Forum rules and guidelines
Rules and restrictions
Freedom of speech
Every member has the right to say what he thinks. You should respect other peoples' views, no matter how much you might disagree with them. Posts that are clearly inflammatory or aggressive in nature are not allowed however. Respect goes both ways. You show us your respect, and we will return the gesture.
No flaming and bashing
Making meaningless flame posts does not achieve anything. So try to control yourself and please post in a civilised manner, not in the manner of some little spoiled 12-year old. Any inflammatory content will be removed, and may result in a warning or ban if repeated.
No discrimination, racism or hate
We absolutely do not tolerate posts that are discriminating, racist or posts which imply hate to other members or to certain groups. You should respect everyone, no matter what their beliefs or personal lifestyle choice, no matter what country they are from, what their skin colour is, or what gender they are: Everyone is equal. This extends to trolling a member, we do not allow people to be here with the sole purpose of reducing someone else's enjoyment.
No setting up hits
Don't even think about it, it's a bad thing to do. Seriously.
No spam outside the spam forum
If you feel the need to joke around or make posts that have no immediate value except for their fun factor, use the spam forum which was created specifically for this purpose. Even spam has its limits and we do not allow threads that seem to have no use other than to pointlessly make new posts. 'Games' are allowed as long as there is at least some intellectual value to them. Do not create threads where the idea is simply to make posts without any use at all. Spam posts and threads that are found outside of the spam forum, or that are too spammy even for the spam forum, will be deleted, closed or moved. Repeat offence may result in a warning.
No pornographic or shock images
This is a gaming forum, so pornography does not belong here. The same goes for shocking or gruesome images or any other pictures with lots of gore. Any posts with pornographic or shocking content will be deleted immediately. Depending on the seriousness a warning may be issued immediately or after repeat offence.
No warez
This board does not promote illegal software or content in any way, and as such, no warez/illegal material is allowed on this forum. Threads/posts containing references to illegal software will be removed.
Signature and avatar
A signature may not be any larger than 800x400 pixels. You may also not allowed put blatantly obvious political material in your signature or avatar. A small userbar is ok, as is a flag, but do not go overboard - remember that the forum is politics-free for the most part, and signatures are forum-wide. Staff and Administrators have the right to edit or remove an avatar or signature that does not adhere to the rules, WITHOUT WARNING beforehand or afterwards. If, after it has been edited, you simply restore your signature or avatar to its original state, you will receive a warning.
Political Discussions
Political discussions are allowed in the Political Area and only in the Political Area, any political content outside the Political Area will result in a warning.
Rule-dodging
Insofar that members purposefully exploit loopholes, or maintain a presence extremely close to breaking a rule, we reserve the right to treat these members as though they had broken a rule.
Guidelines
Keep on topic
A thread is created for a specific purpose, be it a question, statement or otherwise. If you want to say something relating to an existing thread, say it in that thread. If the discussion in a particular thread wanders off too far from the original intention, create a new thread. Threads that continue to veer off topic will be closed or split, depending on the situation.
Where and when to post
Do not start a thread if there is already an existing thread about the same topic. While topics are never closed for being old we request that you only revive an old topic with a post that actively contributes to the topic at hand. If a thread you created gets little attention, don't post another identical thread and do not repeatedly post in your thread in an attempt to draw attention, just leave it. There is probably a reason people have not posted in your thread in the first place. Modification forums may have their own guidelines with regards to behaviour they deem acceptable. If you are unsure whether you should post, ask either a Moderator or Project Leader for that forum.
Warnings and bans
Warnings are indicated by the blocks next to a persons name when they post, and can also be seen in each member's profile. If at any time a member of the moderating team sees you breaking any of the above rules, a warning may be issued.
Warnings will accumulate, the first will be verbal (via PM) with no sanctions, the second will result in an increase of 33% to your warn indicator and you will receive a 24hr removal of posting rights. When you receive a second warning your posting rights will be removed for 2 weeks and your account will be suspended for 2 weeks.
Once these 2 weeks are over, you will be allowed to post again, but the warn meter will still be at 2 out of 3 warnings. A third warning will then immediately result in another ban from posting, but this time it will be PERMANENT. You may appeal your ban through other forms of communication such as e-mail, but in all cases the decision of the moderating team is final.
In addition, you may not create a new account to evade the warning or ban on a previous account. If your first account is warn-free, we are generally more lenient if you create secondary accounts for other purposes, but even then posing to be someone else or not making it clear who you are will lead to sanctions. However, if you already have warnings you lose the privilege of having a second account. Creating a second account in this case will be regarded as ban evasion and will be treated, at least, with banning the new account and possibly a warn increase on the old one.
It is not all bad stuff. If you ever get warned, and after that you show good behaviour and refrain from spamming, your warn level may also be lowered. Just as it is the decision of the moderating team to warn you, it is also up to the moderating team's discretion to remove warns. There is no set rule as to when someone is warned or unwarned, but you may always appeal to the administrators if you think you were unjustly warned. Asking the moderating team to be unwarned will never result in being unwarned, so you should not waste your time trying.
