General Forum Rules

[Dave Baughman]

Please note the following rules that apply to all INTELSER forum message boards. Users who choose to violate these rules are subject to administrative action described in the rules violations thread.

Please note that all of these rules are subject to expansion and clarification with immediate effect.


1. Post Content

Users are expected to uphold certain standards with regard to the content of their posts.

1a. Obscenity - use of obscenity towards another community member is prohibited.
1b. Harassment - demonstrating a pattern of harassment towards any member or group of members is prohibited and will result in administrative action.
1c. Sexual Content - posting explicit sexual content is prohibited. Players should exercise prudence and good taste with regard to sexual topics in the game threads.
1d. Illegal Content - posting pirated software or data, or links by which to acquire such material, is prohibited.
1e. Private Correspondence - the PM system is designed for private communication. Publishing the content of PMs on the open boards without the permission of the author is prohibited.
1f. Trolling - posting a comment or thread for the sole purpose of provoking an argument or angering another member is prohibted.

Note that unlike many forums, discussion of controversial topics like politics or religeon are not expressly prohibited. However, rules 1b and 1f still apply and will be enforced.


2. Membership

Certain criteria apply to membership.

2a. Age restrictions - INTELSER Forums is a community intended for adults, and many of the activities conducted here contain adult themes and content. While INTELSER does not require age verification, users who are determined to be under the age of 18 will be banned. The administrative staff may allow exceptions on a case by case basis.

2b. Purpose of account - INTELSER Forums accounts are intended for members of the community to participate in the games and discussions on the site. Creating an account solely for the purpose of advertising or soliciting commerce will result in a ban.

2c. Compromised accounts removed - If the administrative staff of INTELSER forums determines that a member's account has been compromised by a third party, the account will be removed - both to protect the privacy of the owner and to prevent fraudulent activity.

2d. Highly Suspcious Accounts removed - if the administrative staff determine that a new or existing account is highly likely to be created for the sole purpose of violating rules 2b, 3b, or 3d, the account will be removed.


3. Fraud

Fraudulent activity is prohibited.

3a. Spambots - Accounts that the adminstrative staff determines have been created for the sole purpose of disseminating "spam" will be banned, along with associated email addressses and/or IP addresses.

3b. Puppet Accounts - Creating multiple user accounts for the purpose of circumventing the membership limitations of any of the games on INTELSER forums, or of misrepresenting the identity of the poster, is grounds for an indefinite ban from the forums.

3c. Malicious Content - posting content (links, attachements, etc) for the purpose of compromising other users' systems and/or forum accounts with malicious software is grounds for a permanent ban from the forums.

3d. "Reincarnation" - Creating an account in a false identity to circumvent a ban - either from the forums or from any of the games hosted on INTELSER forums - is grounds for a permanent ban without recourse to appeal.

[Dave Baughman]

Worth noting in its own post:

The adminstrative staff will generally be more flexible on the content rules when it comes to in-game posts than with OOC. Harsh language, descriptions of violence, sexual themes, frank discussions of controversial social issues - we understand that these are all part of writing compelling science fiction stories at times, and as long as they are handled tastefully the sections of Rule #1 that cover these will be administered with this in mind.

In short: Rule #1 is not intended to squelch your roleplaying.

[Dave Baughman]

Deletion of inactive accounts

Effective immediately, accounts that are inactive for more than six months will be subject to deletion during periodic purges. The administrative staff will make exceptions for known members in good standing.

If your account was deleted during a purge and you still with to participate in the community, we encourage you to re-register. There is no prohibition on rejoining even if your membership has lapsed.

[Avatar Zero]

* raises hand *

Question:  What constitutes inactivity?  Total non-posting or a minimum standard of community participation?

[Dave Baughman]

* raises hand *

Question:  What constitutes inactivity?  Total non-posting or a minimum standard of community participation?

Not logging into your forum account or visiting the forum with a logged-in account. This rule is mainly aimed at people (and spam bots) who create an account and then never do anything with it.

[Dave Baughman]

Deletion of inactive accounts

Effective immediately, accounts that are inactive for more than six months will be subject to deletion during periodic purges. The administrative staff will make exceptions for known members in good standing.

If your account was deleted during a purge and you still with to participate in the community, we encourage you to re-register. There is no prohibition on rejoining even if your membership has lapsed.

This. Happening again right now. Just a heads-up

[Avatar Zero]

Right.  I'll be in the bomb shelter, then.