Apologies for not putting this up sooner, but I didn't realise that there was no real way to access these rules beforehand. Here we go though - the rules of the forum
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Sydney Arcade Terms of Use
Last Revised 24/10/06
The terms of use listed below apply to all users of the Sydney Arcade forums and are subject to change without notice. Please read through the entire list before registering. Thank you.
1. General Introduction
Acceptance of the below rules is the reason you are allowed to post here. Failing to accept these rules may put your posting privileges into jeopardy. Also, attempting to argue your own interpretation of the rules is not considered acceptance of them, nor is ignorance of the rules a defense - you are required to read them when becoming a member of the Sydney Arcade forums.
The rules and policies of the Sydney Arcade forums are made by the Site Administrators and are enforced with a variety of means, ranging from a warning for minor infractions to a permanent ban or even ISP alert for the most serious ones. The Administrators (hereafter Admin(s)) and Moderators (hereafter Mod(s)) are the only people allowed to enforce Sydney Arcade rules and policies - you are not.
The terms of use are general guidelines established to keep visits to the forums enjoyable. They may change from board to board, depending on the admins/moderators in charge. Some may be more lenient in regards to the types of behaviour they will allow on their boards - this is entirely the Admin or Mod's discretion.
Some boards may have rules which may conflict with the General Forum rules. If in doubt of the rules for a certain board, follow the general forum rules. Generally there is a sticky topic detailing the rules for each board - these are further rules specific for that particular forum as well as additional information. Violating the rules on each board is the same severity as violating the General Forum Rules, though it is at the discretion of the Admin or Mod's decision to pursue these violations.
2. Procedures on the Sydney Arcade Forums
When an Admin or Mod finds a violation of the rules has been committed by a user, they will notify the other Admins what has occurred in the private staff-only forum. A representative (an Admin, Mod, or other approved third party) will then issue the offending member a warning. This will be done by Private Message (PM), or in the thread where the violation occurred. After this has been done, the Admin or Mod will report back to the staff-only forum and note that a warning has been given and no further action needs to be taken. This prevents multiple warnings given by different people for the same violation.
As a general rule, you'll be issued a warning, and on the next violation you'll get a ban. The length of this ban will depend on the severity of the violations, is up to the Admin who sets it, and is to their discretion whether it is lifted early or not. When your ban expires you will be readmitted to the forums. It is imperative that you remain on your best behaviour during this time as you may be subject to the consequences from higher level violations. Your progress will be tracked in the staff-only forum.
Also, it needs to be said that no-one is above the rules - not even the Admins.
3. Types of Violations
This is not an exhaustive list of violations, but it details the most important ones:
No Enforcing Rules Unless You Are an Admin Or Mod
- It is the Admins and Mods job to enforce the rules, not the users. If you are concerned someone is in violation of the rules, contact the Admins privately. We may have just missed the topic in question. Do not reply to the topic. The appropriate board Mod or Admin will then decide what to do. Be mindful that it is not necessary to point out issues involving spelling, grammar or writing style in public.
- Under the same rule, there is no need to tell the staff how to enforce rules in public. If you are concerned about this, contact the staff privately.
No Advertising
- Advertising in the forums, except for that of information sites concerning arcade games and related topics upon request in an appropriate topic, and links to personal pages in signatures, is not allowed. You are allowed to link to your personal site in a post if the topic of discussion is related to that post (An example is if you wish to show an artwork, and mention that you have a personal website with more images), but you aren't allowed to create multiple threads to show the same site.
No Spam
This is defined as any of the following, and is not allowed:
- Messages without any content,
- Pointless 1 word posts that if removed would not alter the direction of the thread.
- Delibrately repeat posting (also known as double posting).
- Posting that is intended only to "bump" or revive a dead topic. However, if the post is relevant to the thread prior to the inactivity, it's allowed.
- Massive sig images or images in posts - a rule of thumb on sigs is to keep them no larger than your average post. Also, be mindful that some users have 56k connections - we don't want them getting booted from the forum because of a huge image in a post, or bring their connection to its knees. If it's absolutely necessary for a large image, provide a link in your post to it.
- Other posting regarded as completely pointless which is not mentioned above.
No Flaming Or Trolling
- Reasonable expression of opinion is encouraged. Flaming and trolling are not reasonable expressions of opinion.
- Flaming is defined as remarks or criticisms made to incite anger. Trolling is defined as posting material designed to get others to attack you, in turn inciting flame wars.
