[aname=top][/aname]Forum Rules [jumpto=generalrules]General Rules[/jumpto] | [jumpto=customizationrules]Customization Rules[/jumpto] | [jumpto=infractionsystem]The Infraction System[/jumpto] | [jumpto=infractions]Infractions[/jumpto] | [jumpto=reportingposts]Reporting Posts[/jumpto] [aname=generalrules][/aname]General Rules No spamming. [jumpto=spamposts]For more details, click here.[/jumpto] Behave respectfully towards other individuals or groups. This precludes: Insulting language Flaming Harrassment Unconstructive criticism Explicitly rating or reviewing a map without downloading it Trolling and other disruptive behaviour NO racism, sexism, abuse of power or discrimination of any kind is tolerated. This includes use of derogatory terms towards sexuality, race, gender, etc. Do NOT post or link to pirated property, software, or other files. Illegal activities are not tolerated here, and any presence of said content will be removed by moderators. Do NOT post or link to modded content, maps or otherwise. The act of modding is in direct violation of Bungie’s and Microsoft’s Terms of Service; therefore it is not allowed on our forums. Do NOT post or link to offensive content. This includes malicious or pornographic images or information. Do NOT advertise any third party product or post links to advertisements of such. Do NOT advertise any other forums, communities or websites that could compete for our users or traffic to our site. Do NOT advertise your maps, screenshots, or other custom content in public areas of our forums (like the shoutbox, within yours or others' blogs, or other users' map threads, etc). Do NOT flood the forums. Do NOT create multiple Forge Hub accounts. Only one account per user is allowed. Map Posting Rules Threads must include at least one picture OR video that clearly demonstrates the map. All pictures must be embedded. You must include a description of the map. Thread titles must consist of the map name ONLY. Download links must be the direct URL of the file on your fileshare, not the URL to your fileshare or fileset. Failure to post your map correctly will result in a topic lock after 1 hour in the absence of a fix. [jumpto=top]JUMP TO TOP[/jumpto] [aname=customizationrules]Customization Rules[/aname] Avatar Rules Must abide by all other forum rules. May not impersonate other members. Signature Rules Must abide by all forum rules. Any images must total 600 x 140 pixels or less. Animated signatures are not allowed. Must not have more than either: 2 quotes and 1 line of text 1 quote and 3 lines of text 10 lines of text alone [jumpto=top]JUMP TO TOP[/jumpto] [aname=infractionsystem]The Infraction System[/aname] The Infraction System is, in essence, an automatic ban hammer. Moderators award infractions to those pesky spammers and the irritable flamers to keep the forum running smoothly. Infractions have an associated number of infraction points and last for a certain amount of time depending on the severity of the offence. After this time period expires, so do the infraction points. There are different infractions for different forum offences. New members who are awarded an infraction for the first time will usually receive a warning. This doesn't confer any infraction points and serves as a reminder of the forum rules for the future. After this point, regular infractions will be given out, which can start to build up if the user's forum behaviour doesn't improve. If a user continues to accrue infraction points faster than they expire, their forum access will become more and more restricted. [table][tr][td]Points[/td][td]User Rank[/td][/tr][tr][td]0-3[/td][td]Default[/td][/tr][tr][td]4[/td][td]Warned[/td][/tr][tr][td]5[/td][td]Banned[/td][/tr][/table] Example 1: A user currently has 4 infraction points, has been placed in the Warned rank, and thus subjected to various forum restrictions that limit their use of the site. They will remain warned until their infraction points expire and drop below 4, gaining back the forum privileges they lost. Example 2: A user currently has 5 infraction points, and has been automatically placed in the Banned rank. They will remain banned until at least one of their infraction points expires. Warned Rank: Once a user receives 4 infraction points, their usergroup changes to Warned and their forum privileges are restricted:Cannot post threads, vote on polls or use signatures. Cannot view Blogs, Social Groups, User Albums or the Chatbox.Banned Rank: Once a user receives 5 infraction points, they are automatically banned until their points expire. Banned users are unable to view or interact with the forums. Attempting to circumvent a ban usually leads to more thorough and prolonged methods of exclusion. Many infractions may extend your infraction time. For example, if you receive an infraction for spamming a thread, the infraction points would last 5 days. However, receive another spam infraction within that time, and another 5 days is added to the original infraction, totaling to 10 days. In short, if a user does not learn their lesson, the time they are forced to receive points increases. 