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Forums rules & Guidelines
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These are the Standard Forum Rules that apply to nearly all forums. Forums that these rules may not apply to will be explained further on in this documentation, and may also be marked and explained within the exempted forums themselves. However, you should assume that, unless specifically stated otherwise in this documentation, the Standard Forum Rules, hereby shortened to the acronym 'SFRs', apply to any forum you come across. Also, you may find the word 'Warning' expressed much throughout these rules.
1. Do not flame any forum member or moderator, whether by provocation of another flame or for no reason.
Flaming is defined as insulting any forum member or moderator within the C:Dos Forums or Site. Flaming is strictly prohibited within C:Dos. We will not allow the public flaming of any members, including those that have been banned from C:Dos. If you flame a member, you must expect a Warning to arrive as soon as a more senior moderator sees the offense. Not only does this mean that members cannot flame other members for no apparent reason, but flaming for whatever reason is deserving of a Warning. If a flame war occurs, the moderating staff will punish ALL flamers, typically with little regard as to which person contributed the most to beginning the flame war.
Flaming is also generally not permitted in Private Messages sent with C:Dos Mail services. However, it should obviously be noted by most that moderators do not have any way of monitoring flames sent within Private Messages. If, however, you happen to receive a flame within the C:Dos Mail system from another member, do not flame that member back. Instead, immediately send a Private Message to a Forum Administrator or Global Moderator detailing what occurred. If you can use QUOTES to show the message itself to the administrator or global moderator, all the better. These types of flames cannot be processed immediately, usually, so after receiving a response from the administrator or global moderator you have chosen, make sure you give that person time to investigate the matter. After all, if the staff issued Warnings as soon as they received Private Message Flame notifications, these notifications would just be used as cheap attacks against rivals or enemies on the forums.
Whenever you are flamed by any forum member, be that member an administrator or just a peasant, immediately send a Private Message to an administrator or a global moderator detailing what occurred. If the flame occured on a forum topic, give a link to the topic. If it occured on a Private Message, copy the original flame and paste it in your notification to the person you chose. Counter-flaming is not the solution to getting attacked- action from the staff is.
2. Do not spam or post material unrelated to forum topics. Do not post spammy material in incorrect forums.
Spamming is defined as posting short posts with little humor, and Spam Posts, or posts containing spam created by a spammer, often are associated with stupidity. Spamming is often done by forum members seeking to raise their Post Counts, or total number of posts ever posted in the C:Dos Forums, in order to raise their popularity in the forums. What they must realize is that most popular forum members with high post counts are often popular because of how active and contributive they are on the forums, not because of how often their names are seen. Also, some new members spam because they fail to realize how much the C:Dos Forums looks down upon spam. Off-topic posts are also characterized by many moderators as spam, and those same moderators will punish 'spammers' that get off topic. However, members will rarely if ever gain Warnings for spamming only once. However, if multiple spam posts are performed and noticed by a moderator as being created at dates close in proximity, the spammer/s may expect to receive 1 or even more Warnings.
3. Do not insult, flame, or in any way berate new C:Dos members.
The Crew & moderators pride ourselves on the fact that we work to protect all forum members, and new members in particular. Post kind comments welcoming new members in the Welcomes and Farewells forum, and be slow and hesitant to do anything harsh to new members. This offense will rarely warrant a Warning, if performed by a member; however, the combination of this offense and another such as trolling or flaming almost completely certifies a Warning or two.
4. Do not troll.
This rule is rather simple to explain. Trolling is defined as setting up other users to flame you in return with light insults or sarcastic comments. Also, trolling can be defined as intentionally starting flame wars in topics, either to insult others in the name of retaliation or to wreak havoc on certain members or staffers. Just like flaming, trolling is not permitted at C:Dos. If you are caught trolling in a topic, forum, or private message, not only will you be liable for a Warning for the trolling, but in severe cases you may also receive a Warning for flaming as well.
