[HEADING=2]Welcome to The Escapist forums![/HEADING] [small]
(The Internet?s version of the Lighthouse of Alexandria [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria])[/small]
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The Escapist Forum Rules:[/HEADING]
We want our forums to be a place where everyone, regardless of who they are, can gather to socialize and talk with like-minded people in a safe and welcoming environment. In order to make that happen we have certain rules we ask all members of our community to adhere to. These rules will be vigorously enforced so that a handful of bad apples don't spoil it for everyone else.
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[HEADING=2]Don't Be a Jerk:[/HEADING]
This rule trumps any other. Any loophole you think you've found in any other rule is covered by this one. If you make our forums a less pleasant place to be, we don't want you here.
[HEADING=2]Have Respect for Others:[/HEADING]
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but no one is entitled to attack others for sharing, or not sharing, that opinion. If you can't communicate without using combative, aggressive, or demeaning language, then please keep those comments to yourself, or be shown the door. Deliberately inflammatory threads; posts written with the sole intention of irritating people; attacks toward or inappropriate commentary regarding The Escapist staff, creators, or other posters; or attempts to derail a thread will be removed, as will your forum privileges.
[HEADING=2]Have Respect for the Site and its Content:[/HEADING]
We put a lot of work into the content on the site, and if you've just shown up to trample on that hard work, we will remove your comments and ask you to leave. Constructive criticism is welcomed; negativity for its own sake is not. Further, discussions instructing or otherwise advocating the circumvention of The Escapist's advertisements, security mechanisms, media protections or similar facilities will not be tolerated.
[HEADING=2]Put Some Effort Into Your Communication:[/HEADING]
A well-made thread or a well-written comment engages its audience and facilitates discussion. We do ask that posters take just a little time to make their posts as readable as possible and keep their responses on topic. We also ask that you take a moment to check your spelling and grammar.
[HEADING=2]Use Our Forums Appropriately:[/HEADING]
Our forums are a place to talk with like-minded people, not a place to advertise your blog or YouTube channel. Your profile has a place for such things, and that is where it should stay. Similarly, posts including, advocating, or linking to illegal or adult material are a very quick way to end your time as part of The Escapist community.
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Penalties[/HEADING]
There are no hard and fast rules on what punishment you will receive should you break any of these rules. Instead, we will make the punishment fit the infraction and the individual. We do not enjoy banning people, but we will not hesitate to do so if we think that a person's removal will have an overall positive effect on the community.
Types of wrath:
Probation: This is just a warning with no substantive changes to your posting abilities. You will most likely get a Private Message from the moderator that put you on Probation detailing why (so that you know what not to do next time)
Suspension: These place temporary limitations on a forum member?s posting abilities and last anywhere from 3 days to a month in length.
Ban: We reserve this for spammers, people who repeatedly and flagrantly ignore the standards established here, and ban jumpers. A ban is permanent.
[HEADING=3]Other:[/HEADING]
[li]
Thread Necroing and Thread Duping: We know that our forums have a very high volume of traffic and sometimes you will end up wanting to talk about subjects that are being discussed elsewhere on the forums. To keep thread spam to a minimum, we ask that you try not to start threads in the same board on exactly the same topic as another thread that?s already active that day. We reserve the right to combine, merge, or delete redundant threads where we see this happen. We will ban for thread spamming in a persistent, abusive, or exploitative manner. If you want to have a discussion on a topic that?s been the subject of a past thread, you should generally join in that thread if it?s a live discussion. If that thread has been inactive for a month or more, its good etiquette to start a new thread and link to the old thread if you want to provide it as background information, and we discourage arbitrary bumping. We will ban for thread bumping if and when it is conducted in a persistent, abusive, or exploitative manner.[/li]
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PM Spam: If you receive a Personal Message (PM) from someone that is spamming you, either another user or some low-paid spam-marketer, please either report the user that sent your the PM (from their Profile page), or forward the PM directly on to a Moderator.[/li]
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Getting to Know Your Moderators
Currently, we employ a staff of Escapist editors, programmers and volunteers to communicate with our readers, uphold the forums, keep everything organized and swing the Banhammer in times of need. They are:
[li]Matt Kuliani, our Community Manager[/li]
Susan Arendt, our Senior Editor.
Russ Pitts, our Editor-in-Chief.
Jason "Virgil" Smith, our IT Director.
Jeff "Spinwhiz" Palumbo, our Brand Manager.
[li][user]John Funk[/user], Associate Editor[/li]
wilsonscrazybed, a member of the Red Guard, a community-based Neighborhood Watch.
Logan Westbrook, another proud member of the Red Guard.
[li]Alex_P, another proud member of the Red Guard.[/li]
[li]Labyrinth, the female member of the Red Guard.[/li]
[li]Baby Tea, the Red Guard with the radio voice.[/li]
[li][user]Varchld[/user], Red Guard and the IRC queen and overlord.[/li]
[user]Claymorez[/user], another proud member of the Red Guard.
[user]NewClassic[/user], another proud member of the Red Guard.
[user]Sevre90210[/user], another proud member of the Red Guard.
[user]Zombie_Fish[/user], another proud member of the Red Guard.
[user]ColdStorage[/user], another proud member of the Red Guard.
[user]Aylaine[/user], an Advice Forum moderator.
[user]zombiesinc[/user], an Advice Forum moderator.
Other Fun Stuff
[li]
Lord Krunk's Guide to the Forums: The Banhammer and You: A User's Guide to the Forums [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.112832][/li]
Moderation questions. Private Message Kuliani.
Profiles. You can edit yours here. We obviously encourage this, but mainly because our Community section [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/] of the site uses the information contained in the profiles to help you connect with others that agree and play with you.
Titles. They?re based on your post count, unless you are staff, contributors, or other odd people.
Badges. Relax, you?ll get some. Keep a lookout for contests, events, and other fun things that we put together all the time, and you'll have plenty of chances for some of the more rare badges!
Forum markup. You can find documentation on the tags our forums support here. This is how you make your posts look more professional and/or entertaining!
User Groups. Small and large groups of users that share common interests hang out here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/]. They have unique features not found in the forums, especially for forum games and roleplaying. There are official ones (Tech Team [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Tech-Team]), ones for fans (Zero Punctuation Fans [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Zero-Punctuation-Fans]), and user-created ones (The Escapist Team Fortress 2 Group - PC [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Escapist-Team-Fortress-2-Group-PC]) or (The Avatar Store [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Avatar-Store-New-and-Second-Hand]).