Rules of the forum

[The Voice of Clan427]

These rules will change and are not strictly enforced "at this time". What this means is post freely until otherwise noted.


Clan427 Forum Rules
Clan427 reserves the right to alter, edit, or update these rules as they see fit at anytime according to wim events or policies that may take place.
Table of Contents
A. Registering to the Forum
i. Avatars and custom titles
ii. Signature Rules
B. General Posting Rules
i. Post Legibly
ii. General Topics to Avoid Posting About
iii. Illegal Subjects
iv. Which Forum
v. Respect
vi. "First Post!"
vii. Suggestion/Feedback Forum
C. Post Content
i. Spamming
ii. Swearing
iii. Tolerance
iv. Honesty
v. Things that Break Line Wrapping
vi. Images
vii. Flame Wars
viii. Private Messages
ix. Subject Lines
x. What to talk about
D. Moderation
i. Warnings
ii. Ban Requests, Post Deletion Requests
iii. ¡§The Mods Deleted My Post¡¨<br>
iv. "I wanna be a mod!"
v. Complaints Against Mods


A. Registering to the Forum
When registering to the forum, your nick name must be PG-rated (non-offensive), nor containing any vulgarity, or you will find yourself removed immediately. Use of multiple nick names is also prohibited. In registering you also agrea to and must abide by the Ezboards terms of service listed here.

i. Avatars (aka. "those pictures underneath your name") and Custom Titles
Offensive avatars or custom titles will be edited by moderators. Common sense applies here: if you could show your boss your avatar and custom title, it's okay.

ii. Signature Rules
Your signature cannot be no longer than 4 lines. If your signature is longer than than this, one of our moderators will trim it for you. We want to read your posts, not your signature! Keep in mind people with slower modems: a long signature will increase the amount of time it will take for them to view a page. Furthermore, all signatures must be PG-rated. We don't enforce a PG-rating for any posts, but we feel that we should with signatures as they are appended to every single message posted to the forum. Also, please don¡¦t turn your signature into an advertisement for your friend¡¦s brother¡¦s daddy¡¦s website or something like that.


B. General Posting Rules
The rules of this forum are largely based on RFC1855, a widely accepted internet standard for netiquette. We own this forum, we pay for this forum out of our own pockets, and we are liable for its content so we get to make the rules. Generally, it's okay if it can pass "The Boss Rule": if you could show your boss your post without getting fired, it's okay. (see: Moderation)

i. Post Legibly
In the digital age, you would have thought that legibility would no longer be a problem. As RFC 1588 states, use mixed case and proper punctuation. Doing otherwise will make you sound like a toddler. Posting in "l33t sp33k" (replacing letters with numbers and/or special symbols) or "LeEt CaPs" (alternating case excessively) will make you look like an twerp. Don't do it. Proper sentence usage is appreciated too.

ii. General topics to avoid posting about
"Reply here if you're sure you're going to get an Xbox", "Post your age, sex and location here", "post your picture here!" threads. We've all seen them a million times. If you feel the urge to post one of these threads, please do it in the Off-Topic Lounge.

iii. Illegal Subjects
Subjects include, but are not limited to: Warez/pirating, hacking, drugs, pornography, and provoking racism. If we see you posting threads promoting any of these topics you will be banned.

iv. Which forum?
Make sure you are posting in the right forum. All forums are self explanatory, so please use common sense. For example, GameCube posts do not belong in the Azurik forum. If we find you posting in the wrong forum, we are going to move your post to the correct one, within short warning. (see: Moderation„³ ¡§The Mods Deleted My Post!¡¨)

v. Respect
Respect every forum member as you would a moderator. All forum posters are to be treated equally with respect. Repeatedly using vulgar language and calling somebody an idiot is not a good way of getting on a moderator¡¦s good side. Furthermore, moderators treat everybody as equals. A fan of the Xbox will not be treated differently from a GameCube or PS2 fan. This forum is open to anybody, regardless of console preference.

vi. First post!
"First post!" messages aren't funny, and are the mark of an imbecile.


vii. ¡§Suggestion/Feedback¡¨ Forum
This is were you give feedback constructively to the Clan427 mods. You can give us suggestions, or you can vent about any grievances you have here. All of your problems or concerns ranging from difficulties with moderators, forum members, site content, and miscellaneous pet peeves shall be addressed in this forum. Do not post complaints in any other forum. If you do, we will warn you once and move it to the correct feedback forum. After the first warning, any other offenses shall be strictly acted upon. We ask that you keep your complaints respectful and to the point. Any vulgar remarks or demoralization of character towards anyone/thing will not be noted or tolerated.

