Introduction
The website staff for The Games Vault would like to welcome you to our forum community on behalf of Steve Rhodes (GamesVaultSteve), the owner of the site. In order to ensure everything runs smoothly, we have instituted a series of rules and guidelines for everyone to post by. Please read them carefully, and follow them! It’ll be much easier for everyone if you do.

If you're a newcomer, please read them carefully. If you've been here a while, please read them carefully - some old rules have changed and some new ones have been added.

Please note that the staff of The Games Vault forums reserves the right to make modifications to the rules of posting as necessary without prior notification. As we come across new situations, we will update these rules to make certain they provide a clear understanding for all posters as to what is expected on these forums.

Note also that the staff of The Games Vault forums reserves the right to determine for themselves at any time if behaviour not explicitly covered by these rules merits the issuing of a warning, a Warning, a suspension or even banning.

Moderators
Steve has selected a number of Moderators to help keep the forums in line; the Moderators were selected by Steve personally and are acting on his authority, so what they say goes. If you really feel you have been treated unfairly by a Moderator, you may contact bigmaddrongo or Helios – but make sure you have a good reason to, because if you don’t have a valid complaint, it might just make it worse for you.

Moderators are easy to identify – they have the words "Moderator" or "Administrator" under their usernames when posting in threads. Each Moderator can take Moderator actions in any forum.

If you have a question or concern about these Rules or anything else on the Forum, feel free to send a Mod a Private Message – just be aware it may take them a while to get back to you. They’re all volunteers, and have a lot to do on the forum and in real life. Be patient, they’ll get back to you.

When a Mod is acting in their capacity as a Moderator, they will post in red text. When they post in this manner, pay close attention to what they have to say. Users should refrain from using red text themselves to avoid confusion.

Currently there are two Administrators. All have the powers of a Mod and can also deal with technical problems.

• bigmaddrongo
• Helios

In addition there are several Moderators, they are:

• KayG
• Harroguk (Blood Bowl forums only)

Steve Rhodes, of course, posts as GamesVaultSteve and is a Moderator in all forums. He posts with the Voice of the Mod; you definitely better listen to him.

Reporting Posts
As a poster, the best way you can help the Moderators (besides following these Rules) is to report posts you see that are violating these Rules. You can do this by clicking on the Report Button (), which can be found in the lower section of the post you wish to report. This will bring up a window where you can enter notes on what you think the violation may be.

This report is entered into a system where all Mods can see and review it, eliminating the need to contact a Mod directly. Multiple reports on a specific post are appended to the first, so do not worry that a post may have already been reported.

We strongly suggest you Report rule violations rather than respond to them, as responding may put you in violation of one of the Forum Rules.

Moderator Actions
Moderators handle a number of specific tasks. The obvious, of course, is looking for violations to these rules and dealing with them as necessary. But they do other things as well. Here’s a rundown of those actions, including warnings. The following list also contains guidelines as to how you the user can help the Mods keep things running smoothly, so please take time to read and understand everyone's role on the message boards.

Warnings
Mods may issue Warnings for rule violations. These are issued via the forum software, or may appear as red text posts in a forum. Warnings serve as a reminder to you of the forum's rules, which you are expected to understand and follow. They count towards the possibility of banning and appear on your profile for tracking.

Instant Bans
Certain specific rule violations (such as Spamming) result in an Instant Ban that may be issued by any Mod.

Additionally, the staff of the Games Vault forums reserves the right to ban a user determined to be particularly disruptive or problematic at any time without prior warning. Our intent is to utilize our Warning system in all cases, but in extreme cases we will take necessary actions to protect the health and integrity of the forum community.

Nudges
If a Mod finds a thread going off-topic, they’ll post a friendly message trying to nudge it back on-topic – how hard a nudge depends on how far off the rails the thread has gone.

Editing
Moderators will remove any part of a post that violates these forum rules, even in the case where a Warning may not be issued. They will also remove the edited text from subsequent quotes of the original post. Generally the Moderator who edits the post will leave a red text note of “scrubbed” or a similar statement to show that the post has been edited to remove such content (these notes are for tracking by Moderators so we can tell when something has been cleaned up).

