# Posting to plug someone else's efforts **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 6, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318 "2018-02-06T18:50:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/1 "2018-02-06T18:50:19Z")
(DISCLAIMER: I’m pretty sure this is not permitted, I would have sent a private inquiry if I could figure out how and to whom, and this query is not an attempt to get around any rules.) My adult son is doing a kickstarter on an RPG he developed. I referred to it in an MPSIMS thread. I just wanted to confirm that there is no place on these forums for me - as a guest - to “plug” someone else’s creative/economic interests. Of course I want my kid’s efforts to succeed (and he already hit his kickstarter goal). But mainly, I thought that this steampunk RPG and his steampunk SF might be of interest to some folk around here. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/2 "2018-02-06T19:06:27Z")
If you are a paying member, one of the benefits is the privilege to post in the Marketplace. Non-paying guests do not have Marketplace privileges. Even as a paying member, you can only post in the Marketplace for something that you have a direct interest in. Here is the rule: > [@](#): > > 1. Marketplace is intended to provide you with a forum for promoting your own ventures. Don’t use it to promote somebody else’s business. For example, an affiliate page in which you merely provide links to other commercial sites for a commission is not in the spirit of what we’re trying to do here. So, for example, if you were a paying member instead of a guest, you would still only be able to promote it in the Marketplace if you were somehow involved financially in this venture, like if you were splitting the profits from the RPG because you kicked in money for development or were handling the advertising or something that otherwise gave you a direct stake in it. You may want to send a PM to the Game Room moderators. They might allow the RPG to be mentioned in that forum since they often allow discussions about new games. Since I do not moderate that forum I don’t know where they draw the lines on what is and is not acceptable to post there. Merely mentioning it is probably ok, but actively promoting it in another forum like MPSIMS is a definite no. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/3 "2018-02-06T19:09:27Z")
I think it’s usual to pm mods about such things. They will let you know what is allowable and what isn’t. Edit: missed ecg’s response which makes my post superfluous. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/4 "2018-02-06T19:09:40Z")
Cool, thanks. Just didn’t want to cause anyone any trouble. I thought about PMing a mod, but wasn’t sure of the correct forum. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/5 "2018-02-06T19:14:24Z")
I think if you PM any mod and it’s not their forum, they will point you to the correct forum and the moderators of said forum. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/6 "2018-02-06T19:19:24Z")
Alright, here’s another question - where do you see who the mods are? I know it used to be very visible on the individual forums. I suspect it may be a display issue with my settings following one of the recent “improvements” - akin to the one that makes “Post Reply” and “New Topic” invisible white font on white background. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/7 "2018-02-06T19:27:17Z")
You could just click the Forum Leader button at the bottom of the first page, and 2 minutes later when it finally loads you can see who the mod(s) is/are for that forum. It also shows which mod is on the clock and which are AWOL. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/8 "2018-02-06T19:33:13Z")
Ahh - found it. Guess I was messing around at the top instead of scrolling down to the bottom ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/9 "2018-02-06T20:29:49Z")
If you’re using the old skin, there’s also just a direct list of moderators at the bottom of each forum page. This was removed for some unknown reason on the newer skin, and all work on that seems to have stalled. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/10 "2018-02-06T21:39:36Z")
FWIW, as a member, I wouldn’t mind at all a link to a kickstarter about a new game as long as it was in the course of a normal discussion. A disclaimer (“this is my son’s game, but I think it’s awesome”) would be appreciated, but I’d still probably click the link to check it out. A new thread dedicated to the kickstarter would raise my eyebrows. Have we had similar things, though, where authors of books post in CS or MPSIMS about their books, with links? I could easily imagine both that or someone posting, “Hey, my son just wrote this book, check it out!” ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/11 "2018-02-06T23:16:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Have we had similar things, though, where authors of books post in CS or MPSIMS about their books, with links? Yes, but it requires moderator approval first. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-to-plug-someone-elses-efforts/808318/12 "2018-02-07T06:59:55Z")
As it states in my signature, a friend of mine is running for Congress in Indiana’s 9th district. Per **Bone** , I can refer to this in appropriate threads (in the appropriate forum), with the stipulation that I don’t engage in any actual fundraising (or attempt to). I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request. Then again, a kickstarter is an entirely different circumstance. So, I don’t know. This post seems kinda pointless now. Carry on.