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'll show you ours.

No flaming and bashing
Making meaningless flame posts doesn't achieve anything. So try to control yourself and please post in a civilized manner, not in the manner of some little spoiled 12-year old. Any inflammatory content will be removed, and might result in a warning or ban if repeated.

No discrimination, sexism, racism or hate

We absolutely do not tolerate posts that are discriminating, racist, sexist, or posts which imply hate to other members or to certain groups. You should respect everyone, no matter what their belief is and no matter what country they are from, what their skin color is, what gender they are, or what species they are for that matter. Everyone is equal.

Constructive criticism and arguments

If you have something to complain about, do it in such a way that we can actually fix what's wrong. So don't just flame something for no reason, but give us a way to fix it. Do not mindlessly bash anything you don't agree with without giving a proper motivation, and provide sensible arguments to your point of view. If you are unable to defend your opinion in a civilized way, don't post. Debates are encouraged as long as they don’t get out of hand.

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. However, 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. Spam also counts as single word/few word posts like “That’s cool”. Posts like that ARE NOT constructive.

No porn or shock images

This is a gaming forum, so porn does not belong here. The same goes for shocking or gruesome images or any other pictures with lots of gore. Any posts with pornographical or shocking content will be deleted immediately. Depending on the seriousness, warnings might be given immediately or after repeat offence.

No warez

This board does not promote illegal software in any way, and as such, no warez/illegal software 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 500x350 pixels. While we are lenient with regards to the width limit (since it depends on the wrapping of text and such), be aware that we are a lot stricter with enforcing the height. You may also not 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 may receive a warning. The no porn/shock images/warez rule also applies to this as well.




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.

Don't repeat what has been said

Don't start a new thread unless you are certain that there are no previous threads about the same, and that you are not simply repeating what has been said in an older thread. Don't simply repeat yourself either. If a thread you created gets little attention, don't post another identical thread and don't 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!

Do not post in old threads

If a thread did not get any new posts for a while, then it is probably no longer interesting to any of the board's members. Don't bring it back up by posting in it, unless you are absolutely sure that the thread is still relevant. If you revive an old thread, the problem the thread was about might have been solved long ago, or people might have simply forgotten about it entirely. So don't revive old threads unless you absolutely have to. And even then, try to explain clearly why you sought to awaken the dead...

The only exception to this is the 'Serial Spammers' forum. Because topics there never lose relevance due to their ongoing nature, it's ok to revive old topics there. But even so, be aware that some topics were abandoned for a reason. Even if you thought the topic was too good to be abandoned, not everyone else might agree.
Political discussions
There are plenty of forums on the internet that offer opportunities to discuss what is going on in the world, but this is not one of them.

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 staff sees you breaking any of the above rules, a warning may be issued.

Warnings will accumulate, and when you receive a second warning your posting rights will be removed 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 admin/admins 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.

However, it's not all bad stuff. If you ever get warned, and after that you show good behavior and refrain from spamming, your warn level may also be lowered. Just as it is the decision of a member of staff to warn you, it is also up to the staff discretion to remove warns. There is no set rule as to when someone is warned or unwarned, but you may always appeal to the admins if you think you were unjustly warned. However, asking the admins or staff to be unwarned will never result in being unwarned, so you should not try.

Also keep in mind, that the mods can ban you right off the bat if you are THAT bad, and totally circumvent giving you a warning altogether. However this only applies to the WORSE cases.


Note: Rules will be editted as seen fit, so check back often.