Asking Users not to Post to a Specific Thread
If a Moderator comes to the conclusion that a particular poster or group of posters is consistently causing problems in a specific thread and that otherwise the thread does not violate forum rules, the Moderator may ask those posters not to make any further posts to that thread. This will almost always occur when the user has already been Warned once for their behavior in a thread, and will most likely be accompanied by a further Warning.

Moving, Splitting, and Merging Threads
Sometimes threads get started in the wrong place; this is understandable. If we find one, though, we’ll shunt it off to the right forum. As a favor to the Mods, please do your best to make sure you’re putting your thread in the right place. Also, Mods may also split off posts from a thread that are off-topic in order to make a new thread for the discussion, or merge two threads on the same topic into one. When threads are split, the Mod will post a note to that effect in the original thread with a link to the new one. Merged or split threads will sometimes move to a new forum as well.

Locking Threads
Some threads reach a point where they need to be locked (which ensures that no further posts can be made to them). This may be because the thread has reached a point where it is so off topic or violating so many rules that it can’t be recovered by other Mod actions, or because it’s a copy of another active thread. Remember that re-starting a locked thread without permission is against the rules. Mods may also lock a thread in order to review its contents without having additional posts added, and then unlock it after resolving the situation. If the thread is unlocked by a Mod, you may post to it again.

Warnings
The term warning can be used in one of two ways. When used with a lowercase w, we mean a friendly reminder of the rules. They are issued to let a poster know he or she has strayed close to, or a bit over, the line. They are not permanent and do not necessarily lead to Warnings. When used with an uppercase W this refers to a record that is made on your account that you have directly contravened the rules. Warnings will remain active on your account for a period of 90 days. Once your account reaches three active Warnings you will find your account suspended. Further Warnings will lead to further periods of suspension. The table below indicates the length of suspension you will receive based on the number of active Warnings on your account:


Example: you receive your third Warning and your account is suspended for seven days. Once your account is reactivated you immediately break the rules by discussing the reasons for your ban. This causes a fourth Warning to be added and you are subsequently suspended for two weeks.

Infraction Types
Below are the various things you are not allowed to do on this forum, and explanations for each.

Friendly warnings
These are minor offenses that will lead to a Mod contacting you to let you know that you are straying close to the line. Repeated warnings may result in a Warning even for a minor offense.

Typing Incoherently
This is a written medium and people have to read what you write. Chat speak, l33t speak and anything that has to be “translated” falls into this area. You may have something incredible to say, but it won’t be read if you use “m8” and “pwn3d” as every other word in a post. The occasional typo or confusion regarding spelling is understood and expected, but at least take a moment to read over a message before you post it.

Responding to Spam
If you see a Spam post, please Report it. DO NOT respond to it, even if your response is "This is spam!" or a similar variation. All this does is draw attention to the thread, furthering the spammer's goals, and potentially make it more difficult for a Moderator to correct the problem; it does not in any way help.

Excessively Embellished Formatting
This refers to using different colors for different words, using formatting to appear smarter than someone or generally going overboard with formatting. It’s not using bold, underline, paragraphs and lists to make your post look nice and be easy to read. If your post looks like this one overall, you’re fine. But if your post has sentences that look like this one, you're not.

Posting Oversized Images
Giant pictures that stretch the screen are a bane to people trying to read the boards. Please link to files larger than 400pixels wide, or 500kb, rather than coding them into the post. You may also post images that exceed the width limit under a Spoiler tag along with a note that it is a large image. Please note that images under spoilers still load every time someone views the thread, so large file sizes are still a concern.

Please refer to the Avatar and Signature rules below for more information on images in these areas.

One Topic, One Thread
There should be, in most cases, one active thread for a specific topic. Please check and see if there is already an active thread (one that has been posted on in the last six weeks and is no further back than page 3) discussing a topic before posting a new one.

Thread Necromancy
Bringing a thread back from “the dead.” If a thread has fallen to page three and hasn’t been posted in for a month and a half, don’t post to it. Start a new topic if you want to discuss the subject.

Double Posting
Posting twice in a row is generally frowned upon. If you are responding to multiple points, please use quotes and other post formatting to clarify this. Please use the Edit option to modify information in a post instead of immediately making a new one. If you do accidentally double post, please PM a Mod to delete your extra post(s).

