FORUM RULES - Read first

[sc2forums]

Starcraft2forum.org - Rules

To participate in these forums, you must agree to the following rules. This is needed to help keep the forums a safe and fun place to be in!

The following RULES are now arranged from the most important at the top to the least important at the bottom. Breaching the rules higher on this list will trigger the most severe penalties.

RULE No.1
No posting offensive links or images. This means NO porn. No disturbing, offensive, overly violent images or links to images allowed. This will result in an immediate BAN.

RULE No.2
There is to be absolutely NO discriminating against somebody due to race, religion, gender, cultural background or sexual preference. This will result in an immediate BAN.

RULE No.3
Offensive language, personal attacks, or being abusive to other members will result in a warning and mineral penalty the first time round, and a BAN the following time. Treat others how you would like to be treated.

RULE No.4
One account per person. Any member that creates multiple accounts for themselves will be warned, have their fake accounts removed, and facing a possible BAN.

RULE No.5
We do not condone piracy, warez, cracks, etc. Do not post links or discuss these issues here. Those who breach these terms will be facing real life legal actions on their own.

RULE No.6
Do not come in here just to advertise your own site. You may only advertise in the Space Junk Board (http://www.starcraft2forum.org/forums/index.php?board=22.0) or post a link in your signature. But if you are not adding anything to the community, you may be removed.

RULE No.7
DO NOT SPAM
Important rule. A response with only a few words is considered spam. If you don't have anymore to post than 2 words, then don't post it! You create unnecessary posts that slow the forums down. Posts that have no meaning are also considered spam. Spamming will result in mineral penalties.

RULE No.8
DO NOT DOUBLE POST
There is an Edit button where you can edit your last post to add things. Posting consecutively is not permitted, and will result in mineral penalties. The only exception is when a member cannot edit their last post due to a Moderator's edit. In that case the member is permitted to make a new post only if it is constructive.

RULE No.9
DO NOT CREATE DUPLICATED TOPICS
Do not create a new topic with the same content to an existing topic. Duplicated topics will be locked, and removed. Have a browse through the forum, or do a search and see if a topic already exist. Duplicating topics will result in mineral penalties.

RULE No.10
DO NOT QUOTE MORE THAN YOU TYPE
Users that constantly quote text just to get minerals will end up losing a lot lot more when they get penalized. Do not quote large amounts of text. If you need to quote, delete all the parts of the quote that are unnecessary. You do not need to quote multiple quotes within quotes withing quotes. Just quote the last person and edit out everything else. Over quoting will result in mineral penalties. Quoting a post that was written right before you is also unacceptable as it is totally unnecessary and is considered spam.

RULE No.11
The Administrator and Moderators reserve the rights to take action against any member performing undesirable activities that are not listed in the Forum Rules.

RULE No.12
Moderators are not responsible for mediating power-level discrepancies, except for those including constant power-down-vendettas. Your power level is representative of how people view you on the forums, and your actions will dictate how people regard you. It is not a Moderator's concern if you believe a power down to be "unwarranted."

Note: Exemptions from the rules do apply from time to time. But generally speaking, please abide by the Rules at all times.

Last but not least, HAVE FUN! This game is hugely anticipated. If we just follow these simple rules, this will be one of the friendliest, largest, and hopefully the BEST StarCraft community on the internet.

If you have any specific forum related questions, please post in the Questions and Feedback Board (http://www.starcraft2forum.org/forums/index.php?board=15.0) or send a PM to a moderator. They will be more than happy to help.

[mc2]

Starcraft2forum.org - Etiquette

Members are encouraged to follow these guildelines when Posting, Creating a Topic or Sending a Private Message. These are not rules and will not be strictly enforced.


Would members please post constructively. Put some thoughts and intelligence into the posts you make. Try to minimize meaningless, pointless, chit-chat posts. These useless posts gives the forum a messy look. So far, we are official recognized as the largest and best Starcraft 2 fan forum by Blizzard. Would members please help this forum uphold its reputation by posting constructively.


