Update (6/2/2016): since I originally posted this, a new chat with new rules created by @BrenTheMan has been put up. You can read them here, and whatever it says, goes. For historical reasons, this post will be left up for people who want to look back at the NG Featureless Chat days (April 1, 2012 - May 11, 2014) or for people who joined afterwards to get a sense of how it was ran.

Although plenty of these rules are contained in the current ones, in retrospect, I probably could have eased up on banning people for excessive RPing, as annoying as it was at the time. I should also note that there was no block feature then. Flood protection/auto-banning also had unintended, harsher consequences as it snagged non-spammers as well--most of who I unbanned after being notified. The modernized version addresses all of this stuff associated with the newer features. So go read those first, then read these for a step back in time. Everything after this sentence is years old.

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Note: the chat rules are now accessible on the NG Wiki. Newgrounds Wiki: Chat Guidelines.

Welcome to the Newgrounds Chat. While you're here, try to have fun and enjoy your stay. However, keep in mind that there are rules and they will be regularly enforced by NG chat moderators and staff members. They exist to maintain a safe, sane, comfortable and entertaining environment--even when the chat gets crowded. Read them. Failure to follow them will likely result in you getting banned. Warnings are often given out as well at the discretion of each mod or staff member as a courtesy, but they are not required. Here are the rules, and the ones considered most important are in bold:

- No spamming or flooding the room. This is the first and most obvious rule. This chat has flood protection built in and it's there for a reason--primarily to get rid of spammers.

- If the chat is quiet aka "dead," don't talk to yourself by writing line after line out of boredom. You will accomplish nothing and will most likely end up being auto-banned by the aforementioned flood protection.

- No posting malicious links, links to referral sites, screamers or anything likely to be seizure-inducing to people with photosensitive epilepsy. However, non-malicious porn links are generally okay except links to child porn. As a courtesy to other users, you must include a NSFW warning before or following any links with adult content.

- No explicit images in your icon (i.e. erect penises, threesomes, etc.).

- Don't be an annoying nuisance or behave like an overly belligerent jackass. No insulting, threatening or harassing other users and especially not moderators or staff members. Also, do not make any death threats towards anyone and ESPECIALLY public officials, even when it's clear from the context that you are joking. You may not only be permabanned, but all options are on the table, including being reported to law enforcement as well.

- Refrain from trolling and/or using gimmick accounts.

- No excessive meme-spewing like a moron.

- Do not initiate or partake in any obviously pointless, asinine chatter, especially when there's already at least one serious and more productive discussion presently going on. We don't care if you randomly blurt out that you like pie, cocks, ponies, etc. while the rest of the room is talking about politics, video games, movies, music or whatever else. Try your best to conduct yourself in a reasonably mature and intelligent manner no matter how young or old you are.

- If you're going to take up a lot of chat space, don't waste it by posting ASCII art, the chat user list or anything else generally considered useless--just post something useful and relevant to the conversation.

- No Zalgo text. You may likely find yourself banned without warning.

- Don't make any subtle or overt racist, ethnocentric, sexist, homophobic or otherwise prejudiced comments. That should go without saying, but unfortunately, there are people that need to be reminded of that.

- Don't instigate, discuss or partake in any attacks against other websites. It's pathetic, makes all of us look bad, and opens the floodgates for users from those sites to take retaliatory action.

- Don't impersonate NG regulars, moderators or staff members.

- Refrain from writing in ALL CAPS. If your Caps Lock key is broken, then either get it fixed, get a new computer, or use one at the library or a friend's house.

- Don't post any user's real life information without their explicit permission.

- Don't write excessively in a language other than English--it's exclusionary and this is a primarily English-speaking chat room.

- No role-playing (RPing) or cyber sex. It's generally annoying to most users in the room and has been shown again and again to significantly lower the room's sanity, while also being highly disruptive to most discussions. A little bit of RPing is unlikely to get you banned or even warned, but if you reach the point where any mod has to warn you to stop RPing, then heed it.

- Don't come in for the sole purpose of fishing for hot girls, hot boys, hot hermaphrodites or hot animals, and don't make A/S/L requests, especially if you're new. Go on a dating site instead--there are more than enough out there to satisfy just about everyone's needs.

- Keep attention whoring to a minimum.

- When a moderator or staff member gives you a directive, don't whine and throw a hissy fit--just listen and follow.