Spoilers Outside of a Spoiler Thread or Not Under Spoiler Tags
Some posters can’t see a movie the day it comes out, or read that book the day it comes out. So please either mask spoilers with the appropriate tags or post a thread with [ spoiler ] in the title if you wish to discuss something that people may or may not wish to view due to spoilers.

Warnings
The following offenses will lead to a Warning being issued on your account.

Excessive Use of Profanity
Most profanity is censored by our filter, though a few mild terms and words that have both a benign meaning and a profane or offensive one, are not. However, the excessive use of profanity, whether or not it is filtered, is not acceptable. Most words can be determined from context, and we wish to maintain a friendly and courteous environment on this forum.

Posting Copyrighted Content
Posting any copyrighted material without permission is against the rules. Posts containing such content will be edited to remove that content. In particular, posts containing copyrighted material from game books that are not designated Open Gaming Content (OGC) will be edited to remove the copyrighted portions. As an example, mentioning a specific rule item or general mechanic, or explaining in general how it functions, does not violate this rule. However, posting an entire stat block for a monster would. OGC refers to content published under the Open Gaming License. OGC may be reproduced in full, as per the terms of that license. Please keep in mind that material under the d20 License may not be OGC. When in doubt, refer to the primary source to see if there is a copy of the OGL included. Note that any content in the System Reference Document (SRD) can be reproduced as well.

Discussing Post Counts
This also includes discussing user level or time being a member. Some people may think that a large post count is a status symbol, or grants them spooky powers. It doesn’t. We try to treat all posters as equal, the ones that just started posting and the ones that have been here since the dawn of time have equal importance.

"Mea culpa" Offenses
Attempting to ward off a Warning by admitting your behavior violates the Forum Rules is not tolerated. This will, instead, result in a second Warning. Acknowledging the fact that your activity is breaking the rules is not a defense. If anything, it's an admission that you are in fact aware of the rules, and have no regret or self-control when it comes to breaking them, which is very insulting to both the staff and all the posters who take the time to try to follow the rules. If you know, or even think, that what you are about to do is worthy of a Warning, then just don't do it. Find another way of saying what you wish to say, or hold your peace altogether. Here are some examples of a "mea culpa" offense:

• "I know this is probably flaming, but you're a jerk." This would be worthy of two Warnings: calling someone a jerk is flaming, and acknowledging that you are flaming earns you a mea culpa penalty.
• "I'd really love to tell you what I think of you, but it'd be against the rules." This would also be worthy of two Warnings. Passive-aggressive flaming is still flaming, and, once again, it earns a mea culpa penalty.

Circumventing the Board filters
If a poster attempts to circumvent the board's language filter in order to post profane or obscene content, their post will be modified and they will be issued a Warning. This includes masking (using non-letter characters in place of letters).

Re-starting a Previously Locked Thread Without Permission
Certain threads will be locked by Mods for a variety of reasons, including excessive flaming, inappropriate subject matter, or simple redundancy. If a poster decides to start a new thread on the exact same discussion topic without first gaining permission from the Mods, the thread will be deleted or locked and they will be issued a Warning - even if the new thread does not, in and of itself, violate any other rule! Which means that if a Mod decides to lock a heated debate over a subject, starting a new thread with a calmer, more well-reasoned point of view is STILL breaking the rules. Re-posting is only allowed if a Moderator gives express permission beforehand.

Flaming
Any poster that openly attacks, insults, belittles, or abuses another poster will have their offending post modified and a Warning issued to them. You can be critical of another poster's viewpoint in a debate, even going as far as to explain why you believe them to be mistaken and backing your points up with rules quotes as appropriate, but the moment your criticism extends to the person who posted that viewpoint, it has crossed the line.