Please use proper English when posting. Moderate usage of MSN or SMS styled language is accepted. Since we are recognized as the Official Stacraft 2 Fan Forum, try and make the Forum look as neat and tidy as possible by using proper English.
Also try putting bulks of texts into smaller paragraphs so other members are able to clearly read your post.


When creating a new topic, please use proper english, correct spelling, and Capitalization in the title of the topic. Also refrain from using excessive symbols. The topic title should be also relevant to the topic's content.
For example, if you discovered the release the date of starcraft 2, the title should be similar to "Starcraft 2 is confirmed to be released on this date". And NOT titles like [i]"OMG guess what I found out!?!?!?!?!?!?"[i].


Every member on this forum is equal. Please do not assume that one-self is "better" or "more superior" than others. Your tone of language in posts should not put emphasise on this. If a certain new member does not follow the "traditions" or "unwritten rules" on this forum, please have the patience to educate them politely, this will bring the community together.


There is an increased in complaints about members abusing power levels. Please show maturity when changing other's power level. Try not to engage in a power rally with other members. And please do not change power levels on personal reasons. Note that the administrator can remove a member's ability to change other's power level.


Topics, threads, discussions relating to religion and politics are highly discouraged in this forum. Even in Spack Junk.


Enjoy this forum as much as you can :)

[10-Neon]

Forum Presentation: Why We Even Care

On the Internet, especially in forums like this one, the only way we communicate our personalities is through writing. With nothing better to work with, poor presentation is associated with a weak personality. It's not fair, but it is the way it works. Find out why this is the case, and how to work with the rules to come across well.

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Presentation: Why
There are many reasons that you might want to take pride in your style.

Clarity
A properly written and formatted post conveys the message faster and more accurately than an improperly formatted one. You can't stop people from just skimming your message, but you can ensure that, even when they do, they understand what you are saying. A properly formatted post allows for each person that reads it to get the complete message without having to slow down. If you make people slow down to decode the words, they're less likely to read the words at all, much less understand the meaning.

Accessibility
Not all forum members, or people that might visit the forum, read English natively. They may not yet have picked up on the shortcuts English-speakers(writers) can use and may end up being confused by shorthand. "plz", "thx", "b/c", while comprehensible to normal readers, do not necessarily parse well for people that don't have a lot of experience with the words and the relationships between the abbreviations and phonetics.

Reputation
Yes, we really do want you to look good. We are sure that nobody here wants to bee seen as illiterate or ignorant, or anything else that doesn't reflect their personalities. As I said before, the only way we really express ourselves is through what we say, so write things the way you want them to be read.

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Presentation: What and How
Here are some key areas that separate good presentation from bad presentation. You'll find that you can get away with anything, presentation-wise, if you only do it sparingly. But do make poor presentation an exception rather than the rule.

Formatting
Split messages with multiple points into paragraphs. Split large block-paragraphs into smaller paragraphs if practical. Split up your post into chunks, where each chunk is a key idea. When people read your post, they can tell you're making a different point or argument when you change paragraphs.

Be careful with the way you use bold, italics, and all-caps. Remember that when you type something in all-caps, you are yelling. If you just want to stress a statement, use italics. Bold and underline are acceptable too, but are a bit messier.

If you have a long list of points, give each point its' own line. People expect to read lists in a vertical format. It is difficult for people to refer to lists ordered linearly.

Spelling/Punctuation/Grammar
This one is big one. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are the most immediately noticeable parts of your message and will be the first things people pick up on if they are off. Remember to capitalize proper nouns and beginnings of sentences. Use periods to end sentences, even when you're ending the sentences with a trailing thought. For example, the sentence "I'm feeling vague about the world in general...." ends with an ellipses ('...') followed by a period.

A great way to catch spelling errors is to use spellcheck before posting. The easiest way to catch mistakes, of course, is to proofread. If you catch a mistake relating to spelling, punctuation, or grammar after you've posted, do not hesitate edit it.

