I know you know, but you really know, or do the others know, what's considered spam, how do you tell it from just poor newbie RP?
This topic it's to discus that, so, just start when you feel like it...

Darn you, Alex...you beat me to it...

Lol. Way to take the initiative. I congratulate you.

I'll probably end up elaborating on this in a future Newcomer Article, but the way I've always defined spam is this: anything that is not related to the current topic.

I hereby stop commenting on it so that other people will continue this conversation. Seems like everyone always wants RG to have the final word...not this time, boys!

A while back, I heard what I believe is a pretty good description of spam: Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Anything off topic or stupid makes up spam in my book.

Adding on to what they said...

Sometimes on-topic stuff can be interpreted as S.P.A.M., as well. For example...

X: ... (continued from 500-word post) OOC: blahblahblah
Z: Ok.

I would consider Z's post spam. Although on-topic, it contributed nothing. Sure, one-worders can be interpreted as "stupid," one of Alpha's definitions of spam, but I think in most cases of them, the one doing it does not realize that it's wrong

A silent acknowledgement of understanding (etc.) is probably best for those situations.

...Sure hope X isn't an NPC

Alpha wrote:A while back, I heard what I believe is a pretty good description of spam: Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Anything off topic or stupid makes up spam in my book.

... But why don't we just call them PM... oh. Maybe AM? ... er... SM! Spam sounds better though... but doesn't taste all that great XD.

But yeah. I've seen some newbies spamming. ... And even I, a great, wise, intelligant (snort!) RPer spams. So I need to be reminded every so often... and even remind myself.

But though some post may seem like spam, it's really on topic, and as I said before, it's just poor RP.

GM:Their enemy gave his last breath, falling to the ground, defeated...
X: "Oh yeah!"OOC: XD

In those cases, it's difficult to decide whether or not is spamming, because it's short, but on topic...

Spam, in its traditional definition, is Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. While this may define it fully for other types of forums and chatrooms, RP forums are a little different. Spam comes in two "flavors':

1) Original. Anything Stupid, Pointless, or Annoying is spam. For instance:

RPer: As the battle rages on, countless lives are lost. Bodies pile on the ground, with blood pouring from their wounds. Is there no end to the madness? Can this be called good, even if it is against evil? What is evil? One warrior sees the other as evil. There is no middle ground... There is no compromise. It is kill or be killed. This is war... The horrible creation of men.

Spammer: hey how do i get monie

As you can see, this spammer blemished a beautiful topic such as this by asking a question that clearly should go somewhere else. This falls under Stupid, and Annoying. I wouldn't necessarily call it Pointless, because a question is never pointless.

2) Extra-Spicy Chicken. This generally includes OOC only posts, anything three lines or less, and god-modding. Always try your best to put as much as possible in your posts. The shortest post, no matter how great the idea, cannot convey your true thoughts about the topic. Keep all this in mind, and do not ask why this is Extra-Spicy Chicken.

Three things:

1.) YAY, ZELDAFOREVER'S BACK!!! Now time for him to disappear for another few months.

2.) Extra Spicy Chicken (Love the name) is particularly annoying because you actually have to go along with these crappy posts that can ruin the whole flow. I know that in Alpha's Force of Gold and my Jackal and Rabbit, we won't tolerate these because they can ruin the whole purpose of the story and bring it down. Not to mention it's extremely hard to move it along when people are barely saying anything.

Besides, if you want to get TP for being the RPer of the Month, you're not going to get it with short posts and godmoding. If you really enjoy roleplaying, you would try to make the posts as long, thorough, and helpful as possible. This is because the essence of roleplaying is to come up with great stories with fellow RPers, and try to make it as fun for them as possible, not just yourself.