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The FTGL Chat Please read the Board Rules |
Things You Can Do
As long as you don't violate the rules below, you're welcome to discuss any topic that you like - there's an appropriate forum for every topic that you could think of. As there's sometimes a bit of confusion over certain kinds of topics, here are a few notes on these:
| Type | Comments |
| Multiple Threads | There are a lot of registered members on this board. If everyone who wanted to comment on the latest episode had to do so in one thread, no one would be able to access this thread anymore. The amount of threads on a certain topic is regulated by supply and demand, and multiple threads on the same subject will only be closed if they really are absolutely identical to another thread. |
| Show Criticism | It's fine to say a certain aspect of TFT is bad, as long as you don't insult the people who think otherwise, and as long as you actually back up what you say. Jumping in and shouting "UD sucks!" is not an acceptable form of constructive criticism. |
Things You Cannot Do
Most of the things that you cannot do on the board are pretty obvious. However, on a board this size, it is inevitable that mistakes will happen. For reference, here is a list of the things you cannot do, together with notes on what will happen if you do it anyway.
| Type | Definition | Effects |
| Account Sharing | You should not give out your password to anyone, or allow your member account to be used by another member. You should also not post any messages on behalf of another member. | The moderator
may decide to edit out the content.
The moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
| Adult Content | In order to protect those posters who are minors, you cannot post NC-17 or R-Rated material anywhere on the BBS, or link to such material. | The material that
you posted will be edited out by a moderator.
The moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
| Flames | Obviously, you
cannot insult other people. You may disagree with someone's opinion, but
you may not attack the person themselves for posting that opinion. Don't
respond to a flame with a flame. You cannot flame people and then claim
to have been just defending yourself. If you have a complaint, notify a
moderator rather than responding yourself.
However, we understand that since this is a site for competitive gameplay, there will be a certain level of friendly taunting or ribbing. Therefore, mild flames may be ignored. However, this is entirely up to the moderator in question. |
The flame that
you posted may be edited out by a moderator.
The moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
| Trolling | Trolling is an
internet term that means you're not posting to actually start or participate
in a good discussion, but simply to anger another member or group of members.
Posting in order to bait other users, moderators or administrators will
not be tolerated.
Again, we understand that since this is a site for competitive gameplay, there will be a certain level of friendly taunting or ribbing. Therefore, mild trolling may be ignored. However, this is entirely up to the moderator in question. |
The message may
be edited out by the moderator.
The moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
| Illegal Content | You can't post material that contains death threats, or invades a person's privacy, or is posted without permission of the owner. Obviously. Illegal content cannot be posted anywhere on the forums. | Don't expect any moderators to be lenient over this. Your material will be edited out, and the moderator may decide to give you a warning - depending on the severity of what you posted, you may even get two. |
| Images | When posting images, please make sure you do not post more than 50-60kb worth of photos, as a courtesy to those with slower connections. Also, you should only include an inline images from web space that you own, or with the permission from the web master on which the image is located to avoid what results in costly bandwidth theft to the originating site owner. Instead, please post a link to the image. | If you do post
images you don't have the right to, or if they are too large, the moderator
may replace the actual image with a link.
If you persist, the moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
| Multiple Accounts | In order to prevent abuse, you may register only one user name at the FTGL. Should you want to change to a different user name, email an admin and they will lock your old account. | If you are posting with a second account, the second account will be closed. The moderator may decide to give you a warning, and any warnings you received while posting with the second account will be added to your own account. |
| Privacy | On the internet, a person's privacy is very valuable. Unless a poster has made it clear they don't mind, you can't post any details of their real-life identity on the board. You also cannot post material such as chat logs, emails, private messages or messages from other message boards - without the consent of all involved parties. | The material you
posted may be edited out.
The moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
| Spamming | You can't post the same thing multiple times on the board, or post the same thing over and over in a certain thread or forum, or continuously make posts that have no real content or relevance to what is being discussed. Spamming can even just be posting too much - as a general rule, don't post more than two or three threads in a forum within a reasonable length of time. | The extra threads
that you posted may be deleted or locked by the moderator.
The moderator may decide to give you a warning. |
Of course, the above doesn't mean that if you meet the definitions of any of the above infractions you will immediately get a warning. The best general guideline can be summed up in one phrase: use common sense when you post. You'll be given little sympathy if asked not to do something by a member of staff, you do it anyway, receive a warning and then complainafterwards.
