Participation Guide

This guide covers the practical side of participation: how to post, when Steel Man is required, how pseudonym accountability works, and how to avoid lowering the standard of the room by accident.

Posting Replies

• Starting a new thread does not require a Steel Man summary.
• If you choose ‘Challenge’ when replying to a person, begin with a Steel Man summary.
• The original poster can then accept or reject whether you represented their position fairly. Rejections require a written reason of at least 15 words, and that reason is shown publicly beneath the Steel Man.
• Keep replies direct, readable, and free of needless heat.
• Support claims with reasoning or evidence when the claim carries weight.
• Use paragraphs in longer replies so the thread remains legible.

Votes never require a reply. If you do reply, choose either Reply or Challenge and post accordingly.

A rejection does not remove the Steel Man from the thread. The challenge reply stays visible so other readers can judge both the summary and the reason given against it.

Using Pseudonyms

Pseudonyms provide privacy without cancelling accountability. Choose a name that can live in a serious room. Do not impersonate others, use bait names, or treat identity as a toy.

Changing your community name costs 50 Keys and is limited to once every 30 days. A single free change within the first 30 days of a new account does not trigger the cooldown or deduct Keys. After each change, the prior pseudonym is captured and shown beneath any contribution for 90 days as “Previously known as …,” so the community can trace identity changes. Admin accounts can change their names freely with no cost or cooldown.

Spendable Keys come from earned community standing. They may also include welcome Keys awarded on a member's first successful paid upgrade. The current welcome ladder is path-dependent: 10 Keys for Initiate, 10 additional Keys for a later upgrade to Adept, making 20 Keys total on that route, 30 Keys for a direct upgrade from Free to Adept, and 40 Keys for the founder path. It does not reset on cancellation or resubscription.

If you lack enough spendable Keys, the change is blocked with the message “Insufficient keys to change username,” and your community name remains unchanged until the required Keys are available.

Navigating Threads

• Read existing replies before contributing.
• Avoid repeating points unless you are adding real depth or evidence.
• When you use ‘Challenge’, use the Steel Man summary to anchor the specific point you are addressing.
• If your post belongs in a different room, move it rather than forcing it into the wrong thread.