Specific things you cannot do on this message board that might be allowed elsewhere:

• Tell a poster to shut up or to stop posting on the current thread.
• Name calling, including terms obviously meant in a pejorative sense such as "troll" or "fanboy"
• Use passive-aggressive insults, such as "Anyone who believes that is an idiot," or "I'd call you an idiot, but it's against the rules." Yeah, we know that technically, you didn't call him or her an idiot, but guess what? It's still not allowed.
• Harassment of other posters, such as repeatedly following them from thread to thread to dispute them, personally, or abusing them via PM.
• Tell a poster that they clearly didn't read what you wrote. Alternately, any statement that implies that the only way someone could disagree with you is because they don't understand you/can't read properly is likewise not allowed. Remember that it is your job to ensure that you post your points in clear manner in the first place, or clarify them later should any misunderstandings occur.
• Responding in kind to a poster who has flamed you. Please report the offeding post and wait for the post to be scrubbed or deleted. Please do NOT take matters into your own hands by trying to resolve the situation in the thread yourself.
• Belittling or verbally abusing any fellow poster is not allowed in ANY area of this forum (including PMs and private areas), for any reason. Here are some more specific rules regarding this:
• Belittling people who care more about roleplaying than mechanics.
• Belittling people who care more about mechanics than roleplaying.
• Putting down or insulting ANY play preference, including (but not explicitly limited to) choice of game system, choice of preferred levels, classes, or races, choice of setting, choice of power level, etc. You cannot call another poster a munchkin or make any other disparaging remarks about how they like to play the game. You can express your own preference, you can express why you don't care for their preference, but you can't put someone down for feeling differently.
• Verbal abuse and belittling of people's suggested Homebrew rules is not allowed. Helping people to revise and improve their rules is strongly encouraged, but we ask that you remember to be polite, helpful and balanced in your arguments.
• Belittling or putting down anyone or their opinions based on post count, member rank, or how long they have been a member.
• Posting insults or slurs based on anyone's race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation.

We intend to run a much tighter ship when it comes to flaming than many other places you might post. We have tried to create a place where people, including children, can have discussions about gaming and other topics without the rampant personal attacks prevalent at other gaming and hobby boards. If you find you are incapable of participating in a debate without resorting to attacking your opponent instead of his position, our suggestion is that you find another board to post at.

Trolling
Any post that, in the judgment of the Moderators, was made solely or primarily to incite angry responses and/or flames, or attempts to disrupt a thread so that it becomes a flame war, will be edited to remove the offending content and the poster issued a Warning. If a thread is judged to have been started for this reason, it will be locked, and the poster issued a Warning.

In particular, editing a quote of another user's post to make the other user's words appear misleading, inflammatory, or insulting is considered trolling, and any such modified quotes will be removed and a Warning issued.

Posting on Inappropriate Topics
Any post that includes anything in the Inappropriate Topics (see below) will have that text deleted and the author will be issued a Warning. If another poster ventures into an Inappropriate Topic matter, it does not give you a free pass to respond to his post with more discussion in that vein; there is no "He started it!" defense. Do not take it upon yourself to publicly reprimand the poster, either; you're not a Moderator. Simply report the post, and the Moderators will address the situation as necessary.

External Baggage
Each thread should exist in a vacuum, free from outside influences - especially those outside of these boards. What this means is that you can't carry over anger from a debate in another thread into a new discussion, and you can't harass anyone over anything they did in another thread, on another website's board, or in real life. If you can't check your baggage at the door, you'll end up earning a Warning.

Ignoring or Disrespecting a Mod posting as a Mod
Any poster that deliberately ignores or disrespects a post made by a Moderator as a Mod will be issued a Warning. In the situation of a very short amount of time existing between the Mod Post and the offending post, a 10 minute window will exist in which the offending poster may modify his post without incident.

Ignoring or Disrespecting a Moderator's Private Message sent as a Mod
Any poster that deliberately ignores or disrespects a Private Message or Warning sent by a Moderator will be issued a Warning. Please check your PMs regularly – “I didn’t see the PM before I posted” is not an acceptable excuse. As with Ignoring Mod Posts, in the situation of a very short amount of time existing between the Mod PM and the offending post, a 10 minute window will exist in which the offending poster may modify his post without incident.

Editing of Mod Edits
If you modify a red-text edit to one of your posts by a Moderator in any way, you will be issued a Warning. This includes deleting entirely a post that has been edited by a Moderator.

Vigilante Modding
If you’re not a Moderator, don’t act like one. Steve has selected a few people he trusts to keep an eye on conversations here. Please refrain from chastising other posters over breaking the rules, especially concerning minor things. The proper response when you see someone breaking these rules is to report the post as discussed above or to send a PM to the local Moderator. At most, you may courteously link to this thread. But whatever you do, do not tell other posters what to do, what rules they have broken, that they are "spamming", etc. Posters who do so excessively will be issued a Warning for their actions.