12 month infractions are handed out to problem members who repeatedly ignore the forum rules, and those who commit a serious offence. Members may dispute infractions via a PM to the moderator who administered it. If you find yourself in this situation, take a second and make absolutely sure the infraction was unjust - the vast majority will be upheld. [jumpto=top]JUMP TO TOP[/jumpto] [aname=infractions]Infractions[/aname] [aname=spamposts][/aname]Spam A spam post is a post that does not contribute positively to Forge Hub. Spam can consist of, but is not limited to: Off-topic posts. Posts that do not contribute to the conversation. Posts that bump an old thread without significantly contributing to the conversation. Posting or linking to your maps, fileshare or other personal content in another user's thread for the express purpose of advertising. Trolling or baiting another member. Posts that aren't 'Safe for Work'. Posting spoilers without using Spoiler tags. [*]Posting in any language other than English. Spoiler This infraction will be worth 1 point and last for 1 month. Here at Forge Hub, we want there to be an environment where you feel free to chat and have conversations on topics you care about and we want to allow for such discussions to be easy to follow. Keep it positive, on topic and contribute something to the discussion and you will not have to worry about spam. Want to praise someone on their map? That's fine. Insulting Other Member(s) This is given for posting derogatory comments which would genuinely offend any other member. It is not limited to simply targeting a specific member with an insult but also includes insults that can be applied to a group (both specific and non-specific in nature). Insulting other members includes, but is not limited to: racism, insults, inappropriate language directed at others, flaming, and bullying. This infraction will be worth 2 points and last for 2 months. Creating a Proxy Account A proxy account is a secondary account created by a user who still actively posts and logs in under a primary account. Proxy accounts are at times used for bumping of threads, personal promotion and alias posting. This is not acceptable. Any member caught using a proxy account will receive an infraction on their main account and their proxy will receive a ban. This applies to both banned and unbanned primary accounts. This infraction will be worth 1 point and last for 1 month. Signature Rule Violation In order to maintain cleanliness standards about the forum, we ask that you retain a signature of 600 pixels wide by 140 pixels tall or less at all times. This is to prevent posts from being stretched to unnecessary lengths that would increase scroll time. Members caught violating this rule will receive an infraction. This infraction will be worth 1 point and last for 1 month. Posting Modded Content Modded content is any game content that breaks the constraints of the original or title updated game. This includes, but is not limited to: maps that contain more pieces than the initial limit allows, or gametypes which provide options not officially distributed. Members caught violating this rule will always receive an initial warning (separate from any other previous infraction). Members caught violating this a second time will receive an infraction. This infraction will be worth 1 point and last for 1 month. Map Theft Map theft is the claim that content created by another user is your own, when you have not contributed any work or effort to its creation. While map theft is often no longer a problem since changes to creator labels have been added, any member caught (after evidence has been provided) violating this rule will receive a ban. The ban will last 1 month. Repeatedly Breaking Forum Rules Problem members who repeatedly ignore the forum rules, and those who commit a serious offence, will receive an infraction worth 1 point lasting for 12 months. PERMABAN The following will net an immediate permanent ban from the site: Posting or linking to pirated property, software, or other files. Posting or linking to offensive content. This includes malicious or pornographic images or information. Advertising any third party product or posting links to advertisements of such. Flooding the forums. Proxy (secondary) Forge Hub accounts. Spoiler [jumpto=top]JUMP TO TOP[/jumpto] [aname=reportingposts]Reporting Posts[/aname] The Forge Hub moderators do their best to keep track of and deal with posts that break the site rules. However, they are largely reliant on you, the members, to find these posts. The post reporting function allows every member to quickly and easily send word to the moderators that a post is not up to standards. In this way, the community effectively polices itself, which is a democratic and progressive method of keeping rogue members operating within the rules, and to have problem users dealt with as quickly as possible. As you browse the forums, any post you view as being problematic can be reported in just a few moments. Step 1 - Click to report a problem userUnder each user's name, you will find a few images, one of which is the "Report Post" icon: Step 2 - Briefly explain your reason for reporting the postPlease bear in mind when filing out a report that we don't necessarily have the time to read an epic novel. We have to move on and address the rest of the reports in reasonable time, so leave quick, clear comments such as: Cross-Advertising. Delete/Infract. Double Post. Delete/Infract. Spam Post. Warning. etc. The examples above show two things, really quickly and briefly. One, they show what the user you are reporting did. Two, they show what you think we should do with the post. The post isn't guaranteed to be dealt with exactly as you suggest, but it will be kept in mind when the report is addressed.When you submit a report, the moderators receive a new thread in the reported posts section which conveys all of this information, helping them to resolve the issue. By registering and posting on these forums you agree to the rules above and realize that you are and will be held responsible for your actions.