I should throw this in here. ^^;

[Takora Drakan]

I was about to link that post from Sorren lol, but in my eyes adding random symbols to your post counts as spam in my eyes as described in the quoted part. They add nothing to the post if they are not relevant.


Example:

The new Butterfly wolves are so pretty! ♥

Seems okay to me since the heart is there to add emphasis that they like the pet.

Example:

Oh man I missed the new dog outcome! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Same as above, the emote is added as emphasis, so it is okay in my eyes.

Example:

°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸

I think the new horses are pretty!

°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸

The lines have nothing to do with the post or topic, thus it is spam in my eyes.

[Atwood]

^ Pretty much this. The thing we want to prevent is people filling up their posts with unnecessary decorating elements that would stretch out the post or make it difficult/annoying for others to read.

Adding even a single unrelated symbol (e.g. ~♥) at the start of each post is borderline, so anything beyond that is almost certainly against the 'decorative spam' rule. Using a chatroom format is definitely against the rules, as is adding things like °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø or ASCII art (for example, that Skrillex ASCII art that's around, or the running horse one). Including an in-post signature (e.g. ~ Atwood) is less concrete, since some people share accounts and therefore will sign their posts to show which person has written it, but it should be avoided if there isn't a reason for doing it. Basically, if there's no reason for it to be there, it shouldn't be there.

Text emoticons that relate to your post's content are okay, so long as they don't get excessive. 'Excessive' is going to be a bit subjective, but as an example, something like this would be okay but pushing the limit:
"O_O... e_e... >w<... >:C... (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ " (this is comparable to something like ' ')

while this would be over the limit:
"O_O O_O O_O O_O O_O O_O... e_e e_e e_e e_e e_e... >w< >w< >w<... >:C >:C >:C >:C... (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ "

just like its emoticon image counterpart:


As with the emoticon images, you only need a few to get the point across, so repeating them on and on has no purpose and adds nothing to the post's content.

[Hekomi]

If someone is repeatedly signing posts like:

°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸
I love those adoptables!
°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸,ø¤°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸

that's spam too and can be warned/removed.