Discussing How to Circumvent the Forum Rules
We have developed these forum rules to ensure that we maintain a friendly community. As such, we expect all users to abide by them, and discussing or explaining ways to circumvent these rules makes it much more difficult to ensure that. Such posts are therefore themselves against our forum rules. Posts of this sort will be edited and the poster issued a Warning.

Double Warnings
Some offences will carry a greater penalty of a Double Warning. This will increase your number of Warings by two and may lead to a period of suspension.

Extreme Flaming
A flame that includes insults or slurs based on anyone's race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation is a Double Warning, at the least, and may result in an Instant Ban for Hate Speech. Additionally, this Warning may be issued in the case of a particularly nasty flame of any type at the discretion of the Mods.

Major Infraction Against a Moderator
Committing any Major Infraction against a Moderator other than the specific Ignoring or Disrespecting a Mod or Editing a Mod Edit results in a Double Warning.

Repeated Violation of a Major Infraction
If a second Warning is earned for the same offense as a current active Warning, the second will be issued as a Double Warning.

It should also be noted that flagrant offenses may result in a ban even if they do not result in a Warnings. Repeated and excessive violations of the same rule, especially over a short period of time, may also result in an immediate ban.

Banning Offenses
Violating any of the following rules will result in an immediate ban from The Games Vault forums, regardless of how many active Warnings the user has.

Committing an Infraction Against Steve or an Administrator
Steve Rhodes, who posts as GamesVaultSteve, is the owner and operator of this website and forum. Committing an Infraction against him will result in a ban. It's his sandbox, after all. Additionally, the Administrators are the people chosen by Steve to run the forum, and committing Infractions against them is just as bad.

Hate Speech
Particularly flagrant examples of insults or slurs based on anyone's race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation, and especially any post advocating violence towards those of a certain race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation will result in an immediate ban.

Criminal Activity
Posts containing illegal content - including but not limited to discussion of how to commit illegal activities, discussion of the use or acquisition of illegal substances, or posts that violate a law in and of themselves - will result in an immediate ban for the poster.

Commercial (For-Profit) Advertising
Posting advertisements for commercial products, services, or events, without prior permission being granted, will result in an immediate ban, and all advertisements removed. Note that a suggestion of a product in the course of a related discussion is not considered advertising (unless the poster holds a personal stake in the finances of the company suggested). For example, if you are posting to a thread regarding d20 rules for shipboard combat, feel free to point other posters to a sourcebook on the topic. You can even link to the company that publishes it—as long as you don't work for that company. But don't start a thread whose sole purpose is to trumpet Book X and declare its greatness to the population at large.

(Exception: Representatives of The Games Vault and/or its licensees and distributors are permitted to make posts advertising services and products related directly to The Games Vault. They are not permitted to make posts advertising other services they might provide.)

If you wish to advertise a non-commercial website, please refer to rules regarding advertising.

Spam
Chain letters, get-rich-quick schemes, and overseas investment opportunities are considered spam, as are a variety of other pointless topics. Generally, you know when you're posting spam, so don't. Posting spam to the boards is a banning offense, especially when it violates the "one topic, one thread" guideline. Any account created solely for the purpose of posting spam will be deleted immediately, and the spam removed.

Previously Banned Users
Any user found to have been banned while using a different account will have his or her new account banned as well. If it is found that another user is allowing a previously banned user to post using his or her account, the account of that user will also be banned.

Inappropriate Topics
The following topics are always off-limits on these forums, no matter what (hence, Inappropriate Topics). Any posts including these topics will be edited, and any threads started to discuss these topics will be locked. Please note that, as specifically stated below, these topics remain off-limits even where they intersect with gaming or other activities discussed on these forums, and that putting an alert for “Adult” or “Mature” content on the thread does not allow circumvention of this rule.

• Graphic violence
• Illegal drugs
• Criminal activity
• Explicit sexuality

In addition, we include a few barred topics that are specific to these forums. These particular topics are barred as they have been found to be generally inflammatory and do not contribute anything useful to the forum as a whole.