- The Sydney Arcade Forums encourage discussion and debate, but there comes a point where insults turn personal, and this is strongly discouraged via the public forum, through PM, and the IRC channel.
- If you are offended by something that someone says, don't respond to it. Contact an Admin or Moderator and they'll look into the issue.
Avoid Forbidden Topics
- Posts on these topics are subject to locking or removal on sight. They are forbidden mainly because they can lead to violating other rules such as flaming. If you create a topic mentioned below or try to swerve a topic into a similar discussion, you will be warned. The following topics are forbidden from discussion (except where permitted):
- Gratuitous sex (including the posting of pornography)
- Senseless violence
- Politics
- Religion
- Polls with only one choice or far too many choices
- Whining about allowed topics
- Topics containing links to, or requests for illegal software, this includes ROMs, cracks, serials and the like. Discussion on this topic is permitted, but requests for such software or links containing it is not.
Do Not Complain About The Unfairness Of Rules
- The rules were written to be as forgiving as possible, most of them are common sense, and hold all users, even Admins to the same standards as each other. This doesn't mean that the rules are flawed, just that enforcement of them can be taken to a level that wasn't intended. The site staff are people too, and do make mistakes from time to time.
- If you feel a mistake has been made, respond civilly to the Admin in a PM saying that you thought they were a bit harsh in their judgement and would appreciate if they re-considered their action. In many situations, the manner you conduct yourself will persuade the Admin to reverse their decision. The Admin will then report in the staff-only forum that they have retracted your punishment.
- Do not create a thread solely to complain about unfair treatment.
Keep it PG-Rated or Worksafe
- Generally it is not necessary to curse, but we will tolerate this if it is kept to a minimum. Just be mindful of the fact that young people can and will access these boards, so if the staff say enough is enough, they mean it.
- Obscene and offensive material have no place on the Sydney Arcade Forums. Many users access our site from their workplace or school during breaks, and many places have harsh punishments against viewing said materials. We don't want people fired or in trouble for your disregard of this rule. Plus, this is not an adult board - younger people access it too, so keep it decent.
Do Not Impersonate Other Members Of The Forums And/Or Community
- This generally means creating a second account and posing as another member of the community, whether they have actually joined the forums or not. This is a form of Identity Theft which is not tolerated.
- It is usually done to slander someone else's name. This is accomplished by violating other rules. We log IPs on the forum, so any violations that occur whilst taking someone else's identity will be counted against you, resulting in severe penalities which may push a ban length into months or even years.
- In the same vein as this rule, posting personal information about another user, under the guise of an alter-ego or under your own username, without permission, will result in a ban. It is not your decision to disclose such information about other people.
Do Not Attempt to Evade Punishment By Creating Other Accounts
- If you create another account to hide from punishment or to get around a ban, you will be caught and punished.
- You have one identity. If you lose your password, contact an Admin or Mod, and they may be able to recover, restore or sometimes reset your password so you can use your old account. Should this fail, explain your situation and the staff will be very forgiving.
Do Not Attempt to Hack the Forum Server Or The Computer of A Forum Member
- If you do this, we will pursue you with all available options at our disposal, including permanent bans and/or an ISP Alert.
4. Information on Admins and Mods
Admins are appointed to guide forum users towards civil conversation and to protect them from unwarranted harrassment. They are also responsible for the day-to-day running of the server. That being said, an Admin is a very busy person. Sometimes they may miss a topic where a violation has occurred, so if nothing has been done about it, don't assume that the Admins don't care about it. Just inform an Admin of this, and they will try to investigate the problem as soon as possible. This does not mean whining to get things done - they have lives outside of the forums too. Be patient.
Moderators are like "Junior Admins" - they are granted their position for their trustworthiness and their good behaviour record, usually with knowledge of the subject matter contained in the board in question. Often they are in charge of looking after only one board, but can still report activities to the Staff board.
If an Admin or Mod believes they can no longer carry out their duties for whatever reason, they may step down with no discredit to their name. If they break the rules or their behavior becomes questionable, then it is the duty of the other staff members to decide how to best handle the situation.
5. Other Information
It is impossible for the site staff to confirm the validity of posts, we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such are not responsible for the content contained within. The posted messsages express the views of the author and not necessarily the views of the forum or staff members. The staff members reserve the right to remove messages which contain objectionable content within a reasonable timeframe if necessary. This also includes member profile information.
You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum. Also note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.
You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason. We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.
After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.
Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.