Users who the board ownership believes participate on the FTGL to troll, irritate, upset or harm the general forum population, its staff or the board itself may have their accounts locked without prior notice or announcement in order to protect the FTGL and its participants.
What Are These Warnings?
If a moderator decides to give you a warning, they will mention this in the thread in question. It will also be recorded in your warning level indicator that can be seen under your name in any posts you make. In addition to mentioning that you received a warning, the moderator will also explain why they did this. Finally, they will include a link to the "Questions, Suggestions and Feedback" forum, where this warning can be discussed. The warning, and indeed any kind of administrative action, should only ever be discussed in this forum - otherwise threads would immediately get off-topic and it would not be possible to talk about the original discussion topic anymore.
Warnings are not bans. They are, as the name suggests, a warning that the conduct you displayed in a post is not acceptable under the board rules. Warnings should never be given out in order to ban a user, and more than one should never be issued for the same offense. You need to be warned twice - commit two infractions against the board rules - before you will be banned.
Here is what will happen to you if you have reached a certain number of warnings within a certain amount of time:
| Number | Consequences |
| 2 Warnings | You will be banned for one day. |
| 3 Warnings (i.e. 1 more Warning) | You will be banned for one week. |
| 4 Warnings (i.e. 1 more Warning) | You will be banned for one month. |
| 5 Warnings (i.e. 1 more Warning) | You will be banned Indefinately. |
The Last Issued Warning will be rescinded (i.e. removed) 1 month
after being issued.
That means:
If user A is warned on Jan 1st and is again warned on Jan 20th, his
first warning WILL NOT be rescinded on Feb 1st. Only his second warning
will be rescinded on Feb 20th and then his first on March 20th (provided
he doesn't earn more warnings before that time).
Private Messages
Private Messages are just that - PRIVATE. As a result, they are not moderated in the same manner as posts made on the board. Users are expected to manage the feature themselves, making use of the DELETE function to get rid of offensive content. If a user persistently abuses you via PM, don't read any more of the messages they send you.
Please note that some of the staff here does have access to PMs. While we not read them in the normal course of FTGL daily life, we reserve the right to examine private messages should we feel a sufficient need to ensure the smooth running and operation of the board. As a result, passing extremely sensitive material through the board PM system happens at your own risk.
Users who abuse the system, including spamming other users and sending offensive content, may find themselves issued a warning and their ability to use the function disabled.
Avatars
The same rules that apply to posts on the forum apply to avatars. If you use an offensive or otherwise inappropriate avatar, you may be issued a warning. If you do not alter an avatar at the request of a member of staff, the avatar will be edited out from your profile.
Who are these moderators and admins?
There are two groups of people on this board who have been so kind as to spend some of their time to keep the atmosphere on the FTGL friendly. Here's a short overview of who they are:
| Type | Description |
| Moderators | Each forum is
assigned one or more moderators. Their names are listed on the front page,
under each forum description, and appear in green when they post. In addition,
their names are listed at the bottom of the thread list and the threads
within their forum, which you may click to view their profiles.
Moderators are the primary group of people responsible for maintaining the atmosphere in one forum. If you have a problem with something that is going on in the forum, please email one or all of the moderators of that forum. Moderators are only able to give warnings, close threads or move threads from the forum they are assigned to. |
| Admins | There are four
admins at the FTGL. The legend under their name says 'Administrator' and
their names are shown in yellow when they post.
Administrators function as troubleshooters, helping to maintain the atmosphere in a forum when that forum's moderators aren't there. Administrators are able to give warnings, close threads and move threads in all forums. In addition, administrators implement bans when members have reached the required number of warnings. |
What can you do to improve the board?
Firstly, of course, you should just contribute your thoughts to the discussions and follow the rules outlined above.
Secondly, however, it's very important to never allow yourself to be baited by someone on the board who is breaking the rules. If you see someone in a forum who is flaming, or trolling, or spamming, or is posting under a dual user name, etc. etc., please do not respond to that on the board itself. This will only lead to a flame war or will drag the entire thread off-topic. Instead, please send an email or a PM to the appropriate moderators. Again, it is very important that you do not respond in the same way as someone breaking the rules - even if you are flamed, you should not flame someone back in return, and doing so may result in a warning.
Thirdly, we're always open to new ideas. If you think a new feature should be implemented on the FTGL, please post them in the Questions, Suggestions & Feedback forum.
Fourthly, there are a number of rules of etiquette that we will not actively enforce, but that we would recommend you follow in order to keep discussions flowing well:
Finally...
Thank you for registering at the FTGL, and have fun!