Forum Rules

1. Illegal material

Do not post links to sites that contain illegal material or discuss where to obtain illegal material (ie where to get illegal MP3s, warez, cracks, etc.). Do not post magazine scans and other copyrighted material. This is prohibited.

Discussions about how to perform activities that are illegal in the US are also prohibited.



2. Obscene material

You may not post obscene material. This includes text and/or images that are violent, disturbing, or pornographic.



3. Flaming

You cannot, in any way, insult (or "flame") someone else on the board. People may not be insulted just because their opinion differs from yours. Flaming includes calling people names, insulting them, or saying offensive things to them.



4. Inappropriate language

Refrain from using excessive profanity in your posts. Basically, let the censor do its job. Don't attempt to undermine it.

Avoid using leet/IM/chatspeak in your posts. This is a forum, not an instant messenger or a cell phone so please make an effort to use proper English to make your posts easier to read and understand.

(Example of chatspeak: "h0w r u m8" --> "How are you mate?")

We are aware that this is an international forum where not everyone speaks English as their native language. Everyone can make grammar and spelling mistakes and nobody should pick on you for that, but chatspeak is a deliberate choice of style and not a mistake. Members who continually post in this manner will be asked to change their posting habits or they may see their posts edited/deleted at moderators' discretion.



5. Spamming

Spamming is strictly prohibited. Your post needs to contribute to the discussion or the topic. Spam Details:

Do not post messages that are irrelevant to the topic or attempt to derail the conversation. Your posts should contribute to the thread in some manner.

Chatting is speaking in a light, familiar way and includes informal talk or one sentence posts like “I agree.” Chatting is considered spamming and will be dealt with accordingly. Please remember that Off-Topic forums are for off-topic discussion, not no-topic discussion. The staff will lock blatantly spammy threads at their discretion.

You may not post threads about the amount of posts, post status, or rank that you or a fellow member has.

You should not be able to look up at your screen and see that the majority of topics or messages on a page were just created or posted by you.

Do not start topics meant for posting spam. Find some other forum to work out your inanity.



6. Bumping

Please do not make posts simply to move the topic back up to the top of the forum. This is called ‘bumping’ and is not allowed. If people have something relevant to post on that topic, they will. Please be patient when waiting for replies. Don't worry if you don't get a response right away. People around here are helpful and friendly, and if someone knows the answer to something, they'll let you know.



7. Advertisement

Do not advertise other websites. Please do not make posts or threads about other websites or forums in an effort to direct traffic to them. This generally is not acceptable on any of the forums here. You may include links in your signature but you may not advertise in your posts.

You may not spam the Private Message (PM) mailboxes of other members.

Commercial advertisement for companies or products or services you are trying to sell is strictly prohibited.



8. General posting habits

Threads and posts must be placed in their appropriate forums: check out the forum description before posting your message.

Before posting a new topic, do a search to see if there is already a recent thread on the subject. If there is already a thread similar to what you’d like to post, feel free to read it and post a reply in the existing thread. Note that sometimes the search function is disabled, so do your best without it.

Be specific when you name your topic. This will aid in topic searches and help prevent someone from posting something you already have.

Try to stay on topic. Discussion is a good thing and is encouraged, but if what you have to say deviates a lot from the topic, do not post it in that thread. Consider starting your own thread instead. This is a matter of respect to the thread starter.

If you want to add something to a thread that you have recently posted in, and no one else have made any new posts in, edit your last post in the thread instead of creating a new one. If several days have passed where no one has posted anything and you have something substantial to add to the thread you may make a new post instead.



9. E-mail addresses

For your own privacy and security, do not post your e-mail address in the forums. If you want somebody to contact you personally, then please use the Private Messaging system built into the forums, or turn on the option allowing other users to send you e-mail via your profile.



10. Thread/post deletion

The thread deletion feature has been turned off due mainly to the fact that it allowed everyone to delete other people's posts made in the deleted thread. You can ask a moderator to close your thread. Moderators may or may not approve the closure request at their sole discretion.

While you can delete your own posts, do not delete them if a moderator or admin has edited your post for a disciplinary reason. Moderators will notice deleted posts.



11. User names

Do not duplicate anybody's nickname, avatar, and/or signatures. Make or find your own. You may not take the name of someone outside the community, such as names or nicknames of game developers, moderators of other communities, and so on. It is strictly prohibited to impersonate someone else.



12. Multiple accounts

Multiple accounts are not allowed. You must also use a valid email address when registering.



13. Re-registration after a ban

You may not re-register after receiving a ban. If you re-register after you are temporarily banned, you will be banned permanently. If you keep re-registering, you will be IP banned, preventing you from viewing the forums at all.



14. Liability

You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s). We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.



15. Other

The most important rule of all: Don't be stupid. Use common sense.

This is a wonderful rule that covers all the loopholes. These rules are not a code of laws set in stone. Moderators will use their discretion to determine how they are best applied for the good of the community here.