TheTechGame Community Rules



GENERAL BOARD-WIDE


1.1 TheTechGame website is aimed toward a general audience. Explicit and vulgar language, drug talk, nudity, pornography and so forth is not allowed.

1.2 Do not mini-mod. We would like to encourage and thank our members to use the Report button, without adding their own criticism. Examples of this include - "Lock this thread!", "warn this user", "ban this user", etc...

1.3 All publicly displayed messages are only limited to English. This includes posts, titles, signatures, profiles, and other forms of public display unless told otherwise by a staff member.

1.4 When posting a new topic; please do not name the topic title as something similar to "HELP ME" - Instead, a better topic would be "Help me with Modding My Gamertag" - It looks better, and more people will respond to it that way.

1.5 Signatures must not contain anything illegal, explicit, contain nudity, or contain porn. The same rule applies for avatars and banners.

1.6 Do not create a new thread on a topic that is currently already in discussion. Regardless of if you "feel" you deserve to have your own thread, the existing thread should be used unless an Admin or Mod instructs otherwise.

1.7 The TheTechGame website's Staff reserve the right to lock and/or delete any posts or threads which they deem irrelevant or frivolous at their own discretion.

1.8 Please use the SEARCH feature of the forums before posting threads that address errors, problems, questions, and almost ANYTHING. Chances are someone has already asked the same question and received an answer. Please search before starting a new thread.

1.9 Impersonating Staff members is not allowed and you will be perma-banned from the site immediately. This includes telling others you are staff or having staff badges as your avatar/signature.

1.10 Do not ask for/sell/trade reputation. Do not ask/beg for reputation for any reason. Doing so will result in a warning and possibly a few day ban. Griping about reputation will not be tolerated, and will result in a warning/ban as well.

1.11 Do NOT ask for YouTube subscriptions, there is a Sub-for-Sub topic in Youtube Famous, or just click here

1.12 Do not ask for the "Gift of Gold" or rant when you don't get it over someone else, doing so will result in a temporary posting ban.

1.13 Any type of Account Sales/Trades/Giveaways are prohibited on TheTechGame. (e.g. Youtube/Runescape/Xbox ect...)

1.14 Posting of Private Messages will not be tolerated. It violates the rights of the user in question. Private messages are to remain just that, private. This rule applies board-wide unless stated otherwise by a staff member.

1.15 Profile View Boosting - When you knowingly have your total visitors to your profile boosted. If you are caught on either side of the rule you may face a warning/suspension.

1.16 Providing a download for any file which is designed to harm or disrupt a computer, network, or any other electronic entity will result in an instant ban from the site. Examples of these malicious files include, but are not limited to: Viruses, Network stressing tools (host booters, botnets, etc), worms, and IP grabbers.




SPAM AND ADVERTISING


2.1 We do not tolerate spam. In short, do not post small or useless posts that are not relevant to the topic being discussed.

2.2 Do not PM a moderator or admin numerous times saying the same thing to try and speed up an answer/problem. We receive the PM's you get. There is no need to keep sending it.

2.3 Forum sigs are to be used respectfully, thetechgame already has to display ads to cover the running costs, so don't annoy our members by making your sig into your personal ad revenue opportunity. (ie: advertising and/or reference/affiliate codes in your sig is prohibited).

2.4 Advertising on The Tech Game is strictly prohibited.

2.5 The Tech Game is a tech forum, not a social networking site. We do not care if you're having relationship issues or if your dog Scruffy died. As such, have enough respect to not post it, as it wastes all of our time. Any threads deemed frivolous by the moderation/administration teams will be deleted without prior notice. The poster of the topic may be suspended at the staff members' discretion.



OFFENSIVE POSTS


3.1 Do not post offensive, abusive, obscene, hateful, discriminating, or harmful posts.

3.2 ABSOLUTELY NO Cursing or Swear Words, this includes bypassing the swear filter with symbols or forum bbcode.

3.3 Follow basic netiquette rules. For example, DO NOT ever type in ALL CAPS. This applies to both topic titles and the post messages, as this is considered yelling.

3.4 Never under any circumstances post personal information of another user, pictures, or any other material without person's consent.

3.5 After 2 Warnings - All warnings will be "tracked". This is to keep troublemakers from not getting the 'penalty' for their actions.

3.6 All warnings/bans given by the The TheTechGame website's Staff are final. TheTechGame website's staff members reserve the right to ignore any requests to modify a warning/ban.

3.7 If you are a long standing member, act like one; lead by example and assist other newer users rather than attacking them. We look upon our veteran users to use this opportunity to teach the newer users the appropriate way to conduct themselves in this community.

3.8 Personal attacks such as instigating "flame bait", verbal abuse, mocking or sexist remarks of members in posts are not tolerated at thetechgame. Such posts will be deleted on sight or moderated accordingly.