- In the event that you get banned for any reason whatsoever, do not attempt to return to the room under a different account. You'll just get banned again for ban evasion indefinitely and at worst, all of your accounts may be deleted and your IP may be banned by a site administrator. If you have any questions or issues regarding a ban you received, PM a chat moderator and preferably the same moderator that banned you (if you know who it is). However, talk to us politely instead of disrespectfully if you really want to make things better and not worse--you might be surprised by how reasonable we can be.

- If you come in claiming to be a sibling, other relative or friend of a currently banned user, don't come on and beg for them to be unbanned--you'll just end up getting banned yourself and going nowhere.

- This room (as well as the rest of NG) is for users aged 13 and older. If you're under 13, you must leave immediately and come back when you're old enough. Users that admit to being under 13 will be banned.

- If you come back from a ban, just take it as a lesson learned and move on with your life. Don't repeat whatever got you banned in the first place or break another rule, because that will be taken into consideration if you receive any subsequent bans, which will in all likelihood be lengthier or permanent. On top of that, don't try to engage in any fights with other users, mods or admins, and don't whine or boast about any bans you've received.

- Don't try to smartass your way around any of these rules, and don't be surprised if your subsequent accounts end up getting banned preemptively for repeated abuse.

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Abridged/edited form as was posted in the Chat Guidelines section of the NG Wiki before the necessary take down of the Featureless Chat (April 1, 2012 - May 11, 2014):

- Don't be an annoying nuisance. No insulting, threatening or harassing other users and especially not moderators or staff members. Also, do not make any death threats towards anyone and ESPECIALLY public officials, even when it's clear from the context that you are joking. You may not only be permabanned, but all options are on the table, including being reported to law enforcement as well.

- No spamming or flooding the room. This chat has flood protection built in and it's there for a reason--primarily to get rid of spammers.

- Don't come in for the sole purpose of fishing for hot girls, hot boys, hot hermaphrodites or hot animals, and don't make A/S/L requests, especially if you're new. Go on a dating site instead--there are more than enough out there to satisfy just about everyone's needs.

- Using ALL CAPS is considered yelling. Excessive use of CAPS is NOT ALLOWED, LOL.

- No role-playing (RPing) or cyber sex. A little bit of RPing is unlikely to get you banned or even warned, but if you reach the point where any mod has to warn you to stop RPing, then heed it.

- Do not request software, porn or other questionable media from other users.

- If the chat is quiet aka "dead," don't talk to yourself by writing line after line out of boredom.

- No posting malicious links, links to referral sites, screamers or anything likely to be seizure-inducing to people with photosensitive epilepsy. However, non-malicious porn links are generally okay except links to child porn. As a courtesy to other users, you must include a NSFW warning before or following any links with adult content.

- Do not initiate or partake in any obviously pointless, asinine chatter, especially when there's already at least one serious and more productive discussion presently going on. We don't care if you randomly blurt out that you like pie, cocks, ponies, etc. while the rest of the room is talking about politics, video games, movies, music or whatever else. Try your best to conduct yourself in a reasonably mature and intelligent manner no matter how young or old you are.

- Don't make any subtle or overt racist, ethnocentric, sexist, homophobic or otherwise prejudiced comments. That should go without saying, but unfortunately, there are people that need to be reminded of that.

- Don't write excessively in a language other than English--it's exclusionary and this is a primarily English-speaking chat room.

- Keep attention whoring to a minimum.

- In the event that you get banned for any reason whatsoever, do not attempt to return to the room under a different account. You'll just get banned again for ban evasion indefinitely and at worst, all of your accounts may be deleted and your IP may be banned by a site administrator. If you have any questions or issues regarding a ban you received, PM a chat moderator and preferably the same moderator that banned you (if you know who it is). However, talk to us politely instead of disrespectfully if you really want to make things better and not worse.

- If you come in claiming to be a sibling, other relative or friend of a currently banned user, don't come on and beg for them to be unbanned--you'll just end up getting banned yourself and going nowhere.

- If you come back from a ban, just take it as a lesson learned and move on with your life. Don't repeat whatever got you banned in the first place or break another rule, because that will be taken into consideration if you receive any subsequent bans, which will in all likelihood be lengthier or permanent. 

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Looks like a lot, right? Some of you are probably thinking, "Wah, too many rules, the mods don't want us to have fun. Why don't you just ban fun instead?" If that's what you're thinking, you couldn't be more wrong. Most of what you see here is actually just common sense. Everything here could be summed up by simply saying, "Don't be an annoying jackass." As long as you keep that in mind, you're good to go.