5. Do not give counter-constructive criticism to the developer/s of any game, website, or other production.
Naturally, we will allow you to post in our forum's topics on various upcoming projects. However, counter-constructive criticism (CCC), or criticism that only insults a project with no recommendations on how to improve it, only discourages the developer/s from continuing, and as such it will not be tolerated. In a sense, giving CCC is really the same as just flaming a project instead of a person. If you do give CCC to another forum member or moderator, you may be subject to a warning. Please bear this in mind when evaluation projects on the forums.
6. Do not request ROMs or warez, nor promote them.
Do not make topics asking for ROMs or warez anywhere within C:Dos, or you will just become the subject of a warning or worse. Also, we do not permit website administrators, staffers, or workers to promote ROMs or warez within their websites, and we do not allow members independent of these sites to promote their illegal aspects either.
7. Do not post adult materials such as pornography, or other suggestive images, and do not provide links to these images without proper warning for younger audiences.
Whether you believe us or not, C:Dos does consist of a strong number of young and immature viewers. We prevent these images from appearing on C:Dos because parents and others find them offensive, and because we cannot upset these people. In order to allow others to see these images, provide a link to them in your posts. Make sure you give proper warning of the image's content, for failure to do so will lead to the removal of the link and possibly even a Warning sent to you.
8. Do not publically confront or insult moderators for their decisions or ideas.
You may not publicly contend what decisions the C:Dos Forum Moderators have made, unless you are speaking to the entire group at once. If you disagree with the actions of one or a couple of moderators, then it is incorrect to make a public forum topic to discuss the problem. Instead, speak to the Forum Administrator, about the problem/s you are having. You must make sure to explain your feelings and the situation as much as possible, adding in quotes as well if you have any. If you publically berate any moderator's decisions, you will typically be sent a Warning.
9. Do not reopen or repost a prohibited topic.
If any moderator locks or deletes a topic, you may not restart that topic by reposting it on the forums unless you have clearly specified permission, either from the moderator or from an administrator. If you do repost a topic without permission, you will typically receive a Warning.
10. You shall not exhibit any comments generally accepted by most modern audiences as bigoted or prejudiced.
If you dislike any kind of minority, sexual orientation, religion, or other type of classification, please keep those feelings to yourself. Please remember that C:Dos is a global community with thousands of different kinds of people, and that a harmful comment you make will probably insult someone. This rule was placed to help prevent flames. If you commit this offense, you may be liable to one Warning for a bigoted or prejudiced insult. You make these comments towards others if they are in good humor and the recipients do not mind- remember, however, that it is the judgment of the moderator in determining whether you are serious and thus deserve a warning, or not.
11. Do not make any elitist comments towards others.
Elitism is holding pride over others on the C:Dos Forums due to your own abilities, accomplishments, respect, or length of stay. Elitism is a very grave offense, for it demoralizes all members and gradually downspins the website community until it is firmly divided into factions. Do not make comments insulting others for what they lack that you possess, for if you do so, you will receive a Warning in the C:Dos Mail.
12. Do not create topics based on controversial subjects if unnecessary.
Controversial topics are defined as topics that are prone to start fights or even "flame wars". One particular topic type that falls into this category is the religion topic, or the type of topic focusing on religious issues, especially specific religions. Please refrain from posting these topics, for in a way it can be seen as unintentionally trolling. However, rarely if ever will any forum members be warned for making controversial topics- these topics will just be closed if they are seen as a risk by any moderators or administrators.
13. Do not post links or advertisements to websites or games similar to Outwar without clearly explaining what you are posting a link or advertisement to.
Linking to an Outwar webpage or a similar game website within the forums without clearly explaining what that link leads to will result in the editting of that link and a possible Warning for the offender as well. Games such as Outwar are usually fun only for those that trick other into clicking the hyperlinks, and we therefore dislike them for being unfair and unenjoyable. Other members should not be tricked or schemed into helping you.
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