I get it. You stumble upon a new and interesting community and you wanna make friends. But unfortunately, you have the social skills of an intoxicated penguin and don't know how to read the room. Well, as a man who absolutely went above and beyond in his "research", here's a few things to know.
First, read the rules. This should go without saying, regardless of who you are or what community you want to join. If you don't learn the rules, you probably won't be a member for very long. If you didn't already notice the button on the top of the page, here's the link to the GTM rules.
https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php?page=rulesSecond, if there's an argument, don't get involved. Don't pick sides. Don't make the situation worse. If people are going at it and it's causing problems, the responsible thing to do is let a moderator or administrator handle it.
Third, if you're joining the Discord group, don't spam, don't irritate, don't be a jerk. You might be a joker, but jokes are supposed to be funny. If nobody is laughing, take a hint.
Fourth, respect your fellow members. This doesn't just mean being nice and friendly in conversation, this means keeping any controversial opinions to yourself, not going completely off topic in other sections, or otherwise doing anything that will just lead to everyone getting annoyed with you. For example, due to my excessive and unnecessary use of the voice messaging feature, it was disabled in general chat. Don't do something like that.
Fifth and final, if you do end up doing something bad, do not argue. Do not talk smack about moderators or administrators behind their backs. Do not go off creating splinter groups because you don't want to be a responsible person who can accept the consequences for their wrongdoings. If you get punished, deal with it. It sucks, but if you haven't been banned, don't do something to get yourself banned like I did.
To summarise, read the rules, don't worsen the situation, don't be a jerk, don't be an idiot, and don't argue with the people running the show if you decided to make a fool of yourself. I speak from experience, and the people here are some of the most accepting and talented I have ever met. Please don't make the same mistakes I did, because when you come to respect people like I did, even when you couldn't keep your mouth shut, you'll absolutely hate yourself for losing their trust and respect in you.
