Newbies Get Limited Negrep Immunity

[RJ]

A new rule has been implemented with regard to reputation.

The rule is simple: until someone has been given at least two positive (green) or neutral (gray) reps, non-staff can't give them any negative rep. This rule will be automatically enforced by the forum software.
Once they have two reps of any kind (including gray/neutral reps), then from that point on, they are no longer protected from negrep.

The idea is to be kind to newbies who may be posting for the first time, and have no idea that their posts may be rated using the reputation system.
Previously, they might have put little effort into their first post, got a negrep, become alienated, and left ADISC before they realized that we are actually a fun group of people to talk to.
With this new rule in place, instead of getting a negrep for that post, they should instead get a far more constructive gray (neutral) rep, one that comes with an informative reason which helps them learn from the experience.

If we get a case where someone starts causing trouble soon after registering, members attempting to negrep that person would instead be directed to report the problematic posts, using the button.
This allows the moderators to take corrective action, including giving negrep if it is justified.