[The Voice of Clan427]

C. Post Content
When posting in an online forums, there are several things in which you have to pay attention to. One of the most important things is content. We have a very large member base so you must keep in mind that what you say can/will be offensive to other members. To prevent this from occurring unnecessarily, you must abide to our stricter set of rules regarding what you post. All moderators are instructed to ensure that these rules are maintained and will discipline any offenders. (see: Moderation)

i. Spamming
Spam n. 1. To post irrelevant or inappropriate messages to a forum.
Spamming will ultimately get you removed from our forum. This includes continuously inviting people to your website, posting tons of threads within a very short time, or just plain out flooding.

ii. Swearing
We don't mind if you swear, just as long as you keep it to a minimum. Excessive swearing is a mark of lamerdom. In addition, there is to be no swearing in subject lines or signatures.


iii. Tolerance
Racist, sexist, homophobic insults are the quickest way to get yourself banned from the forum.

iv. Honesty
Hypothetical situation: A forum member posts an Xbox screenshot, and you say it rules. The same forum member posts a PS2 screenshot, and you claim it sucks. All is right, until the original poster reveals that the Xbox screenshot was actually from a PS2, and vice versa. How do you avoid this? Be honest. If you think an Xbox screenshot sucks, say so. If you think a PS2 screenshot looks great, say so. Otherwise, your words will end up swallowing your own words.

v. Things that break line wrapping.
Try not to post long strings of letters, as our forum software doesn't automatically add a line break, and users of the forum are forced to use their horizontal scrollbar. And we all know how annoying that is! The same thing goes with large pictures. You might want to scale them down before posting them.

vi. Images
No pornographic, overly offensive, or inappropriate images are allowed. I believe I speak for a large number of our members when I say that i'd like to be able to read the Clan427 forums while at university or at work. Again, common sense applies: if you could show your boss this image, it's okay. Furthermore, if you are going to have quite a number of large screenshots in a thread, it's generally a good idea to put a warning in the subject line. "(Warning - big pictures!)" is fine.

vii. Flame wars
If you post a message containing a logical argument with a few scattered insults in it, we don't mind. However, if you post a message which solely contains insults directed at another forum member, your post will be deleted. People do not come to our forums to see people insult each other, they come to read arguments about consoles. Engaging in a flame war is a great way to get yourself banned.

viii. Private Messages
If anyone of our users sends threats or insults you via the Private Message forums, contact a moderator to deal with the situation.

ix. Subject Lines
Make your subject lines descriptive. Subject lines such as "Check this out!" or "This is so cool!" or "I can't believe this!" are not descriptive, and result in multiple postings on the same subject. Before posting, you might want to look through the current page of posts to see that someone has not already posted on the same subject.

x. What to talk about
In this forum, you can almost talk about anything, except for things that are a) Illegal (i.e. drugs, etc.) or b) Adults Only (sexual in nature, etc). This is a family forum. Remember, if you can talk about the subject to your boss without getting fired, it's probably fine.

D. Moderation
The following is our basic moderator guidelines and standards. These rules apply to moderators too. Any moderator who breaches these guidelines will lose their moderator privileges. There are no double-standards in our forum.
i. Warnings (and successive courses of action)
Warnings are given by mods to those who break the rules. All warnings are logged in our database. We are aware of those who have a “record”. The most common method of action towards offenders is this:
1. When you break a rule for the first time, a moderator will contact you via Private Message or email to warn you. Whether you respond to the warning or not, we will assume that you are aware of the situation.
2. If you continue to break a rule for the second time, a moderator may warn you again for the last time. Depending on the severity of the offense, you may be banned for the second offense without warning.
3. After three offenses, you will be banned and your account deleted.
If you post anything we regard as illegal you will be banned upon the first offense. (see: General Posting Rules Illegal Subjects)
If you have been banned, it was not without warning or reason. Do not send in emails requesting to be un-banned. At this point, your requests are falling upon idle ears.


ii. Ban Requests, Post Deletion Requests.
If you find a post which you find overly offensive, please Private Message a moderator or e-mail us and we'll determine any further course of action.

iii. "The Mods Deleted My Post!”
Chances are, we probably moved it to the off-topic forum. Failing that, your post most likely broke one of the above guidelines. If you're still not certain why one of your posts got deleted, send a Private Message to a moderator or email us and we'll discuss why.

iv. "I wanna be a mod!"
Asking to become a moderator is the fastest way of eliminating your chance of ever becoming a moderator. In nearly all situations, the only way of ever achieving this position is if we come to you.

v. "Complaints Against Mods”
If you have a grudge against a particular mod, we suggest that you try to work out your situation via Private Message or email with him/her. If you continue to have trouble you may post your grievance in the “User/Feedback” forum. Do not post your problems in any other forums. If you do, we will warn you once and move it to the correct feedback forum. After the first warning, any other offenses shall be strictly acted upon.