3.9 Members that reply to posts simply to instigate argument will be dealt with and shown no mercy.

3.10 Posts in a particular forum need to stay on topic.




HOW TO POST


4.1 Use descriptive subject lines & research your post. This reduces the chances of double-posting and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do or don't want to read.

4.2 Keep the focus. Each board has a focus on a certain topic. Questions outside the scope of a certain board will either be moved to the appropriate board, locked, or simply be deleted. Please post your topic in the most appropriate board. Users that post in the wrong board will be warned. Continuing these actions will result in a banned.

4.3 DO NOT bump your topics. Doing so causes unnecessary clutter to the forum.

4.4 If you post a one-lined message such as "lol", "+1", etc... it is classified as SPAM and will be removed. Multiple offenses can result in your posts being deleted or a complete loss of posting rights.

4.5 Do NOT report your OWN post(s) for any reason.




RESPECT THE AUTHORITY OF STAFF


5.1 Public discussions of staff actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest staff actions in titles, avatars, signatures, and the chat box. If you do not like something that a staff member said/did, DO NOT discuss this in the forums. If necessary, PM or email the staff member and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in a private manner.

5.2 Staff has final say in any dispute. Moderators and Admins have been instilled with special privileges due to the trustworthiness and dedication they show to the site. All staff have the right to, without question, violate any rule herein they deem necessary for the benefit of the site. Site Administration reserves the right to grant the same privilege under extenuating circumstances to certain users. Staff have supreme authority, and as such, all grievances are to be directed to Site Administration. Any user found disregarding this is subject to account termination.




REPORTING ABUSE


6.1 If you have a complaint about another member, problems with other members, etc., please try to resolve the problem in a personal message. If necessary, address an admin or moderator by reporting their post.

6.2 If you believe an individual is repeatedly breaking the rules, please report to one of Administrators. Repeating offenders will be banned from the forum, and further action may be taken against them.




BANNED MEMBERS


7.1 Any Regular or Gold Member always have priority over banned members, because banned members got banned for a reason. It's their own fault.

7.2 Banned members will be blocked from all IM services and every page on TheTechGame. E-mail(s) sent from the banned user to staff members will be ignored until the ban is lifted.

7.3 TheTechGame website's staff members are not required to notify why the user was banned, though we most likely will do so.

7.4 Should you be disciplined with a restriction or ban, you are not allowed to open a new account to obtain freedom to post. Restrictions and bans are given for a reason, and usurping that ability by re-registering is not tolerated. If another account is opened, that account will be banned immediately, and the original account will be further penalized.

7.5 It is not our problem if it is your brother, cousin, best friend, mom, dad, girlfriend, boyfriend, or kitten that got your account banned. If it turns out that your account is suffering from their wrongdoing, that is an issue you'll have to take up with them. Your account will not receive any reduction in suspension.




AVATARS, SIGNATURES, AND BANNERS


8.1 Absolutely no nudity or offensive material in your avatar, banner, or signature will be permitted.

8.2 No commercial, business and/or website promotion/advertisement in your avatar, banner, or signature will be permitted.

8.3 Be wary when hotlinking to images. If you hotlink to an image on a site with malware, it gives other users an error whenever they view a thread you post in. If a staff member sees this, we can and will reset your avatar (and you may lose avatar/banner/signature privileges respectively).

8.4 "Army" graphics are permitted, however, any post in the forums regarding an "Army" will be deleted promptly and the poster will be issued a warning. It causes un-needed conflict and stupidity between members, and will not be tolerated.

8.5 You may not display a site badge within your avatar, signature or banner if you have not been awarded it.



CONTENT AND LEGAL ISSUES


9.1 Although we would all like to post and leech off of shareware and illegal files such as an exploit, we can't. NOBODY is allowed to post any links or upload any files that are meant to be purchased or have copyrights attached to them saying the file(s) cannot be distributed freely. If we see any posts or chat discussions pertaining to the distribution of illegal software and/or files, that content will be removed as soon as possible and the user will receive a ban. The length of the ban will be determined by TheTechGame website's staff and will vary depending on the volume and type of content the software or file(s) contained. Legal action may be taken by the copyright holder at their discretion, though this is an issue of the End User. TheTechGame holds no liability for the actions or opinions of its users.

9.2 NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) are signed, in most cases, after applying for testing of products/hardware/software. Posting of content violating these NDAs will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Any user found posting such content will be promptly dealt with, and reported to the copyright holders. Any legal action taken regarding these situations is solely placed on the End User. TheTechGame does not condone such activity, and holds no liability for such actions.




If you happen to violate any of the rules posted above, the following punishments against you may be undertaken:


Edit or removal of post(s)
Edit or reset of reputation
Removal of privileges
The locking or deletion of topics
Temporary/Permanent ban at staff discretion
Edit of signature or avatar if in violation of rules
Increase of the Warning Level
Removal of offender's posting rights
Suspension of the offender's user account
Deactivation/Deletion of the offender's user account
Restriction of an IP/IP range
Other punishments felt necessary by the Administrators.