• Rules/Moderator Complaints: Our forum rules have all been carefully considered before being implemented, and we do expect that all users abide by them, even if they do not fully agree with them. We are happy to answer questions about the rules in the Site Feedback forum, but any threads that are purely complaints about existing rules will be removed, as would any threads consisting of complaints about specific moderators, or the moderators in general. If you have a concern involving a moderator, we ask that you send a PM to bigmaddrongo or Helios.
• Protesting Bannings/Glorifying or Discussing Banned Posters: We value our posters, and take care only to ban posters who commit egregious or repeated violations of our Rules. Once that action is taken, though, it is an Inappropriate topic to discuss, glorify, or memorialize banned posters or their rules violations. We have found in the past that such displays are disruptive to the community. If you have a concern regarding a banned poster, we ask that you send a PM to bigmaddrongo or Helios.

Advertising/Linking
As noted above, commercial (for-profit) advertising is not allowed on thegamesvault.co.uk. However, you ARE permitted to start threads advertising non-profit websites; either charity events or merely amateur/fan sites that don't sell anything. Please be sure to observe the rules governing Spam and multiple-thread cross-posting, however, and make sure your plug is in the most appropriate forum (usually General Chat).

Multiple/Alternate Accounts
Each individual user may maintain one active account on The Games Vault forums. Registering more than one account, including the use of identified alternate accounts, is not allowed. Though there are several legitimate advantages to such accounts, particularly in the role-play environment, these accounts are too easily abused and allow rule violators too many additional options to avoid the repercussions of their actions to be allowed.

If a user is found to have multiple accounts, all but the main account (the one with the most posts) will be closed, and any Warnings earned under the alternate accounts will be transferred to the main.

Avatar & Signature RulesThe total width of images in your signature may not exceed 468 pixels. This may be comprised of one or more images.

The total height of images in your signature may not exceed 120 pixels. This may be comprised of one or more images.

Any images in a spoiler may not exceed 300 pixels high by 468 pixels wide.

Total height of your signature may not exceed 12 lines or equivalent. A smaller font may allow additional lines and a larger font will count against multiple lines. A 120 pixel high image is equivalent to 8 lines, a spoiler with no blank lines around it is equivalent to 2 lines. Please be aware of text wrapping as long lines will count as multiple lines at our discretion.

The maximum size for any avatar is 168x168px and 12kB.

Also, please note that if a change is made to your signature or avatar either directly by a moderator or by way of a moderator request, changing it back to something that does not comply with these rules would lead to a Warning. This falls under the existing rules regarding changing moderator made edits or ignoring/disregarding a moderator.

Object Rule
Maximum Total Width of Images: 468px
Maximum Total Height of Images: 120px
Maximum Height of Images in Spoiler: 300px
Maximum Total Height of Signature: 12 lines or equivalent (ie. 4 lines + 120px high image)
Maximum Avatar Size: 12kB
Animated Signatures: Not allowed
Animated Avatars: Not allowed

Copyrighted Material
Using copyrighted artwork as an avatar is technically illegal unless you have the permission of the copyright holder. Even if the art is modified in some way, the original copyright still stands and you can't use it as an avatar.

Any avatar image that is found to be used without the permission of the copyright holder will be removed. If the creator of an avatar personally approaches the Games Vault staff and claims that their creation is being used without permission by another poster - as might be the case if they requested credit for the avatar and then were denied such - the Moderators will remove the avatar immediately. The first instance of this will incur a warning, but should the member reinstate his or her violating avatar or create another avatar that also violates the rules, he or she will be issued a Warning.

Questions and ConcernsIf you do have any questions about the rules of posting, please visit the Site Feedback forum. You may find that the question has already been addressed there; if not, feel free to start a new thread or PM a moderator.

Please note that any posts/threads with questions on the rules of posting outside of that forum will either be locked or moved there, and any thread that is merely a complaint about a specific rule or the rules as a whole will be locked.

We are happy to explain why certain rules have been put into force, but each one has already been carefully considered and discussed before it was added.

Closing
So those are the rules, in all of their wordy glory. We ask that you try your best to follow them to keep the spirit of community these boards have built up over the past few years, and avoid looking for loopholes or exceptions to let you get away with stuff.
These boards are only as good as we all make them, after all.

Thanks, and happy posting!
__________________
The above words represent the consensus of the entire Games Vault staff, including the moderators, the webmaster, and Steve Rhodes.