Spell words out completely, do not use chat or text message abbreviation. There is no time limit when composing posts, so there is no excuse to not spell words out. When you use a condensed format, people just assume that you don't know a better format.

Support of Argumentshttp://www.starcraft2forum.org/Themes/test/images/minerals.gif (http://www.starcraft2forum.org/forums/index.php?action=v3f4)
Support statements of fact. When you make a statement of fact that is not immediately obvious to the people reading your message, provide support. Do not just expect people to "take your word for it" if you make a statement that contradicts known facts. Cite your sources by providing a URL to the websites or posts where you got your information. Provide the logic you used to reach a conclusion if it is not immediately obvious.

I should also note that, on this forum, for the most part, referring to materials that you can't get to online is probably not a good idea.

When you argue an opinion, provide support. Does that sound strange? You certainly don't need support to hold an opinion or express an opinion in casual conversation, but when you want to convince others of the merits of your opinion, you will need to back it up. Since much of what goes on here is speculation, opinion is as far as we can get. Tell people why you feel the way you do about something. Just as with a fact statement, provide links to information that supports your argument, provide the logic you used to come to your conclusion. Remember, not all opinions are equal. Some are much better supported than others.

Finally, do not put forward opinions as facts. No matter how strongly you believe something is true, if you can't back it up with fact-level support, it can't and won't be regarded as a fact. This comes up a lot when people are predicting new units and game mechanics. We can make estimates and develop opinions based on past observations, but we can't know. Don't tell people that you know when you only believe strongly.

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[LordKerwyn]

Power Up/Down Guidelines

There has been a number of Power Ups and Power Downs given out recently and those numbers will continue to climb as we gather more members. So here is a set of guidelines for the old(er) members that may have been confused and for the new(er) members, so they may gain a better understanding of the system. First off, a Power Up/Down should NEVER be given out just because they were requested, also Power Ups/Downs should NEVER be given out based on a member's current power level
(ex. you shouldn't be in the negatives man here is a power up, this is not a valid reason). Second, all Power Ups/Downs should have a decent reason behind them. Here is a list of examples that could qualify as decent reasons.

Power Ups

Anything that you believe a member should receive a mineral bonus for is definitely worthy of a power up. (And you should also probably report the post so they may receive minerals for a good post)

If a member provides some kind of assistance (ex. a member helps with he construction of a map) that person probably deserves a power up.

If a member wins some kind of game that is semi difficult (ex. a good riddle on the riddle boards) that person could be given a power up.

If a member provides a nice piece artwork (not just something that is thrown together) that person probably deserves a power up (artwork qualifies as any images, writing pieces, or music that has some real amount of effort put into it).

If a member provides a good argument in a debate they are probably deserving of a power up.

If a member is just generally uplifting the mood of threads they are posting in they also are worthy of a power up.

NEVER give a power up just because you received one.

Power Downs

Any serious or minor personal attack is deserving of a power down:
- Serious personal attack: Use of racial slurs, profanity, name-calling, attacking of the character of another poster.(These should also be reported to a mod because they are a breach of forum rules).
- Minor personal attack: The attack of another member's ideas or character without the use of profanity or race-motivated attacks. ("That's a stupid idea", "you're a moron", or offensive ideas that would not constitute a serious infraction).

Any spreading of/creating of offensive rumors are worthy of a power down.

Any spreading of false facts may merit a power down.

Any belligerent posts may merit a power down (ex. any kind of post that starts to turn a debate into an argument).

Any post that is made in bad taste (a joke or picture that really isn't funny and more along the lines of being distasteful) is probably deserving of a power down.

Any member that constantly brings down the moods of the threads they post in is probably deserving of a power down.

Any member that is constantly spamming (outside of space junk) is worthy of a power down (Lenience should be given to newer members though).

NEVER give a power down in response to receiving one.